The Holiday Rivalry

She came home to sell the bakery. She didn't plan on him.

Grace Palmer hasn't been back to Mistletoe Falls in years. She's not returning for a fresh start, a festive miracle, or a second chance at love. She's here to sort through her late grandmother's bakery, find a buyer, and leave before Christmas. Two weeks. One straightforward plan. No complications.

Then Noah Calloway walks through the door.

Her childhood rival. The boy who humiliated her in Year Eleven. The man who, somehow, has become even more irritating with age. And now he has plans of his own for the building Grace is determined to sell.

As if that weren't enough, the only way to save the bakery is to beat Noah at Mistletoe Falls' beloved Christmas Bake-Off. There is just one tiny problem: they'll have to share the same kitchen. Every single day. Until Christmas Eve.

What could possibly go wrong? Apart from absolutely everything.

Between flour-dusted arguments, competitive baking, and a town that remembers far too much about their teenage years, Grace finds it increasingly difficult to keep her distance. Noah still knows exactly how to get under her skin. But he also seems to know when she's pretending not to care.

Grace came home to make a practical decision, not to be swept away by nostalgia. Her life is elsewhere, and memories don't pay the bills. Yet every recipe she discovers and every familiar face she meets makes leaving a little less simple. The bakery is more than bricks and buttercream to the people of Mistletoe Falls. And Noah might be more than the boy she remembers.

With Christmas approaching and the Bake-Off drawing closer, Grace must decide what she really wants to protect: the future she's carefully planned, the place she thought she'd outgrown, or a possibility she never saw coming.

One small town. Two stubborn rivals. A Christmas worth remembering.

Escape to Mistletoe Falls for a heartwarming festive romance filled with:

Perfect for readers who love witty romantic comedies, second chances at connection, charming British villages, and Christmas stories with warmth as well as sparkle.

For fans of: One Day in December, The Christmas Escape, and Mhairi McFarlane.

Put the kettle on, find your cosiest blanket, and let Mistletoe Falls work its Christmas magic.