I was sent a copy of Last Vampire Standing to review.

Favorite Lines: "They cut me, and then themselves, and mingled our blood. Then they forced me to suck their wounds and swallow the blood." (p. 231)

Francesca Marinelli, Princess Vampire, Most Royal Highness of the House of King Normand, "Cesca," was unearthed during the renovation of Maggie's house. They became friends, she met an interesting younger man (well duh, she's over 200 years old), and found out that life in the 21st century feels great. She even has a decent job guiding ghost tours and to top it all off, the crazy wack job who had been stalking her hasn't been seen for awhile.

Just when she thought it was ok to relax a comedian wannabe vampire shows up begging for asylum. The vampire, Jo Jo, has run flown away from his Atlanta nest to Florida to ask for Cesca's help in becoming a stand up comedian. Hot on his trail though, is a deranged vampire whose plan is to wreak havoc on the city of St. Augustine and all who reside there.

Last Vampire Standing is the second book in the Oldest City Vampire series by Nancy Haddock. The first book, La Vida Vampire, wasn't my favorite, but it introduced the world and characters. All the back story is told in book one, so Ms. Haddock was free to jump right into a new story with Last Vampire Standing. One that I thoroughly enjoyed.

It's not bloody or erotic. It's not cheesy. It's light-hearted, good, clean fun. Yes, there is sex, but it's the couple of paragraphs kind, not the four pages stuff. There is drama and mystery made better by a character telling Cesca someone was going to betray her. So every time anyone came around I questioned their motive. It was far easier than I was making it out be, and that added to the fun.

Any issues I had with Cesca's love interest in book one were irrelevant in this book. Saber was loving, sweet, involved, and worried about Cesca. He cared about her. He pushed her to be a better creature and to embrace her vampire skills.

This book is a bridge to what is to come. It hints at things throughout the story, but the ending is just plain wrong. Not bad wrong, but boy is Ms. Haddock a tease.

In the meanwhile, Last Vampire Standing comes out tomorrow (May 5, 2009). If you want to sample a chapter before dropping $14 you can click here.

Scooper