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A review by divapitbull
The Bite Before Christmas by Lynsay Sands, Jeaniene Frost
3.0
I loved one story and hated the other.
The Gift by Lynsay Sands:
I give this story 1 star but this is based purely on a matter of preference and not a reflection on the work itself. I had intentionally avoided the Argeneau series after a cursory glance at reviews told me I would find it too tame, bland and boring for my tastes. I prefer morally ambiguous characters with a side of violence, kinky sex and foul language, ergo The Gift most definitely was not something I would gravitate towards. It was however a wonderful story if your thing is sweet and heartwarming with two really nice people finding love and enjoying a dollop of vanilla sex with G rated language.
Not being familiar with the series it did take me a little while to figure out that when one is "turned" one reverts to their "prime" in terms of youth. Therefore I spent at least half the story thinking I stumbled upon an AARP romance (not that there's anything wrong with that); however the "shared sex dream" between Katricia and the 64 year old Teddy was a bit...disconcerting.
I also have to note that the Argeneau vampires don't take their sustenance straight from the tap, they subsist solely on bagged blood. What sort of self respecting vampire would do that? Seems to me that biting people has to be half the fun. These vamps are one step away from sparkling.
Home For the Holidays by Jeaniene Frost:
This is the story I bought the book for and it - 5 star - did not disappoint. When a demon possesses Bones and the rest of his vampy crew; only Cat, Dennise and Ian are left unaffected and charged with saving the day. There is lots of thoroughly enjoyable, humorous vintage Ian; his "show and tell" of his strategically placed warding tattoo was classic. Vlad was unavailable to lend assistance this time as he was not answering his cell phone and no doubt was wrapped up in the events of whatever was happening in the Night Prince spin off series. Home For the Holidays seemed to capture some of the "what's going to happen next"? tension that was present in the beginning of the series but that was missing from the last 2 installments, and was lots of fun.
The Gift by Lynsay Sands:
I give this story 1 star but this is based purely on a matter of preference and not a reflection on the work itself. I had intentionally avoided the Argeneau series after a cursory glance at reviews told me I would find it too tame, bland and boring for my tastes. I prefer morally ambiguous characters with a side of violence, kinky sex and foul language, ergo The Gift most definitely was not something I would gravitate towards. It was however a wonderful story if your thing is sweet and heartwarming with two really nice people finding love and enjoying a dollop of vanilla sex with G rated language.
Not being familiar with the series it did take me a little while to figure out that when one is "turned" one reverts to their "prime" in terms of youth. Therefore I spent at least half the story thinking I stumbled upon an AARP romance (not that there's anything wrong with that); however the "shared sex dream" between Katricia and the 64 year old Teddy was a bit...disconcerting.
I also have to note that the Argeneau vampires don't take their sustenance straight from the tap, they subsist solely on bagged blood. What sort of self respecting vampire would do that? Seems to me that biting people has to be half the fun. These vamps are one step away from sparkling.
Home For the Holidays by Jeaniene Frost:
This is the story I bought the book for and it - 5 star - did not disappoint. When a demon possesses Bones and the rest of his vampy crew; only Cat, Dennise and Ian are left unaffected and charged with saving the day. There is lots of thoroughly enjoyable, humorous vintage Ian; his "show and tell" of his strategically placed warding tattoo was classic. Vlad was unavailable to lend assistance this time as he was not answering his cell phone and no doubt was wrapped up in the events of whatever was happening in the Night Prince spin off series. Home For the Holidays seemed to capture some of the "what's going to happen next"? tension that was present in the beginning of the series but that was missing from the last 2 installments, and was lots of fun.