It Happened One Christmas [Mass Market Paperback]

Nancy Warren (Author), Susan Wiggs (Author), Jule McBride (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2003

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the city
Not a single woman was stirring except . . .

Manhattan blue blood Eve St. James
Could she forgo the air-kissing society scene for real love . . . With a Brooklyn cop?

Up-and-coming caterer Marina Shields
She's seduced right out of her apron by CEO Clay Archer -- and into her own catered affair.

And Scrooge-in-heels marketing exec Kim Winkler
Her lust for the season's must-have toy was transforming to romance with the toy's brilliant creator.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Harlequin (November 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373835817
• ISBN-13: 978-0373835812
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #426,344 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Susan Wiggs's life is all about family, friends...and fiction. She lives at the water's edge on an island in Puget Sound, and she commutes to her writers' group in a 17-foot motorboat. She's been featured in the national media, including NPR's "Talk of the Nation," and is a popular speaker locally and nationally.

When her recent novel, FIRESIDE, hit #1 on the New York Times, the author reportedly reacted to the news by "putting on my lipstick and sweeping the patio." Why? Because she knew that within a matter of minutes, her girlfriends would show up to pop the bubbly and help her celebrate. [Update: FIRESIDE has been chosen of one of Amazon.com's Top Ten Romances of 2009.]

According to Publishers Weekly, Wiggs writes with "refreshingly honest emotion," and the Salem Statesman Journal adds that she is "one of our best observers of stories of the heart [who] knows how to capture emotion on virtually every page of every book." Booklist characterizes her books as "real and true and unforgettable." She is the recipient of three RITA (sm) awards and four starred reviews from Publishers Weekly for her books. Her books make frequent appearances on Amazon's "best of" lists. Several of her novels have been listed as Indie Next picks and optioned as feature films. Her novels have been translated into more than two dozen languages and have made national bestseller lists, including the USA Today, Washington Post and New York Times lists.

The author is a former teacher, a Harvard graduate, an avid hiker, an amateur photographer, a good skier and terrible golfer, yet her favorite form of exercise is curling up with a good book.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disapointing, December 4, 2006

By 

Gemma "bookworm" (Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: It Happened One Christmas (Mass Market Paperback)

Since the back cover description is already given on this page, I'll skip straight to my review:

The first story in this collection is THE ST. JAMES AFFAIR by Susan Wiggs. In this story, a career woman who has become cynical about Christmas ends up running into the man who broke her heart exactly seven years ago, on Christmas Eve. But with the help of a little Christmas magic, she learns to forgive and rediscover love and happiness.

I expected to like this one, as Wiggs is a talented writer. But I was left rather disapointed by this story, mostly because I had a really hard time liking the heroine. Her cynical attitude came on just a bit too strong, turning me off of her character. And the career she was obsessed with seemed so meaningless and trivial to me. PR person? That's what's consumed your entire life, to the exclusion of the things that matter? Clothes, manicures and parties? It just made the heroine seem very shallow. I just couldn't make myself care about her. And I never felt like I really knew the hero well enough to form an opinion of him. I just didn't care if these two ended up together, which makes for a very unsatisfying read. Two stars.

The second story was Nancy Warren's A CATERED AFFAIR. In this story, a woman who has been jilted by her lover and ex-business partner is attempting to get her revenge by making a sucess of her catering business and beating out his. During a crucial night, she meets a man who is intrigued by her and pursues her. Holiday romance ensues.

This story was just okay. I had a hard time liking the hero, as he came across as a bit of an arrogant jerk. He was practically strutting around, thinking that he's so great and gorgeous that any woman should be happy to fall at his feet. Ugh. Self-confidence is attractive. Being self-absorbed is not. And his immediate comment that he wanted to see the heroine in nothing but her stiletto heels and her catering apron was sleazy, not sexy. It didn't progress from there. There was nothing drawing the characters together but sex. I need more than just out-of-control hormones for a satisfying romance. Two stars.

The last story in this anthology was Jule McBride's A PHILADELPHIA AFFAIR. This was a story of lovers reunited at Christmas time. The hero and heroine shared a brief but torrid affair, and the hero doesn't want it to be over. His relentless pursuit of the hero combine with the machinations of the heroine's daughter to win the heroine back into his arms.

I didn't get very far into this story. This was another story that was only about sex, and had no real love in it. When the hero has made a dozen sexual references (and memories) of the heroine in two pages (seriously, there were that many!) you know that the story is going to be nothing but a lust-fest. Sadly, I've yet to read a Jule McBride story that I was even able to finish, and this one was no exception.

Anthologies are always a hit-or-miss situation. This one was a complete and total miss. There are far better Christmas romance anthologies out there. See my list "Christmas romance books worth buying" for a list of my keepers and re-reads. As for IT HAPPENED ONE CHRISTMAS, I recommend that you skip it.

3.0 out of 5 stars heartwarming anthology, January 20, 2008

By 

Donna K. "bookcrosser" (Long Island, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: It Happened One Christmas (Mass Market Paperback)

The St. James Affair by Susan Wiggs is sort of like a reverse Cinderella story, with "An Affair to Remember" twist to it. Uptown Eva, discovers the warmth and inner happiness she's been missing in her uptight lifestyle and disapproving family when she falls in love with a blue-collar Brooklynite police officer. There are some obsticles to face, and some lessons to learn, but it all comes together with the assistance of some holiday elfin magic. A very nice story with a beautiful setting and likeable protagonists.

A Cetered Affair by Nancy Warren appealed to the foodie in me. I loved all the details of the preparation and presentation of the food items! This was a nice story about a woman who learns to trust and love again.

A Philadelphia Affair by Jule McBride is a cute story about the man behind a comic hero and how he wins over a cautious single mother and her troubled daughter.