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

“Mom told me about your divorce and your son. New Hampshire, huh?”


Jolly smiled, and to my sort of surprise, there was no real bitterness there. “Yeah. Maryanne and Eugene live there with her new husband. She’s expecting a daughter in the spring, which is when I’ll go and see Eugene. Give them some relief of watching him while they have the new baby.”


“And you’re okay with all that?” I asked cautiously.


“Yeah, he is. But I wasn’t wanting to do some big custody battle. Though our marriage was over, Maryanne and I didn’t hate each other. It was amicable. She stuck it out here in Willowbrook at first, but then she met him, and they decided to make a new life there. I see Eugene as often as I can and it’s good for us. The arrangement.”


“And you don’t want him for Christmas?”


Chapter 6