REVIEWS BY SANDY HUSEBY

Wounded by the circumstances of her recent divorce and facing her first solo Christmas, high school librarian Joy Candellaro impetuously runs away from her past into an adventure with unexpected consequences. When her flight to Canada crashes in the Washington state rainforest, she seizes the opportunity to walk away and start a new life. Eight-year-old Bobby and his father, Daniel, take her in—against Daniel's better judgment. Joy finds herself falling in love with both the man and the boy, and begins to imagine she could actually stay at their fishing lodge forever in Kristin Hannah's miraculous Christmas tale, Comfort and Joy. Reality intrudes, though, as Joy's past catches up with her and she must go back to face her sister, Stacey, and the heartaches she's left behind. As Joy pulls together the disparate pieces of her life, she discovers the spirit of Christmas outlives the season. Truly a magical tale.

Comfort and Joy
By Kristin Hannah
Ballantine, $15.95
288 pages
ISBN 0345483677

The lady is a vamp
Magic takes another form in MaryJanice Davidson's cheerily eerie "vamp lit," Undead and Unreturnable. Vampire Betsy Taylor's "unlife" should be splendid. The vampire queen is engaged to the darkly handsome Eric Sinclair. Her family understands her current "situation," she lives in a dandy old St. Paul, Minnesota, mansion—even Jon Delk, the ex-vampire hunter, has an adolescent crush on her. But Eric is dragging his feet about planning their big wedding, and on top of that, Betsy is drawn into the hunt for a serial killer stalking tall blondes in the Twin Cities. Oh, did I mention Betsy fits that profile? When the vampires and fiends are stirred up by an even nastier bad guy, it'll take the unique attributes of Betsy and her gal pals to stop him so Betsy can get back to some serious Christmas shopping and convince Eric of the perks of couple-dom. A bawdy, laugh-out-loud treat!

Undead and Unreturnable
By MaryJanice Davidson
Berkley, $21.95
256 pages
ISBN 0425208168

Where the heart is
Three women face three very different holiday challenges in the short story collection Scenes from a Holiday. In Laurie Graf's "The Eight Dates of Hanukkah," events planner Nicki Heller isn't certain how her boyfriend Mark fits into her hectic life. After a head injury, Nicki goes into a coma, where she celebrates Hanukkah over and over, with a different nightmare date each time. This scare might be just what Nicki needs to realize what's keeping her and Mark apart. New Year's resolutions are easy to make, but not so easy to keep in Caren Lissner's "Carrie Pilby's New Year's Resolution." Geeky Carrie is a genius, except in social settings, so her resolution to meet someone just like herself is accompanied by all the tactical planning and orchestration of an invasion. Fortunately, she has her good friend Kara to help her along the way. Christmas takes center stage in Melanie Murray's "Emma Townsend Saves Christmas." Emma is a confirmed Manhattanite, but family traditions pull at her one more time. When she goes home to the country for the holidays, however, Jeff's on her mind even though he's left behind.

Scenes from a Holiday
By Laurie Graf
Red Dress Ink, $12.95
336 pages
ISBN 0373895372

Holiday blues
For four sistahs, New Year's Eve should be an occasion to celebrate, and they're determined to do so in Kiss the Year Goodbye, a quartet of spicy tales. In Tu-Shonda L. Whitaker's "Whatever It Takes," India Parker launches into a fantastic fling with her friend Joan's 20-something son Devin, but Joan is convinced that India is playing around with daddy Devin Sr. instead. In Brenda Thomas' "Every New Year," Cynthia accepted Terrell's proposal and his ring on Christmas Eve and intends to holiday in Hawaii with him, until an accident leaves her memory gone and she discovers irresistible fantasy in the arms of her doctor. London Phillips gets caught up between twin sisters: outgoing Jada, and Jovie, who seems prim and proper at first, but burns with hidden passions in Crystal Lacey Winslow's "I Play for Keeps." Gina's tired of her long-distance relationship with boyfriend Chris and captivated by the oh-so-tempting Kahlil in Daaimah S. Poole's "My Boo."

Kiss the Year Goodbye
By Various
Pocket, $14
368 pages
ISBN 0743497074

Sandy Huseby writes from Fargo, North Dakota, and lakeside in Minnesota.