Kissing Santa Claus

A trio of treats fill out this anthology for readers in search of holiday happily ever afters. In Kauffman’s “Lock, Stock and Jingle Bells,” Holly Bennett returns from London to Willow Creek, Va., to deal with an unexpected gift from her mother and find a potential love interest in an old crush. Shalvis’s “Bah, Handsome” is the recession-influenced seduction of Hope O’Brien, a bed-and-breakfast owner, by an unhappy CPA employed by her Scroogeish stepbrother. Dimon goes tropical in “It’s Hotter at Christmas” to explore what happens when a cranky Kauai deputy police chief falls for a Philadelphia ad executive who can’t seem to stay out of harm’s way. It’s not quite hot enough to melt ice, but it’s good, disposable fun. (Oct.)