Midnight Brunch

The second book in the Casa Dracula series, Midnight Brunch, continues to prove Marta Acosta's ability to write hilarious dialogue and charmingly quirky vampires. The one-of-a-kind Milagro De Los Santos has managed to endeared herself to the majority of the Grant clan and might just have found her place in the world with them. Of course, that means trouble for poor Milagro.

Milagro's relationship with Oswald doesn't sit well with his parents and they make every effort to make sure she knows it. Who hasn't been there at one time or another in their life? I love how this series is both totally wacky and yet completely relateable.

The Casa Dracula series manages a terrific feat: it gets better and better with every book. Milagro is always show more Milagro, getting into the strangest trouble and leading the reader on an laugh out load adventure. Midnight Brunch is very entertaining. show less

Hip, funny Milagro de los Santos thinks she's finally found love and a home at the California ranch of fabulous Oswald Grant and his urbane relatives, who have a rare genetic disorder that some call vampirism. But Milagro is bewildered when she's excluded from an ancient and mysterious midnight ceremony whose participants include Oswald's unfriendly parents, a creepy family elder, and Milagro's ex-lover, the powerful and decadent Ian Ducharme. What skeletons are the vampires keeping in their designer closets?
When Milagro's life is threatened by a rogue family member, she flees to the desert to hide. Instead of solitude, she encounters an egomaniacal actor, a partying heiress, a sly tabloid reporter, and a lavish spa full of dark show more secrets -- all of which might help her find a way home. show less

A young woman finds herself in love with a man and trying to fit in with his unusual family. Not only is she a Latina amongst a lot of Caucasians, but this family has some very unsettling secrets. Milagro De Los Santos soon finds that fitting into this family may be not only difficult, but dangerous as well.

This book gave me a day of escape, but it is not my usual fodder. At first I was very put off at the denseness of Milagro when she is supposed to be an educated woman, but at least her character had some growth, and for that reason I went ahead and finished the book. There was too much telling in this story, not enough showing. It seemed that each time a character entered the story we were treated to a full description of their show more outfit, their eyebrows and their noses. In order to get the character of Milagro, there was name dropping. Granted, the name dropping included a lot of great books she was reading, organizations she supported and such, but it still came across as name dropping. I couldn't really fit the pieces together for this woman. In fact, sometimes I suspected her of being a Mary Sue. show less

When I first picked up Marta Acosta’s Happy Hour at Casa Dracula, I have to admit, I went in expecting a certain type of vampire and that’s not really what I ended up with. My expectation did not do me any favors and it colored my opinion of the book a little. This time around, when I picked up Midnight Brunch (at Casa Dracula), I knew exactly what to expect and I loved it.

Milagro de los Santos has been at the ranch with the rest of the Grant family for a year now. She’s happily involved with Oswald and she’s getting ready to meet more members of his family, including his parents. Sam and Winnie have had their baby and more vampires are gathering for a naming ceremony, hence the family gathering. At the ceremony, Milagro meets show more Silas Madison who’s more than willing to share some of the society’s secrets. What Milagro doesn’t know is he has plans for her and they don’t necessarily take into consideration her health or her interests. When she realizes what Silas wants, she escapes to the desert where she’s offer the chance to rewrite a script, stay at a gorgeous health spa resort and finds herself in even more trouble than before.

Midnight Brunch (at Casa Dracula) is a fun and quirky novel that continues on with Acosta’s witty sense of humor and gives us some great character development. Plus, we’re given more insight into her vampire culture various members gather for the birth of Sam and Winnie’s child. Through this family gathering, Acosta allows us to glean various tidbits from some eccentric characters without having to develop any emotional ties to the family. Of all the new faces we meet at the Grant Ranch, we are introduced to one man who becomes the epicenter for all of Milagro’s troubles and he’s not your typical nefarious vampire bad guy.

I did have one part of this novel that didn’t sit well with me. At the beginning, Milagro takes a lot of flack from various different characters. Because of her heritage and body, some of the “upper crust” that are her friends begin to take advantage of her generosity and she continually gets walked over. It’s like she really doesn’t have a backbone, or she does, but she either doesn’t care or she doesn’t want to use it. I understand that Milagro has a very low quota of self-esteem when it comes to herself, and it works with the story, but I guess I just have something against the idea that people should be walked all over.

