Ruby Linfield believes in fresh starts. In wish lists, hopeful plans, and the kind of bright optimism that makes some people roll their eyes. So when she arrives at a snowy mountain lodge for a New Year’s reflection retreat, she’s ready to embrace every journalling prompt and goal-setting exercise the week throws her way.
Elias Hart doesn’t do resolutions. Dragged to Cedar Ridge Lodge by his well-meaning sister, he’s counting the hours until he can return to his carefully controlled life—one where wanting less keeps disappointment at bay.
Then a blizzard rolls in… and the retreat leader pairs them as reflection partners.
Ruby’s warmth shakes loose all the walls Elias has built to protect himself. Elias’s quiet steadiness grounds Ruby’s wildest hopes. Over mugs of cocoa by the fire, vulnerable midnight talks, and the kind of small kindnesses that matter more than either of them admits, they begin to realize the barriers they’ve built aren’t keeping them safe—they’re keeping them lonely.
But when fear and misunderstanding threaten to unravel their fragile connection, both must decide: slip back into old patterns… or risk the sweetest resolution of all—choosing each other.
As the countdown to midnight approaches, two guarded hearts stand on the edge of something neither expected—but both might finally be ready to claim.
A clean, closed-door romance about fresh starts, quiet bravery, and the soft, steady love that comes from being truly seen.
Tropes & Vibes 💕✨
- ❄️ Snowed-in / forced proximity
- ✏️ Opposites attract
- 🫶 Sunshine x Stoic
- 🔥 One room, one fireplace
- 🤝 Reflection partners / paired by circumstance
- 🐢 Slow-burn tenderness
- 🫖 Cozy, wholesome intimacy
- 🎆 New Year’s fresh start
- 💌 Emotional healing
- 🚪 Closed-door romance
A fake boyfriend. A Christmas lie. A town that never stops watching.
When Lisa Simmons returns to Maple Hollow for the first Christmas without her mother, she expects quiet days helping her dad—not public humiliation. But when her ex announces his engagement at the town’s beloved holiday kickoff, panic strikes…and Lisa blurts out a lie.
She is seeing someone.
Someone wonderful.
Someone who absolutely doesn’t know he’s her boyfriend.
Enter Chris Blake, the quiet carpenter next door—steady, kind, and still recovering from the fire that destroyed his workshop. When Lisa’s spur-of-the-moment lie puts him in the spotlight, Chris does the unexpected: he plays along.
What starts as fake dating to survive small-town gossip soon becomes something softer, deeper, and dangerously real. Between Christmas markets, late-night cocoa, decorating the farmhouse tree, and learning to trust each other’s broken pieces, Lisa and Chris discover a connection neither of them planned for—one that feels like coming home.
But with Christmas ticking down and both their hearts on the line, they must decide:
Was it all pretend…or the beginning of something real?
A cozy, sweet small-town romance about healing, hope, and finding love right where you least expect it.
✨ Tropes ✨
- 🎄 Small-Town Christmas Magic
- 💔➡️❤️ Broken Hearts Learning to Love Again
- 🧣 Returning Home After Loss
- 🤝 Fake Dating… That Stops Feeling Fake
- 🔥 Grumpy–Quiet Carpenter x Soft-Hearted Heroine
- 🏡 Next-Door Neighbors
- 🧁 Holiday Community Events (Cookie Exchange, Markets, Tree Lighting)
- 💕 Slow-Burn
- 🫶 Healing Together / Emotional Comfort
- 🌟 Found Family & Community Support
- 🧤 Cozy Domestic Moments (Baking, Decorating the Tree)
- 🪵 Man Who Fixes Things… Including Her Heart
- 🥺 Hurting, But Still Hoping
- ✨ Heartwarming HEA Under the Christmas Lights
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Sophie Toovey 