Vampire for Christmas

by Felicity Heaton

New York Times and USA Today Best-selling paranormal romance author Felicity Heaton presents

Vampire for Christmas
It was one last mission. Shannon, a demon hunter with the agency, is looking forward to leaving behind the small town and the vampire she’s been stuck with for the past two years. Things are getting complicated fast and she wants out. A fresh start, free of her vampire partner, awaits her if she can survive their final mission and the lonely Christmas holidays.

It was one last mission. Rafe, a vampire doing time with the agency, watches it approach with dread weighing heavily in his stomach. Two years of working with Shannon has been difficult, especially since he started falling for her, but he doesn’t want their partnership to end. He has barely a few days to make her face her feelings and stop her from leaving, and he intends to do just that.

When a slimy demon threatens the season of peace and goodwill, it’s the chance Rafe has been waiting for and the moment Shannon secretly fears. Rafe’s determination to prise open her heart and her own resolve to keep it closed clash as violently as they do with the demon, and threatens to end as messily.

Can Rafe make Shannon see that his love for her is real and that she feels something for him too? Can Shannon face her fears and her past, and stop herself from running away from both? Will a wish on a star bring her what her heart truly desires—a vampire for Christmas?

Other paranormal romance books by Felicity Heaton
Her Angel romance series (Read the first book, Her Dark Angel, for FREE on Amazon Kindle)
Eternal Mates romance series
Vampire Erotic Theatre / V.E.T romance series (Read the first book, Covet, for FREE on Amazon Kindle)
Vampires Realm romance series (Read the first book, Prophecy: Child of Light, for FREE on Amazon Kindle)

Genres: Vampires, Paranormal, Paranormal Romance, Romance, Christmas, Holiday, Novella

91 pages, ebook

First published November 2, 2010

About the author

Felicity Heaton is a New York Times, USA Today and international best-selling author writing passionate paranormal romance books. In her books she creates detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing action, intense emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that vary from dark deadly vampires to sexy shape-shifters and wicked werewolves, to sinful angels and hot demons!

If you're a fan of paranormal romance authors Lara Adrian, J R Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Gena Showalter and Christine Feehan then you will enjoy her books too.

If you love your angels a little dark and wicked, the best-selling Her Angel series is for you. If you like strong, powerful, and dark vampires then try the Vampires Realm series or any of her stand-alone vampire romance books. If you’re looking for vampire romances that are sinful, passionate and erotic then try the best-selling Vampire Erotic Theatre series. Or if you prefer huge detailed worlds filled with hot-blooded alpha males in every species, from elves to demons to dragons to shifters and angels, then take a look at the new Eternal Mates series.

You can find out more about Felicity at:
Website - http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/
Blog - http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/blog/
Twitter - http://twitter.com/felicityheaton
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/felicityheaton
Pinterest - http://pinterest.com/felicityheaton/
Newsletter - http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/newsl...

Reviews

[Laurie Garrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very satisfying short holiday novella, I really enjoyed ever minute of it. This is going to be a short review because the book description says enough already, so I wont be going to spoil any detail of the story. I enjoyed reading the story and both Rafe and Shannon as characters. There is more story then sex, but once you get to the sex its hot. You’ll also find a hot shower scene. I would suggest this book to anyone that reads paranormal romance or erotic romance.

[Kira Simion · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ho-ho-holiday stars!

Very cute, short story that had a lot more suspense when it came to the two characters' journey to fight a slime monster (meh+ha lol) and into each other's arms.

[°☆.。.:*・Nanna°☆.。.:*・ · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought that this would be an interesting book because of the cover and because it would be a paranormal romance, but I found this book to be quite boring. When I started off reading this book I found no parts particularly interesting, and as I continued to read this book I lost more and more interest in this book. After a few chapters I gave up on reading further into this book.

[Ronda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute Christmas story of a human girl, Shannon, and a vampire, Rafe who eventually come together... a nice short story.

[Sana Zameer · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Stars

[Kathie (katmom) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, I know, Christmas is about 11.5 months away! But I like to read Christmas stories all year long, and this short story (87 pages) is a good one.

While we didn't get all the details about just who these people work for, I thought there was "enough" for us to get a clear picture of who the players are. I actually hope that we see more of the "agency" and more of these two.

The slime monster was interesting. Reminded me of Ghostbusters, and I did laugh, just a bit.

The UST between these two was off the charts, and when they finally acted on it? Well, my kindle fogged up. And while it was HOT, it was also pretty sweet.

This was short, but the flow and fun made me want more.

I'd certainly read more from Ms. Heaton!



