#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway 133: Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas

This week I have an ARC of a book that is releasing on August 15th and is in HIGH demand. Details below, but first, here is how you enter:

1. You need to be affiliated with an American public library. My rationale behind that is that I will be encouraging you to read these books and share them with patrons. While many of them are advanced reader copies that you cannot add to your collections, if you get the chance to read them, my hope is that you will consider ordering a copy for your library and give away the ARC away as a prize or pass it on to a fellow staff member.
2. If you are interested in being included in any giveaway at any time, you must email me at zombiegrl75 [at] gmail [dot] com with the subject line "#HorrorForLibraries." In the body of the email all you have to say is that you want to be entered and the name of your library.
3. Each entry will be considered for EVERY giveaway. Meaning you enter once, and you are entered until you win. I will randomly draw a winner on Fridays sometime after 5pm central. But only entries received by 5pm each week will be considered for that week. I use Random.org and have a member of my family witness the "draw"based off your number in the Google Sheet.
4. If you win, you are ineligible to win again for 4 weeks; you will have to re-enter after that time to be considered [I have a list of who has won, when, and what title]. However, if you do not win, you carry over into the next week. There is NO NEED to reenter.

Click here to see giveaway #132. Our winner was Susan from Grays Lake Area [IL] Public Library. Now on to today's giveaway.

Isabel Cañas made a HUGE splash with her debut novel, The Hacienda. And now she is back with Vampires of El Norte. My full review is below, but if you like Historical Romance with commentary on colonialism, and some scary vampires as both a metaphor and actual vampires, this is the book for you. In other words, I cannot think of a public library in America how would not have an audience for this book. 

Here is my draft review from the June 2023 issue of Library Journal via Goodreads.

Three Words That Describe This Book: Lush, Romance, Historical Horror 

Draft Review: October, 1837 and young Nena, the daughter of a wealthy Mexican rancher and her best friend, Néstor, the child of her father’s workers, escape into the night to look for silver, but a mysterious creature attacks Nena. Néstor carries her lifeless body home and runs away. Nine years later, Néstor returns to the ranch to help defend it from the American army and is shocked to see his years of grief, pining for his lost love were unnecessary, as Nena is alive and working as a curandera, a healer, for her father’s ranch, trying to prove she is worth more to him than her bride price. However, Nena has spent the last nine years angry that Néstor abandoned her. Told with an alternating narration between Nena and Néstor in 1846, Cañas’ background as a historian is on full display, as readers get a rich, confident, and compelling story wrapped in an authentic and detailed frame, with a satisfying Romance. The inclusion of vampires, hinted at from the start and seamlessly worked into the story throughout, intensifies the unease and danger of life in this place and time. A title that will thrill and chill, while also showcasing a marginalized part of American history.

Verdict: Fans of The Hacienda, of which there are many, will be eager for Cañas’ second novel. For readers who enjoy the Venn Diagram of where Pride and Prejudice by Austen, In the Valley of the Sun by Davidson, and anything by Alma Katsu overlap.

Thank you to Berkely for the ARC for me to read for review and then giveaway to one of you. 

Remember, you enter once and you are entered going forward. 

Good luck!