Mallory is not sure what she has signed up for. She just got custody of her two step-son, she agreed to take on a new job, and that means moving back home to her childhood town. Where she does not have a happy childhood past, and the step-sons are beyond annoyed that they are moving from the big city, and that they were taken out of their England boarding school. And they hate her, everything is her fault- so it appears.

Gabe, newer Chief of Police of Highland Falls usually has a pretty low key job, but when Mallory and her good for nothing step-sons show up, action happens and it reminds him of what he misses when he was an NYC homicide detective, but a family had other plans and so here he is.

The two of them, having met the summer before and under not well circumstances, is once again brought together. This time it is not Mallory causing the trouble, but some in town are not happy to see she is back, or to hear she is heading up the senior project. How can she think she can possible handle that position, being she hasn’t lived in this town for years and she is from a big city. Things are handled different in the small towns.

As Mallory and the step-sons try to integrate into Highland Falls, it seems it is one thing after another and it either involves Mallory or Gabe and some how the other also gets tangled in the situation. Can the two of them, being looked at as both outsiders pull of proving they belong here and are meant to do nothing but help the quaint little town out, or will they be driven out as others continue to meddle in things.

Thank you at Forever Publishing for the free book. It was an easy, fast paced read, with a bit of suspense sprinkled through out, and the meaning of Christmas through out the theme. ( )