Published in 2007, Christmas Spirit is a short story anthology put together by romance writers Leigh Greenwood, Elaine Fox, and Linda Winstead. The collection includes:
- Bah, Humbug!, a story following Nate Jerome, an overworked commercial writer who has come to hate Christmas, and falls in love with his next-door neighbor, a Christmas fanatic.
- Christmas Present, which follows Susannah Murphy as she returns home for Christmas and meets a late-night savior.
- Blue Christmas, the final story in the collection, which is about Jess Lennox breaking her rule against dating musicians.
This stories contain examples of:
All three stories
Bah, Humbug!
- Big Damn Kiss: A very detailed first kiss between Nate and Milly.
- Christmas Creep: The bane of Nate's existence, and his main reason for hating Christmas.
- Deadpan Snarker: Nate gets in some good zingers, especially when Mrs. Stout is around.
- Cheerful Child: Clarissa, the little girl who invites herself to Nate's house and causes Nate and Milly to meet, plays this trope very straight.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Downplayed with Nate's mother calling him Natie, which makes him feel like a child.
- Get a Room!: Subverted by Mrs. Stout, who says for Milly and Nate, who are kissing in the hallway, to get a room. Separate rooms.
- The Grinch: Nate, with good reason.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Mrs. Stout is revealed to have died two years prior to the story taking place.
- The '90s: Nate casually mentions to his father that it's the nineties.
- Nosy Neighbor: Mrs. Stout plays with this trope; she's less nosy because she wants to know what's going on, and more because she wants to keep Nate and Milly for doing anything "uncouth".
- Milly is another subversion, as she finds the need to buy Nate's family Christmas presents, even though it's really none of her business.
- Shipper on Deck: Mrs. Stout tends toward this, even lightening up on her Victorian Era ideas of morality to push the two together.
- Workaholic: Nate, in a nutshell.
- Yet Another Christmas Carol: Nate falls asleep at work and has a dream that mimics the plot of A Christmas Carol. It skips Christmas Present and Yet-To-Come, however, and has Mrs. Stout as the Ghost of Christmas Past.
Christmas Present
Blue Christmas
- Bad Future: The first vision that Jess receives takes her to a future where Jimmy is married to a selfish actress named Erica, he has made only one album since the present day, which is regarded as a failure, and the publishing company is on its last legs. To top it off, although Jimmy is planning to divorce and almost manages to start a relationship with Jess, he gets shot and dies in her arms.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: Jimmy Blue, in the Bad Future, dies in Jess's arms.
- Elvis Impersonator: Dean, every Christmas, no matter how well the company is doing. In the good future, Jimmy Blue joins in with his own Elvis suit!
- Yet Another Christmas Carol: Jess is visited by a spirit who takes the form of her neighbor and shows her two alternate futures (leaving out past and present).