*This was FREE at Amazon. Do check before you click the BUY button.

[Ollie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick read but it was satisfying as it left me with a smile on my face. Rafe and Shannon have worked with each other as partners and during that time Rafe's feelings for Shannon has increased and he wishes that Shannon will sees him as more then he is; her partner and a vampire. Shannon tries to keep an emotional distance from Rafe because of her inability to let the past from haunting her. The developing passion that slowly erodes the walls around Shannon's heart was beautiful because now only Rafe was hot but her was her soulmate from the beginning even if Shannon couldn't see it at first.

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon & on iBooks today (8/25/2020)! 🎁

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this novella. It moved quickly, but since the characters had known each other for a couple of years and were finally choosing to act on their feelings it made sense. I like the world that Felicity Heaton has created. It makes sense to me. Maybe it's from all those years of watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer but I can totally get behind a shadowy agency dedicated to keeping the clueless mortals safe from the nasty demons that are running around.

Shannon and Rafe were both well written. Shannon has her issues, not the least of which is her vampire partner. Rafe is good guy at heart, you know, under the fangs and all. Getting Shannon to open up about what has made her into the withdrawn woman she is has become something of a mission for him. It's sweet and sexy.

The sex was sexy, the biting was hot, the demon was slimy. And that's all the important stuff right there.

-Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal

[Sherry Fundin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read a book or two from Felicity Heaton. They are Hot, Hot, Hot and Vampire For Christmas is too. Shannon and Rafe are looking forward to their last mission for the agency. Yeah, like I’m buying that. It may be a novella, but I found myself laughing out loud, through the battles and death. I loved the slime. It reminded me of a Ghostbusters clip, so it was easy to visualize…and that’s all I’m saying about that. So, if you are looking for a quick read that will heat you up on cold winter’s night, look no further.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I had not waited so long to read Vampire for Christmas by Felicity Heaton. It was a great mix of action, humor, and romance to fill that paranormal void. Rafe and Shannon made me think of other couples where the heroine is a vampire hunter and the guy is a vampire. Like Buffy/Spike and Cat/Bones. Their love wasn’t meant to be and yet their two years working together, hunting demons side by side gave them both something the other was missing. It was great to see this couple get a HEA. Even though Vampire for Christmas is a short novella about two characters I have never read about, Heaton made me connect with them and really care about what happened to them.

[Sophia · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been a few years since I picked up a book by Felicity Heaton. I enjoy her paranormal romances so was pleased to pick up this holiday version. Vampire for Christmas is a standalone novella and perfect when I wanted something engaging yet fast.

Shannon and Rafe are a demon hunting team. She's human and he's vampire. Shannon hates Rafe's kind and hasn't made it easy on him for their whole time working for the agency. He's proved himself again and again, but she can't seem to get past her discrimination and fear. She wants a reassignment and gets it right after this last mission. Rafe has fallen in love with his human partner and has very little time to get past her emotional walls and fears.

I enjoyed this story and was cheering Rafe on just as I wanted Shannon to get past her issues. She is so far up denial creek that she is willing to take verbal jabs and use Rafe's friendly nature to hurt him knowing he won't respond back. I actually didn't like her for much of this story and even when I found out that she has good reason to hate Rafe's kind, it was tough to get past her previous attitude and behavior. She does get her head on straight and I enjoyed them fighting a demon and then tentatively reaching out for each other on Christmas Eve. The sizzling connection and Rafe being one attractive vampire definitely didn't hurt.

This was a good reminder of how much I enjoy the author's work and I can recommend it.

[marymatthias · Rating 4 out of 5]

peak honestly

[Malinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-4 stars

This was a pretty good story. I liked both Rafe and Shannon and liked their story. This is the first story I've read by this author and based off this I may try more of her work in the future.

Shannon is a 32 year old human. Her family was killed by a killer vamp when she was a teen and Shannon barely survived the attack. Since then, she’s been working for an agency that uses both humans and reformed paranormals to fight bad paranormals.

Rafe is a vampire that’s about 120 years old. He was brought in to the world of vampirism in his late 30s and lived for a time killing humans as most vampires do. He was captured by the agency and given a choice of reforming and helping them or dying. Rafe chose to live and did what he needed to in order to stay within the agency’s rules but didn't really want to reform, at least not until he met Shannon.

