Recently divorced from his Hollywood screenwriter husband, Nick Holly returns at Christmas to the home of his childhood in Vermont to start a new life in his familiar hometown. Almost immediately he runs into his best friend and crush from high school, Jolly Whitaker, who is also recently divorced and as sexy as he ever was.<br><br>With Nick’s mom encouraging him to see if there is anything still between him and Jolly, Nick embarks on a holiday of discovery and the knowledge that coming home to Vermont is more welcome than he believed. Perhaps this Christmas it really will be a Holly Jolly Christmas.

Holly Jolly

Jolly was cute. No doubt about it. Sexy, really. But I wasn’t going there. I’d tried and he’d chosen someone else. Sure, that was a long time ago, but old wounds healed slowly I supposed. Or not at all.


I followed Mom into the house, carrying the remains of my life in my suitcase.


Jonathan, a big bear of a man with a bit of a pot belly and a shaggy gray beard, greeted us both warmly. I liked him a lot. Mom had gotten lucky twice in life. Once with Dad and now with Jon. I envied her that only a tiny bit. She deserved them.


Jon hugged me tightly, then enthusiastically showed me the Christmas tree he had already set up in front of the picture window. Next to it were many boxes of ornaments and lights.


The house smelled of cinnamon and sugar and Christmas.


Mom grabbed my arm. “Let’s get you settled in your part of the house. Welcome home, baby.” 3


Chapter 4