I agree with the other reviews that Lisa Kleypas's "I Will" is the best story in this anthology, I enjoyed reading it and I loved the Christmas theme. It's a good book that you might snuggle up with hot cocoa in someplace warm. All four stories are about Christmas wishes coming true, thus, the title. As with other anthologies, I always review the individual stories, so here goes:

I Will - I loved the story, another unlikely pair comparable to her other books but way different characters. LK wrote the story and made the pairing work. There were a lot of unexpected twists, and this is a classic reformed rake story that went very well. Conflicts were resolved and I liked how Caroline's brother took her wish literally. The love story developed in a plausible time, it took months for them to finally be together due to some circumstances but all went well. Andrew's character really developed not just in the skirt-chasing part but as a whole. He became more responsible, and this is attributable to Caroline's love and faith in him. There were a lot of touching moments, and it's amazing how everything was wrapped up in this short story from the initial attraction, how the plan worked, character development, the love scene, and of course the happy ending. 5 stars

Puddings, Pastries, and Thou - It was an OK read, I'm not really thrilled with the time frame, which was less than two weeks but in fiction, anything can happen. It's ironic that the time frame was quite short and it took nine chapters for a simple story. 2 stars

Union - The first story I read from this author and I liked it. (I have her 3 of her courtesan books I haven't read yet) This is more of a conversation-based story and it's through these dialogues the characters introduced themselves to the reader, "bluntness" is the keyword and they wasted no time taunting each other. Clarissa and Beau really matched well and there was an unexpected history here. I liked how it was written, her brothers were amusing. 4 stars

All I Want - Another short time frame, the humor of it all was the saving grace. I like reading about hellions. I appreciated the family values, the social responsibility, the quick background description and the story. 3 stars ( )

As with most anthologies, this one is uneven. The Lisa Kleypas story is good, and I really liked the Lyndsay Sands story despite the hasty ending. This one has the most interesting premise and characters who will stick with you the longest, IMO. The last two stories are good enough but nothing to rave about, by any means. I read them willingly enough, but I couldn't remember the plot of either one a few days later without re-reading a few pages. ( )

Out of the four stories in this anthology, the only one that makes it worth buying is Lisa Kleypas's story, "I Wish". She manages a wonderfully emotional story within the confines of a novella.

Lyndsay Sands's story has a great premise, and starts out well, but fades by the end. It's almost as if it were longer and she was forced to edit it down to the point that the ending seemed abrupt and unsupported.

The Lisa Cach and Claudia Dain stories were ok, but not memorable. In addition, Dain's story contains a flashback scene involving "pitchcapping", imagery which some readers may find disturbing.

Individually, my ratings for the stories are:

Kleypas: *****
Cach: ***1/2
Dain: **1/2
Sands: *** ( )