Krissy Kringle’s dream of owning her own business and settling into a community with her ten-year-old daughter, Merry, came alive when she moved to the Christmas village of Dickens. The dream happened with hard work, sacrifice, and a bucket-load of luck—but Kringle’s Diner now exists, and business is booming, even if she is beyond weary doing the work of three people. So, she hires a man who frequents the diner. He needs the work, or so it seems. Thing is, he comes with a huge Bernese Mountain dog named Prince, who takes up residence in the corner booth every day with Merry. Krissy tells herself she can deal with it—help in the kitchen trumps a few dog germs. Right? Contrary to popular belief around Dickens, Max Alexander (aka Alex Maxwell) is not homeless, but royalty. Alexander Henrik Vincent Maxwell III, Prince of Beldova, heir apparent to the throne, is searching for something. Incognito, of course. That “something” is Krissy. Twenty years earlier, as awkward pre-teens, the two shared a magical summer vacation on a lake in upstate Wisconsin. The next year, both their lives changed forever. Finding Krissy, Alex thinks, may help him ground him before he takes a permanent step toward becoming King. They happily work together for several weeks, and their attraction for each other grows, but Alex doesn’t tell Krissy he is the boy from the lake. He understands her need for community with the security of home. His future is uncertain. When he must abruptly leave Dickens and return to Beldova, he gifts Prince to Merry and Krissy, with a promise to return. A rapid unraveling of withheld truths entangles their shared reality like Christmas lights dumped in a box. Can they untangle the omissions and half-truths—along with their feelings for one another—and recover the magic of that one special summer by Christmas?