Unlike previous years, Vikar Sigurdsson's wife Alex wants
a traditional Christmas with all the trimmings,
especially for their children. Vikar is not that keen on
the idea; they live in a large, somewhat decrepit, castle
and it would be a big bother. Their castle is in
Transylvania, Pennsylvania, and also serves as a
headquarters for other Vangels.
All this talk about the
Holidays has made one of them, Karl Mortensen, nostalgic
for the Christmases of his youth on the family farm. He
decides to head back home to Minnesota, and on his way he
stops at a local diner where he notices that Faith
Larson, a favourite waitress of his, is not there. When
he asks if she's alright, an employee asks him to go
check on Faith because her boyfriend is violent. When
Vikar reaches Faith's trailer, he sees the woman was
severely beaten, and asks to come back to the castle so
she'll be safe.
CHRISTMAS IN TRANSYLVANIA is a novella in the Deadly
Angels series, and readers unfamiliar with this
series should not be deterred: vangels are vampire
avenging angels who protect other vangels and humans from
Lucipires: demon vampires. Ms. Hill does a great job at
providing sufficient background information so anyone can
follow without any difficulty.
CHRISTMAS IN TRANSYLVANIA is both sweet and hilarious;
it's very well written, very fast paced, and the
dialogues are extremely witty, and sometimes quite bawdy;
they are Vikings, after all! Sandra Hill keeps you on your
toes, and comes up with the most unexpected turns of
events in this tightly plotted novella. Let's not
forget those laugh-out loud moments and the giggles: the
author's trademark sometimes raunchy and off-the-wall
sense of humour is as present as ever as those pesky
vangels get into mischief; and I just love reading the
characters' thoughts in parentheses. The outrageous
characters and dialogues are strong highlights, as
always, and I find it remarkable how Sandra Hill is able
to
blend paranormal creatures that are completely over the
top with ordinary humans, and that everything blends
seamlessly.
Faith's issues are real and the author treats
her situation with compassion and dignity, while the
vangels are as unpredictable and wild as ever. CHRISTMAS
IN TRANSYLVANIA is a hilarious romp as well as a charming
Christmas story with a real Holiday feel, along with a
lovely romance. Very well done, Ms. Hill!
For the first time ever, the leader of the Viking Vampire
Angels, Vikar Sigurdsson, has been talked into celebrating
a
traditional Christmas! The tree has been decorated, the
gifts have been wrapped, and the stockings have been hung.
And that's mistletoe, not cobwebs, hanging from the
ceiling
of the creepy castle full of vangels … really!
The icing on the vampire cookie comes when vangel Karl
Mortensen rescues Faith Larson, a battered young waitress,
from her abusive boyfriend and hides her in the castle
amidst the Christmas chaos. But what Karl thought was a
frail young teenager is actually a very tempting woman.
And
she thinks his fangs are sexy!
But a strange "Christmas visitor" at the castle and demon
vampires up to their old tricks could threaten the budding
romance between Karl and Faith. It's an impossible match—a
human and a vangel—but Christmas is a time for magic.
Karl and Faith don't stand a chance …