Mia Heintzelman

Nadia Sikes usually loves the holidays—cozy game nights, snowy mountain girls’ trips, hours decking the halls at Love & Games. But when her two best friends and co-owners find love, all she wants is to tuck away her heart and make it through the season. Quietly handsome bookstore owner and single dad Micah Hamilton is determined to a) build lasting Christmas memories with his little girl and b) avoid Nadia. When his daughter asks to attend the holiday festivities at Love & Games, though, Micah is forced to introduce the woman who broke his heart, to his child she never knew existed. The scene would drive anyone to plot their romantic reunion…and someone does. Between turkey dinners, tree decorating, and mistletoe kisses, mysterious notes begin showing up at the game store. As Nadia strings together clues, motives, and suspects for this twisty whodunit, she and Micah are blindsided by the return of their desire. Is it a mistake to lose themselves in each other again? Or will a Christmas miracle bring them back to where they belong?

This contract is entered into by and between Allegra Malone and Damon Dawson. The term of this agreement shall begin immediately and continue through its termination date of never. The terms are as follows: 1. Find the bright side when your best friend (the woman you’ve secretly been in love with for 10+ years) finds an engagement ring in her live-in boyfriend’s gym bag. 2. When she discovers the ring isn’t for her, and you volunteer to mop up her tears, don’t freak out if you accidentally share a world-shattering kiss. 3.  Remember she’s your best friend and law firm partner…and a hopeless romantic. Being her rebound isn’t worth risking the only family you have. 4. Immediately—rationally—draw up a no-strings agreement, stipulating equal opportunity orgasms. Under no circumstances is PDA or catching (further) feelings allowed. 5. If while adding a wedding plus-one clause, the doorbell rings and it’s a moving company with all her belongings, and now you’re going to be roommates, shower. The colder, the better. In consideration of the mutual promises set forth herein, both parties agree that if at anytime while forced to live and work together they find themselves falling in love, they will re-read the fine print. Fine Print: Do not fall in love. This contract shall be binding and may not be modified in any manner unless in writing and signed by both parties.

Monopoly (n.) 1) the exclusive possession, control, or exercise of something. 2) a classic board game with all the answers to Harper Sloane’s problems. If Harper Sloane has learned anything, it’s that you can’t throw money at a problem. So, when she learns the beloved game store she owns with her sister and best friend is struggling, instead of mortgaging her pride and grabbing the pile of uncashed checks from her absentee father, she rolls up her sleeves and enters the city’s Monopoly tournament to save Love & Games. Declan Wilde is a handsome, new-in-town doctor looking to set his karma straight. When he pays for Harper’s coffee, she’s horrified. She quickly repays her debt—with interest—to prove she doesn’t need his charity. But when Declan turns up at Love & Games to enter the tournament, refusing his business isn’t an option. Forced to see each other at every practice, the tension starts to feel like a challenge beyond the game board. As they go over strategies for play, is their rivalry still just enemies playing games, or has it turned into something more?