A Texas Christmas

In their fifth novella anthology, Thomas, Pace, Broday, and Miranda (Give Me a Texas Ranger) develop a shared setting of Kasota Springs, Tex., in the December 1887 blizzard. Thomas’s thrilling “One Wish” brings together an outcast and a rich girl who were misfits together in grade school. In Pace’s “Naughty or Nice,” a female saloon owner rescues a scientist from the snow and seeks refuge at a Christmas party where many condemn her as a “soiled woman.” Broday’s delightful “The Christmas Bell” sends a rancher into the storm with supplies after he spots a stalled train. Miranda’s “Away in the Manger” strands a gruff blacksmith with a single mom and her twins. Readers will enjoy the recurring cameos from minor characters and themes of Christmastime forgiveness and redemption. (Oct.)