Join three of today's bestselling inspirational fiction authors in a collection of Christmas stories from Victorian-era America that are full of romance and bonus reader gifts.

September 1939. As Warsaw falls to Hitler’s Wehrmacht, Captain Alexander de Milja is recruited by the intelligence service of the Polish underground. His mission: to transport the national gold reserve to safety, hidden on a refugee train to Bucharest. Then, in the back alleys and black-market bistros of Paris, in the tenements of Warsaw, with partizan guerrillas in the frozen forests of the Ukraine, and at Calais Harbor during an attack by British bombers, de Milja fights in the war of the shadows in a world without rules, a world of danger, treachery, and betrayal.From the Trade Paperback edition.From Publishers WeeklyWith clear, reticent prose and his trademark mastery of historical detail, Furst (Shadow Trade; Night Soldiers) brings vividly to life this WWII-era tale of espionage and bravery, chronicling the work of the Polish underground in Poland, France and the Ukraine. As Warsaw is falling in 1939, Polish Captain Alexander de Milja embarks on a harrowing journey to smuggle the national gold reserves out of the country by rail-the first of many death-defying missions he will undertake for the nascent ZWZ, the Union for Armed Struggle. Under a series of false identities, mingling with the bon vivants of occupied Paris, he later becomes a prized intelligence resource in France, surviving by cunning and passing valuable strategic information to the British. In the novel's final section, de Milja is in even more danger, working as a saboteur based in a Ukrainian forest as the Germans march east. Throughout these dramatic events, Furst's understated narrative is insightful and convincing. The unassuming de Milja-who considers himself merely "unafraid to die, and lucky so far"-proves an engaging protagonist. His exploits and the courageous sacrifices of the ordinary patriots who help him are both thrilling and at times inspiring. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalCapt. Alexander de Milja is a chameleon. A cartographer by profession, de Milja works as an intelligence officer in the Polish underground at the outset of World War II. When the Germans discover de Milja's identity in Poland, he goes to France and later Russia to continue his work. De Milja's disguises are many-he passes as a Russian writer, a Czech coal merchant, and a Polish horse breeder-and he embraces each persona completely as he goes about the business of espionage and sabotage. De Milja comes across as a genuine individual who, in his weaker moments, grapples with his desire to give up the fight. This well-written, realistic novel by the author of A Distant War (LJ 10/1/94) paints a vivid picture of the grayness and despair of the German occupation. Recommended for larger public libraries.--Maria A. Perez-Stable, Western Michigan Univ. Libs., KalamazooCopyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

September 1817: Captain Lacey travels with Lady Breckenridge to his boyhood home in northern Norfolk only to discover mysterious happenings in and around the Lacey estate. The underworld criminal, James Denis, uses Lacey's visit to Norfolk as an opportunity to have Lacey deliver a message to a local squire. A simple task--but one that lands Lacey squarely in international theft and murder.

In 1879 Missouri, Jack Dryden’s wife left him just before their adopted children could arrive. When he meets the trio at the train station, he’s unable to send them back to the orphan’s home in New York.Alice McCarthy takes her responsibilities seriously. She’s in charge of the Hays children and can’t let her feelings about Jack influence her. The rules are clear. She must refuse the adoption. Only, all five of them felt a bond at first sight.Now they must find a way to bend the rules to continue on as a true family.

Teen spy Jason Steed is under surveillance. His every move is being watched. On what turns out to be his most dangerous mission yet, a nightmare reunion with a bitter enemy throws him once more in the path of death. Can Jason prevent his old nemesis’ dastardly plan? A woman who has lost everything she cared for and who just happens to have a deadly weapon and a serious grudge against the free world. She will stop at nothing and is after more than just his life……. **

As the Duke of Rothermere's youngest daughter, Phaedra Montague is expected to be the dutiful darling of elegant society. Too bad, then, that this feisty Lady has swapped her dance cards and silk gowns for racing tips and breeches!With the arrival of gorgeous groom Bram Basingstoke, Phaedra can't help but be distracted. He's as wild and untamed as the stallion he's training. But Phaedra is supposed to act properly at all times. Even if this dark-haired devil in a billowing white shirt is tempting her to a very improper roll in the hay...

"All you have to do is watch my mouth." Simple in theory, but how can the ton's most eligible catch, Jonathon Lashley, concentrate on his French lessons with Miss Claire Welton when all he wants is to claim that delectable mouth with a heart-stopping kiss? Wallflower Claire has loved dashing Jonathon for years - and this Season, she's finally doing something about it! Except the closer she gets, the more she realizes how little she really knows him, and how much he has to teach her...especially about the art of seduction!

After the execution of her father, the young and beautiful Lady Asano is in grave danger from the powerful Lord Kira. In order to save herself Asano must find Oishi, the leader of the fighting men of her clan. She believes he is three hundred miles to the southwest in the imperial city of Kyoto.Disguising her loveliness in the humble garments of a traveling priest, and calling herself Cat, Lady Asano travels the fabled Tokaido Road. Her only tools are her quick wits, her samurai training, and her deadly, six foot-long naginata. And she will need them all, for a ronin has been hired to pursue her, a mysterious man who will play a role in Cat's drama that neither could have ever imagined. . . .