Scan barcode
yodamom's review
3.0
A cute romance of three different para-couples. It was almost like three short novels, tied together at the end. I found it somewhat predictable and even corny at times but was a fun engaging light read. Sex is graphically described but not over done.
cheesygiraffe's review
3.0
Cutesy Christmas vampire romances. They all interconnected. I think I enjoyed the 3rd one the best. It's a Wonderful Bite! :)
naceprettub's review
2.0
I got this one free through my Kindle and figured "what the heck?" It seemed like something that might amuse me and probably would be a little different.
The Bite Before Christmas contains three short stories. I'm not usually a fan of shorts just because I like details and I feel like I don't have time to really *love* the characters. The reason I read is to get lost in a story. I find I'm not able to do that with a shorter book.
TBBC was cute and probably what I was expecting. It follows three couples who are all connected in some way. Connor and Jillian, Vivian and Sean and Angelina and Ian. Angelina is a professional matchmaker and has a hand in the first two couples relationships.
I've never read anything else written by Heidi Betts so I can't really review her writing style as fully as I'd like. As short stories go, it was an ok read that was light and fluffy. The bonus is that it was free. I wish Goodreads allowed "half" stars as well. I liked it more than "two" but probably not "three".
The Bite Before Christmas contains three short stories. I'm not usually a fan of shorts just because I like details and I feel like I don't have time to really *love* the characters. The reason I read is to get lost in a story. I find I'm not able to do that with a shorter book.
TBBC was cute and probably what I was expecting. It follows three couples who are all connected in some way. Connor and Jillian, Vivian and Sean and Angelina and Ian. Angelina is a professional matchmaker and has a hand in the first two couples relationships.
I've never read anything else written by Heidi Betts so I can't really review her writing style as fully as I'd like. As short stories go, it was an ok read that was light and fluffy. The bonus is that it was free. I wish Goodreads allowed "half" stars as well. I liked it more than "two" but probably not "three".
wealie's review
3.0
3 🌟🌟🌟 - but only just! A predictable and ropey trilogy of loosely connected Vampire Christmas stories.
All I vant for Christmas wasn’t bad, but pretty predictable and not very steamy.
A Vampire in her Stocking was marginally more interesting, but I couldn’t get past the male protagonist being called ‘Sean Spicer’! I kept imagining Melissa McCarthy on her moving podium from this year’s SNL skits. This rather took me out of the story and made it hard to take the character seriously.
It’s a Wonderful Bite Just left me cold and I struggled to get through this one.
All I vant for Christmas wasn’t bad, but pretty predictable and not very steamy.
A Vampire in her Stocking was marginally more interesting, but I couldn’t get past the male protagonist being called ‘Sean Spicer’! I kept imagining Melissa McCarthy on her moving podium from this year’s SNL skits. This rather took me out of the story and made it hard to take the character seriously.
It’s a Wonderful Bite Just left me cold and I struggled to get through this one.
bwilhoite8's review
4.0
This book has three short stories in one. I usually don't read books like this but thought this one looked good. I liked the first and the third story the best. What I like most was that in each story the characters are tied together.
lenoreo's review
4.0
A fun and sexy set of novellas. Loved how they tied together, loved the humour as well as heart. Probably enjoyed the first 2 more than the last one, but all in all very enjoyable read.
cindymarie's review
4.0
This was surprisingly good!
The description on Goodreads isn't right. The back cover of the book has the wrong names on it. The guy on the cover doesn't match any of the characters in the book. Basically it's a hot mess on the outside.
On the inside you'll find 3 vampire romances, all from the same author. They all tie together nicely. Only the first is really Christmasy, the other 2 take place around Christmas but don't really have anything to do with the holiday. That's the main reason I'm giving this 4 stars instead of 5.
The description on Goodreads isn't right. The back cover of the book has the wrong names on it. The guy on the cover doesn't match any of the characters in the book. Basically it's a hot mess on the outside.
On the inside you'll find 3 vampire romances, all from the same author. They all tie together nicely. Only the first is really Christmasy, the other 2 take place around Christmas but don't really have anything to do with the holiday. That's the main reason I'm giving this 4 stars instead of 5.
prationality's review against another edition
3.0
When you think of Christmas do you think of Vampires? Do you wonder if Vampires celebrate Christmas? I honestly don't tend to. Paranormal folks are all the range right now, but I wouldn't judge that trend by this collection however.