When the story begins, Rafe and Shannon have been working together for a couple years. Rafe is completely gone over Shannon but she keeps him at arm’s length. Rafe has found out their partnership is ending and they have one last mission before that. Rafe wants Shannon and hopes that she’s able to return his feelings because he’s determined to tell her the truth about his feelings before they split for good. Shannon has been fighting her feelings for Rafe, trying to suppress them so she doesn't have to think about it and confront them. She’s gone so far in her avoidance of her feelings that she was the one to ask for their team to be split up. The agency wasn't happy about it but agreed. Rafe and Shannon go out to fight a demon and it ends up being a little more difficult to kill than expected. As they try to figure out how to kill the demon, things between them escalate and Shannon’s feelings won’t be suppressed any more (and Rafe's never really were). After dispatching the slime demon, enjoying some hot shower time together and having a honest discussion between them, Rafe and Shannon end the story ready to start their HEA together.

This was a very enjoyable little story. It was short but did alright for its length since the couple’s relationship was set up and they had history to help propel them in to a believable situation (within a PNR at least). I liked both Shannon and Rafe...Rafe was kind of a sweety for his woman and Shannon was a good heroine and I liked that she faced her fears rather than run away. I’d recommend this story. :)

[Anna-Marie Buchner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vampire for Christmas

What happens when you partner a Demon Hunter with a Vampire? Not telling you. You’ll just have to read this enjoyable Novella released for the holidays. But I will give you a smidgen of the story.

Shannon was employed by the Agency as a Demon Hunter after an attack on her and her family by a Vampire which left her entire family dead.

Rafe is also employed by the Agency and was brought on to see if he could be reformed. You see Rafe is a Vampire and did what Vampire’s do, hunt for their food.

When these two were paired up as partners you have to wonder what the Agency was thinking. Rafe and Shannon were partners for two years and were getting ready to do their last mission together. Shannon had requested to go solo and be assigned elsewhere. Rafe had different ideas about that. You see Rafe was falling in Love with Shannon and took all his ever loving will power to control himself. Shannon was also falling for Rafe and fought those feelings and emotions tooth and nail. Her inner voice kept reminder her “for god’s sake a vampire killed my family, this is not acceptable.” Shannon would go out of her way to ignore and throw hurtful remarks towards Rafe keeping him at arm’s length. But he never once gave up he had to tell her how he felt about her but the time never seemed to be right. Until on their last mission they had to battle a big blob of snot. I don’t know what else to call it. LOL. Just an FYI Rafe always maintained his gentleman control. Really an enjoyable read and only took a few hours to devour. Enjoy. Five Stars for this one and thank you Felicity Heaton for some holiday smiles.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shannon is a demon hunter and has been working reluctantly with vampire Rafe as her partner for the last 2 years. She just has one last mission to get through before she can move on to her new assignment on the other side of the country and will never have to see him again. It hasn't been easy for Rafe to work alongside Shannon, especially since he started falling for her, so he is determined to use this last mission to convince her they belong together. Will he be able to manage it or will he have to watch her walk away from him forever?

Vampire for Christmas is an enjoyable holiday novella perfect for reading curled up in front of the fire with a mug of hot chocolate in the run up to Christmas. The romance between Rafe and Shannon is sweet and builds up to a steamy climax. Although their relationship develops quickly (it has to in a novella) it is still believable because of their shared history. Shannon wasn't my favorite character to start with but she grew on me as I found out more about her history & the reason she hates vampires so much. Rafe on the other hand I liked from the beginning & I'd love to see more of them both in the future. The fight scenes with the slime demon were well written & I had quite vivid pictures of it's slime filled attacks!

Overall this was a great quick, enjoyable read and one perfect to get you in the Christmas mood. I'd recommend it to any paranormal romance fan and am sure I'll be pulling this one out again next December for a re-read.

[* Kazzy * -aka Stryker- · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read Winters Kiss, I decided to find another Felicity Heaton book to see if she is a consistently good writer, and came across 'Vampire for Christmas' as a free download so thought I would give it a try as the previous book by her was so good. I thought this was a good storyline, with a clear build up of the situation and exploration of the characters history. It gave enough for the reader to understand the plot and reactions of the characters and had enough action and romance to keep me hooked.

If I had any criticism of the book, I would say it was fairly short (I finished it in a few hours), and there were only two characters in it, which in some ways was good as there wasn't lots of confusing bylines and/or twists to contend with, but I think it lacked depth in someway which more characters may have given it. Having said that, however it was a nice, simple love story of two people wanting each other but both not sure how to tell the other. It had some action parts, enough to spice it up a bit and there were no long drawn out, 'will she or won't she arguments' that you so often get in romance novels which was a refreshing change! I couldn't decide whether to give it 3 or 4 stars, and probably would have given 3.5 purely because I didn't think it was quite as good as Winters Kiss which I read before. As I couldn't give half marks I chose 4 as there is something about it that sucked me in! Give it a try romance buffs, it's a great little afternoon read for sitting in the sun on the beach or in your garden!

