Review: ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS A VAMPIRE by Kerrelyn Sparks

Book # 5 in Kerrelyn Sparks’ Love at Stake series is ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS A VAMPIRE and it is to die for (no pun intended!). I stopped trying to start with #1 in a series because I have the patience of a three year old and if I see a cover that I love or read the back of a book and am hooked, well I can always go back can't I? As I often do. I am happy to say though that I am on a streak of reading some fantastic books lately (ugh, I might have just jinxed myself) and this by far is the latest and greatest. So let's start with book #5 in the series, why the heck not right, there are many characters which I have to admit starting at the beginning helps place them all but I didn't feel so out in the cold picked up with this read. Ian MacPhie is charming and he is my new boyfriend, although I will keep John Matthew on the side (BDB, JR Ward). He is a Scottish Highlander close to 500 years old and until 12 days ago had been living all this time in the body of a 15 year old boy. One of Roman's guards for centuries he isn't as innocent as his face would lead you to believe. In comes Toni who has taken on a new job as a mortal guard to the vampires in hopes to prove that her best friend Sabrina isn't crazy. Sabrina and Toni were both attached by the Malcontents (evil vampires) who still feed off humans. The "good" vampires now drink synthetic blood out of a bottle. While Toni was rescued by Conner, Sabrina was committed to a mental institution by her Uncle who is after her inheritance. Toni and Ian don't hit it off so well as Toni is the first female guard these vampires have had but even though there is tension in the beginning there is an underlying heat between the two in their comedic banter as they try to bash each other over the head with insults. Ian is on a mission, he has taken Roman's Stay Awake juice and has aged one year for every day, so now that he is looking 12 years older he is after true love. But he is only looking for a Vamp. Only a Vamp would understand and sympathize with the things he has done in the past and forgive him. Unfortunately he has a heart of gold and trusts his friend Vanda who bless her heart only means to help him. Instead, Ian's profile has kick started near riots of girls and some men out for a piece of him. Poor Ian isn't a virgin which is so hilarious believed by so many due to Vanda's outrageous profile posting. Overwhelmed and attracted to Toni their limited time together starts to become cherished for each. I found their love story so charming as Ian was so brutally honest and vulnerable about just wanting to feel loved and worthy of love as did Toni. Toni feels she isn't worthy of love since her mother never wanted her and she believes that she let her grandmother died. This is why no matter what she will not fail Sabrina, she will get her out of the Institution but as feelings for Ian grow into love she is torn. Also they must hide their feelings from the others as Toni will lose her job and Conner will be forced to erase her memory as per the agreement when she was hired. There are other elements at play in which the lovers and their crew of "good" vamps must struggle through, as there is Jedrik the now leader of the Russian Coven who is evil beyond words and out to get Ian and his miracle Stay Awake Drug because if he can posses this he won't be susceptible to the dead sleep all the vamps suffer through during the daylight hours. Which in turns means he can kill them all the good vamps off in their sleep. I must admit towards the end I think that the story got a little too sloppy, but as a whole I completely enjoyed this book without a doubt!

4 STARS - A PAGE TURNER, BRING ON THE SEQUEL

SNIPPET: "This Christmas isn’t so merry for Toni. Her best friend’s been locked up in a mental hospital ever since she told the police she was attacked by vampires, and the only way for Toni to get her out is to prove that bloodsuckers really do exist. So she’s taken a job as a bodyguard for the Undead, but she gets more than she's bargained for, especially when she meets Ian MacPhie, a Scottish rascal looking for Ms. Right.
Although Ian’s nearly five centuries old, he looks and acts like a twenty-seven-year-old hunk. How can a dead man be so damn sexy? Could Mr. Wrong be Mr. Right? One forbidden kiss could lead to an eternity of passion—and all it takes is one moment under the mistletoe . . . "