BLUE CHRISTMAS S. Hill, L. Jones, S. Pisacreta and A. E. Saunders Leisure Romance November 1998 ISBN# 0-8439-4447-1 {Click here to buy this book} This Christmas compilation is set among one of the most historically, musically and paranormally significant towns in all

In Amy Elizabeth Saunders' "I Can't Help Falling In Love", a mysterious man with long sideburns takes off with Charles van Dusen's jacket containing all his money and his plane ticket. Charles decides that if he's to get to Memphis so that he can get his "Memphis Christmas" article done on time he has no choice but to take the offered ride from the airport restaurant waitress who's nametag reads "Oh, Miss". It has been one of her lifelong dreams is to see Graceland at the holidays and is leaving that very night. En route, Bailey, "Oh, Miss's" real name, picks up other Christmas 'orphans' on their way to Memphis, cramming them all into her VW Beetle, along with all of her own, and their, packages. Along the way, Charles's stiff upbringing begins to soften at Bailey's kindness and generosity. And before he knows it, he can't help falling in love.

Linda Jones gives us a fresh look at reunion love in "Always On My Mind". Laura left the man of her dreams, Michael, nearly five years ago as he follows his dream of making it big in the music industry. Now she is back in her hometown of Memphis to clear the air between them, and to tell Michael of a daughter, Megan, whom he knows nothing about. Megan is now 4 and all she wants for Christmas is a daddy like all her friends at preschool. While waiting for her mother to bring her the father she so craves she invents an imaginary friend, who turns out to be not so imaginary after all with his long sideburns and sleepy eyes. Laura has a hard time controlling her feelings around Michael, even now, when he tells her 'you were always on my mind'.

"All Shook Up" is what you'll be after reading Sharon Pisacreta's story. Kim is in Memphis trying to land the PR account of Modine Music. Her business back home is failing for some mysterious reason and with this account she hopes to draw some of her old clients back. Only Spencer Modine doesn't think she can do the job. But her persistence is admirable and gives her a week to find a way to persuade him. In the week alone with Spencer, Kim begins to find it hard to separate work from pleasure as her feelings are awakening. And Spencer discovers a loneliness inside himself that only Kim can cure. When love is in the air, Kim and Spencer find themselves all shook up.

Finally, "Fever" is Sandra Hill's offering. Clay has inherited the Original Heartbreak Hotel from his late father and goes to Memphis to sell it, or turn it into a strip mall. Upon arrival, Clay discovers that local farmers, the Fallon's, have set up a Nativity on his property with cups out for donations. Wise men with Elvis hair and sideburns, a Priscilla Virgin Mary and a real baby as Baby Jesus sporting his own "Elvis curl" make up this 'only in Memphis' scene. Clay tells Priscilla, Annie Fallon, to get her motley crew off his property but in the excitement of the argument Clay slips in one of the sheep's leavings and falls, giving himself a good crack on the head. Annie rushes him to the hospital where he's had a bad reaction to the painkillers, making him more than jovial. The doctor says he needs round the clock care for a couple days. Feeling responsible, Annie takes him home to her family's farm. In the days that follow, Clay and Annie realize there's something between them. And the only thing to quench the fever that rises when they're together is to give in and fall in love.

Wise men say only fools rush in, but you won't be able to help falling in love with "Blue Christmas". This book is full of Christmas magic, Elvis legend and down home good times. Each of the stories are cleverly written, yet their plots are interwoven. Characters present themselves in each story as background stories only to be highlighted in the following chapters. And the essence of Memphis at Christmas seems to glow. You'll be delighted with Graceland's holiday decorations and Flying Elvi, but mostly how each of the stories hero's and heroine's find their one true loves . . . with the ever persistent nudges from Elvis himself. Suspicious minds might look at this book with a skeptical eye, but don't be a hound dog. You'll have a blue Christmas if you don't pick up your own copy of "Blue Christmas"!