by Alex Ritany
First published 2026
Zach clutches his family's Christmas presents and tries to ignore the anxious voicemail from his ex as he heads home from his first college semester. His travel day goes from bad to worse when thieves steal his luggage, leaving him stranded and humiliated. Then he meets Kieran, a striking boy who dreads his own Christmas homecoming. Kieran travels with his sister Rena and her boyfriend Lucas, a couple wrestling with their own relationship troubles. As snow blankets the airport and flights get canceled, Zach and Kieran discover an unexpected connection. But Zach's travel anxiety and Kieran's family fears threaten to ground their budding romance before it takes off. Meanwhile, Rena and Lucas face a choice about whether their rocky relationship can survive another crisis. The four young people spend one transformative night learning that home might not be a place on a map but the person who makes you feel safe.
Genres: fiction, coming-of-age, contemporary, contemporary-romance, new-adult, new-adult-romance
Vibes: emotional, heartwarming, intimate, tender, transformative
Tropes: forced-proximity, found-family, meet-cute, slow-burn
Setting: Airport, College
Period: Christmas
368 pages · Hardcover · Norton Young Readers
Content warnings: anxiety