A Yuletide Kiss -- Anthology

When We Finally Kiss Good Night by Sabrina Jeffries 

Konrad Juncker has been introduced in other books of the "Duke Dynasty" as the person posing as a playwright so that one of the dukes can be anonymous. We've also know that he had a romance with Flora Younger when they were in their teens (at least she was) but something happened and they did not marry. 

 In this story, Konrad and Flora are stuck in the same in the same inn during a snowstorm and truths about their past start to come out. Including that she would have waited for him and that he didn't think he was good enough for her. And both have identities they wouldn't want the rest of the world to know about. But they both are still attracted and have hope for a future together. And even though this is a short story, there is still room for a Big Misunderstanding (sigh). 

Fours stars 

The Unexpected Gift by Madeline Hunter 

Overlapping with the previous story, we see the viewpoint of the inn owner. Jenna Waverly is dealing with a snowstorm and is grateful that she doesn't have many mouths to feed when one of her team, Peter, brings in an unconcious man. One who is probably a lord based on his clothing. And this year is already not turning out as she had planned. Instead of her normal routine where she gets to relax with no people, she is forced to share the inn with a group of unexpected travelers. 

Lucas Avonwood is sick and Jenna feels as though she needs to tend him herself. It is his illness that allows them to be vulnerable with each other. He is searching for a broach to make sure that his cousin isn't caught out by a rogue and her brother mortgaged the inn (which is in both their names) without asking her. It may be that their problems are a shared one. Since it is a short story, we don't really get a sense of how the two will really get an HEA but okay nonetheless. 

Three stars 

When Strangers Meet by Mary Jo Putney 

Again overlapping with the other stories, we get the tale of two of the other people caught in the snowstorm at the White Rose, Kate Macleod and Daniel Faringdon. He is in line for a barony and she... she is his wife. 

It seems that seven years ago they were both in Bombay. Her uncle, an unscrupulous man, swooped in to pick at the coffers after her parents died. Since Kate was of a an age, he auctioned her off and Daniel was the lucky recipient of her hand. He never believed the marriage was legal but here she is, stating just the opposite. So he suggests that they use their time snowbound to determine whether or not they should remain married. Again, for a short story, there is not a lot of room to explore why an HEA would work for them but overall a nice story. 

Four stars

Four stars

This book came out September 28th, 2021

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own