Holidays Bite

Professional Reviews

4 1/2 TEA CUPS: "Stephanie’s decision to head to a desolate mountain location during a snow storm set up a very clichéd situation for a romance novel setting. J. Rose Allister does a great job of twisting this into something different and better. For starters, her characters are incredible. She takes the time to develop them. When Stephanie makes her stupid decision, not only does Allister make us understand why she needs to do it, she convinces us to fully support our heroine. Thomas is more than just your average, tortured-soul vampire. He’s the perfect hero to rescue Stephanie and make her fall in love with him. Allister’s sense of humor comes out in her characters, her premise, and her writing style. She takes the full opportunity to look at the dichotomy of what being a vampire means, not just literally, but spiritually. This relationship, like all relationships, will succeed because two good, strong people are committed to making it happen, not because of some mysticism or magic. Holidays Bite is more than just a Christmas tale. It’s about coming to terms with love and loss and learning to embrace life. This is a story that can be read multiple times because it has so many rich layers to be discovered." -- Clare C, Happily Ever After Reviews

4 PHANTOMS: "Wanting a Vampire read? Something to warm those bodies up on the Cold Christmas day? Meet Stephanie Mars and because of the Mars part as I was reading it, I couldn't get the character Veronica Mars (one of my fav TV Shows) out of my head. Stephanie and her sister and Pops have been coming up to a cabin in Yeltin Creek for as long as they can remember every Christmas. However, this is the first Christmas since her father died and her sister Marnie isn't at all keen to go roughing it over Christmas, so Stephanie decides to go alone. As she does, she ends up in an accident and is rescued by the hot hunk Thomas Yeltin, who just so happens to be a Vampire who was turned in 1897. We read as Stephanie seems like a klutz and the countless times Thomas saves her, this part reminded me of the Bella/Edward situation in the Twilight Saga. Of course, what's an r18 novel without some sexual scenes, so be prepared for some mind-blowing mortal/vampire sex scenes. Read as we see what path Stephanie chooses at the end of her holiday - to go back to her life or stay with Thomas? Find out in Holidays Bite." -- Phantom Paragrapher, Phantom Paragrapher Reviews

Excerpt

STORY EXCERPT

Stephanie walked out of the bathroom with as little limp as she could muster, thankful when a flood of adrenaline aided the cause. She wanted to give the impression she was less helpless and pathetic than the picture she’d painted thus far. Thomas stood by a newly stoked fire, and she ignored his searing gaze while she headed for the couch. Her socks, boots, and parka lay nearby, tempting her. Donning the latter now would be too obvious, however. She’d have to make a grab for the coat on her way out.

“Brr,” she said, making a show of rubbing her arms. “Cold after that shower.” She sat on the couch and pulled a quilt around her shoulders to give the appearance of settling in while she tugged on her socks and footwear. “But hopefully I smell better now.”

“Stephanie.”

She went on ignoring him and laced her boots tight.

“Stephanie.” He moved toward her.

“Hmm?”

She threw him a quick glance and a smile, refusing to meet his eyes. Then he knelt in front of her and took hold of her chin so she couldn’t look away.

His eyes searched hers. “I know what you’re thinking.”

“What I’m thinking?” She tried to keep an innocent tone. “I don’t know what you mean.”

His arched brow told her he knew she was lying. “You think I’m a vampire.”

She laughed. “Vampires don’t exist.” Please, God, let him laugh along. Her smile faded when he didn’t. “So, it’s true then?”

He glanced away, his lack of response providing all the answer she needed and didn’t want.

She shook her head. “Guess I didn’t do a convincing job pretending I didn’t know.”

“We can sense those who see us for what we are. It’s a built-in survival trait.”

“Handy skill.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to figure this out.”

She rubbed her arms again, this time against a true chill. “You’re a vampire. That just figures.”

“What does?”

She raised her arms. “Oh, just the old Stephanie Mars luck. I go for a simple outing and get dragged off by a raging creek. I meet the perfect guy, and he turns out to be an undead monster. No offense.”

His brow rose. “You think I’m the perfect guy?”

She shrugged. “What I think is that none of this is really happening. Maybe I bashed my skull so hard that this conversation is all going on in my head while I’m lying unconscious in a hospital somewhere. So yeah, if I have to be stuck in a concussive hallucination, why not include the perfect guy?”

