Last Vampire Standing

by Nancy Haddock

228-year-old Francesca Marinelli thought her past was dead - until a stranger from the Atlanta vampire nestcrashes her home looking for sanctuary. A budding stand-up comic, Jo-Jo's running from an undead superior eager to drive a stake through the heart of his dream job. But Jo-Jo's bad jokes aren't the only dark clouds on the horizon. A psychotic vampire with a murderous agenda has followed Jo-Jo to Florida - putting everyone close to Francesca in...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0425227545
• ISBN13: 9780425227541
• Release Date: May 2009
• Publisher: Berkley Books
• Length: 312 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.2"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Fun vampire story

Finally the famous Sunshine State vampire Francesca Marinelli is back and her adventures in St. Augustine continue. The surfing and shopping addicted vampire princess is back to causing some havoc in Florida. LAST VAMPIRE STANDING picks up where La Vida Vampire left off. Due to her fight with the French bride killer Cesca gets unwanted to attention from the vampire society, who doesn't like the attention she attracts to the existence of vampires. But that doesn't disturb Cesca's fun, especially when she has a wonderful house warming party in her near future, unfortunately the party is crashed by Jo-Jo, a former medieval jester. He needs her help, because he is on the run from his vampire community. At first Cesca is reluctant to help him because normally she doesn't like Vamps, but Jo-Jo is just too sweet, so that she wants help him to realize his dream of a show business career. Unfortunately Jo-Jo problems follow him from Atlanta and Cesca's well organized life is suddenly turned upside down. To fully enjoy LAST VAMPIRE STANDING you should read La Vida Vampire prior to reading this one, so that you get the background information about Francesca and the rest of the gang. You meet several of the characters again, that you encounter in La Vinda Vampire, like Pandora the shapeshifter or Triton, Cesca's girlhood crush and her relationship with Deke Saber is getting more and more intense. LAST VAMPIRE STANDING is from the first to the last page a thoroughly enjoyable book and I had a hard time to put it down, because I wanted to see how the story line continues. I had a great time discovering new sides to Cesca as well as the development of the secondary characters. If you are looking for a fun story that is a mixture of urban fantasy and some thriller, you definitely have to pick up your copy! Courtesy of Loveromances and More

Give me more Cesca and Saber!!

Last Vampire Standing takes place a couple of months after the events in La Vida Vampire. Maggie has finished renovating the Victorian house that she found Cesca buried under. Cesca has finished decorating the carriage house/guest house that Maggie renovated for her. Saber is still very much a part of Cesca's life, their relationship growing closer. On the night of their housewarming party, it is crashed by a subservient vamp by the name of Jo-Jo. Once a jester in medieval times, he wants to break into stand up comedy. He is on the run from the leader of his nest and needs Cesca's help. He needs protection and to polish his act. Cesca is hesitant to help because she doesn't like vamps and doesn't want to be around them. But Jo-Jo is endearingly sweet, so unlike the other vamps, and wants to fufill his dream of a career in show business. So she decides to help him as long as he promises to leave St. Augustine when he hits the big time. Then it seems that trouble has followed Jo-Jo from Atlanta. Can Cesca figure out what is going on before she ends up dead for good? My synopsis is a little thin because there is so much going on in this book that I want readers to be as surprised as I was. Nothing is always what it seems in Ms. Haddock's world which is what makes it so engaging. The quirky nature of these books makes for an amusing and fun read. But what brings it to another level is the intricate mystery and the history that Cesca can't escape. Cesca and Saber are becoming closer but at the same time are not rushing things. It makes for a very believable relationship. They aren't promising forever, they are just letting their feelings grow and see where things go. Maggie and Neil are great secondary characters but again Ms. Haddock doesn't let the focus slip from Cesca and Saber. More of Cesca's past gets explored in this volume which I love, love, love! It is so wonderful to see what creative minds can do by taking a subject like vampires and taking it in such a fresh direction. I really hope that more people get hooked on this series. I can't wait to see where it goes from here. Originally reviewed for Night Owl Romance

Last Vampire Standing

Not easy being a vampire in sun shine state of Florida. Fran has made the best of it with her ghost tours and putting a restraining order against the local vampire hunter. With a virus going around infecting vampires mind Fran and her cop boyfriend finds themselves against a killer vampire that may or may not be framing the local vampire nests and make our undead bloodsucker truely dead. Things get heated up when she stand having contact from her former shape shifter boyfriend who believes they have a destiny together.

