The Secret Life of Mrs. Claus by Carly Alexander

In the Nutcracker, Olivia Todd returns to Baltimore to recover after breaking her ankle. Forced to quit dancing with the Rockettes, she takes a job as Mrs. Claus in Rossman’s Department Store. Then she learns that her ex-boyfriend also returned to Baltimore and is filming film a new TV show, who’s lead character is obnoxious and nasty and also just happens to be based on Olivia. Everywhere she goes, people treat her the same way that her TV character treats others. Now can Olivia survive her ex and the problems he caused and return to her dream job of dancing with the Rockettes?

In Christmas Mouse, Cassie Derringer deals with single motherhood as she tries to provide the best possible life for her son after leaving the child’s father. Leaving the child’s father meant giving up her job as a set designer for his TV show. Forced to look elsewhere for employment, she takes a job at Rossman’s Department Store as a window dresser. However, cutbacks in the store means that she also has to take on the job of Mrs. Claus. Now can Cassie and her son survive their first Christmas season without a man in their lives?

In Miracle on the Magnificent Mile, Meredith tries to assert her right to take her parents place on Rossman’s board of directors. However, the board feels that she’s too young and thinks she needs more hands-on retail experience. So Meredith finds herself in the toy department playing Mrs. Claus, while trying to earn the board’s respect. Unfortunately Meredith hasn’t believed in Christmas, since her parents died on Christmas Day, two years ago. Now can Meredith overcome her parent’s deaths to find the true meaning of Christmas?

While the cover leads to you to believe that this is a single story, it is really three short stories that revolve around three different women who play Mrs. Claus in a department store. The heroines eventually connect with a guy in all three stories, but the guy generally plays a minor role in the story so it’s hard for me to think of these stories as true romances. Not realizing that the book contains three stories, hurt the first story as I was just starting to like Olivia, when the story abruptly ended. But I have to admire the extreme level of detail Carly used when painting the picture of Baltimore City. Cassie’s story is cute, but mostly because of her son. My favorite story of the three is Meredith’s because it was closer to a romance story than the other two. If you love Carly Alexander, I think you’ll love this book. But if you’re looking for a more typical romance novel, I think you should look elsewhere.

Details: Kensington, October 06

Bottom line: A pretty good book