Marta Acosta
Haunted Honeymoon (Casa Dracula, Book 4)
Simon & Schuster Gallery (US & CA: 28th September 2010; AU: 1st January 2011)
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Ian Ducharme’s new neighbours desperately want to be thralls to vampires, and the Lord doesn’t seem to be doing anything to dissuade them. His lover, Milagro de Los Santos, is fed up and breaks off their relationship. It’s an apt time to jet off for London, to negotiate writing a second “fauxoir” and have a fabulous affair.
Returning to California, Milagro is framed for murder and tortured for information. Is stress or a bump on her head responsible for the very All My Circuits turn of events?
Milagro is at her irrepressible best, though leading on the most important men in her life gets annoying. The Poindexters are ridiculously named, and that Wilcox Spiggott surfs in the UK is rather preposterous. But Wilcox and Nettie are fabulously fun, and a bloody good time.
This series may be classified as a comedy of manners, but there’s also serious depth here, when we learn more about Milagro’s heartbreaking childhood. (Yes, I got mopey.)
The plot regarding the Poindexters didn’t really grip me, which is disappointing since I recently became interested in Frankenstein, and would’ve loved to read a modern version. But I don’t choose this series for the plots; I read it for the lavishly larger-than-life characters and their shenanigans, and this fourth novel certainly has them in spades. The honeymoon location and its people are fascinating, and I didn’t want to leave them.
