Secret Santa by Janelle Denison, Isabel Sharpe, and Jennifer LaBrecque

It’s Christmas time at Connoisseur Magazine where hundreds of workers are ready to celebrate Christmas. Each department in the magazine has its own secret Santa gift exchange where three lucky women will open the gift of a lifetime.

In He’d Better Watch Out! by Janelle Denison, Amanda Creighton gets advice from two imaginary advisers, Devilish Desiree and Angelic Angie regarding the gift she should get for the office hottie, Christian Miller.

In The Nights Before Christmas by Isabel Sharpe, Cathy Ann Johnson receives a special gift from her secret Santa, but when she drops by to show her appreciation, but afterward she learns that she thanked the wrong Santa.

In Mistletoe Madness, by Jennifer LaBrecque, Tatiana Allen finds herself forced to play secret Santa to Cole Mitchell, her arch rival plus learns that she has four days to review four restaurants with him too. Now can Tatiana save herself or will she find herself trapped under the mistletoe with Cole?

With three steamy romances by three talented authors, this Blaze is a very nice Christmas present from the editors and writers at Harlequin. Read it and enjoy

Score: Very good

Details: Blaze #292, December 2006

Sinfully Sweet by Janelle Denison, Jacquie D'Alessandro, and Kate Hoffmann

Sinfully Sweet is a collection of three short stories based around a small chocolate store, whose proprietors like to play matchmaker.

Rebecca Moore raised her younger sister with barely enough money for food on the table. Now her sister is about to marry into a very wealthy family and the best man, Connor Bassett is interested in Rebecca. The normally conservative Rebecca has turned him down several times in the past. But will a taste of some Sinfully Sweet chocolate open her up to some new experiences?

Carlie Pratt is the exact opposite of Daniel Montgomery. Daniel is moving from the small town where he lives to the big city, while Carlie is happy to be in the small town where she can be close to work and school.

Kel Martin and Darcy Scott shared a one-night stand five years earlier. No names. No regrets. Except Darcy has plenty of regrets. She missed the extreme chemistry they had that night. When a chance encounter in Sinfully Sweet brings the couple together for the first time in since then, will Kel feel the same way.

If you like chocolate, short hot stories and chocogams, then you’re in for a treat. All three stories manage to pack a lot of detail as well as well developed characters into a relatively small package, which you can easily finish in a single sitting (unless you’re Sadhbh, who’d finish all three and still have room for another :) ).

Details: Blaze #231, February 2006

Bottom line: A pretty good book