Sometimes the thumbs slip… She’s finally joined the dating app everyone in Cider Cove is raving about…when she accidentally sends a message about wanting to meet up for a first date to her enemy. I’ve been engaged twice now without becoming a bride, and let’s just say those failures have made me more career-focused than ever. But I just hit the big 3-0 last year, and I’m feeling…lonely, despite the five best friends I share an enormous house with. I’ve drawn the short stick this time, and I’m dealing with the general contractor about fixing our perpetually leaking roof. Joy. Not. Liam Graff is a complete beast—and our next-door neighbor—which only makes the way we sometimes gather at the upper floor windows to watch him mow his lawn shirtless a little embarrassing. For him. Not us. In order to cheer myself up, I join the dating app everyone in town can’t stop talking about, and I’ve been chatting back and forth with Mr. Hottie from one town over. Great. No, really, it’s great. I’m great. He’s great. Except I’ve also been texting with Liam about this blasted roof, and my invite for dinner in a slinky black dress goes to him instead of Mr. Hottie… Before I can correct and explain myself, he responds with, What time should I pick you up? That very terrible text may haunt me for the rest of my life…or change it completely.

Sometimes the holidays are messy... Christmas is the season of joy, mistletoe, and, unfortunately for Ryanne, the pressure of bringing home a date. When she vents to Elliott, her best friend and co-manager at the small-town office supply store, he impulsively grabs her phone and texts her mother that they're dating. Date. Ing. I'm utterly speechless. Elliott Hutson, the man who knows all my secrets, the one who's never been serious with anyone, and the picture of Male Perfection that makes my pulse leap and frog, has now dived headfirst into my family drama. And as much as I pretend to be annoyed, I can't deny the flutter in my heart. I've never had a fake boyfriend before—getting a real one is hard enough—but Elliott makes everything look so easy. And I'm absolutely positive the twinkling lights and Justin Bieber Christmas tunes are influencing the way he keeps dropping his gaze to my mouth. Or maybe I'm not absolutely positive. Maybe The Biebs really does make true love happen. As we navigate the slippery slope of fake dating, the lines between pretend and reality blur. Our stolen glances over family meals become lingering looks. Our playful banter near sprigs of mistletoe turns into something charged with real emotion. Suddenly, the festive chaos around us isn't the only thing that's messy. Our feelings are too. And as the countdown to Christmas ticks on, I start to wonder if this holiday ruse might lead to the most unexpected gift of all—true love. Will this façade end with the holiday season, or can we unwrap a future together we never saw coming? Maybe at Christmastime, the most unexpected love story can unfold.