First there was the year without Christmas.The year Skye Haverford Blade died so mysteriously, leaving behind not only her husband but her young son. Now it's three years later. This Christmas - the third Christmas - Jean Young joins David Blade and his son, Chris, on their boat, the Skye. And she falls in love with both of them - the unsmiling man with too many secrets and the little boy longing for a mother's kiss. Despite her own fears, Jean thinks her love can save them, can give them back their joy in life - and in Christmas. Not only this Christmas, but every Christmas to come...

Kal Johnson is a still-grieving widower with a young child. He can't imagine marrying again not for love, anyway. But it's becoming increasingly clear that his daughter needs someone besides him. A mother. Kal's solution is to place an ad in a local magazine. Wanted: Woman to enter celibate marriage and be stepmother to four-year-old girl. Send child-rearing philosophies to Mr. Family . Erika Blade is a woman who's afraid of love. And sex. She answers the ad, figuring she's probably the only person in the whole world to whom a "celibate marriage" would appeal. After all, she does want children but she doesn't want to acquire them in the usual way. As it turns out, Kal likes her letter and soon discovers that he likes her. More than likes. He's attracted to her. The one thing that wasn't supposed to happen.