Customer Reviews

Holiday with a Vampire (Silhouette Nocturne)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's been a while since I've read a really good romance. I've been on the lookout for something that's well written, fun and something I can sink my teeth into (pun intended).

So it was with a great amount of joy that I found Holiday with a Vampire! It's composed of two novellas by two of my favourite romance authors. Maureen Child is an incredible writer and her novel Eternally was fantastic. Caridad Pineiro, author of the amazing Calling vampire series, has quickly become one of my absolute faves and is on my automatic buy list, no matter what she writes.

Child's contribution is Christmas Cravings and concerns Grayson Stone, a vampire still punishing himself for the death of his family every Christmas. Pineiro's offering, Fate Calls, concerns Connie Morales who is swept off her feet by a handsome vampire who thinks he has no soul.

The two stories compliment each other so well and they are the perfect holiday treat. I tried to take my time reading it but, having picked it up yesterday afternoon and finishing it last night, I'm already on my second read.

Holiday with a Vampire is perhaps the best romance book I've read in ages. It's fresh, fun and you can feel the Christmas cheer coming in waves from the books pages.

If you buy yourself one holiday treat this winter, make sure it's Holiday with a Vampire!

My friend, who is also in my book club decided to be a smart ass and chose this book for our December book. We usually try to pick something holiday-ish. So yeah, we read a vampire romance. I actually wasn't going to read it because romance is so totally not my thing, but I decided to be a good sport and read it. So yeah, I read this kind of under duress.

Both stories are short and easy to read, I read the whole book in an afternoon.

The first story had some promise. Until the author just decided "eh, let's end it... right... oh, I don't know... here". Um. What? She built this great back story with all these great places to go and then met her word count and shut it all down.

The second one was just okay too. I guess if you are into vampire romance, you'd like it, but the whole blood and sex thing just doesn't do it for me. Plus, vampires are always described as being cold and/or hard as a statue. I dunno about you ladies, but I really don't want to cuddle up to a marble cold statue all night. Gimme a squishy real man anytime (one that doesn't bite is just a bonus).

Any way, if you are into vampire romances, this is for you, I suppose. It was very reasonably priced on the kindle, so maybe worth a read. And for extra fun, this seems to be a series, with 2 more books after it. I think I will be skipping it though.

if you love vamps buy it! It was really good. I loved the stories. Im vamp addicted and read all the vampire romances this was a really good one.

In Christmas Cravings, when Grayson Stone returns to rural Wyoming for his annual Christmas visit, he discovers that the home he built with his own hands over a century ago has a new owner. Not knowing who or what he was, and with baggage of her own, Tessa takes him in and helps him in his time of need. Neither one of them expected the holiday to change their lives.

