Book Review: Vampires of El Norte is Not the Vampire Thriller You Think it is
You might absolutely love Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas if you were a fan of the vibes of Cormac McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses, and the vampires from the movie, Priest with Paul Bettany and Maggie Q. If these two had a baby, it would be this book. I’m so glad I went into it knowing it was more of a romance novel because I would have been totally disappointed if I assumed it was a vampire thriller. Yes, the vampires are there, but the story focuses primarily on Nestor and Nena’s relationship. I would highly recommend the audiobook, which I thoroughly enjoyed, as it’s dual narrated, and they both did a wonderful job. This is also a perfect read going into fall, as it does have some tense, dark, spooky moments.
Things to Know:
Standalone
Dual POV
Mexican historical fiction
Romance
Old Western vibes
Vampires (but they are not the MC)
“Vampires, vaqueros, and star-crossed lovers face off on the Texas-Mexico border in this supernatural western from the author of The Hacienda.”
I really couldn’t describe it better. Set in 1840s Mexico along the Texan border, war between the two countries over land is imminent. Nena is the daughter of el jefe essentially. They own a huge cattle ranch, and Nestor is the poor vaquero who has loved her since they were best friends as children. You can imagine how happy that makes her parents who want to marry her off to another rancher’s son to solidify their strength with important land allies. Nena is attacked and Nestor believes she’s dead, so he runs away for almost a decade. Nena believes Nestor abandoned her. And both are grieving the loss. Talk about unrequited love!
When war breaks out, they find themselves traveling together, fighting to stay alive, and old feelings resurface. The take on vampires felt super interesting, and again, reminded me so much of the vampires in Priest. I really did love Nestor—talk about a man willing to do ANYTHING for his one true love. Book Boyfriend goals. Nena also has an incredible, tenacious spirit, and wants to prove herself capable.
Now if I had one gripe (ok two), it would be that I’m sick of the male MCs getting a free pass to go sleep around for years, while the female MC stays all virginal and can’t even be seen walking alone with a man (clutches pearls!). Guys, keep it in your pants! My other slight nitpick is with Nena’s infuriating thought process. I literally wanted to shake her multiple times for making really stupid decisions. But alas, we wouldn’t have a book otherwise.
Other than that, I would absolutely recommend this book to readers who love historical fiction, old western settings, and romance with a touch of the paranormal. 4.25 stars
Fave Quotes:
“He was a man of dust who served men of silver: it was impossible not to know his place in the world.”
“What’s that, you ask? Why are we alone in the chaparral, looking very much worse for the wear and clearly running from something? Well, for that I have a perfectly reasonable answer. Vampires, señor. We are running from vampires.”
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