"The Night Before Christmas" by Various Authors
Title: The Night Before Christmas
Author: Various Authors
Final Thought: Okay
Stories by Lori Foster, Erin McCarthy, Jill Shalvis, Kathy Love, Katherine Garbera, and Kylie Adams.
Like the last book I read, I picked this up because of Erin McCarthy's story which again features minor characters from Smart Mouth. In Snowed Under Derek's half-sister hooks up with another one of his fellow FBI agents. When Claire Robbins finds herself soaking wet after a snowplow hits her with a splash of dirty snow she heads for the closest shelter, her brothers apartment. Since Derek is in New York with his wife visiting the in-laws, she'll have the place to herself... or maybe not. To her surprise and delight, Derek's former co-worker and pal Justin is sitting on the couch when she enters. She's had a crush on Justin since she was a teenager and he's always treated her like a little sister. But Justin sees that she isn't a little girl anymore and Claire sees this is a perfect opportunity to get what she's wanted for years. Derek will not be pleased.
Other memorable stories in this book included Lori Foster's White Knight Christmas about a detective trying to avoid his cheery (and hot) neighbor with unsuccessful results and Kathy Love's I'll Be Home for Christmas about a man getting a second chance at love when he bumps into his ex-girlfriend and shares a rental car with her and a gay couple fighting whether one of them looks like Sting or not. Various other stories feature people hooking up with their co-workers hoping to get them out of their Grinch / Scrooge moods.