September 1, 2012

Review: Always the Vampire

Always the Vampire
Francesca, Vampire Princess Bk 3
Nancy Haddock

Published: 21 July, 2011
Berkley, Paperback, 342 p.
ISBN: 978-0-425-24088-5

Francesca Marinelli must act now ... or forever hold her peace.

It might seem like I'm slacking on my duties as a vampire princess, but you can bet your fangs that I'm going to be the best maid of honor ever for Maggie's Victorian wedding.  I want everything to be perfect, even if I have to wear a bustle.  But when my mostly human honey, Saber, falls ill due to a magical construct called the Void, I know I'll have to go beyond the call of bridesmaid duty...

The Void is affecting every supernatural being in my afterlife, incuding my shape-shifter ex, Triton.  To counter the Void's reign of terror, I'll need to activate ancient amulets and fully summon my vampire powers - two moves that may lead to my own doom.

With a lot more than a wedding party to worry about, it's tie to show undying love and save them all - and save myself...


Yes, I know this book came out last year.  But it's new to me ;-D

I have been following the series since the beginning, and after waiting for soooo long for the third book I found it easy to slip back into Francesca's world.  Saber is still her honey, and Triton finally makes his presence in town known.  This time round, Francesca may have bitten off more than she can chew.  The Void is back with a vengeance, and is killing all the supernaturals it can get it's claws into.  So Francesca has been called in for vampire training by Cosmil, wizard extrodinaire.  All while trying to give Maggie the best wedding she can throw.

All of our main character are believable, within reason - hello... vampires!, with flaws that we can relate to even if we'd never experience them (as there is no way I'm going to drink a caramel flavoured blood drink... ewwww!) but even though it is a world of vampires and magic it's not totally over the top.  I'm hoping that the story arc gets a little bit of a shakeup soon.  There is a very real danger of the storyline getting staid if we just keep revolving around Francesca, Saber, Maggie, etc., although it was a nice twist to find out that Gorman had a personal link to Francesca.  Perhaps now the Void is gone it will offer up some fresh ideas.

Nancy Haddock has written a wonderfully funny series.  These books offer a fun read, great to pack for a trip.  For those who are wondering, there is no real language issues, and no graphic sex scenes.  Just a good fun book to while away the hours with.  If you like the Francesca, Vampire Princess books then I'd recommend Chloe Neill's Chicagoland Vampire series, Nalini Singh's Guild Hunters, as well as the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews.

P.S. d'uh, I nearly forgot.  Haddocks books are very much in the style of MaryJanice Davidson!  So check out her Wyndham Werewolves, Undead, The Royals and Mermaid series.



No comments:

Post a Comment