x-mas isnt going great for Toni so far. friend in mental hosp & brutal attack from vamps. now she plans to find evidence of vamp existance but along the way finds that not all is what it seems. forbidden love & good vs bad. great read! couldnt put down! ( )

Ian's story was as predictible as could be! I guess you can only tell a vampire love story so many ways before it gets boring. This was it. ( )

I quite liked this book. I was amused by the lengths desperate women would go to in order to catch a "hottie" and I was sympathetic to the plight of a 500 yearold vampire who has suddenly grown up.
I admired Toni's dedication to helping out her friend Sabrina but was disgusted my Sabrina's attitude regarding those who are different. Sabrina likes to think that she would be altruistic in setting up an orpanage and schoool that would love children who were otherwise abandoned, but shes hypocritical enough to essentially declare that some children are better than others due to their birth and some shouldn't be loved.
If you can ignore Sabrina then you'll enjoy the comedic elements of this story. ( )

The fifth volume in the "Love At Stake" series finds a newly aged Ian McPhie looking for for a vampire of his own to love. He has put a personal ad online and the vampire women are flocking to him. But even though Ian has always wanted to hook up with a vampire woman, he finds himself strongly attracted to mortal and new security guard Toni. Toni has secrets. Her best friend was recently attacked by vampires and is in a mental hospital. When Toni went in search of the bad vampires, she gets attacked as well. Saved by one of the good vamps, Toni finds herself being won over by this group of vampires who only drink synthetic blood.
Can she save her friend from the hospital and still persue a relationship with Ian?

This is probably the best in the "Love at Stake" series, after the first one. "How to Marry A Millionaire Vampire" is still the best vampire romance I have read to date. The volumes between the first and the fourth made me leery of the series because they seemed to follow the romantic formula too much. But I find that Sparks is adding new characters, adding new paranormals, and making a twisted enemy in the Malcontents or 'bad vampires'. I love urban fantasy and dark paranormal stories. I find no reason why a romance can't add some of the qualities you find in the 'darker' genres to mix it up a little, and still stay a romance story. The bits of humor here still work nicely. The biggest fault that Ms. Spark's stories have is that her character's have these great, different personalities but once she make them the "lead" character, they tend to seem just like all the other previous "Lead" characters. They lose some of what made them unique in the previous books. If she could overcome this one complaint, I think this would make it an even better series. ( )

Reviewed for queuemyreview.com; book release Nov08

Humor and romance with just the right amount of heat, that would be my short description of “All I Want for Christmas is a Vampire” by Kerrelyn Sparks. This book is part of her ‘Love at Stake’ series about vampires in the modern world and I think the series has improved with each book she’s written. They’re certainly not ‘serious reads’, but if you’re looking for a book that will leave you with a grin, this is a good series to try.

Toni is a woman on a mission. Her best friend and soul sister is currently incarcerated in a psych ward. She was attacked by vampires but nobody (including Toni at first) believed her. Well, being the great friend she is, Toni sets out to prove the existence of vampires. When she herself is attacked by ‘bad’ vampires and then saved by a ‘good’ vampire (although she really can’t believe there is such a thing as a good vampire), she becomes a believer. She even goes so far as to become a daytime bodyguard for the sleeping vamps! Now if she can just find some proof, she can spring her friend and go back to her normal life.

Ian is nearly 500 years old, but until recently he has resembled the 15-year-old lad he was when he became a vampire. When his boss invented a ‘stay-awake’ drug for vamps, an unintended side effect was aging one year for every day a vamp spent on the drug. While most vamps would shudder in horror, this was a dream come true for Ian who is truly tired of all the consequences of looking like a youngster. He’s ready to find his true love and settle down for an eternity of wedded bliss, with a vampire that is. Because there’s no way his true love could be a human…right?

What a pair! Toni is having a hard time getting over her vicious attack. How could she ever be attracted to a vampire? And poor Ian with his 15th century values can’t believe he’s having such a hard time finding THE vamp for him. He’s so drawn to Toni who has all the qualities he’s looking for in a woman…except she’s alive. ‘Watching’ these two come together is better than any soap opera. Ian’s efforts at wooing will have you in stitches. Especially once his friend helps him out by putting his information in an online dating service! Hilarity ensues. But these two are actually perfect for each other. They just need to get over their prejudices and realize that there are good and bad in every race and every situation…finding the good just takes more work. Too true.

There are really only two things that relate to the Christmas referenced in the title, other than the time of year the book is set. A party full of male vamps in Santa suits is one, and I don’t want to give away the other although it will have you saying, “Awww, that’s so sweet.” Probably one of the most creative uses of Santa and Christmas I’ve read in a humorous romance.

“All I Want for Christmas is a Vampire” is a book to read on a cold day, beside a warm fire, with a glass of your favorite beverage by your side. The heat generated by this pair of lovers will warm you up a bit, and the interplay between them will keep you laughing. Kerrelyn Sparks will give you a few hours of escape from your holiday chores with this sparkling tale. ( )