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inmyhumbleopinion's review
4.0
A Vampire for Christmas by Laurie London, Michele Hauf, Caridad Pineiro, and Alexis Morgan
Four holiday stories featuring vampires:
Enchanted by Blood by Laurie London seems to be a short from her Sweetblood series which I must admit I’ve not read. The story was sweet but not my favorite of the four. Maybe if I was familiar with the series I would have enjoyed it more.
Monsters Don’t do Christmas by Michele Hauf was a fun story taking on the definition of the word monster.
When Herald Angels Sing by Caridad Pineiro was the reason I purchased this book. Ms. Pineiro is on my auto-buy list. This story is a unique play on Scrooge. Well done and enjoyable.
All I Want for Christmas by Alexis Morgan was the biggest surprise and my favorite in this anthology. Great characters.
Four holiday stories featuring vampires:
Enchanted by Blood by Laurie London seems to be a short from her Sweetblood series which I must admit I’ve not read. The story was sweet but not my favorite of the four. Maybe if I was familiar with the series I would have enjoyed it more.
Monsters Don’t do Christmas by Michele Hauf was a fun story taking on the definition of the word monster.
When Herald Angels Sing by Caridad Pineiro was the reason I purchased this book. Ms. Pineiro is on my auto-buy list. This story is a unique play on Scrooge. Well done and enjoyable.
All I Want for Christmas by Alexis Morgan was the biggest surprise and my favorite in this anthology. Great characters.
scottishpixie26's review
4.0
They were all great, though I could have done without the third story. I loved how different they all were. Also, with the varying lengths of each story, I thought each story was the best length for it. It made the stories seem better and the authors didn't have to drag it out to be better.
ellenr272's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
It is four stories in one and I wouldn't really say any of them are worth it. The first one, Enchanted by blood was okay, but I found both the main characters kind of annoying and the lore of the world didn't really make sense to me (this is apparently part of a larger series, so perhaps if you've read that it would make more sense. I gave 2/5
The second story, Monsters don't do Christmas, I hated. 1/5 stars. Both main characters super annoyed me and I cringed through the entire story
The third and forth stories were both fine and I rated them 3/5
The second story, Monsters don't do Christmas, I hated. 1/5 stars. Both main characters super annoyed me and I cringed through the entire story
The third and forth stories were both fine and I rated them 3/5
sednadragon35's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This was a heart pumping series of stories that were a quick yet some were cheesy and others were bizarre. Yet there were stories with class differences, pirates, werewolves and plenty of steamy scenes. Some were better than others some were shorter than others.
missie_bee's review
3.0
When I read the title for this book, I knew I had to read it. I mean, seriously, who wouldn't want a vampire for X-mas? And since the book included short stories by authors I'd been meaning to check out for a while, it made me feel even more excited to give it a try.
Each story was a bit different from what I expected. They all offered many steamy scenes and had a heavy dose of romance, but none really introduced anything groundbreaking or new in terms of vampirism. Still, that was okay with me. The vampires featured were enough to satisfy my cravings, and the plots moved quickly enough for me to be okay with the insta-love angle.
My favorite of the group was Enchanted by Blood by Laurie London, which, I found out, is part of the Sweetblood series, so I'm now curious about the other stories in the series.
http://www.theunreadreader.com/2012/01/mini-review-vampire-for-christmas-red.html
Each story was a bit different from what I expected. They all offered many steamy scenes and had a heavy dose of romance, but none really introduced anything groundbreaking or new in terms of vampirism. Still, that was okay with me. The vampires featured were enough to satisfy my cravings, and the plots moved quickly enough for me to be okay with the insta-love angle.
My favorite of the group was Enchanted by Blood by Laurie London, which, I found out, is part of the Sweetblood series, so I'm now curious about the other stories in the series.
http://www.theunreadreader.com/2012/01/mini-review-vampire-for-christmas-red.html
jeanz's review
5.0
This book has four fanged Christmas tales in it and I have to say I really enjoyed all of them! The four novella's and authors are Enchanted by Laurie London, Monster's Don't Do Christmas by Michele Hauf, When Herald Angels Sing by Caridad Pineiro and All I Want For Christmas by Alexis Morgan.
Enchanted by Laurie London, is about Trace a vampire who is torn between duty to his heritage and family and his true happiness with the human woman that he loves. Trace also has to deal with the interference from his devious cousin Sebastian, who tries to use Charlotte to get at Trace. I loved this novella the well described likeable characters of Trace and Charlotte.
