What do you think?
Rate this book
Fear Familiar #12
Familiar Christmas
Fear Familiar--Meet the coolest feline detective to ever take on mystery, mayhem and matchmaking!
Kidnapped by a sexy Santa!
Sylvie West had stopped believing in Christmas miracles. Then the sexiest Santa she'd ever seen took her captive--and demanded she help him save the holiday! One look in the mystery man's seductive gaze, and her "no" changed to "maybe..."
When Hunter Semmes disguised himself to recover sabotaged Christmas toys, he didn't plan on taking a tempting hostage! But now that Sylvie knew his secrets, he couldn't let her go. With the help of a familiar black cat, he'd keep her close--for her own protection. But who would protect Hunter from Sylvie--and the miracle of love?
Kidnapped by a sexy Santa!
Sylvie West had stopped believing in Christmas miracles. Then the sexiest Santa she'd ever seen took her captive--and demanded she help him save the holiday! One look in the mystery man's seductive gaze, and her "no" changed to "maybe..."
When Hunter Semmes disguised himself to recover sabotaged Christmas toys, he didn't plan on taking a tempting hostage! But now that Sylvie knew his secrets, he couldn't let her go. With the help of a familiar black cat, he'd keep her close--for her own protection. But who would protect Hunter from Sylvie--and the miracle of love?
249 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1999
2 people are currently reading
88 people want to read
About the author
Caroline Burnes
67 books44 followersAlso writes as Carolyn Haines
Caroline Burnes started her writing career as a photojournalist for Southern newspapers at the age of 12. She came from a "newspapering" family and as a child was teased because of her writing ambitions.
"That girl’s got ink in her blood," the back-shop printers at the George County Times, the weekly newspaper in her hometown, would say as she stood on a bucket and helped lock up the old pages of type set on a linotype machine.
Growing up in the small town of Lucedale, Mississippi, Ms. Burnes found refuge in reading. The magic of the written word, particularly the strange and wonderful worlds of fiction, was rivaled only by her love of horses.
"If I could have had a chance to be a cowgirl, I might never have written a word," Ms. Burnes said. "As it was, a typewriter was a lot easier to come by than a horse, especially since both of my parents were journalists."
Ms. Burnes earned her B.S. degree in journalism from the University of Southern Mississippi and began a career of covering politics, features and hard news across the South. A love of short fiction led her to write short stories, several of which received critical praise and attention. In 1988 Ms. Burnes took a career shift and began writing romantic mysteries for Harlequin Intrigue under the pseudonym Caroline Burnes.
In 1988 A Deadly Breed, a mystery involving horse racing in Mississippi, was published by Harlequin Intrigue, and since then she has published nearly 30 books with Harlequin Intrigue, which have been translated into nine languages.
"So many of my books feature animals," Ms. Burnes said. "Creating fictional animal characters gives me a chance to share my love of animals with my readers."
Ms. Burnes came to writing as a reader. "Since I began to write seriously about 15 years ago, I haven’t been able to read as much as I’d like. I’ve also become a much harder reader. A writer has to really work to pull me into the story and out of my very demanding life. If I had one wish, it would be for more hours in each day, more time to read and write and to ride my horses.
"I’m not a cowgirl by any stretch of the imagination, but I do have three fabulous horses who give me tremendous pleasure. I mostly ride English and do a little backyard jumping, but lately I’ve started team penning. Once again, the problem is that the cows are smarter than I am!
"I just have to be careful when I fall to land on something soft and not my hands," she said. "Brain damage is unlikely, but I need my fingers to be able to write." Ms. Burnes lives on a five-acre farm with her three horses, Miss Scrapiron, Mirage and Cogar; three dogs, Corky, Sweetie Pie and Maybelline; and five cats, Poe, Miss Vesta, Gumbo, Maggie the Cat, and Chester.
Caroline Burnes started her writing career as a photojournalist for Southern newspapers at the age of 12. She came from a "newspapering" family and as a child was teased because of her writing ambitions.
"That girl’s got ink in her blood," the back-shop printers at the George County Times, the weekly newspaper in her hometown, would say as she stood on a bucket and helped lock up the old pages of type set on a linotype machine.
Growing up in the small town of Lucedale, Mississippi, Ms. Burnes found refuge in reading. The magic of the written word, particularly the strange and wonderful worlds of fiction, was rivaled only by her love of horses.
"If I could have had a chance to be a cowgirl, I might never have written a word," Ms. Burnes said. "As it was, a typewriter was a lot easier to come by than a horse, especially since both of my parents were journalists."
Ms. Burnes earned her B.S. degree in journalism from the University of Southern Mississippi and began a career of covering politics, features and hard news across the South. A love of short fiction led her to write short stories, several of which received critical praise and attention. In 1988 Ms. Burnes took a career shift and began writing romantic mysteries for Harlequin Intrigue under the pseudonym Caroline Burnes.
In 1988 A Deadly Breed, a mystery involving horse racing in Mississippi, was published by Harlequin Intrigue, and since then she has published nearly 30 books with Harlequin Intrigue, which have been translated into nine languages.
"So many of my books feature animals," Ms. Burnes said. "Creating fictional animal characters gives me a chance to share my love of animals with my readers."