A smile lit his dark expression out of nowhere and threatened to steal her breath. When white teeth flashed, she couldn’t help but look for sharp points. She saw none, and the smile vanished as fast as it had appeared. “So what if it turns out this isn’t a hallucination?” he said. “What if your so-called perfect guy is real, and he’s a vampire?”

Smiling or not, this man unhinged her. His penetrating stare did dangerous things to her insides. Did he have to be so damned gorgeous? It was hard to stay in a state of terrified alert with his pheromones disrupting her instinct to run away. On the contrary, she was fighting off images of his naked body sliding over hers while he claimed her.

ADULT EXCERPT

Stephanie wasn’t certain whether they’d just come full circle in this conversation or not. With a bit of resistance from her knee and sore hip, she got to her feet. Dizziness returned, but she stood her ground and waited for it to pass. She was hyper-aware of his presence, of how he watched her every move with unnervingly rapt attention.

 She searched his gaze, trying not to think about how her insides melted at his intense expression. “I feel like I might be better off taking my chances in the storm right now.”

He stood, too, and took a step toward her until they were almost touching. “You shouldn’t try to run from a predator,” he said, his voice low and quiet. Deathly quiet, she thought.

“Why not?”

His eyes shone with an eerie inner glow. “Because their first instinct would be to chase you.”

Her heart skipped a beat. “You wouldn’t chase me.”

“What makes you so sure?”

She lifted her chin to project an air of false courage. “Because you’d rather move away from the home you built over a century ago than simply kill me to protect your secret.”

He leaned toward her, assailing her senses with his heady scent while he brushed his lips against her ear. “On the contrary,” he breathed. “I think I would enjoy chasing you very much.”

She jerked her head around so his lips weren’t so maddeningly close to her ear, but the motion put their lips in a more dangerous proximity. “You’re just trying to scare me,” she whispered.

“Is it working?”

She shivered. “No.”

“Good. Maybe that means you trust me enough to do this.”

Considering how close their lips were, the kiss shouldn’t have surprised her. Nevertheless, she stiffened in shock when his mouth laid claim to hers. As good as he smelled he tasted even better, like brandy and sin and sex. When he prodded her lips with his tongue, she opened for him without a thought. Her head spun with a sensation having little to do with concussion-induced dizziness.

His hands slid beneath her sweater, his cold skin blazing a fiery trail upward along her stomach until he found her breasts. She moaned when he rolled both nipples between his fingers. Damp desire spread between her legs. Thomas inundated her every sense, and the only thing she wanted was more. More of his hands. His tongue. His body pressed to hers.

As if he’d heard the thought, he picked her up and laid her on the couch, settling himself over her with obvious caution to avoid her injuries. Stephanie had forgotten all about the pain, her need for him was so great.

He pushed her sweater up to expose her to his hungry gaze, and a small growl of approval escaped his throat. “God, these breasts.” He lowered his head and trailed kisses around her puckered nipple, and she rolled her eyes back. “The thought of how perfect you are has haunted me since the moment I pulled off your wet clothes.”

To prove the point, he pressed his rock-hard erection against her.

“I thought you said you didn’t look,” she said, panting with breathless anticipation.

“I said I tried not to.” His voice was husky, impatient, and the feel of his breath against her nipple tormented her. “Not that I succeeded.”

The flick of his tongue against her hardened bud sent a gasp of delight from her, and she arched up to rub against the tantalizing erection in his jeans. Her body pulsed and throbbed while he sucked each nipple in turn. Every inch of her begged to be claimed by Thomas, ached for the explosive release she knew he could give her. It had been so long since anyone had made love to her, let alone a man so potently sexual. He was dangerously arousing, in more than one sense. Heaven help her, she was ready to come just pressing her pubic bone against the thick bulge in his crotch. She ran her hands along his back under his shirt, feeling the knotted hardness of his muscles before sliding them down to where snug jeans covered his tight ass. Her damp palms itched to curl around his shaft while she pulled his backside against her more firmly and wriggled her hips back and forth.

“Stephanie,” he growled, and to her chagrin he pushed away. He silenced her whimper of protest with a kiss while he reached between them to undo the zipper of his jeans. Her hands followed his, and she gasped when she found the huge, pulsing erection straining toward her. She gripped the silken flesh, shocked at how warm it was. His whole body seemed to be heating up, in fact. He was literally getting hot for her, a thought that fueled her desire even higher.

“Now,” she murmured, and when he met her gaze she found his ice blue eyes had gone dark with longing. “I can’t wait.”