** spoiler alert ** A great holiday book by four outstanding women! This is a must read if you are in the mood for a nice little winter read. Three of the four stories deal with single mothers (or one with an aunt raising her niece and nephew while single) and their struggle to find balance between family, jobs, and self. They are all great, inspiring stories to get you in the 'Christmas spirit'.

Holiday Magic, by Fern Michaels, tugged at your heart strings and had your emotions going up and down like the ski slopes in the story. You really felt for the main character and what she was going through. This was a 'softy' romance, so no steamy sex scenes, but was a touching love story instead. I especially like that in the end, girl gets promise of a possibility of something with guy; it is not a given that they get married and live happily ever after.

A Very Merry Christmas, by Cathy Lamb, was a hilariously good read. I love that the story practically starts with a bar fight. And the fact that Meredith constantly talked to herself- or thought to herself, loudly- really drew me to her (I too am a self talker). The main theme was about a tough-as-nails girl dealing with learning to trust and depend on someone else to stay with them no matter what.

A Very Maui Christmas, by Mary Carter, deals with a lot of family 'secrets' that would be better told than kept. An overbearing "Holiday Hitler" sister, the loss of employment, and losing your two main friends all in the same day...topped off with getting bit by a reindeer- who wouldn't need a vacation after that?! Then the poor girl's get-away (literally) is turned into the new family gathering place and is more or less taken over by the handy man as well. It was fun reading about what all can happen when you are trying to deal with family, not have a life, and keep your problems to yourself.

A Cedar Key Christmas, by Terri DuLong, was a great story about yet another single mother who made the choice to quit college to raise her daughter and is now having to face the consequences of that decision. Twelve years after the fact, outside forces combine to make the main character face her life and the decisions that must now be made for her and her daughter. The daughter was a great character, in and of herself, taking action and making decisions to help a neighbor when the adults didn't know what to do. This story was a great end to the book. I liked that it wasn't until the end that the guy and girl don't even make plans to see each other or date until the end. It leaves the possibility to have another story for them later as well.