Jordan H. (jordandean) -
Helpful Score: 4
It's a keeper! Sorry not passing it on either. Anya Bast starts a new Fae series and it is off with a bang. Lora Leigh's entry is good but not spectacular but has her well known heat. The Angela Knight entry is strong and I enjoyed Allyson James' as well despite not having previously read her.
Kelly J. (KellitaJ) reviewed Hot for the Holidays: Vampire's Ball / A Little Night Magic / Sweet Enchantment / A Christmas Kiss on + 550 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
If you can't tell by the cover, this book has HOT SEX, hubba hubba. I'm not swapping! I bought it for the Leigh and Knight stories, I knew they'd be good, and was pleasantly surprised by the James and Bast stories. A wonderful, HOT read! Gimme that candy cane!
Monica G. (champsmom) -
Helpful Score: 2
Loved it~! Has all my favorite authors and my new discovery Allyson James. This is definitely a keeper. STEAMY!
Ellen (gremlin) -
Helpful Score: 1
Lora Leigh's Breed story was my favorite, but none of them were bad.
Lora Leigh - A Christmas Kiss. Hawke (a Wolf Breed) and Jessica were side characters in an earlier novel (I think Aiden's Charity, or maybe Jacob's Faith), and their story is finally told.
Angela Knight - Vampire's Ball. According to the author's webpage, "a novella in the Mageverse series that kicks off a brand new story arc." After the Dragon War, the Majae are in recruitment mode, and Kat Danilo, one of Lancelot's many children, is invited.
Allyson James - A Little Night Magic. This is a prequel to her upcoming series that starts with Stormwalker. The heroine, Janet, doesn't appear, but the town of Magellan, Coyote, and some of the other characters are introduced.
Anya Bast - Sweet Enchantment. This introduces the world of her upcoming Dark Magick series, which begins with Wicked Enchantment.
Lora Leigh - A Christmas Kiss. Hawke (a Wolf Breed) and Jessica were side characters in an earlier novel (I think Aiden's Charity, or maybe Jacob's Faith), and their story is finally told.
Angela Knight - Vampire's Ball. According to the author's webpage, "a novella in the Mageverse series that kicks off a brand new story arc." After the Dragon War, the Majae are in recruitment mode, and Kat Danilo, one of Lancelot's many children, is invited.
Allyson James - A Little Night Magic. This is a prequel to her upcoming series that starts with Stormwalker. The heroine, Janet, doesn't appear, but the town of Magellan, Coyote, and some of the other characters are introduced.
Anya Bast - Sweet Enchantment. This introduces the world of her upcoming Dark Magick series, which begins with Wicked Enchantment.
Barbara S. (barbsis) -
Helpful Score: 1
These shorts were ok but as usual, nothing great. Just a way to advance a series with very minor characters. I liked Angela Knight's Mageverse story since I'm intrigued by the whole Merlin thing. Allyson James story was pretty good and I liked Jamison a lot. The other two were just ok. I disliked both the hero and heroine in Anya Bast's story. And Lora Leigh's story was just too predictable. I think her breeds books are getting overly redundant.
Cynthia F. (frazerc) reviewed Hot for the Holidays: Vampire's Ball / A Little Night Magic / Sweet Enchantment / A Christmas Kiss on + 672 more book reviews
Great read. Multi-author anthology. I loved three out of the four stories.
VAMPIRE'S BALL by Angela Knight Good read; it is a Mageverse story and slots in after Master of Dragons and before Master of Fire. Very likable characters although 'caution' does not seem to appear in the heroine's dictionary. The complications with her Mom and biological father add depth to the story.
A LITTLE NIGHT MAGIC by Allyson James Good read. This is listed as a 'prequel' to her Stormwalker due out in May 2010. The story, and the hero and heroine, are being manipulated by Coyote - the trickster demigod of southwestern legends. As always he has his own agenda, the implication is that they will be appearing as supporting characters in Stormwalker. I love Coyote and Loki and Monkey and other trickster gods from various folklores. Allyson James does her usual outstanding job; writing complex characters doing things you care about. Her southwest setting is beautifully written as well. Just a hint - she has another Coyote story which seems to be unrelated but I really loved: Howlin' available in ebook from Ellora's Cave.
SWEET ENCHANTMENT by Anya Bast Although well-written this story jars - mostly [IMO] because the other three are contemporaries with strong paranormal elements. This is a story of Seelie and Unseelie politics set in the world of the Fae Courts. According the author's website, this is a 'taste' of her new Dark Magick series.
A CHRISTMAS KISS by Lora Leigh Good read - a Wolf Breeds story - this one takes up 1 year after the events of Aiden's Charity. Jessica is the human who betrayed them. Hawke is her mate. Although he has spent the year away from her, he has spent the time proving her [relative] innocence. Now she has been released and Hawke wants her to choose him; it's why he has been so careful to avoid anything that would trigger the mating heat in her although he still burns... Complications abound including the fact someone is trying to kill her.
VAMPIRE'S BALL by Angela Knight Good read; it is a Mageverse story and slots in after Master of Dragons and before Master of Fire. Very likable characters although 'caution' does not seem to appear in the heroine's dictionary. The complications with her Mom and biological father add depth to the story.
A LITTLE NIGHT MAGIC by Allyson James Good read. This is listed as a 'prequel' to her Stormwalker due out in May 2010. The story, and the hero and heroine, are being manipulated by Coyote - the trickster demigod of southwestern legends. As always he has his own agenda, the implication is that they will be appearing as supporting characters in Stormwalker. I love Coyote and Loki and Monkey and other trickster gods from various folklores. Allyson James does her usual outstanding job; writing complex characters doing things you care about. Her southwest setting is beautifully written as well. Just a hint - she has another Coyote story which seems to be unrelated but I really loved: Howlin' available in ebook from Ellora's Cave.
