Marta Acosta's The Bride of Casa Dracula

The Bride of Casa Dracula by Marta Acosta

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book 3 of Milagro De Los Santos' adventures pulls you in from page one and doesn't let you go until you turn the last page. I was so absorbed by the book that I read it in one sitting.

At the end of Midnight Brunch, Oswald proposes to Milagro. Cheers are heard across the land. Except for inside the Council. Or from his Mother. Oh, and Ian isn't very happy about it, either. But, our Milagro knows what she wants and is determined to get it. So she dutifully heads off (alone—Oswald has to work, of course!) to the east coast to meet with the Council and get their approval. She arrives at the hotel to find her reservation has been cancelled and her college friend Toodles is down with the flu. Then, in a shocking turn of events (she said knowingly), Ian just happens to be in the city as well. He comes to her rescue (again) by providing a place to stay and taking her out for supper. Fortunately, Ian's new girlfriend Ilena is there, so Milagro is not about to jump all over him (even though she really wants to). When she returns to Casa Dracula, it's with the news that the Council is still deliberating and they want her and Oswald to practice celibacy until the wedding, which is not for 3 more months! Oh, and they want her to swear loyalty and fealty to the Vampire Nation and renounce the USA. O.o

You've got to wonder how Milagro gets herself into these fixes. Needless to say, she is very unhappy about the whole celibacy thing. And there's no way she's going to give up her American citizenship. And really, this kind of stress is the last thing she needs, what with her writing career going nowhere fast and poor Daisy, her beloved dog, dying. But she soldiers on, because that is what our Milagro does, and even though fate seems to keep shoving her back two steps for every three she takes forward, she is bound and determined to make this wedding come to pass. Or is it fate? Some of these supposedly coincidental coincidences seem awfully convenient. And the more they happen, the more it appears that poor Milagro has gone 'round the bend.

I thoroughly enjoyed this instalment of the Adventures of the Miracle of the Saints at Casa Dracula. Marta Acosta has proven yet again that she knows what she is doing—and that's write an engaging, funny, appealing, and memorable romantic comedy. This series is a definite keeper.