Monster's Don't Do Christmas by Michele Hauf , The main character and vampire in this novella is Daniel. Daniel had it all money, success and plenty of women too! then one night it all changed when he was bitten by a vampire! Daniel loses everything his job, his money and everyone he knows, he tries to keep away from "humans" and leave a sad quiet life as he thinks himself a monster who has no rights to a life. Until he meets Olivia, a famous singer who craves her privacy. Can they learn to live a quiet life together? Daniel is such a sad character since being made into a vampire he thinks he is a worthless monster. Olivia thinks herself a monster as she has to put on an act when she is being her public persona.
When Herald Angels Sing by Caridad Pineiro, This novella is a story of reincarnation, and living out the same sort of situation over and over until they behave in such a way that the Gods approve. If we had a chance to live certain parts of our lives any differently would we change the right things? Damien is the gorgeous Vampire in this novella and he has fallen deeply in love with Angelina who is in fact an Angel who has been sent by the Gods to show Damien the error of his ways. So will Damien learn the lessons the Gods want him to? and if he does can Damien and Angelina ever truly be together?
All I Want For Christmas by Alexis Morgan, In this novella Eaghan is the aged vampire who also happens to be a vampire. He is investigating young teenagers who are going missing and others who are suspected of selling their blood to new untrained vampires. Della owns the small diner that just happens to be in the rough area of town that Eaghan is undercover in. Della is a good samaritan, in that she regularly gives cups of coffee and meals away in exchange for odd jobs done for her in the diner. There are also Shifters and Fae in this book although you may not totally realise who is who until nearer the end of the book when things come to an action led climax! I loved Della's kind hearted loving character and she really deserves happiness of some sort, but would she judge Eaghan for being a vampire or cop? Would a relationship even work between them as Eaghan can often be away on undercover operations for days at a time?
So are you feeling a little festive yet, and wanting a book with that festive feeling? Take a look at this anthology it's a brilliant compilation of novella's with the added extra bonus of them having a Christmassy feel to them. They all have Vampires in them that are gorgeous with those wonderous eyes that only vampires have and all the novella's feature romance too. * I would warn that some of the parts of the novella's are quite steamy and have sexual references so this book strictly for the adults*
Enchanted by Laurie London, is about Trace a vampire who is torn between duty to his heritage and family and his true happiness with the human woman that he loves. Trace also has to deal with the interference from his devious cousin Sebastian, who tries to use Charlotte to get at Trace. I loved this novella the well described likeable characters of Trace and Charlotte.
Monster's Don't Do Christmas by Michele Hauf , The main character and vampire in this novella is Daniel. Daniel had it all money, success and plenty of women too! then one night it all changed when he was bitten by a vampire! Daniel loses everything his job, his money and everyone he knows, he tries to keep away from "humans" and leave a sad quiet life as he thinks himself a monster who has no rights to a life. Until he meets Olivia, a famous singer who craves her privacy. Can they learn to live a quiet life together? Daniel is such a sad character since being made into a vampire he thinks he is a worthless monster. Olivia thinks herself a monster as she has to put on an act when she is being her public persona.
When Herald Angels Sing by Caridad Pineiro, This novella is a story of reincarnation, and living out the same sort of situation over and over until they behave in such a way that the Gods approve. If we had a chance to live certain parts of our lives any differently would we change the right things? Damien is the gorgeous Vampire in this novella and he has fallen deeply in love with Angelina who is in fact an Angel who has been sent by the Gods to show Damien the error of his ways. So will Damien learn the lessons the Gods want him to? and if he does can Damien and Angelina ever truly be together?
All I Want For Christmas by Alexis Morgan, In this novella Eaghan is the aged vampire who also happens to be a vampire. He is investigating young teenagers who are going missing and others who are suspected of selling their blood to new untrained vampires. Della owns the small diner that just happens to be in the rough area of town that Eaghan is undercover in. Della is a good samaritan, in that she regularly gives cups of coffee and meals away in exchange for odd jobs done for her in the diner. There are also Shifters and Fae in this book although you may not totally realise who is who until nearer the end of the book when things come to an action led climax! I loved Della's kind hearted loving character and she really deserves happiness of some sort, but would she judge Eaghan for being a vampire or cop? Would a relationship even work between them as Eaghan can often be away on undercover operations for days at a time?
So are you feeling a little festive yet, and wanting a book with that festive feeling? Take a look at this anthology it's a brilliant compilation of novella's with the added extra bonus of them having a Christmassy feel to them. They all have Vampires in them that are gorgeous with those wonderous eyes that only vampires have and all the novella's feature romance too. * I would warn that some of the parts of the novella's are quite steamy and have sexual references so this book strictly for the adults*
fromjesstoyou's review
2.0
For the full book I give it 2.88 out of 5 stars. Too bad .. I hoped to like this book but I just couldn't get into it. There were some good parts, but just not good enough for me.
