Sarah Wilson is skipping Christmas this year.
Tucked away in the Scottish Highland village of Applemore, it's been three years since her mum passed away - and she's thrown everything into running the Harbour Cafe in her memory.
The little coffeeshop and bakery might be filled with the scent of cinnamon and gingerbread, but this Christmas, with her brother escaping to Morocco and no plans, she's planning to pretend the holiday isn't happening.

Then Jim Fletcher walks through the door...
The American professor is spending Christmas in Applemore, researching small-town revivals and running from his own ghosts. A simple cup of coffee turns into something neither of them expected - snowy beach walks, sharing spiced apple cider by the village Christmas tree, and facing up to the possibility of wanting something more.

But Jim's research will end. He'll return to New England and Sarah will stay exactly where she's always been - won't she?
Sometimes it takes a stranger to help you see that honouring the past doesn't mean surrendering your future.