A man, a woman, a disembodied skull… What could go wrong this holiday season? Everything. Traipsing through the woods, searching for a century-old skull is just another day at the office for forensics professor, Dr. Chris Carter. But this call couldn't have come at a worse time. He’s recently been jilted by his long-term crush. It's days away from Christmas and he's spending the holidays alone. It's bone-chillingly cold, he really needs that third cup of coffee, and there’s nothing remotely interesting about this cut-and-dried case. Until his colleague’s new assistant bounces onto the crime scene. Daphne McKinnon is bubbly and gorgeous, with a keen intelligence and an eye for detail that makes her an excellent anthropologist. Their eyes linger too long inside the caution-taped perimeter. Her smile stretches wide as his thumb accidentally brushes hers over a dirt-encrusted orbital bone. It’s more than flirtation. It’s magic. When Chris and Daphne agree to transport the remains across the state to his lab, their spark ignites. Something about this woman turns the snobby, uptight, millionaire academic into a protective, feral... Daddy... who can't say no to her. Especially not when she’s urging him to right the wrongs of Christmases past, heal their childhood wounds, and make their own new, movie-worthy holiday traditions along the way. But while they’re making merry, every stop on their Christmas Eve road trip turns into one disaster after another, until one giant peppermint hot cocoa bomb threatens to blow their cozy new world apart, almost as soon as it began. They've already started planning their lives together, but their relationship might not even survive the remains of Christmas.

Publication Year: 2024