Beyond words. This was just so good from start to finish and I was blown away by the sheer brilliance of every aspect of this novel.

I do not even like horror stories. I tend to shun them as I am easily frightened. But this had me turning page after page in sheer awe.

The beauty of the writing made this a story about vampires that I WILL recommend to friends and family alike. The love story intertwined alternatingly had me yelling at the characters and crying when things went awry.

Desperately awaiting a third book from Isabel Cañas. Any wait is much too long... ( )

Historical fiction, romance, vampires! Vampires of El Norte is a captivating blend of genres, two of which I don't regularly read. This novel was fantastic! Beautifully written, with evocative imagery, gorgeous descriptions of twilight and skies, food and plant life. Peppered with Mexican words and phrases that sent me to my dictionary, Vampires of El Norte enhanced my vocabulary as well.

I enjoyed the alternating third-person viewpoints of protagonists Nena and Néstor. Their history, their relationships, their inner states were enthrallingly rendered. The scenes of closeness and intimacy between them were filled with longing and desire and were sweaty, steamy, delicious.

In her author's note, Isabel Cañas talks about all of the challenges and hard work that went into the writing of Vampires of El Norte. Kind of makes me feel bad that I devoured the novel in only six days. But I couldn't help myself: it's just that good. ( )

4.75/5

This book exceeded my expectations. Going in, I had not even read the book description, but the title caught my eye. Needless to say, a wonderful story. Nena drove me nuts, quite a bit of the time, as she just needed to get over herself and go back to Nestor, but their finale was worth the wait. A Horror Romance is exactly what this was and I loved it. ( )

I'm not usually big on romances but I do like horror and have a soft spot for Mexican history so I was willing to make an exception. This is my second book by this author and she is very good at describing life in the nineteenth century haciendas and in injecting suspense into her stories. She can be a bit florid at times and her characters tend to spend a lot of time soul searching, but that's the nature of the paranormal romance genre that hit its heyday in the 1970s with lots of books like the Dark Shadows series. I did enjoy this book more than her first book and will probably keep an eye out for her future publications. ( )

Well, well, well. This superb novel is one that is difficult to describe for sure. The Vampires of El Norte is about 60% beautiful love story mixed with about 40% horror. An unusual blend for sure, but one the author deftly pulls off with finesse. When I cracked open the book I was not familiar with the author Isabel Canas but I can assure you I will be looking now for her 1st book and everything that comes in the future. Her writing style is just beautiful, her character development excellent, and as for the plot she gets high praise from me for ingenuity and creativity. The horror aspects had edge-of-your seat chilling scenes, the love story was romantic in and old-fashioned chivalrous way.

In addition, this is a historical novel. The place is Mexico, the time is 1842 at the onset of the Mexican American War. I found this interesting because it is a time period I didn't know much about.

I have only one negative to express. The author used a LOT of Spanish words and phrases in the book. I think a glossary of terms at the end of the book would have been very helpful. I noticed that other Amazon reviewers had the same thought.

If you are up for something extremely original, give The Vampires of El Norte a try. I don't like to give spoilers but will say that the "vampires" in this story are not the kind of vampires we normally see in films or read about in other horror fiction.

4 stars from this new Isabal Canas fan! ( )