Looking for a novel that reflects the spirit of the season? The usual best-selling suspects—and a few surprises—are ready with some exciting and festive new releases.

SILENT NIGHT
A homeless boy leads Spenser into the case of a lifetime in this new adventure, completed by Parker's longtime literary agent and friend Helen Brann.

STARRY NIGHT
When a successful gossip columnist comes upon the scoop of a lifetime in small-town Alaska, she must decide between her career or her heart.

THE CHRISTMAS CANDLE
It's Christmas in the Cotswolds, and a humble candle maker is visited by a mysterious angel who gives him a dubious gift: The ability to grant one Christmas miracle.

CHRISTMAS BLISS
Savannah antiques dealer Weezie Foley would enjoy Christmas a lot more if she weren't trying to juggle a wedding and a pregnant maid-of-honor.

TIME FOR ME TO COME HOME
A big-time country superstar realizes that the only place he wants to spend Christmas is at home in Oklahoma in this heartwarming tale by the mother of real-life superstar Blake Shelton.

THE DOGS OF CHRISTMAS
When Josh finds an abandoned, pregnant dog on his doorstep, he inadvertantly becomes the patriarch of a very furry family—and gets a chance at love with a beautiful shelter employee.

A CHRISTMAS HOPE
A boring holiday gathering with the haute ton turns into something more when a prostitute joins the party—and turns up dead—in Perry's 11th Christmas mystery.

Unlike his previous canine best sellers, A Dog's Purpose and A Dog's Journey, Cameron's latest novel tells the story from human Josh Michael's point of view. Josh lives a newly solitary life in the mountains of Evergreen, CO, since his girlfriend Amanda left him for another guy. When a neighbor dumps his very pregnant dog, Lucy, off at Josh's and disappears, Josh is more than a little upset. Consulting the local animal shelter for help, he meets animal lover Kerri, who helps him with Lucy and the new puppies and may just help him get over Amanda, too. VERDICT Some readers may wonder if a guy can really be as clueless as Josh, but dog lovers will appreciate the heartwarming story.

Unlike Cameron's most recent doggie tales (A Dog's Journey), this slender Christmas story isn't written from a canine's perspective. Instead, the sentimental narrative focuses on Josh Michaels, a freelance software programmer who lives alone in the Colorado mountains. Socially awkward and easily tongue-tied, he's bamboozled by an acquaintance into caring for Lucy, a very pregnant dog. None of Lucy's litter survives, but someone leaves a box of newborn pups in his truck and Lucy begins to mother the five as if they were her own. Kerri, an attractive young woman from the local shelter, helps Josh foster the pups so they may be adopted, in the process bringing Josh, scarred from his ex-girlfriend's infidelity, out of his shell. His inability to communicate, however, nearly derails the budding romance. The canines inhabiting the story are adorable, and Kerri, unlike Josh, has real personality. While Josh is full of love and good intentions, until the story reaches its climax he reads like a gangly adolescent in a grown man's body, clueless and unable to stand up for himself. Agent: Scott Miller, Trident Media Group. (Oct.)