A Yuletide Kiss

This intricately woven trio of Regency romance novellas makes for cozy reading during the holiday season. Hunter’s “The Unexpected Gift” finds Jenna Waverly closing her inn and sending most of the servants away, hoping for a brief Christmastime respite before a visit with her estranged brother. But when strangers seek shelter from an ice storm—among them the injured and feverish Lucas Avonwood—she graciously welcomes them in from the cold and nurses Lucas back to health. In Jeffries’s “When We Finally Kiss Goodnight,” another of Jenna’s guests, ladies companion Flora Younger, is dismayed to run into playwright Konrad Juncker, whom she believed to be courting her in Bath years ago. Gamely volunteering to help Jenna feed and entertain her unexpected visitors, the pair reconnect while composing a Christmas carol together and introducing the crowd to the German tradition of Christmas trees. The inn plays host to yet another unexpected reunion in Putney’s “When Strangers Meet,” this one with an even more complex backstory involving a quicky marriage in India. All three tales carefully follow the same timeline and incorporate the same overarching details to conjure a believable sense of place. Together, they form a well-rounded whole with plenty of heated moments for a cold evening. (Oct.)