The Aspen Frostbloom

He came to cut her budget. She came to light up the whole mountain.

The blizzard has sealed off Aspen, and Lily Hayes has three days to finish the masterpiece of her career: the Frostbloom, a glass chandelier of 214 hand-blown petals that is meant to open like a flower above three hundred Gala guests.

Then a helicopter lands in the storm, and Ethan Thorne steps out of it. He is a buttoned-up auditor with a red pen. On page fourteen of his file, beside a $412,000 line item, he has already written one word: Cut?

Stranded together by the snow, they trade barbs and rewire a failing chandelier in an ice-cold basement. They share a bowl of soup in a candlelit kitchen, and they laugh until a fire-lit night nearly becomes a kiss. Ethan hasn't let himself feel Christmas in twenty-two years. Lily has spent her life being everyone's sunshine, and no one has ever asked what it costs her.

But Ethan is hiding something. A rival buyer is closing in. Lily's contract ends in days. By Christmas Eve, one of them will have to choose between the number and the person.

A slow-burn, closed-door romance with a mended ornament, an unforgettable proposal, and an ending to curl up with.

Perfect for fans of: grumpy x sunshine, forced proximity, enemies to lovers, snowed-in romance, workplace romance, and happily-ever-after Christmas stories.