Ms. Burnes came to writing as a reader. "Since I began to write seriously about 15 years ago, I haven’t been able to read as much as I’d like. I’ve also become a much harder reader. A writer has to really work to pull me into the story and out of my very demanding life. If I had one wish, it would be for more hours in each day, more time to read and write and to ride my horses.
"I’m not a cowgirl by any stretch of the imagination, but I do have three fabulous horses who give me tremendous pleasure. I mostly ride English and do a little backyard jumping, but lately I’ve started team penning. Once again, the problem is that the cows are smarter than I am!
"I just have to be careful when I fall to land on something soft and not my hands," she said. "Brain damage is unlikely, but I need my fingers to be able to write." Ms. Burnes lives on a five-acre farm with her three horses, Miss Scrapiron, Mirage and Cogar; three dogs, Corky, Sweetie Pie and Maybelline; and five cats, Poe, Miss Vesta, Gumbo, Maggie the Cat, and Chester.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 26, 2023
A romantic suspense released in December 1999 with ten mostly undeveloped characters. It started out well enough and read more like a cozy mystery. Unfortunately, the plotline dragged leading to boredom. Perfect for bedtime reading.
February 28, 2014
Familiar makes Christmas even more special in this novel! The black cat detective returns with a new crime and new friends waiting to be made! Familiar, with his usual spunk, makes sure the crooks get locked away! I hope I find more books in this series! I've become a real fan!
July 31, 2017
Love that cat!
April 16, 2018
Time to Curl Up with a Holiday Classic-to-be
November 28, 1999
Caroline Burnes' Fear Familiar books have always been thoroughly captivating, so it's saying something that "Familiar Christmas" might be the most charming book the series has had to offer. Throw in the fact that it's also an excellent romantic mystery and holiday tale and Burnes' accomplishment is even more remarkable.
Sylvie West has never been a big fan of the holiday season. It doesn't look like that's about to change when she's kidnapped from her job in a toy store by a gunman dressed as Santa Claus. Hunter Semmes insists that Christmas is about to be ruined by those determined to get their hands on his new toy invention--so determined they might harm children to do it. Sylvie's head tells her Hunter has to be a madman; her heart isn't quite so sure. And with just three days til Christmas, there's no time to waste finding out who the true threat is.
Burnes manages to find the right balance between light and dark elements, suspenseful action and holiday warmth in a tale that never fails to delight. The characters are in a constant state of motion, yet Burnes is still able to develop them into three-dimensional characters we truly care about. Hunter and Sylvie are both strong, intelligent people, and I appreciated how, with one big exception, there wasn't a multitude of distrust and misunderstandings--just smart thinking and working through the situations thrown at them. These two were using their heads, and I liked them that much more for it. The mystery is consistently surprising, where no one is what they seem to be. The ending alone is packed with twists until the final villain is revealed. And of course, there's the intrepid feline detective Familiar, as entertaining as ever. The scenes with the credit card alone were wonderful.
Truly original, first-rate entertainments like this don't come along very often. It doesn't matter if this is your first encounter with the series or your twelfth, don't miss out. Heart-tugging and action-packed, "Familiar Christmas" deserves to become a holiday classic.
November 28, 1999
Caroline Burnes' Fear Familiar books have always been thoroughly captivating, so it's saying something that "Familiar Christmas" might be the most charming book the series has had to offer. Throw in the fact that it's also an excellent romantic mystery and holiday tale and Burnes' accomplishment is even more remarkable.
Sylvie West has never been a big fan of the holiday season. It doesn't look like that's about to change when she's kidnapped from her job in a toy store by a gunman dressed as Santa Claus. Hunter Semmes insists that Christmas is about to be ruined by those determined to get their hands on his new toy invention--so determined they might harm children to do it. Sylvie's head tells her Hunter has to be a madman; her heart isn't quite so sure. And with just three days til Christmas, there's no time to waste finding out who the true threat is.
Burnes manages to find the right balance between light and dark elements, suspenseful action and holiday warmth in a tale that never fails to delight. The characters are in a constant state of motion, yet Burnes is still able to develop them into three-dimensional characters we truly care about. Hunter and Sylvie are both strong, intelligent people, and I appreciated how, with one big exception, there wasn't a multitude of distrust and misunderstandings--just smart thinking and working through the situations thrown at them. These two were using their heads, and I liked them that much more for it. The mystery is consistently surprising, where no one is what they seem to be. The ending alone is packed with twists until the final villain is revealed. And of course, there's the intrepid feline detective Familiar, as entertaining as ever. The scenes with the credit card alone were wonderful.
Truly original, first-rate entertainments like this don't come along very often. It doesn't matter if this is your first encounter with the series or your twelfth, don't miss out. Heart-tugging and action-packed, "Familiar Christmas" deserves to become a holiday classic.
November 1, 2017
I have loved reading the books about Familiar and would like to find the rest of the ones that I cannot find on my Kindle
December 6, 2019
took me too long to read this tiny book but it was nice and i’d like to read all of the series.
October 11, 2022
I like the mystery party but the cat is too much. I won’t be reading more in this series.
November 20, 2012
Ahh!! The stowaway Familiar!
April 6, 2015
3.5 stars
December 28, 2011
Cute idea having a cat get humans to solve a murder.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews