The Bite Before Christmas is a homoerotic anthology with stories by Laura Baumbach, Sedonia Guillone and Kit Tunstall.

The first story Sin and Salvation by Ms. Baumbach is about Ian, an ancient vampire, looking out at a Christmas sky thinking about Trevor, the one he loves more than anyone in the world. He thinks back to when he first saw Trevor as a young actor more then two-hundred years ago. Trevor knew little of life, but the two of them felt an immediate and overwhelming pull. They vowed to be together always, except Trevor didn’t know that Ian was a vampire or what that meant. Outside forces threatened to separate them and Ian made a quick decision that would cause both pleasure and pain for them. Will Ian and Trevor find a way to find happiness on Christmas, a day that is special to people all over the world?

Once again, Ms. Baumbach has created two very compelling characters that take on a life of their own. Ian is a very loving person with very strong beliefs that, even though it causes him pain, allows Trevor to act as he must. Trevor feels he needs to make amends for his life, but a meeting with a child may help him see the true meaning of Christmas.

In the next story, A Vampire for Christmas by Sedonia Guillone, Jesse’s sister, Hanna, has been kidnapped by the evil vampire Noiret and the only way he will release her is to have Jesse kill Christian St. Cyr, another vampire, for him. Jesse doesn’t trust him, but he will do anything to save his sister. After Jesse arrives, he sets up a situation so he can get close and kill Chris, but things don’t go as planned and Chris tries to save him from pain. Chris is a Coeus Eternal, a type of vampire who only takes life to ease the pain of death. Once Jesse wakes up, Chris realizes that he didn’t turn him and as they begin to get to know each other, love quickly blooms. Will Jesse get to his sister in time? Will things work out for Jesse and Chris?

Ms. Guillone has fashioned a very intricate and fascinating love story. I loved how love at first site occurred between Jesse and Chris in spite off the odds against them. They believed in each other and never wavered from this. It was interesting to see the differences between the good and the bad vampires is the same as good and evil in real life.

In the last story, The Last Gift by Kit Tunstall, Chris is going to a job interview as a personal assistant to Hugh Klein. This is an unusual job to say the least because the job also entales servicing the master with sex and blood. Chris is surprisingly aroused at the thought of being intimate with Hugh. Chris has never had feelings for other men and he still has strong feelings for Ness. The first time Chris and Hugh touch there is a spark between then and this scares Hugh because he has always had impersonal business relationships with his assistants up until now. Hugh finally can’t stand the tension and he ends up getting together with Chris in a very arousing and satisfying interlude. Things still are not settled between them and Chris and Hugh have to decide what they truly want. Where does this leave Chris’s feelings for Ness? Will they find a way to satisfy everyone?

Ms. Tunstall has written an interesting story that incorporates multiple lifestyles. It is interesting how Chris and Hugh were able to change positions of dominancy and then you add Ness into the picture and the action really heated up.

This is a very interesting anthology that incorporates three completely different stories, but each story has a base theme that supports and enhances the others. Each story evolves around a vampire base, but they all go in completely different directions. Each of these authors have had other books that I have enjoyed and it was fun seeing how they adapted their unique styles of writing to support the theme of this anthology. I enjoyed this book and will look forward to other stories by each of these writers.

Reviewed by: Teresa