It’s Christmas Eve and Dante is hungry for blood and sex.  Waking up from yet another nightmare brought about by memories of his decade-long imprisonment, Dante knows he’s on the edge and his sanity is threatening to slip.  Entering his clan’s cafeteria, Dante spies his best friend, Markus, one of the few vampires who truly knows Dante and doesn’t judge him.  What’s more, Markus is the one male Dante really wants and Dante’s pleased to discover the attraction isn’t one-sided.  But even as things look to heat up between Markus and Dante, Dahlia bursts in.  The beautiful doctor intrigues Dante almost as much as Markus does.  She’s also the one vampire who rattles Dante’s normally steady friend.  When Markus suggests the three meet at a blood club, a highly secretive, erotic establishment, Dante know the night’s about to get a whole lot more interesting.

Seduction and sex is the name of the game in this steamy addition to Ms. Hecht’s Drone Vampire Chronicles.  Blood and Holly is a blistering hot, romantic delight.  After the first Drone Vampire Chronicles book, Blood Lust, I had expected the sexual tension and friendship between Dante and Markus to lead to their being one another’s heroes.  Though Blood and Holly does contain a ménage, the love story is actually between Markus and Dahlia.  I admit, it took me a while to adjust to this idea, for the story begins with a power punch of lust between Markus and Dante.  While Ms. Hecht showed me it was Dahlia who was Markus’s true mate, despite both of their attractions to Dante, I hope to see more of Dahlia and Markus in the future, now that they have declared their love.

Blood and Holly is perhaps the most grippingly erotic tale of Ms. Hecht’s I’ve ever read.  And though it’s scorching, the story also leads the way towards Dante starting to heal.  I look forward to seeing what Ms. Hecht has in store for him.  Overall, I found Blood and Holly to be a spectacularly sensual read that is an engaging addition to Ms. Hecht’s wonderful Drone Vampire Chronicles series.