Happy Hour at Casa Dracula - Softcover

Acosta, Marta

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1416531602 ISBN 13: 9781416531609

Publisher: Pocket Star, 2008

Synopsis

For everyone who's ever felt like a square peg in a round world...with vampires and cocktails.

Funny, sexy, cheerful Milagro de Los Santos has a degree from a Fancy University (F.U.) but can't seem to hold down a good job, sell her eccentric horror stories, or have the sort of relationship suitable for the sincere and serious young woman she's trying to be.  Then at a book party for her pretentious ex-boyfriend, she meets Oswald, a fabulous man who tells her he's interested in her writing. A mad kissing session leads to a fall, cut lips, and an accidental exchange of blood.

For the first time in Milagro's life, she becomes sick...really, weirdly sick and has cravings for raw meat and an aversion to sunlight. The ex-boyfriend kidnaps her, accusing her of being a vampire, and the fabulous stranger's family comes to her rescue and takes her to recover at their wine-country estate.

Oswald's family thinks she's a trashy golddigger. She thinks they're awfully snobby for people who claim not to be vampires, but merely to have a genetic "condition." Oh, and fabulous Oswald is already engaged to an equally fabulous woman, Milagro's ex-boyfriend is still hunting her down, a decadent aristovamp visitor  has taken a special interest in Mil, and she's lost her apartment.

Can she be sincere and serious long enough to defeat her powerful enemies, save her new friends, and get back in time for cocktails at Casa Dracula, the place she's come to think of as her home?

About this title

From the Author

If vampires are so wealthy, sophisticated, and elegant, wouldn't they also be terrible snobs? I thought so and that was the inspiration for Happy Hour at Casa Dracula. I wanted to spoof cliches about vamps so I brought together career-obsessed vamps with the sort of character I love best -- a funny, bright, slightly self-delusional, but cheerful young woman who's trying to figure out her life.

I didn't know when I started how much I would come to love Milagro De Los Santos, the daughter of a heartless mother and a negligent father, as she searches for a home, a loving family, and true love with a fabulous man. Well, it makes sense, because I gave Milagro personality traits from some of my favorite fictional characters. She has a quick wit like Elizabeth Bennet. She's wacky and well-intentioned like Bridget Jones. She's enthusiastic and self-deluding like Bertie Wooster. She's trying to do the right thing like Anne Elliot. There's a dash of Jane Eyre's loneliness in her, too, and Milagro desperately wants a maternal figure to replace her beloved grandmother, who died long ago.

I love those romantic comedies set in a country house, where people are always misunderstanding one another, falling into and out of love, and operating with different agendas. The setting for Casa Dracula was inspired by my dear friends' wine country ranch. There were so many evenings we spent watching the sunset and sharing conversation and laughter. It's such a simple pleasure, relaxing with those you love, but so special, and I wanted Milagro to experience belonging to a family, even if it was a vampire family.

I hope you will enjoy my book and read the others in the series!

About the Author

Marta Acosta received a degree in English literature and creative writing from Stanford University. She is a regular contributor of features and home and gardening articles to The San Francisco Chronicle and the Contra Costa Times. Her Casa Dracula novels are Happy Hour at Casa Dracula, Midnight Brunch at Casa Dracula, and Haunted Honeymoon at Casa Dracula. She's also the author of Nancy's Theory of Style, Dark Companion, and The She-Hulk Diaries. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family and crazy rescued dogs. She is trying to learn how to bake a good loaf of bread and then she'll tackle the challenge of homemade tortillas.

About this edition

• Publisher: Pocket Star
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1416531602
• ISBN 13: 9781416531609
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 384