The great thing about anthologies entirely by an author I enjoy is that I know I will like all of the novellas, which is the case with this one. Mary Jo Putney's collection of Christmas stories shines. The stories were written between 1990 and 2002, but they all hold up well. I laughed, smiled, and ended the book wanting to read more.

Read my full review. ( )

5 stories:
A holiday fling: 2 former lovers come together again while working on a charity Xmas project - 2 stars;
The Christmas cuckoo: a Peninsula wars major is mistaken for someone else at an inn and spends Xmas under false pretences - 3 stars;
Sunshine for Christmas: a lonely nobleman travels to Italy for Xmas and encounters an unusual English governess - 3.5 stars;
The Christmas tart: the daughter of a minor French nobleman, working in London as a seamstress, is dismissed for theft and finds herself on the streets - 3 stars;
The Black Beast of Belleterre: a Victorian take on 'Beauty and the Beast' - 3.5 stars. ( )

****½ "A Holiday Fling". Contemporary romance. Characters from The Spiral Path get their own story--a 30-something British actress and an Oscar-winning American cinematographer get together to film a traditional Christmas production to save a historic building. Very sweet story--they both think so highly of each other that they can't imagine the other would want more than just 'a holiday fling.'

****½ "The Christmas Cuckoo." Historical romance. New earl, recently an army major, escapes from his aunt's machinations and ends up being mistaken for the heroine's brother's friend who's coming for Christmas: an army captain with the same, common name. I docked it a half star because the Big Secret that the characters is just about to reveal only to have it revealed for them is such a cliche, & rather tedious.

*** "Sunshine for Christmas." Historical romance. Pretty standard story about an English nobleman with SAD who goes to Italy for Christmas and meets an English governess/artist. It's probably shallow of me, but while I like tormented heroes and deeply flawed heroes, I'm not fond of pitiful ones, or of depressed characters in general.

*** "The Christmas Tart." Historical romance. Another fairly standard story. Heroine is a destitute, displaced Frenchwoman who's mistaken for a prostitute by the hero's friends, who give her as a gift to him. I really did not buy that they fell in love.

****½ "The Black Beast of Belleterre." Historical romance. Beauty & the Beast. In fact, reading Beauty & the Beast is what makes the heroine realize how to fix things at the end of the story. Ugly & scarred hero shuts himself away from people. He's made a substantial loan to the heroine's father, who tries to force her to marry a vile old man to get more money, so the hero offers her a marriage of convenience in exchange for doubling and then cancelling the loan. ( )