cover image Mischief and Mistletoe

Mischief and Mistletoe

Mary Jo Putney, Jo Beverley, et al. Kensington/Zebra, $15 trade paper (320p) ISBN 978-1-4201-2486-6

Eight authors celebrate Christmas in Regency England in this heart-warming anthology. Putney%E2%80%99s %E2%80%9CShe Stoops to Wenchdom%E2%80%9D brings Lucinda Richards face to face with her childhood crush, Gregory Kenmore, who thinks himself too cowardly to deserve love. In Beverley%E2%80%99s %E2%80%9CMiss Brockhurst%E2%80%99s Christmas Campaign,%E2%80%9D Penelope Brockhurst realizes too late that she loves her longtime friend Ross Skerries, and she makes a plan to seduce him. In Joanna Bourne%E2%80%99s %E2%80%9CIntrigue and Mistletoe,%E2%80%9D Elinor Pennington and Jack Tyler are hunting the same French spy. Jack is thrilled to find Elinor again; he may have betrayed her when he arrested her uncle, but he still loves her. All the authors match their styles so well that the individual couples begin to feel like friends and neighbors. The stories follow a similar pattern of lovers being reunited after a misunderstanding, and each second chance is a sweet gift for the reader. (Oct.)