[Netanella · Rating 4 out of 5]

First paragraph: His favourite prey.
Rafe stood on the lawn, his dark eyes following her from room to room in her large house. Shannon disappeared from view on the top floor only to reappear in the living room. He couldn’t see much through the open curtains but his senses made up for what he lacked in vision. He tracked her with them, focusing until the dark world around him drifted into the distance and there was only her.

I've always enjoyed Heaton's style of writing, the way she allows you to hear the internal dialogue of her characters and how they convince themselves of their moods and decisions. This is a sweet vampire Christmas romance that's typical Heaton and well done. I enjoyed the wish on a Christmas star, the slime demon that reminded me of the movie Ghostbusters, the hot shower scene. The peeping Tom sequence at the beginning of the book was a little creepy, but I soon got over it. Overall, a very enjoyable read for Boxing Day!

[Ronda Tutt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable Read,

3 1/2 STARS

A very sweet story of desire and love between Rafe and Shannon. Shannon a demon hunter and Rafe a vampire working together and secretely being attracted to one another. Shannon keeps a front up to keep from crossing the line with Rafe because of her past but finally Rafe reaches out to her and the story heats up and Shannon gets what she wishes for after wishing upon the christmas star.

[Juuli · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't work for me. The story seemed like rough notes for a longer novel.
It wasn't bad and the beginning was promising but then it got really weird. On moment she wanted to kill her partner the next she dreamed about him. She had all those feelings boiling inside and the suddenly all these conflicting feelings were gone.

[Clarke · Rating 1 out of 5]

The best thing about this book is the cover. As a rule I'm not a lover of short stories but the book was free so I gave it a chance. To sum everything up in one word...lame. It gets better the closer you get to the end. If you enjoy reading about a love sick vampire this book is for you.

[Beckey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Egads I can't believe I am mentioning this but ... There is sections that sort of reminded me of Slimmer from Ghostbusters... Other than that it was a fast paced quick holiday read that I found enjoy and steamy :)

4 stars for this holiday romance from Heaton

[Darcysmom · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fast paced, action packed, steamy novella. I enjoyed it tremendously - I wish it had been longer.

[Sara Santana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yeah. Yeah, I read this. No. Just...no. It had potential, I think? It was just insanely short and not much plot or anything. But it is a book to add to the list.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can read this review in more detail on my WordPress blog, Flora's Musings...

So, what did I like about it?
My regular followers will know that I’m a big fan of Ms Heaton’s writing style; I love the way she creates a very believable paranormal world and then packs it full of multi-faceted characters with very real human foibles and weaves their individual stories around an engaging background arc that I just can’t help being drawn into, she keeps me hooked from the first page to the last. Although Vampire for Christmas is a short novella, it lives up to my expectations.

We are introduced to our romantic couple in the first chapter. I quickly fell in love with our vampire, Rafe and I liked that we join our story two years into their working relationship. This novella is written alternating between Rafe's point of view and Shannon's and I love that we find out what's going on inside their heads. It's obvious from the beginning that their relationship has grown into something more than colleagues for Rafe but it’s not so cut-and-dry for our heroine, Shannon and I enjoyed reading her story as it slowly unfurled.

There are a number of fantastic fight scenes throughout this story; I was on the edge of my seat holding my breath during every one! The great descriptive writing put me right in the midst of it all without slowing down the action. But what I really love about this story is that the fight scenes are not all beautifully choreographed “dances” but down, dirty and very slimy - felt my tummy actually turn a few times, yuk!

And while we’re on the subject of action, I need to mention the sex. While Vampire for Christmas doesn’t have as many sex scenes as some of Ms Heaton’s other stories, it is still beautifully erotic and the sexual anticipation is built artfully. When Rafe and Shannon do finally have sex, Ms Heaton makes it feel very romantic (I think she’s a very talented writer to accomplish this). The eroticism is balanced perfectly with wonderfully written prose and the characters’ internal dialogue. For me, a story is only really erotic if I’m emotionally connected to the characters involved and Ms Heaton gave Rafe and Shannon such depths that they did became real and so, yes, I got caught up with the naughty shenanigans too (who wouldn’t *blush*).

So, ummm, was there anything I disliked about it?
Absolutely nothing, that’s why it got 5 stars!

So, basically what I’m saying is...
I loved this novella! Vampire for Christmas is a heart-warming romance with titillating passion that also had me holding my breath during some amazing fight scenes as well as chuckling at the humour and blubbering like a baby.

