This book consisted of three stories, loosely surrounding a holiday ball. I got it for the Jennifer Ashley story and have never read Emily Bryan or Alissa Johnson before.

"My Lady Below Stairs" by Emily Bryan: I confess that I didn't finish this story. It wasn't that the writing was bad but I hate plotlines of mistaken identities or having to pretend you are somebody else type of stories.

"The Longest Night" by Jennifer Ashley: I really enjoy Ashley's books. This story was a continuation of the Nvengarian series staring Mary (Egan's widow sister) and Valentin (Nvengarian's go-to guy for spying and assasinations). There was an element of paranormal not found in the other two stories in this collection. Valentin was one of my favorite characters in the series and I was surprised Ashley didn't choose to do his novel in a full length novel. Regardless this was a good story. Mary's hessitation to be Valentin was slightly weak but I enjoyed the whodonit aspect.

"Traditions" by Alissa Johnson: This was a nice addition. William was an Earl who liked planning everything except when he meets the very spontaneous Patience. Patience on the other hand was experiencing a glimpse of life for the first time due to spending most of her life dealing with her father's mental illness. Although she knew nothing can become of her liasion with William, she wanted to indulge just a bit before going into seculsion with her father again. It was easy to read and enjoyable. There are no surprises and ultimately a very sweet story.

Overall I thought it was a decent anthology (I am a harsh critic of anthologies). It was nice, fluffy reading to pass the time.

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Nice quick reading trio of short Christmas-related stories.

My Lady Below Stairs - cute story about the bastard daughter who works in her father's household as a maid. She's asked to pretend to be her missing half-sister to whom she bears a remarkable resemblance. We must set aside the fact that she would not have really been reared with the correct accent, manners, or dancing skills. And her beau, stable hand Ian, would also not have an upper-class accent or dance training. A cute story with a happy ending nonetheless.

The Longest Night - Jennifer Ashley gives us a little Crhistmas gift with a continuing Nvengaria story of Lady Mary and Valentin. I wish I'd read those books more recently, I forogt whom all the characters were. I also wish Valentin had been a bit more traditionally romantic.

Traditions - My favorite story of the three. Characters were more flushed out and the pace of the romance between Casselbury and Patience was just right.

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