There was much about Tessa that I identified with and I enjoyed the way her personna was developed throughout the story. I loved her strength and her unwillingness to give up when her past continues to haunt her. Grayson's character was equally well developed, and the two of them together was entirely believable. The storyline was more than just the standard "boy meets girl", "they overcome some obstacles" and everything turns out great. There was action, several subplots and enough twists and turns to fully tell their story, even though it was a novella. It was a fun read with substance and I would recommend it! I give this one 3 stars.

~~~~~~~~~~~

In Fate Calls, Connie Morales was a young, up and coming lawyer who replaced the loneliness of her personal life with her professional life. She had ambitions and she worked hard to see them come to fruition, but part of her wanted the love and the family that her siblings had. When she volunteered to be a street corner Santa for charity, she never expected the change it would bring to her life.

I truly wanted to enjoy this novella but the general tone of it really put me off of it. It was well-written and the characters were developed well technically, but the plot left me cold. The lack of control and power that Connie had bothered me, as did the fact that Hadrian essentially forced her to bend to his will. The flashbacks were intended to illuminate the reader as to why he had become the way he was, but for me, it didn't adequately excuse his behavior. The ending seemed almost desperate to me, like Connie felt so much like her biological clock was ticking that she would accept second-rate treatment. While the story left me wanting, it could very well appeal to someone else. It was well written; it was just the content that didn't appeal to me. I give this one 2 stars.

Holiday with a Vampire has two very different vampire romances, both authors approach the redemption through love in different ways.

Of the two, Maureen Child's "Christmas Cravings" was my favorite. Her vamp hero, Grayson, was a very sympathetic character having lost his life and his family as a 'reward' - no good deed goes unpunished - for helping a stranger 150 years ago. Since then he has made the pilgrimage back to his family home each Christmas to wallow in his grief, but this time he is attacked. Injured and knowing that he is too weak to get himself to safety before the sun rises, he almost welcomes the knowledge that his second death will end his tormented existence. Instead he is pulled to safety by the new owner of his home, Theresa Franklin. Grayson believes that vamps are evil killers and plans to leave right away to protect Theresa from himself. Having lived on the run for 5 years after a stalker killed her dog and her best friend, Theresa quickly recognizes that Grayson is no monster, his noblity and humanity shine through. Now she just has to convince him, while trying to avoid the vamps and the human 'monster' that are determined to kill them both. I really liked this story, and would have given it 5 stars if the ending hadn't been so abrupt.

I really disliked the setup to Caridad Pintero's story, "Fate Calls". Instead of waiting for our hero and heroine to meet and connect, Pintero throws a sex scene between the vamp Hadrian and his prey into the beginning of the story to show how disconnected Hadrian is from humanity. Of course Hadrian finds no satisfaction in the sexual portion of the encounter because he no longer feels human lust, just blood lust. This introduction to the hero doesn't portray him in a very sympathetic way and then to make him even more 'endearing', during his first encounter with the heroine, Connie, Hadrian enthralls, kidnaps, and bites her and then ties Connie to his bed. Her bravery intrigues him and of course he is so sexy that she finds herself melting for him in spite of her fear and his poor dating habits. It took me a good portion of the story to get over this ickiness. Once Connie starts awakening Hadrian's long dormant humanity and Pinero finally allows her hero to open up his emotions, the story gets better. Hadrian's backstory and transformation was interesting enough to redeem the story along with the hero.

So 4.5 stars for Child and 3.5 for Pintero, but 4 stars for an anthology isn't bad and these shorts are perfect for sneaking in a few moments for yourself between all the Christmas craziness.

I have to confess here that I had not read any Silhouette or Harlequin books for about 6 years now. This new series however interested me enough to buy this book and try it out (I am more of an Ellora's Cave reader these days). I need to say though that I, unlike most the readers here, liked the second book by Caridad more (Fate Calls). I would encourage her to try to write for EC if she is so inclined she seems somewhat misplaced here with Silhouette.
It was funny that one of the people who commented found this story offensive somewhat in some aspects. To me it was more realistic (well as realistic as a story about vampires can be :) than the first lily white book was (that is why I rated so low).
Has this book encouraged me to read more Silhouettes? Well maybe the occasional book and maybe not but I do not regret buying this one.

"Christmas Cravings" by Maureen Child. Tessa Franklin saves the undead life of Grayson Stone left to die in the sun. However, his life remains forfeit as vampires warn him to pick sides and die; stay neutral and die. This is multifaceted vampire romance starring two strong protagonists, but the resolution seems too easy following stratospheric problems and threats.

"Fate Calls" by Caridad Pineiro. Connie Morales tries to raise money for charity ringing her Christmas bell. Across the street from Connie is irritated vampire Hadrian Aurelius who finally decides the only way to stop the ringing is to kidnap the irritant ringer. He abducts Connie, but instead of peace on earth, he finds himself attracted to Connie. Caridad Pineiro writes a wonderful Christmas paranormal romance starring two appealing lead characters.

Sub-genre fans will appreciate spending the HOLIDAY WITH A VAMPIRE (or two).

Harriet Klausner

I guess I thought this was going to be a whole lot better than what it was. I agree with Patricia, read it once (get it from the library if you can!)and then, if you bought it, trade it in for something else. For me, Maureen's story had a little more "bite"- no pun intended. :-) Other than that, nothing that exciting.

This is a "read once" type of book. One that when you finish, you don't mind sending it off to the book re-sellers...But, it wasn't awful either - as I said, it is a "Read Once"

I loved participating in this wonderful holiday anthology with Maureen Child! Hadrian and Connie proved to be compelling and fascinating characters and I hope you'll find them to be some of your favorites. Here are some of the reviews for FATE CALLS from HOLIDAY WITH A VAMPIRE:

The Best Reviews: "Caridad Pineiro writes a wonderful Christmas
paranormal romance starring two appealing lead characters. "

Cataromance, 5 stars: "Caridad Pineiro breathes life into her engaging
characters with sharp wit and an original story filled with creativity. . .(A)nother memorable vampire story to stir the imagination of her readers. "Fate Calls" is a magical Christmas story with spirited characters and an enjoyable holiday romance."

Romantic Times: "Annoyed by the holiday bell-ringer raising money across
the street from his home, vampire Hadrian Aurelius kidnaps Connie Morales.
But Hadrian gets more than he bargained for . . . . "Fate Calls" has
strong, well-developed characters. Hadrian is particularly compelling."

If you enjoyed this novel, look for more books in THE CALLING vampire novels in late 2008. Also look for these other books by Caridad Pineiro:
Moon Fever
The Calling: Blood Calls (Book 6) (Silhouette Nocturne)
Sex and the South Beach Chicas
South Beach Chicas Catch Their Man
Secret Agent Reunion (Silhouette Intimate Moments)