"All I Vant for Christmas"
I'm not a stranger to navigating prickly relatives during the holiday (just ask me how many serving platters we go through each year), but my family has nothing on Connor's perpetually college-age brother and sister. Jillian's handling of them was believable--reverse psychology for the win every time. The instant attraction between Jillian and Connor was amusing, as was their 'frank discussion' about the mechanics of human/vampire sex.
The inclusion of why Jillian's ex-boyfriend broke up with her felt unnecessary however and just tacked on to give her a reason to 'seduce' Connor. The ending was refreshing as it felt more 'realistic' than a lot of vampire romances; no eternal pledges of love, just acknowledgement that what they have is special and worth pursuing.
"A Vampire in her Stocking"
I had one major problem with this story, no wait actually two major problems. One was the manner in which Nick becomes a vampire and two is his reaction, not too long after, said change. I find it highly suspect that Angelina would do such a thing, even if it was in the best interests of Vivian and Nick. Since she seems more like one of the vampires who wishes to blend in and not create a stir. I give Vivian props for being so adamantly upset with Angelina for what she did, but what she did was just this side of ghoulish.
And then Nick's response wasn't much better. His initial response was called for and understandable, but a couple weeks later? When he learns that being a vampire might not be so bad if he gets to have rocking sex with Vivian whenever? Yeah. I'd think there would be more consequences of Angelina's actions, at the very least with his family? His coworkers? None of that is really explored, instead we get an angst filled tale of guilt and sex.
"It's a Wonderful Bite"
I'll be honest, I mostly skimmed this tale. I have nothing against the movie for which this is loosely based around, but this re-invented version was maudlin and needlessly dramatic. Add to it that Angelina as a mortal seemed stripped of all her common sense and this made for a forgetable, lamentable read.
Angelina mourns the fact that her lover of 80 years, Ian Hart, hasn't asked her to marry him. Its pretty obvious that until she approaches the subject with him (during sex) that its not a topic they've discussed before nor did she really seem to care until recently. We don't really get a good handle on Ian in this story either. Ian as a vampire only makes appearances at the very beginning and very end, and Ian as a mortal has some highly questionable moral issues to work on.
As a collection this was a letdown. The stories went downhill as they progressed and with the exception of the first one I didn't even buy into the romance.
"All I Vant for Christmas"
I'm not a stranger to navigating prickly relatives during the holiday (just ask me how many serving platters we go through each year), but my family has nothing on Connor's perpetually college-age brother and sister. Jillian's handling of them was believable--reverse psychology for the win every time. The instant attraction between Jillian and Connor was amusing, as was their 'frank discussion' about the mechanics of human/vampire sex.
The inclusion of why Jillian's ex-boyfriend broke up with her felt unnecessary however and just tacked on to give her a reason to 'seduce' Connor. The ending was refreshing as it felt more 'realistic' than a lot of vampire romances; no eternal pledges of love, just acknowledgement that what they have is special and worth pursuing.
"A Vampire in her Stocking"
I had one major problem with this story, no wait actually two major problems. One was the manner in which Nick becomes a vampire and two is his reaction, not too long after, said change. I find it highly suspect that Angelina would do such a thing, even if it was in the best interests of Vivian and Nick. Since she seems more like one of the vampires who wishes to blend in and not create a stir. I give Vivian props for being so adamantly upset with Angelina for what she did, but what she did was just this side of ghoulish.
And then Nick's response wasn't much better. His initial response was called for and understandable, but a couple weeks later? When he learns that being a vampire might not be so bad if he gets to have rocking sex with Vivian whenever? Yeah. I'd think there would be more consequences of Angelina's actions, at the very least with his family? His coworkers? None of that is really explored, instead we get an angst filled tale of guilt and sex.
"It's a Wonderful Bite"
I'll be honest, I mostly skimmed this tale. I have nothing against the movie for which this is loosely based around, but this re-invented version was maudlin and needlessly dramatic. Add to it that Angelina as a mortal seemed stripped of all her common sense and this made for a forgetable, lamentable read.
Angelina mourns the fact that her lover of 80 years, Ian Hart, hasn't asked her to marry him. Its pretty obvious that until she approaches the subject with him (during sex) that its not a topic they've discussed before nor did she really seem to care until recently. We don't really get a good handle on Ian in this story either. Ian as a vampire only makes appearances at the very beginning and very end, and Ian as a mortal has some highly questionable moral issues to work on.
As a collection this was a letdown. The stories went downhill as they progressed and with the exception of the first one I didn't even buy into the romance.
More...