As with all of Ms Heaton’s stories, due to the graphic violence and explicit sexual content, I’d recommend this book to adults who are not offended by content of this nature and are fans of relationship and romance stories with oodles of fire and passion within the paranormal genre.

[Jennifer Holzapfel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shannon is a demon hunter partnered with a vampire. A vampire had killed her entire family and nearly killed her, but fled when the police came. The Agency paired her with Rafe, a vampire that has been reformed and does not kill to feed. Rafe has been with The Agency for 90 years.
Chasing and killing a demon right before Christmas is their last official assignment, Shannon has put in for a transfer to someplace she can work alone. Rafe sits outside her house on nights when they are not hunting, just to make sure she is safe and he is in love with her. They go to the cemetery and they find a giant slime monster that beats them badly. Rafe invites Shannon to come to his house to shower off all the slime. He is worried it may be poisonous and the demon has damaged Shannon's shoulder and the slime is mixing with her blood. He is also injured, but has no worry of being poisoned. He notices a vampire has mangled Shannon's neck when he is cleaning her shoulder wound.
Neither of them know what has caused the other to be part of The Agency, and they can only get the information from each other.
On Christmas eve, while hunting the slime demon, Shannon finally opens up to Rafe, since for the two years they have been working together she has lost her fear of vampires and has become attached to Rafe, but is afraid of rejection.
Maybe Santa will bring them the courage to show their true feelings for each other and bring them both happiness that they are sorely lacking.

[BooksBooksandmoreBooks69 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shannon wants only wants to hunt and kill the paranormals that

Rafe is a vampire atoning for his past crimes, he use to hunt the humans and killed them when feeding, but now he simply feeds….

Both have skirted around their feelings for one another for the past two years. Rafe knows what he wants, Shannon is fighting her feelings for the vampire. She has good reasons not to trust him. She was attacked by one! Her distrust extends to Rafe, although at times she forgets what he is.

Hunting a slime demon, puts the main characters in a slimy situation. Fighting him proves difficult. The action is intense and has you routing for the good guys.

A seasonal treat from one of my favourite authors. A short story about a vampire with a Christmas wish, and a demon hunter who is in two minds about a certain vampire hunting partner.

You can definitely tell it’s an oldish story written by her, she is honing her craft. It’s a slow burn romance. But it’s also got action and a bad guy.

It’s free on Amazon (think it’s a permanent freebie) so grab it and read for yourself.

A recommended read from me.


🦋

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot more by the end of it because it did not really start off very strongly. The characters started off doing a lot of internal monologues even though they were together and you really did not get a sense of who they were. The story moves fairly well though there is not a lot of action involved. I was really happy with the fact that Christmas was a fairly important part of the story and not just in the title.

Shannon is a demon hunter who wants to be transferred away from her current partner, who happens to be a vampire. Rafe is a vampire doing time with the agency for misdeeds in his past. He and Shannon have been partnered for two years and are going on their last mission before they are to be split up. Rafe wants to convince her that they should stay together.

When a demon threatens Christmas, the season of peace and goodwill, its the chance Rafe needs to show Shannon what is real.

Rafe is a little bit of a stalker, Shannon is a bit of a bi**h a good deal of the time, but they have a serious chemistry. This is a nice read for the holiday.

[Jamoz23 · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good fun Christmas themed paranormal read.
Very enjoyable short story but could do with being tidied up (a few strange sentences felt wrong) and even extended.
Shannon has suffered trauma in the past. Losing her family to, and being attacked by a vampire when she was in her early twenties.
She ends up working for The Agency and years later is paired with a vampire partner.
We don’t know anything more about The Agency at the end of this book.
Rafe is a vampire who was basically forced into working for them too. They actually placed a tracker in him.
He has had feelings for Shannon from their first meeting.
Shannon has asked to dissolve their partnership due to fighting her feelings for Rafe.
On their last mission Shannon finds the guts to actually talk to Rafe and acknowledge her feelings.
Read and reviewed previously.

[Book Wyvern · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have got to say that I love this author. Everything that I’ve read by her…which I think is…only three books? I think? She hasn’t disappointed me though! I’ve really enjoyed my time reading her books and I think she’s getting up there to being a favorite author, right there with Christine Feehan.

Now, this is a stand alone short story, so the expectation for insta-love and insta-everything was there, however this author did an excellent job at creating a time line for these characters spending time with each other for two years, building up that relationship, giving the audience that connection. I could feel the emotion coming from them. It felt realistic in the midst of vampires and demons.

If you'd like to read the rest of my review, please go visit my blog!