Enchanted By Blood by Laurie London - 3 out of 5 stars
Monsters Don't Do Christmas by Michele Hauf - 2.5 out of 5 stars
When Herald Angels Sing by Caridad Piñeiro - 2.5 out of 5 stars
All I Want For Christmas by Alexis Morgan - 3.5 out of 5 stars
Read more of my review(s) and FOUR TEASERS here: http://frommetoyouvideophoto.blogspot.com/2011/11/vampire-for-christmas-by-laurie-london.html
Enchanted By Blood by Laurie London - 3 out of 5 stars
Monsters Don't Do Christmas by Michele Hauf - 2.5 out of 5 stars
When Herald Angels Sing by Caridad Piñeiro - 2.5 out of 5 stars
All I Want For Christmas by Alexis Morgan - 3.5 out of 5 stars
Read more of my review(s) and FOUR TEASERS here: http://frommetoyouvideophoto.blogspot.com/2011/11/vampire-for-christmas-by-laurie-london.html
inlibrisveritas's review
3.0
First off, yes I know...it's not Christmas. I didn't get around to reading this during December like I had planned, so since it is still Winter I figured you guys would forgive me. Besides, vampires are good anytime of the year. This is a collection of short stories by four different authors, each with their own ideas on mixing the sexy paranormal with the joy of the holidays.
The first story, Enchanted Blood, is a short story from the Sweetbloods series, which I haven't had the chance to read.. I really liked the connection between Charlotte and Trace, and enjoyed the world enough that I will probably look into the series before too long. I didn't really get why her reaction to Trace's confession was so small though. It just felt too nice compared to the severity of the situation.
Monsters Don't Do Christmas by Michele Hauf is one that I found fairly odd. I didn't really understand the main character Olivia, who insisted that she was a monster just like her new vampire interest. As far as I could tell she wasn't even remotely monster-like, even when she was in the spotlight because she is a pop star. I kept waiting for her inner diva to rear it's head but no dice. Sadly the story sort of fell flat for me after awhile.
When Herald Angels Sing by Caridad Pirneilo is the third story and the one I found to be the most original. It had a storyline that I don't think I've ever seen the likes of and it was fairly interesting. I will say that this is one of those stories that you really wish had been given a full length book instead of 60 or so pages. The flashbacks were done really well and there was a fair amount of detail, but there really isn't any world building so I was a little lost on some aspects. I just wish it had been longer because it would have been much better I think.
All I Want for Christmas by Alexis Morgan is the last story and by far my favorite of the bunch. It's not connected to any series and it doesn't require a lot of explanation to get the point across, instead it's a great short story that draws you in. The relationship between the main characters is really sweet and the writing is very smooth and easy to read. This one certainly felt more Christmas-y then the others, and I would say is a perfect light read for the holidays.
Overall it's a nice collection of Christmas time short stories, that have the perfect amount of romance involved. By the end of it I'm fairly certain you'll want a vampire for Christmas
I received this from HQN Books and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
The first story, Enchanted Blood, is a short story from the Sweetbloods series, which I haven't had the chance to read.. I really liked the connection between Charlotte and Trace, and enjoyed the world enough that I will probably look into the series before too long. I didn't really get why her reaction to Trace's confession was so small though. It just felt too nice compared to the severity of the situation.
Monsters Don't Do Christmas by Michele Hauf is one that I found fairly odd. I didn't really understand the main character Olivia, who insisted that she was a monster just like her new vampire interest. As far as I could tell she wasn't even remotely monster-like, even when she was in the spotlight because she is a pop star. I kept waiting for her inner diva to rear it's head but no dice. Sadly the story sort of fell flat for me after awhile.
When Herald Angels Sing by Caridad Pirneilo is the third story and the one I found to be the most original. It had a storyline that I don't think I've ever seen the likes of and it was fairly interesting. I will say that this is one of those stories that you really wish had been given a full length book instead of 60 or so pages. The flashbacks were done really well and there was a fair amount of detail, but there really isn't any world building so I was a little lost on some aspects. I just wish it had been longer because it would have been much better I think.
All I Want for Christmas by Alexis Morgan is the last story and by far my favorite of the bunch. It's not connected to any series and it doesn't require a lot of explanation to get the point across, instead it's a great short story that draws you in. The relationship between the main characters is really sweet and the writing is very smooth and easy to read. This one certainly felt more Christmas-y then the others, and I would say is a perfect light read for the holidays.
Overall it's a nice collection of Christmas time short stories, that have the perfect amount of romance involved. By the end of it I'm fairly certain you'll want a vampire for Christmas
I received this from HQN Books and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
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