Review: Christmas with a Vampire

Christmas with a Vampire

Description: (BN.com) Prepare for an exhilarating journey across the boundary of death into a shadowy, daring new world. As darkness falls on another year, five fanged rebels are ready to celebrate like never before.

It's a time for bloodlust and stolen kisses, for clandestine bites and forming new bonds beneath the mistletoe. Succumb to the forbidden as these powerful vampires give you a Christmas you'll never forget….

From My Point of View:  Christmas with a Vampire is an anthology containing five Christmas related vampire stories.  I've reviewed each book separately below, with a final review of the book as a whole after that!

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Christmas with a Vampire: A Christmas Kiss
(Story 1 of 5)
Author: Merline Lovelace
Characters: 5 out of 5
Plot: 5 out of 5
Overall: 5 out of 5

A Christmas Kiss is a story about Oklahoma State Trooper Brett Cooper.  One night, he stumbles upon Delilah Wentworth, a one-hundred year old vampire, in the woods near his house.  Against his better judgement, Brett takes Delilah home with home with him where he soon discovers Delilah's dangerous secret.

I thought this story was a great read.  I really wish it would have been longer than 100 pages.  I loved both Brett and Delilah's characters.  I loved to storyline and I was honestly surprised by the ending.  There isn't much to say about a story this short aside from, "it was a great read."  It's highly likely I will be looking up more books by this author as I adored this tale.

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Christmas with a Vampire: The Vampire Who Stole Christmas
(Story 2 of 5)
Author: Lori Devoti
Characters: 5 out of 5
Plot: 4 out of 5
Overall: 5 out of 5

The Vampire Who Stole Christmas is a story about Drystan Hurst, a vampire who falls in love with Aimee Polk, a daimon who's most recent charge killed himself on her watch.  This short story follows the two as they battle with who they are and who they really want to be.

This story was a good as the first in the novel, actually better I would say.  Again, I really wish the story was a book of it's own.  I loved Aimee's character and her abilities.  I also loved Drystan's character.  I would have liked to see the relationship between Drystan and Ben fleshed out a little more after Drysten's reappearance at the end, but given this is a short story, I can see why the author didn't do so.  This is another author that I will be looking up for some more good reads. =)

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Christmas with a Vampire: Sundown
(Story 3 of 5)
Author: Linda Winstead Jones
Characters: 4 out of 5
Plot: 3 out of 5
Overall: 3 out of 5

Sundown is the tale of vampire Abby, who runs the local bar called Sundown.  Leo is the local cop who moved to town three months ago and is smitten with Abby.  I think we know where the story goes from here. =)

Sundown was not my favorite novella in this book.  I like the author's writing, but after already having read a story about a cop and vamp, I wanted something new.  Additionally, I didn't like the way Abby was so standoffish with Leo and then all of a sudden, she was hot for him.  I know she's a vampire, but does that mean she's bipolar too?  I felt like there should have been more of a transition from point A to point B.  Other than my weariness at the near repeat of the story, it was a nice, good read.  Since it's already in the book, you might as well enjoy this one too. =)

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Christmas with a Vampire: Nothing Says Christmas Like a Vampire
(Story 4 of 5)
Author: Lisa Childs
Characters: 5 out of 5
Plot: 5 out of 5
Overall: 5 out of 5

Nothing Says Christmas Like a Vampire is the story of Julian, resident vampire for this novella, who sweeps Sienna off her feet, literally, at her grandmother's funeral.  Turns out the two have quite a past, but Sienna doesn't know it yet.  Nor does she know her life is currently in danger and Julian is the only one who can save her.


This was a truly fantastic novella.  It was my favorite one so far from the book.  Again, I wish this would have been it's own novel.  I felt the story moved along too quickly, but given the short nature of the tale, that was to be expected.  My only other complaint was the Grandfather.  He was seemed too quick to forgive and forget all his trials and tribulations with Julian at the end of the novel.


Aside from those to quirks, this novella was everything a love story should be.  In my opinion, it's a perfect wintertime read.

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Christmas with a Vampire: Unwrapped
(Story 5 of 5)
Author: Bonnie Vanak
Characters: 5 out of 5
Plot: 5 out of 5
Overall: 5 out of 5

In Unwrapped, Adrian, resident vampire, is gifted Sarah, the werewolf, for Christmas by his gremlin pals.  Turns out the two have a history -- one that involves both of them being horribly wounded.  The two have not seen each other since that fateful day when Sarah fled Adrian's side, leaving him burning in the sunlight.  Now that she's back, will Adrian discover the real reason she ran?  More importantly, will they finally discover how to make a relationship between a werewolf and vampire work?

This was definitely the most creative novella in the book, that's for sure.  The concepts the author dreamed are pretty creative -- in a good way.  Fortunately, the author provides enough background in this short tale that we are able to understand what's going on and who has what strange powers.  This was a great conclusion to the book!

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Entire Christmas with a Vampire Anthology:
Characters: 4 out of 5
Plot: 4 out of 5
Overall: 4 out of 5


All in all, I would say this book was a good read. I don't usually read books comprising of many novellas, so for me it was a bit weird to be engrossed in one story for 100 pages and suddenly it's a whole new world with new characters.  I thought the novellas flowed relatively well together.  Obviously they were all very different stories, but the Christmas theme helped to bring some consistency to the book.

If you're a fan of vamps, or even paranormal in general, then I'd say this book is for you. =)