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Earlier this week, I introduced you to Ajax Petrakos, the Hunkiest Man on Any Holiday List (we’ll have to check with People Magazine to see if he’s in the running for Hunkiest Man Alive status, although my vote’s already cast!). In case you’re new to my Gods of Midnight series, Ajax is the hero of my newly released paranormal romance, RED FIRE, and I tossed out a few holiday gift items that this strapping warrior might appreciate.

Well, by now I’m sure that Jax is awash in bug zappers, cashmere sweaters and sports cars, but what of his new wife, Shay Angel? This demon huntress has been adjusting to an awful lot of change recently, including marrying an…uh, unusual man. Consider if you will what she signed on for with Ajax:

Immortal dude? Check.

Battler of evil? Check.

Hogger of bed and blanket? Check. (Uh, wait…Shay says she doesn’t mind about that part!)

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The official release date for the film adaptation of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is Christmas day, but it's already garnered five Golden Globe nominations, including Brad Pitt for Best Actor in a Drama and David Fincher for Best Director. And the film itself is up for Best Drama. That's an incredible stamp of approval for a film that hasn't even hasn't even hit theaters yet, and it will no doubt bring a lot of people into the theaters during the holiday season, as if Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett weren't reason enough.

Before you figure out how to fit the film into your holiday schedule, I recommend picking up a copy of the Penguin Classics edition of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Other Jazz Age Stories. The title story, and the obvious inspiration for the film, is something of a departure for Fitzgerald, whose stories and novels usually present readers with cutting portraits of upper-middle class society. While Benjamin Button certainly lives in just such a circle of educated, worldly professionals, Fitzgerald employs a conceit that has no analogue in the rest of his writing: the main character is born in 1860 as an old man, and ages backwards. In less talented hands, this sci-fi treatment could have proven disastrous, but Fitzgerald crafted a story that deftly comments on the strange disappointment of being born into "a generation grown up to find all Gods dead, all wars fought, all faiths in man shaken."