Christmas with a Vampire

by Merline Lovelace, Lori Devoti, Linda Winstead Jones, Lisa Childs, and Bonnie Vanak

[Kim Deister]

In A Christmas Kiss, Delilah Wentworth never expected that an unfortunate fang-chipping accident would completely change her life. On the way to a mandatory meeting of her conclave, she finds herself lost and alone in Oklahoma,... until she meets Brett, a state trooper with baggage of his own. Neither one would have foreseen the changes that their chance meeting would mean for their lives.

The novel opened with humor after Brett comes upon Delilah, stumbling about the road in the snow, seemingly intoxicated as she slurred her words. From that, I assumed that the rest of the novella would be as light-hearted, but it really wasn't. Delilah was extremely likeable as her story unfolded, and so was Brett as you came to understand the pain he had lived through. The plot was well-developed, with a nice blend of humor, romance, and action. I recommend this as a light holiday read. I gave this one 3 stars.

~~~~~~~~~~~

In The Vampire Who Stole Christmas, when Drystan Hurst meets Aimee, he doesn't expect things to end as they do. He wants one thing from her, to use her in revenge against the adopted family that turned their backs on him. He has planned for this for a long time, wanting nothing more than to see them humiliated. But meeting Aimee changes that, no matter how hard he fights the effect she has on him.

I wanted to dislike Drystan, but as his character was developed, I began to feel for him and the pain that his past had caused him. He had been hurt by everyone who had ever professed to care for him, some in unforgiveable ways. That pain had made vengeance the only thing that mattered, until he met Aimee, a woman with baggage of her own. I liked Aimee from the start, relating to her feelings of failure and despair. This novella was definately the darker of the two, but I very much enjoyed it. I would have loved it as a full-length novel! I gave this one 3.5 stars!