What a Hoot and a Great Mystery to Boot!

Last Vampire Standing by Nancy Haddock I knew with the very first chapter of La Vida Vampire (Oldest City Vampire, Book 1) that I had found something worth my book reading time, my patience and my cash. I don't think I had even actually finished this book before I was off and running recommending it to anyone that would listen to me. I just knew that here was finally an author that knew how to write a fresh, funny vampire mystery/romance series. Now with the release of Ms. Haddocks newest, "Last Vampire Standing (Oldest City Vampire, Book 2) I am positive that we have the making for a long running series; a wonderful roller coaster ride that has me chortling with glee, and already anxious for my next fix of Princes Francesca, or Cesca (rhymes with Fresca) as she likes to be called! All Cesca ever wanted from her underdead life...er...death was to make up for the centuries of being buried. She wants to live her life like a semi-normal human being. She wants to blend with the humans, shop Wal-Mart, surf (yes; a surfing Vampire, who knew!) have a boyfriend and give her historic ghost tours. After all she is living history. But alas, the road to hell is paved with good intentions and what could she do when the fates brought to her doorstep Jo-Jo the Jester? Yep J J the Jester (Ms Haddock has a real creative imagination!) Then comes more trouble in the shape of Ike the head vamp from Daytona, his henchwoman Laurell (who braids her hair using human bones as decoration) and Vlad the head honcho from Atlanta (what mother would name her baby Vlad?) and Marcus, a blast form Cesca's past. Toss into the mix Cesca learning how to fly, helping J J with updating his comedy act, some new Vamp powers of hers coming on line, a prophecy starting to come true, an old very old friend helping her out, a shape shifting cat and a surprise from her boyfriend Deke--and you have the makings of a rollicking good read. This second book in the series delivers a more difficult mystery to be solved, wonderfully fleshed out secondary characters and even some pretty humorous tertiary characters like next door neighbors Hugh and Selma Lister. Run, walk, fly or down-load it to your Kindle; I don't care how you do it, just go and get this book. If you haven't read La Vida Vampire yet, then may I suggest that you splurge on that book too, although you don't need to have read it to understand what is going on in this second book in the series! Happy reading!

fun urban fantasy

Over two centuries old, vampire Francesca Marinelli feels undead life is great since she regained her freedom due to her new friend Maggie digging her out of the ground while renovating her house. She loves living in St, Augustine where she was born in 1780 and now is considered royalty by the local press and has a boyfriend paranormal crime investigator Deke Saber. Cesca likes having friends who are loyal because of their relationship not her rank and working as a tour guide of St. Augustine's Old Ghost Town. However, on the down side is her recent battle with the French Bride Killer (see LA VIDA VAMPIRE) has given her unwanted publicity amidst vampire circles who detest the Vampire Princess as the media calls her. The PR proves ominous when Jo-Jo of the Atlanta vampire nest begs Cesca for sanctuary from a vamp who wants to stake the stand-up comic for certain jokes he told. Finally her shapeshifting childhood friend Triton keeps sending her telepathic warnings that she is in trouble while an insane vampire comes to Florida seeking to kill Jo-Jo and anyone protecting him. The second humorous Vampire Princess urban fantasy is an enjoyable lighthearted thriller filled with tension somewhat abated by the amusing observations of modern life by the heroine, who was buried in 1803 so has the late eighteenth century as her reference points. The story line is fast-paced as trouble from Georgia comes to the Sunshine State. Nancy Haddock provides a jocular tale even with a paranormal psychopath coming to kill anyone harboring Jo-Jo ergo Cesca. Harriet Klausner