** spoiler alert ** Another anthology that wasn't as good as I'd hoped it would be.

The anthology was carried by two of the four contributions, and while I did like two of the novellas, all four contained vampire elements that I didn't like, such as: being born, eating food, heartbeats, warm skin, reproduction, transformations between human and vampire "forms".

While these didn't detract from that stories, I dislike it when authors write 'vampire stories' and then humanize their vampires to the point where basically they only differences are the fact that vampires have to drink some form of blood and have fangs.

Enchanted by Blood by Laurie London 4/5

I quite enjoyed this novella. It was one of the two that I did like.

I liked the characters of Charlotte and Trace, and I was invested in them getting their happy ending. I also really liked the fact that Charlotte didn't go completely insane when she found out that Trace had wiped her memory of every trace of their relationship from the previous year. She was upset, of course, but she didn't scream or cry hysterically or carry on, or act like a spoiled child.

The author also incorporated lots of wit and humour into the novella which made me laugh quite often. I enjoyed her style of writing, and am definitely planning to read more of her work, as this was the first I've read.


Monsters Don't Do Christmas by Michele Hauf 2/5

This is the novella I liked least; however I never thought that I would like this, because I've read work by Michele Hauf before and hated it. I didn't like her style of writing, nor did I particularly like her characters.

This time it was no different.

From the word go, the hero and heroine were practically dry-humping on the couch in the heroine's living room after just meeting. I did not understand the attraction between them at all. What was apparently so appealing about this total stranger that the heroine was so 'desperate' to be with him she was acting like a cheap whore?

Because of this forced attraction, I once again, did not feel the chemistry between Daniel and Olivia and I glossed over the love scenes because I wasn't interested.

The heroine also had a lot of issues concerning taking risks and approval from her dead mother, which I found a little creepy, because it completely owned her life.

Also, she kept mentioning how she thought she was a monster, and monstrous and what not. I assumed she was a siren, or a succubus or some such, but turns out she's just a singer. And she thought that was monstrous?? That really bugged me, cause if she didn't like it why didn't she just quit? That whole element to the story was really just...strange.

The heroine (again) also told the hero she loved him two days after meeting him. This really confused me because the majority of those TWO DAYS had been spent having sex and not actually learning anything about each other. So how she could "love" him was beyond me.

Unfortunately, this was as bad as I'd expected it to be. The author's characters are flat and unlikeable, and her writing style leaves out a lot of descriptions, so it's hard to follow. I wouldn't read anymore by this author if I could avoid it.


When Herald Angels Sing by Caridad Piñeiro 2.5/5

This was the other novella that I didn't particularly like.

It was well written, I just didn't like the story itself. I felt that it could be quite preachy; good vs evil, light vs dark, etc.

The 'ghost of Christmas past' sort of theme didn't really work for me, as I was pretty indifferent to the characters. Also, I don't really know if it was deliberate, but save the first few pages, and the last few pages, the hero and heroine were both nude. Like, the whole time. It was kinda weird considering they were walking around and having these really deep conversations and what not.

Also, while I was a little sad that Damien was killed, I was disappointed by his resurrection. In my opinion, having him turn back into a human completely defeats the purpose of having written a vampire story in the first place.


All I Want For Christmas by Alexis Morgan 5/5

This was the one I liked the most.

I really liked the characters of Della and Eagan. I thought they were well developed and I liked that they didn't fall into bed within five minutes of meeting each other. I definitely felt the chemistry and romance was real.

I also liked the supporting characters. Old Harry was sweet, as was Tennessee (despite the fact that he was a werewolf and I hate werewolves).

I'm quite a fan of Alexis Morgan's work and wish she would write more full length vampire novels instead of just novellas!

Overall, I would rate the anthology as a whole as a 4/5 stars, because the novellas by Laurie London and Alexis Morgan were so enjoyable. I would definitely read more from these two authors, while skipping the other two.