Overall, I really did enjoy this novel. It took me a little longer to get through since I was in the process of moving, but I found myself wanting to get back to the story. I wanted to see what was going on. There are all these little nuances that something is going on, but nothing so obviously that it trips any radars. The characters have so many different layers that it’s fun to watch them all unfold. Acosta has a unique view on the vampire society and it’s really refreshing. Especially if you love vampires and are looking for something that isn’t of the dark and/or twisted natures that a lot of authors are sharing these days. This is a really fun series to read, and if you like the Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris or even the Queen Betsy series by MaryJanice Davidson (although I starting to think the Casa Dracula series is going to start trumping the MJD series on my “must get” list) then you should definitely run out to a bookstore or library and find this book.

http://www.literaryescapism.com/2008/07/10/271/ show less

I really like this series' heroine Milagro. She is a sassy, brash hoot. She is also caring, loving, intelligent and wity. Its so easy to root for her. I have to say that "Midnight Brunch" moved along a lot slower for me than the first book "Happy Hour At Casa Dracula" did. When the book opens, Milagro is trying to learn some secrets about boyfriend Oswald's family. She is hurt because she hasn't been invited to Winnie and Sam's babies christening. This is because it is actually an ancient vampire rite and Milagro isn't supposed to know about it. When Milagro meets a couple of vampires in the family who belive that they are superior to humans in every way, Milagro finds herself deeply involved in their scheme. For some reason they show more believe that her blood is special and that she is the awaited one...all this because she was infected by a vampire and yet overcame the infliction. The book follows it story arc to about the beginning of the second part of the tale, when Milagro is working as a screenplay re-writer and being kept in a luxury resort/spa. The characters she meet while here are all unbelievably funny and the situations she finds herself in made me laugh aloud a time or two and smile widely many more. Funny Milagro kicks butt. Her friends and Oswald's family are some of the best written supporting characters in the genre. "Midnight Brunch" doesn't break any records for its storyline or general plot but it does provide another enjoyable read from a capable and engaging author. show less

I'd like to thank Marta Acosta for sending me a copy of this book. You are awesome.Midnight Brunch is the sequel of Happy Hour at Casa Dracula. It starts with our protagonist Milagro de los Santos living with her boyfriend Oswald at the ranch where she has been staying for over a year since the accidental blood infection took place. But an unfortunate introduction to Oswald's parents and heated argument between out two love birds, mysterious family rituals and shady relatives takes our beloved Milagro on another adventure.I am officially categorizing this as a Chicklit Vampire Mystery Comedy. It was still a laugh-out-loud read. Who wouldn't love Milagro? She's funny, ballsy, smart, and sexy. One can easily relate to her, except for the show more genetic disorder called Vampirism, it's funny how until now Oswald's family at the ranch refuse to admit that they are bloodsucking entity. I found myself drawn to Ian's character and was secretly rooting for him, the absence of Oswald from the good part of the book made me doubt his intentions. Plus seriously being a mama's boy is so irritating.Milagro also had a lot to deal with on this book. Romantic issues, career developments, egotistical has been actor, vampire psychos, etc. From living in the ranch to getting stabbed and a quick escape from being drained in the city to finally arriving at a place named as La Basura, how ironic that she ended up fleeing over there. I found myself really happy that she was given a chance to rewrite a screen play not exactly the book deal she wanted but definitely a stepping stone but that was interrupted when Thomas Cook showed up. I am also relieved that the vampire theme here still stayed as human as possible. No bloodbaths, a show of excessive strength and over the top vampire qualities. The biggest incentives of this book will be insane moments, witty dialogues, interesting new characters, bigger mysteries and complicated matters of the heart. Expect to laugh and symphatize with Milagro all the way. I can't wait to read the next book. show less

I don't know why I keep reading these books. I don't, really. I guess because I bought four of them I should read them but they're not exactly what you would call brain teasers. This one actually started out more boring than the last but on the plus side the plot was not so obvious.

I have to admit I have grown to like the main character although I much prefer the dark lord Ian to the MC's beau Oswald.

I'll keep reading on for laughs and to see if they get better. By the end of it, I may actually like the series.