Can a nearly-500-year-old vampire still make you swoon like a teenager? Because I'm sitting here at 2 AM with mascara tracks on my face and two very concerned cats staring at me, and the answer is apparently yes.
I picked this up because I needed something festive but also ridiculous in the best way - my abuela would have LOVED this book. She was all about her telenovelas with dramatic love stories and supernatural nonsense, and this? This is basically a telenovela with fangs and a Scottish accent. Well, sort of a Scottish accent. We'll get to that.
When Your Highlander Sounds Like He Took a Detour Through Moscow
Okay, let's talk about Coleen Marlo. She's an Audie Award winner, she's been named Audiobook Narrator of the Year, and she absolutely has a grip on the dark humor here. Her deadpan delivery during the creepy vampire moments? Chef's kiss. She leans into the absurdity with this gleeful intensity that had me cackling while working on a logo redesign at midnight.
BUT. And this is a big but. Ian MacPhie is supposed to be this sexy Scottish vampire, right? Five centuries of Highland hotness. Except his accent keeps... wandering. One minute he's giving you proper brogue, the next he sounds like he's ordering borscht. I had a similar accent consistency issue with Towers of Midnight, though that narrator juggled way more characters. The Scottish-to-Russian slip is genuinely distracting, and it happened enough that I started noticing it instead of losing myself in the romance. Which is a shame because when Marlo locks into a character, she's magnetic.
The female characters fare much better - Toni comes across as sharp and determined, exactly the kind of woman who would take a job as a bodyguard for the Undead to spring her best friend from a psych ward. The premise alone! Toni's friend saw vampires, got locked up for being "crazy," and now Toni has to prove vampires exist. That's the kind of unhinged loyalty I respect.
The Vibes Are Immaculate (If You Accept the Chaos)
This book felt like drinking spiked eggnog while watching a Hallmark movie that suddenly got weird in the best way. It's got the cozy Christmas setting, the "will they or won't they" tension, but also coffins in basements and a hero who's technically been dead since the 1500s. That blend of supernatural romance with self-aware humor shows up in Chosen by Grace too, though that one leans harder into the divine destiny angle. Kerrelyn Sparks knows exactly what she's doing - this is campy, it's fun, and it doesn't take itself too seriously.
The chemistry between Toni and Ian builds nicely, even if I wanted a little more emotional depth in their connection. There's a forbidden kiss situation (obviously) and the whole "he's dead but also devastatingly attractive" dilemma that Toni wrestles with. It's not going to destroy you emotionally - I only got misty once, which for me is practically stoic - but it's genuinely entertaining.
At 10 and a half hours, it's a solid commitment. The pacing drags a bit in the middle when we're dealing with vampire politics and world-building from the Love at Stake series, but honestly? I was designing holiday cards for a client and needed something that wouldn't demand my full attention every second. This hit that sweet spot.
Who Gets an Invite to This Vampire Christmas Party
If you want paranormal romance that's more playful than brooding, you'll have a great time. If you're a stickler for consistent accents and it'll pull you out of the story every time Ian sounds more Slavic than Scottish, maybe wait for a sale. Never read Kerrelyn Sparks before? This works as a standalone but you might feel like you're missing context from earlier books in the series.
Skip this if you need your vampires dark and tortured. These are vampires who have Christmas parties and workplace drama. It's a vibe.
Frida and Diego Give It Three Paws
Look, this isn't going to be the audiobook that wrecks me emotionally and earns a spot on my crying spreadsheet. But it made me smile during a stressful deadline week, it gave me festive vampire chaos, and Coleen Marlo's delivery of the dark humor genuinely delighted me even when her accents went rogue.
Abuela would have gasped at the spicy bits and then immediately asked me to play the next chapter. Miss you, Abuela. This one's for you.
