Christmas? Bah, humbug. Lauren is most definitely not in the Christmas mood, and she hasn’t been for years. Her first love died on Christmas Eve when she was twenty-one. Now Lauren faces this Christmas alone, since her husband of twenty years left her for a woman many years his junior. Her therapist – well, former therapist – suggested she do something to get herself in the holiday mood. So, Lauren is taking her advice – and applying for the job of Mrs. Santa Claus at the Prairie Park Mall. She’s surprised when she gets the job, as she wasn’t exactly overflowing with Christmas Spirit. Nevertheless, she is determined to give it a go. First, though, she is going on her seventeenth date since her divorce...or she thinks she is, anyway. It turns out that the man she is supposed to be meeting didn’t set up the date. His fourteen-year-old son did, in the hopes of getting his father launched into the dating scene following his own divorce. Comments are exchanged, and humiliation abounds. Needless to say, neither Lauren nor her ‘date’ hit it off. Ah well, maybe she shouldn’t be trying so hard to find a guy...

When she first meets her colleague who is to play Santa, she knows only his name – not his background, nor what he looks like – because he is in full costume the first few times they meet. It’s not long, however, before the pair are getting along and creating more heat than a blazing open fire. Then, they meet one another outside of their costumes and receive the biggest shock of their lives: he is date number seventeen! Oh, Lawd! Where do they go from here? Does their first meeting put a damper on their attraction to each other?

Mrs. Claws or The NightSweats Before Christmas is a very festive tale interspersed with humor and mishaps. Both characters are divorced forty-somethings, though for different reasons. Each of them is continuing to make judgments and decisions based on their experiences with their exes. They seem incompatible, even to those around them, yet when they get to know a little about one another, they find they like each other and, what’s more, are very attracted to one another. Fairly well developed, these characters will make you smile, as will their friends. Those of you who have read Kate Snow’s prequel to this tale, A Rose For Mr. Dillinger, will recognize several of the somewhat eccentric characters. Whilst I have not yet read this other tale, I most assuredly want to. If you have been looking for a book with more mature characters, then this author’s works are for you. For a great bit of festive cheer, pick up Mrs. Claws today.


Reviewed by: Elizabeth