SWEET ENCHANTMENT by Anya Bast Although well-written this story jars - mostly [IMO] because the other three are contemporaries with strong paranormal elements. This is a story of Seelie and Unseelie politics set in the world of the Fae Courts. According the author's website, this is a 'taste' of her new Dark Magick series.
A CHRISTMAS KISS by Lora Leigh Good read - a Wolf Breeds story - this one takes up 1 year after the events of Aiden's Charity. Jessica is the human who betrayed them. Hawke is her mate. Although he has spent the year away from her, he has spent the time proving her [relative] innocence. Now she has been released and Hawke wants her to choose him; it's why he has been so careful to avoid anything that would trigger the mating heat in her although he still burns... Complications abound including the fact someone is trying to kill her.
Barbara R. (geckflac) -
A good read collection. First time reading Bast & Allyson James (pen name for Jen Ashley, and have read her immortals series), but definitely first rate up by other two authors. I see by reviews most keep this book, but I cant keep them all..HA! Loved all 4 novellas. Agree with all the other reviews...this is right up there on the top shelf! Recommend it to all readers.
Claire B. (magnoliagirl) reviewed Hot for the Holidays: Vampire's Ball / A Little Night Magic / Sweet Enchantment / A Christmas Kiss on + 129 more book reviews
Enjoyed this book and all of the stories were great.
Lori M. (mshrm) - reviewed Hot for the Holidays: Vampire's Ball / A Little Night Magic / Sweet Enchantment / A Christmas Kiss on + 144 more book reviews
These stories were pretty good and for the most part stood alone. The only one that didnt stand alone too much was Lora Leigh's, but her's was the best to me. It helped if you knew her breed stories to relate to her story but the others were fine by themselves.
Loretta H. (jacksgirl) -
some of the best short stories i've ever read
SoBe -
Over all a pretty good anthology...Definitely one of the better holiday ones!
The Angela Knight story almost made me wish I was a fan of her mageverse series. It was a decent story, if a bit sparse. She has a good writing style, and this may be a decent intro in that series if you haven't tried it yet.
The Allyson James one almost made me wish I was a fan of Native American romances and made me want to retry her books (I started one of hers ages ago, and hated it so much, I haven't been able to pick up another one since). Unfortunately this is probably the weakest of the stories. Like Knight's, it's a bit sparse, and there are a few details that just don't make sense, but I'm chalking that up to the space limitations. More detail on the 'god's background or even a bit more history on the legend of Coyote may have helped...If you're like me, and aren't as familiar with Native American folklore, it may feel like you're missing something.
The Lora Leigh was typical of her Breeds stories.. It wasn't her best, but again, probably becasue of the anthology's length contraints...If she'd had more pages to work with, I'm postiive thes story would have been up to her usual standards :)
Lastly...the Anya Bast story (the third one in the book)...If for no other reason you get this, get it for her story! It intro's her new series, and I for one can't wait (and luckily it comes out in another few weeks so I won't have to wait long!) We don't meet the main characters from the first book in the series, this is more like a welcome to the world with some minor backstory... But it's such enticing backstory!
oh and the cover totally looks better up close :p
The Angela Knight story almost made me wish I was a fan of her mageverse series. It was a decent story, if a bit sparse. She has a good writing style, and this may be a decent intro in that series if you haven't tried it yet.
The Allyson James one almost made me wish I was a fan of Native American romances and made me want to retry her books (I started one of hers ages ago, and hated it so much, I haven't been able to pick up another one since). Unfortunately this is probably the weakest of the stories. Like Knight's, it's a bit sparse, and there are a few details that just don't make sense, but I'm chalking that up to the space limitations. More detail on the 'god's background or even a bit more history on the legend of Coyote may have helped...If you're like me, and aren't as familiar with Native American folklore, it may feel like you're missing something.
The Lora Leigh was typical of her Breeds stories.. It wasn't her best, but again, probably becasue of the anthology's length contraints...If she'd had more pages to work with, I'm postiive thes story would have been up to her usual standards :)
Lastly...the Anya Bast story (the third one in the book)...If for no other reason you get this, get it for her story! It intro's her new series, and I for one can't wait (and luckily it comes out in another few weeks so I won't have to wait long!) We don't meet the main characters from the first book in the series, this is more like a welcome to the world with some minor backstory... But it's such enticing backstory!
oh and the cover totally looks better up close :p
Lenna W. (bratz54) -
I loved all the short stories. I had to laugh for the first story about King Arthur and Lancelot and the men of the round table plus Merlin are actually vampires, who know lol, and its a story about Lancelot's daughter and a vampire falling in love. Second was a nice love story with a Native American Changer (shape shifter) and a white women he fell for and had to leave, them comes back for her and the love they lost. The 3rd story is about Fae's of both courts a woman from Seelie and the mage from the Unsellie. This story had some great parts and some boring parts in my opinion. The last story is from the Breeds series and this is about Jessica Raines and Hawke Esteban, this is following a year after she was captured and imprison at Haven.
Laura G. (utvol89) reviewed Hot for the Holidays: Vampire's Ball / A Little Night Magic / Sweet Enchantment / A Christmas Kiss on + 3 more book reviews
Awful! Each book was more stupid than the last. I didn't realize it was about warewolves and vampires. Do not bother with this one!
