Included in the Collection
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Letting You Go
Thomas was the love of my life, or he was supposed to be. Instead, he became the guy who broke my heart, crushed my spirit, the last guy I ever dated, and the reason I never wanted to date again.
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To Trust my Heart
This year, my favorite magazine, Festive Treasures, is hosting their Countdown to Christmas bake-off event right here in Willow Valley. When I get my acceptance letter, I discover that Tristan Ryan, my nemises from culinary school is sitting on the panel of judges.
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Pop Tarts and Mistletoe
After the death of my husband, I drowned myself in flowers, a bittersweet memory of the good times we’d shared. There had been flowers for every occasion, which culminated into the biggest flower delivery of all, my own shop in the small town of Willow Valley, Peggy’s Petals. Eight years later, my friends are trying to encourage me to move on. My best friend, Trinity, suggested I join the Army pen pal program. It seemed the safest way to test out the waters with someone new, and the best part, we’d never meet, or so I thought.
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On A Silent Night
Five years ago, I lost my best friend. The last words he ever spoke to me were a plea to look out for his wife. I never meant to fall in love with her. I even ran from my feelings. Not that it did any good. Three years later, I still can't get her out of my mind. Now, I’m going to try to win her back.
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The Greatest Gift
Derrick destroyed Tess's heart only weeks before their Christmas-themed wedding. One night she came to me, telling me how the honeymoon she'd booked was non-refundable and how she wished she had someone to travel with. Since I believed no one should be alone for Christmas I agreed to go with her.
We had 10 days in Paris and when we arrived it felt as if we'd been transported into another world. She was finally laughing and smiling until we arrived at the hotel to find everything had been prepared for the newlyweds, which we weren't.
Afterward, I pulled her in for an innocent hug. The problem was she fit perfectly as if she'd been made for me. It was then that I realized this trip wasn't going to be easy and that the next 10 days were going to be filled with cold showers, especially if she didn't feel the connection too. -
Back to You this Christmas
This Christmas, all I wanted was to wallow in self-pity until the woman I thought was the love of my life could explain why she left me at the altar. Instead, my buddy, Zach forced holiday merriment on me. I thought it was going to be a tinsel-laced nightmare... until his sister, Alexa, showed up. Turns out, she grew up into a gorgeous present I was insanely tempted to unwrap. Lucky for me, she shared my desire to meet under the metaphorical mistletoe... and let things heat up from there.
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What Once was Broken
When I saw Cadence again for the first time since my wife died I actually thought I could heal. She made me feel alive, made the pain go away. So why did I feel so guilty? One minute I was longing to hold her, the next I was pushing her away, until I finally pushed too hard and sent her running. -
Holiday Wishes
At seventeen, I thought we'd be together forever. By eighteen, I never wanted to see him again.
I had done well, I hadn't seen him for five years, until I walked into the lobby of Mistletoe Lodge for my best friends wedding and saw him leaning up against the front desk. At first, I wanted to confront him, to get some closure, so I could get on with my life. Then all the old feelings rushed to the surface again. The same chemistry that made me want to fall into bed with him.
Declan Brookes was supposed to be the love of my life, and when he whispered that he wanted me back, I wished I could forgive him. I just had no idea how to let go of the past and reach for the future, no matter how much my wounded heart wanted to do so.
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Fireside Love
It had been eighteen months. Eighteen months, since I had lost my wife in a car accident and learned that our marriage had been nothing but one big lie. I’d done nothing but work and mope around my sister’s house, so when she told me to take her cabin for the weekend. Time alone, surrounded by nature and the fresh cold mountain air was exactly what I’d been needing. However, my plans of being alone in the wilderness quickly vanished when I walked through the doors of the cabin and found my sister’s best friend drunk and half-naked on the floor of the very same cabin. I’d hidden my crush on her for years. Perhaps, not well enough.
