A motherless girl finds a beautiful actress abandoned on her doorstep on Christmas morning. And then her father wakes up. And they start arguing. Sigh. It had seemed like such a good idea, asking Santa Claus for a new girlfriend for Daddy. She hoped he hadn't screwed up her other presents this badly.
An updated version of an ancient marriage custom proves the truth of the adage, "Chastity begins at home." Or something like that. An excerpt: "Kind of goes beyond Bridezilla, doesn't it?"
Val whispers. "I think we're in General Omar Bridely territory now,"
I answer her, once again provoking that laugh I had grown so fond of over the past 24 hours.
Kathy is alone and in bed. Through the open window comes the aroma of freshly baked bread, freeing her fantasies about the man who lives next door - the man who bakes bread every Saturday morning.
A Story in the The Hunter Family Universe
Caroline Stanhope finds herself both comforted and beset by members of her late husband's family. They include a deranged Earl, a disinherited eldest brother, a sister who has eloped to America, and another brother off fighting the War of 1812 as an officer in the Royal Navy.
Armed with his precious Scotch, writer Andrew Cavanaugh believes himself immune to the simple pleasures of life. But are his defenses enough to keep out the beautiful woman who has drunk herself unconscious at Pablo's Irish Bar?
Citius, Altius, Sexius: In this tribute to the ideals of Greek competition, a befuddled engineering student is chosen to be the judge of which of three sorority sisters is sexier. At stake for the women: the presidency of the sorority for the coming year. At stake for Harris: surviving the competition.
A Living Dolls of Hardwood Story (3) Part of the The Living Dolls universe
He's an award-winning novelist with a beautiful lawyer wife and two gorgeous children. So now that she's away on a business trip, why is he watching pornography in his den with his wife's best friend? His wife's naked best friend. Oh, did I mention this was a Living Dolls sequel?
A literary version of candy corn, this mercifully short story straddles the delicate distinction between horrific and horrible, until it finally falls off and lands on the wrong side. Readers, ye be warned!
A Story in the Endless Summer Universe
One of Robert Louis Stevenson's earliest efforts, this "pilot" for "Treasure Island" tells the tale of a randy pirate captain and the high-born widow he and his crew pick up at sea. The story is told by the captain as he sits in a tavern with a rapt audience. Readers may have some trouble with the nineteenth century dialogue, but may still find one or two things worthy of their interest.