Missed Connections — Michael Salvatore

Christmastime brings back memories as surely as office parties bring recriminations. The childhood wishes fulfilled (or dashed), the magic of anticipation, fighting over the dinner table...these are the ghosts of every Christmas past and present. Remembering Christmas brings together three holiday stories in a sparkling anthology sprinkled with nostalgia.
It's Christmas Eve in Tom Mendicino's Away in a Manger, and James is snowbound en route from New York City to his West Virginia hometown. While the sight of a familiar Motor Lodge sparks longing for a roadside America of yesteryear, his visions of peppermint stick ice cream are thwarted by a vending machine. But amid the revelry at the local diner, James finds something far more satisfying that will change his Christmases forever...

1991, Michigan State University. Best friends Jack and Kirk are preparing for an end-of-semester party in Frank Anthony Polito's A Christmas to Remember. But there's something unspoken in the air -- and it's not just the aroma of cinnamon-speckled eggnog. In Missed Connections by Michael Salvatore, two childhood friends reconnect in an airport lounge on Christmas Eve. And over cocktail-fueled reminiscences, they reconsider the paths they're on -- and the roads never taken...

Get what you really want this Christmas, with three captivating stories stuffed with warmth, wit, surprises -- and the promise of sweet Christmases yet to come...