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Read this for my bookclub. Was not a fan, almost DNFd numerous times but for the sake of the discussion I pushed on. I think this book was marketed wrong. It's not a horror and there was maybe 4 scenes with vampires in total. It's a historical fiction romance with a miscommunication, don't ever talk to me again trope. Ick. And the main female character read much younger and more immature than intended. Sorry was not for me.

More historical romance than horror but it doesnt detract from the lush emotion & suspense in this gothic story.
When Nena & Nestor are attacked by a mysterious monster as children, Nestor flees, assuming his actions caused Nena‘s death. 9 years later, he returns as men from the rancho ride to defend Mexico from invaders.
Nena goes with to provide first aid, only to flee from Yanquis & the same monsters that nearly killed her when she was a child.

Wow, it‘s been much longer than I thought, Litsy! 2024 has been an extreme roller coaster over here. A couple of stress-relieving constants are cat cuddles and books. Been getting through quite a few spooky season reads! Looking forward to this one. #huey #catsoflitsy #botm

This was more historical romance than I was expecting, but I enjoyed it. Nena is the daughter of a Mexican rancher as Anglos from the north threaten their way of life. At the same time, another supernatural danger reappears and a man from her past returns. These were a different kind of vampire, and I wanted a few more answers in the end, but it was a great October read.

#LitsyBookClub #audiobook

The writing is beautiful and the sense of place is exceptional. It's a period of history that I don't know much about and the book does a great job of placing you in the setting and giving information without info dumping.

I went in expecting a horror book with vampires and I got a historical romance with a little bit of horror. My expectations were wrong and it's not really a genre I enjoy.

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#SundayFunday

I‘m looking forward to these 4 spooky reads from my #HauntedShelf TBR.

Team #Flerken

Finished this audiobook today and the weather this morning was just eerily perfect for this read. Happy I got to finally read this

Definitely a slow burn. Very slow going in most parts. Beautiful setting as usual for the author. Creepy ideas and good storyline, but I couldn‘t get past how long it took to get going and maintain the suspense. Not really for me.

This was great! Really well balanced, with a bit for most people. There is just enough action to balance the romance, with a hint of history and politics. I was not bored for a minute, thought the pacing was good, and the characters while not super deep were interesting and their motivations clear. I liked how the vampires were legit complex monsters (not romantic teens)
Big fun pick.

I was excited for this book. I thought it would be a vampire story. Instead I got a historical romance with a little bit of vampires thrown in. Not what I wanted. I almost quit the book at the half way point, but ultimately finished it. I wanted more of a horror story, but I got a war story, of Mexicans fighting off the English invaders. The writing style was fine, I just objected to the subject matter. 3 stars

Between a pick and a so-so. There was a lot I liked: the setting, the atmosphere, parts of the story, the culture. There were things I didn‘t: characters that grated on me, the vampire plot point felt unfinished. I really enjoyed doing a gothic book with this setting, and it was fun to interact with the others who left notes in it for #LMPBC

I took the day off of work and went to my favorite local coffee shop for a while. I started the next #LMPBC book, and now a thunderstorm is rolling in. A lovely start to summer 🥰

This was fine, it just was rather slow and I never felt that connected to either main character. It felt between a romance and a horror and historical fiction, never fully connecting to any of those genres. The writing is beautiful though. 3��
First May #roll100 pick done!

A new job has me reading less, but I can‘t give up #Bookspin 😊 It gives me something to look forward to every 2nd day of the month!

The book and goodies have arrived, @JackOBotts ! Thanks for sending the bookmark and sugar pick-me-ups 😊 Looking forward to reading this one!

I‘m currently making my way through The Haunting of Whitehall Manor, @KateReadsYA 👻
#LMPBC

@JamieArc ~ get ready…I hope to get this in the mail to you this week. 📚 #LMPBC #GroupG

And…this was my April #bookspin ~ #doublewhammy

FYI:

#LMPBC Round 20 Group G

@KateReadsYA @jamiearc

@suvata has mailed a book to @jackobotts

Enjoy!

This novel weaves together elements of vampiric horror, romance, the rugged landscape of the Texas-Mexico border, star-crossed lovers, and supernatural intrigue. Set in the 1840s it revolves around Nena, the daughter of a Mexican rancher, who grapples with the threat posed by Anglo settlers from the north. As tensions escalate, Nena discovers a more sinister force lurking near her ranch—one that drains men of their blood and leaves them for dead.

#LMPBC ROUND 20 GROUP G (Gothic Horror)

@KateReadsYA and @suvata have signed up for this group. Won‘t you join us?

Details and sign up here: bit.ly/3wioA8a

OMG!! A vampire appeared briefly at the beginning and we‘re just now seeing them again—at 55% in!! Hello! WHY are the title characters so absent?!? Instead we have a vapid romance between characters I frankly don‘t care about. I‘m just there for the vampires!! *feeling disgruntled*

I loved the setting: 1840s northern Mexico (current south Texas), Rancheros defending their land, cattle and lives from the Yanquis working to take over. And vampires! And insight into the class hierarchies and treatment of women. And deep love between a working vaquero and a daughter of a Patron. But I don‘t read romances and these veered too much that way for me. So me, not the book.

I loved the setting: 1840s northern Mexico (current south Texas), Rancheros defending their land, cattle and lives from the Yanquis working to take over. And vampires! And insight into the class hierarchies and treatment of women. And deep love between a working vaquero and a daughter of a Patron. But I don‘t read romances and this veered too much that way for me. So me, not the book.

