Im Dreaming of an Undead Christmas

Gigi is home for the holidays for the first time since her sister Iris, became a vampire. Wracked with guilt over having not seen her sister in so long, and still a little worried she might feel compelled to attack her and drink her blood, Iris overcompensates by going all out for the whole full Martha Stewart Christmas experience, complete with turkey dinner, presents, a candy exchange and creepy little ceramic Christmas village ornaments. Gigi is glad to be seeing her family, but less so about spending time with her boyfriend Ben, who she still likes, just "not in that way." Gigi also has has a secret, and worries that when Iris finds out not even a bottle of the finest desert blood will placate her.

I'm Dreaming of an Undead Christmas is a novella in Molly Harper's series about the vampire Jane Jameson, which begins with Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs. This story is told from the perspective of Gigi, Jane's friend Iris' younger sister. I confess that I haven't read the earlier books yet, but it was reasonably easy to piece together what was going on in spite of that.

These vampires are not the scary kind, though they do drink human blood. Since the "Great Coming Out", humans are aware of their existence and they are able to lead relatively normal lives, running businesses and dealing with humans in a non predatory way. The story is light-hearted and far fetched but there is an emotional realism to it. It has a few laugh out loud moments, but some more poignant ones too. The awkwardness of spending Christmas with relatives is something many readers will relate to, even if they don't have literal blood suckers in the family.

Don't read this book if you are on a diet. The characters spend a large chunk of it either preparing or eating tonnes of sugary and fatty foods, such as "Mom's weird soda cracker candy", sweetened sweet potatoes, bacon wrapped turkey and "Un-Vegetable" green beans ("because if you left nutritional value in the vegetable, it wouldn't be Southern!"). There are even a few recipes included in the back, one of which I think I might actually try this Christmas (it's not the one for the beans, in case you were wondering).

I'm Dreaming of an Undead Christmas is a fun holiday read, recommended for fans of paranormal romance and those seeking a Christmas themed story that's a little bit different.

Rating: 3/5
Published: November 17 2014

#Fiction
#Christmas
#Urban_Fantasy
#Vampires
#Humour
#Romance






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