Some Christmas miracles look like second chances.

She left him behind. He never stopped waiting.

Vanessa MacBride built a life in constant motion—airports, hotels, boardrooms—because standing still means remembering what she lost. When her father’s heart attack forces her back to Jonathon Island for Christmas, she’s not prepared for the snow-dusted streets, the twinkling lights, or the memories around every corner.

She’s definitely not prepared for James Sullivan.

James has spent his whole life trying to be enough—for his demanding father, his accomplished siblings, and a fiancée who left him seven days before their wedding. Now he manages the Grand Sullivan Hotel through its most magical season, surrounded by Christmas wonder and completely alone.

When Vanessa’s scheming uncle threatens her family’s crumbling resort, James offers to help. Planning the island’s Christmas festival together—stringing lights, building the marketplace, organizing the gala—forces them to face everything they’ve buried. Old wounds. Old sparks. And the terrifying question neither wants to ask:

What if this time, love is worth the risk?

A heartwarming inspirational Christmas romance about coming home, letting go, and discovering that sometimes the person you’ve been running from is the one you’ve been searching for all along.

The Jonathon Island series is created by USA Today bestselling, award-winning author Susan May Warren.

Releasing November 2026 in ebook, paperback, and audiobook