I‘m on vacation for #joyousjanuary. It‘s minus 7 degrees in my town. Happy to be reading and hanging out with the resident black vultures that visit our pool at our house in Mexico we are sharing with friends. Plan to finish the tagged book, a Joy Harjo poetry collection, Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse and The Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno. @Andrew65

Good audio

It may be December, but #everydayishalloween

Also disappointing and worse that I read this back to back with Silver Nitrate.

Not gothic horror. I‘d classify this as gothic romance.

I‘m looking for The Strain. This wasn‘t that.

1846 Mexican/US border … the US is invading … Nena is out to prove her worth to her father when she runs into her childhood sweetheart who abandoned her & now at odds … they need to survive the night with something worse than Americans hunting them.

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If you want a love story, then this is probably a good one. Unfortunately, I wanted a vampire story which is really less than 10% of this book, so I was disappointed.

This was a huge improvement over the author‘s debut The Hacienda. I thought the historical aspect was much better integrated and the romance was much better developed. The narration was well done, but would have been hard to follow for someone without a baseline of Spanish vocabulary or familiarity with pronunciation. Could have been more vampires, TBH, but overall I really enjoyed this book, and it was perfect for the #Scarathlon season.

#Scarathlon #SpookyGhostClub @Clwojick

Like her previous book, this is a slow burn gothic horror. The romance in this one is a much bigger part of the story than in The Hacienda.

I wish there had been more vampire parts, but I still enjoyed this one and I love how the author can blend Mexican history and culture into a supernatural story.

#weekendreads

I‘m really hoping to finish both or at least one of these books by months end!

I'm not a fan of westerns, but apparently, all they've been missing is vampires. It's not true horror, more historical romance with a dash of supernatural. But I really liked it!

I'm not a particular fan of vampire books but I really liked this book (although that has nothing to do with the vampires). The writing is really good and my favorite aspects are the historical setting and the characters.

Childhood sweethearts Nena, a rancher‘s daughter and curandera, and Néstor, a vaquero and soldier, torn apart by class and by a terrible incident, must reunite to fight for their land and their lives in an 1840s Mexico invaded not only by colonizing Yankees, but vampires as well in this genre-defying work of historical fiction, horror, and romance. I do wish the balance was more horror over romance, however I deeply enjoyed the historical setting!

Hoping I will enjoy this audiobook better than my last listen.

I‘ve not engaged with any of the #Scarathlon daily photo prompts yet, but I‘m trying to be consistent for the rest of the month.

Good timing that this book‘s first chapter takes place in #October. My other current Kindle read (Emily Wilde‘s Encyclopedia of Faeries) is also set during October!

This was great storytelling. Dracula remains my favorite vampire story, but this is certainly my new favorite vampire adjacent story!

I don‘t know why I expected to not really like this book, but I loved it! Set in Mexico in 1840s. Americans start attacking Mexico, so they go to war. There are also vampires attacking the people of Mexico and there is a type of magic that can bring people back from the dead. Also has a romance in it.

I definitely liked this book more than the authors debut.

#scarathlon #magicalmonsters #littenlisten

Vampires from the author of the Hacienda 👀 https://youtu.be/5XU2qvPAfRA

Could I really do anything other than a vampire book for #blood? 😆 #Scarathlon #PhotoPrompt

#mischiefandmayhem

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Dripping in atmosphere, this is a great listen for the Halloween season! Cañas skillfully blended together multiple genres and I enjoyed both the setting and the romance. I thought it was really clever how the supernatural element was embodied in historical events - Yankee settlers in the form of vampires were trying to take land from Mexicans. (Also - what a gorgeous cover!) ?

I really enjoyed this story.
It has forbidden romance, war, vampires
It was a different take on vampires than I've read before.

I enjoyed this one. The story and the setting are fun. I liked Nena‘s character arc in particular. It does veer a tiny bit toward melodrama in places and can be a bit slow in spots, but not to a great degree. Plus it made me curious about vampires and salt.

I really liked this one! A great mix of history and horror with some love sprinkled in; can‘t beat that combo. #botm

Enjoying this one

It's not too late to sign up for #scarathlon, my favorite Litsy community event of the year. Fun challenges and a great opportunity to dive into those monster stories and spooky thrillers. My most anticipated read of the month is tagged! Sign up here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdnawYo1IDsBAr2s_LlqzBQlxM8KGwIqDxE1Dm4... @staycurious @clwojick @bookwormjillk #BOOkLovers

Wow! I opened up Litsy today and my feed was full of #Scarathlon posts! I love it lol! This is my (sure to change) TBR of spooky and cozy reads! #batbrigade

Finally put together my #bookspinbingo list for October. This also serves as my #scarathlon2023 TBR (though if I‘m being honest, there‘s no way I stick to this list 🤣)
#Bookspin #TeamBOOkLovers

Nena waited. After nine years apart, she still knew the rhythm of his speaking. She knew he had more to say, that he was searching for words or untangling a difficult thought. He was one of the few men she knew who spent time with his thoughts before speaking, even in the midst of an argument or excitement. It was one of the reasons she loved him.
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A sweeping, lush romance that takes place along the border of Texas and Mexico in the early to mid 1800s... but with vampires. Beautifully written. I often went back and forth between wanting to know what happens next and being anxious about what happens next. This is the second book Isabel Cañas has written and the second book of hers that I loved and I look forward to reading anything else she writes and re-reading what she already has.

The setting and atmosphere were great, but here‘s my main issue with the story: it was more a historical fiction with a romance at its center than a vampire story. The vampire action didn‘t amount to much until around halfway thru, and even then it took a backseat to the romance. I struggled to get into the story, and then I struggled to stay interested. 2.5/5â­�ï¸�

Thank you to Berkley for sending me an early digital copy for review #spookySeptember