Jordan Frost had to do it. Her family was simply too perfectly eccentric not to put in a novel. She was thrilled when she got an agent and then a publishing deal. For two books. Two! Then reality set in. The book about an oddball family who goes on a Christmas vacation together is coming out in November. Just in time for her trip home to Port Carol, Washington, from the big city. Jordan is desperately hoping she can keep her pseudonym a secret so she can stay in her family’s good graces. She wrote the book under a pen name, and when it was time for an author picture, she wore a wig and glasses. No one will know it was her, right?

Wrong. Charles Pine, her high school friend who always hoped for more, recognizes the woman he’s never gotten over as soon as he unpacks her book to shelve at the bookstore where he works. He knows this is the perfect opportunity to get Jordan to see him in a new light, and he makes sure to run into her when she arrives home. She never thought of him as anything more than a shoulder to cry on back then, but he’s determined to make her see him as boyfriend material, even if that means threatening to reveal her secret identity. As the holiday season sets in, Jordan tries to juggle writing, her family’s mishaps, and the stress of keeping a secret.

When a series of minor family emergencies threatens to add even more chaos to Jordan’s already hectic life, Charles tries to help her find the true meaning of the holiday. Maybe coming home wasn’t a bad idea after all…