by Julie Murphy
Part of Christmas Notch
First published 2024
Sunny Palmer has sold her first screenplay to the Hope Channel, but six months later she faces a looming deadline with no inspiration. She returns to Christmas Notch, Vermont, hoping to rediscover the local Christmas miracle that sparked her original movie pitch. Isaac Kelly, once a boy band heartthrob, now owns the town's historic mansion where he plans to record his first holiday album in solitude. His record label demands new music after years of creative drought following his wife's death. When their friends' wedding leads to an awkward one-night stand and a freezing motel room with broken plumbing, Isaac offers Sunny a place to stay in his sprawling mansion. Both writers are creatively blocked, so they strike a deal: Isaac will help Sunny investigate the local legend behind her screenplay, while Sunny will help Isaac find his musical muse again. With Sunny's potentially demonic cat completing their unlikely household, these opposites must navigate their growing attraction while pursuing their separate creative goals.
Genres: fiction, adult, comedy, contemporary-romance
Vibes: cozy, heartwarming, lighthearted, romantic, witty
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, fake-dating, forced-proximity, found-family
Setting: Christmas Notch, Vermont
Period: contemporary, christmas
400 pages · Hardcover · Avon
Content warnings: death