Christmas Falls

I'm the Grinch who saves Christmas… Yep, you read that right. Every year, I save Christmas—and Christmas Falls—by organizing a massive festival that sustains tourism in our little town. It turns out that when Christmas is your life 24/7, the shine wears off the twinkly lights after a while. The holidays are a heck of a lot of work, and when I go home, I want peace and quiet, not fa-la-la-ing on my porch. That all changes when my sister brings me an early Christmas gift. One I didn't ask for. One that's tall, broad, and handsome...

When I get ditched at the airport right before a holiday trip to the Bahamas, spending Christmas at home alone isn't all that appealing. So impulsively hopping on a plane to the most Christmasy place on earth seems like a good idea. At least until I realize I've got no plan, no place to stay, and nothing but beach clothes. Luckily, Arlo, the handsome B&B owner, comes to my rescue.

As former pro hockey players, they've been rivals for years. It started in Mik's rookie season when a reporter pitted him against his older brother's best friend. Rudy pushes Mik's buttons like no one else, going out of his way to one-up him at every turn. Now they're both pub owners in a small town that takes Christmas to a level best seen in Hallmark movies, but not much else has changed. They're still rivals, this time pitting gingerbread martinis against pomegranate sangria.

I'm your cookie-cutter villain . . . Or that's the role Christmas Falls has given me. I'm here to help my grandfather fulfill the crazy amount of orders his toy shop is getting. The company I work for would love to take it off his hands. And I want to see Grandpa Nicholas enjoy a few years without having to work so hard. When I arrive, not only is Gramps adamant about keeping the toy shop, but he has already hired an assistant enabler who can't stand the sight of me.

I see the irony of being the owner of a Christmas tree farm and hating the very holiday that keeps my family business alive, but Christmas Falls takes this season way too seriously with their festive business names to the sheer merriment that envelops the entire town. I'm no grinch, but I can relate to one being surrounded by all this jubilance. It doesn't help when a new part-timer joins the tree farm and is the very embodiment of joy, starting from his name—Felix Joy.