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Bob Lind wrote on 10/08/2011:

To many of us, the holiday season brings fond memories and trips back home, which create new memories, hopefully also pleasant. Such memorable trips are the focus of these short stories penned by three of Kensington's talented authors.

In Tom Mendicino's "Away in a Manger," James, a middle-aged single workaholic, sets off from NYC for another routine trip home to West Virginia, but his car has other ideas, stranding him in a small Pennsylvania town. Directed by his motel clerk to the only eating place open in town, a depressed James encounters an engaging, cute bartender at a family-owned café, and gets a new perspective on what "home for the holidays" might really mean.

Next is "A Christmas to Remember," in which author Polito recycles his main characters from his "Band Fags" and "Drama Queers" young-adult novels, now five years later. Jack is a senior at Michigan State University, with a crush on a straight roommate who is vacationing with his girlfriend. Deciding to come home to his small town of Hazel Park, Jack spends the holidays with family and old friends, while encountering a few surprises at the local gay bar.

Finally, Michael Salvatore spins an intriguing "Missed Connections," in which Theo, still smarting from the unexpected end of a "forever" relationship, encounters a childhood friend (and his first crush) in a busy airport waiting room. Unlike the first two breezy stories, this tale is a bit heavy in the rehashing and second-guessing of their previous assumptions about their friendship.

All are well-written, and just the thing ... to distract you enough to survive your own holidays with the family! Three stars out of four.