On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me.... Pearl knows she’ll only ever be a whore. Her chance to be anything more was snatched away long ago, and the bitterness has eaten at her for years. What keeps her looking to the future is the opportunity to take care of and protect the other working girls at La Maison des Chats… Well that, and one particular customer who holds her heart, even if he would never consider a life with someone like her. On Christmas Eve, a dozen new brides arrive in Noelle and are forced to take up residence in La Maison. Pearl is happy to be able to offer comfort and support, because the poor things need her help…even if their very presence is a sharp reminder that she can never be one of them. But when the Reverend’s scheme to get the brides married off falls through on only the second day of Christmas, it looks like the town will never be stable enough to entice the railroad spur they all desperately need. So Pearl agrees to a deception that will not only save the town, but bring her what she desperately wants: a marriage—even a pretend one—with the man she loves. Little do they know just how dangerous this deception will turn out to be…