Christmas Romance, Shifters, Small Town
Date Published: December 12, 2025
After a painful breakup, Riley is ready for a fresh start in Christmas Cove. All she wants is a peaceful life for herself and her two-year-old daughter, Sabrina. Love isn’t on her holiday wish list. When she’s stuck in a blizzard, help arrives in the form of Alex Conors -- a protective, brooding werewolf.
Snowed in with a grumpy shifter and a crackling fire, Riley begins to see the gentle heart behind Alex’s fierce exterior… and Alex finds himself falling for the brave single mom who awakens something he thought he lost long ago.
Hot cocoa and toddler giggles turn strangers into something more. But when Riley’s past resurfaces and threatens the safety she’s found, Alex will have to prove that loyalty, love -- and pack -- are forever.
A warm, emotional holiday romance filled with shifter charm, second chances, and the magic of Christmas. Ideal for fans of protective alphas, found family, and heartfelt happily-ever-afters.
The sedan’s engine rattled -- a sound Riley had learned to distinguish from its other mechanical complaints over the past three states. This particular rattle meant she’d make it another fifty miles, maybe more if she kept her speed steady. Her knuckles had gone white on the steering wheel somewhere around the state line, and she couldn’t remember now how to relax them. The GPS showed their arrival in Christmas Cove, and Riley’s shoulders tensed further, an automatic response to any declaration of reaching a destination.
Dusk had settled over the town. Main Street stretched before her, lined with Victorian storefronts that belonged in a Thomas Kincade painting. White lights twisted around lampposts, and wreaths hung at precise intervals, each decorated with the same combination of pinecones and red ribbon. Fresh snow dusted the sidewalks in a way that seemed too perfect, too deliberate. Riley checked her rearview mirror again -- the same compulsive glance she’d made every thirty seconds for the past six hours. Empty road. No one following. No one cared where she went.
She drove slowly past the Sugar Moon Café, noting its warm glow and the silhouettes of people inside. Past a bookstore with a display of holiday romances in the window. Past a hardware store already closed for the evening, its owner probably home with family, sitting down to dinner, living a normal life. The thought made something twist in Riley’s chest, but she pushed it down. Normal was a luxury she couldn’t afford to want.
The residential streets branched off from downtown. Riley followed the GPS directions, checking the crumpled paper in her cup holder against the street signs and the directions from the GPS. One too many times, it had taken her the wrong way. Oak Street. Maple Avenue. Someone had named these roads with an almost nauseating wholesomeness, as if determined to prove the town’s charm. She turned onto Pine Ridge Road, where the houses grew sparser and the forest pressed closer to the road.
A small sound from the backseat made Riley’s gaze dart to the mirror. Sabrina stirred in her car seat, her head rolling to the side as she woke from the nap that had mercifully consumed the last hour of driving. Riley watched her daughter’s eyes flutter open, adjusting to the darkness and the strange lights outside.
“Mama?” Sabrina’s voice carried that quality of toddler confusion. Not quite upset, but teetering on the edge of it.
“We’re here, sweetie.” Riley forced warmth into her voice, though her jaw ached from clenching. “Look at all the pretty lights.”
Sabrina pressed her mittened hands against the window, leaving tiny smudges on the glass. “Lights!” She bounced in her seat as much as the straps would allow. “Pretty, Mama! Pretty!”
“Very pretty.” Riley’s smile felt tight on her face. She wanted to share her daughter’s uncomplicated joy, but she kept scanning the streets, cataloging escape routes, noting which houses had lights on and which sat dark. Old habits. Necessary habits.
The GPS announced their final turn, and Riley’s breath caught. The cottage stood at the end of a short gravel drive, a small structure someone’s grandfather had most likely built and barely maintained enough to keep standing. A single porch light illuminated the front door, and beyond it, the forest loomed.
Riley pulled into the driveway and killed the engine. The sudden silence felt heavy, broken only by Sabrina’s humming as she kicked her feet against her car seat. Riley sat motionless, her hands still gripping the wheel, and studied their new home.
The cottage was smaller than the photos had suggested. Single-story, with a chimney that leaned slightly to the left. The windows were dark, revealing nothing of the interior. Snow had drifted against the front steps, undisturbed except for what looked like animal tracks, probably a deer or raccoon. The porch railing needed paint, and one shutter hung at an angle.
But for now the house was theirs. For six months, at least, with the first month paid in advance with money Riley had saved from extra shifts and skipped meals. Six months to figure out what came next. After that, she’d have to either renew the lease or move on to another town.
“Out, Mama!” Sabrina had moved past patient and into demanding. “Out now!”
“Just a minute, baby.”
Riley scanned the neighboring properties. The nearest house sat quite a distance down the road, its windows dark. On the other side, nothing but forest. The isolation should have comforted her. Fewer people meant fewer questions, fewer chances of being found. But instead, it made her hyperaware of how alone they were. No witnesses if something went wrong. No one to hear them scream.
She shook her head, dislodging the thought. Nothing was going to go wrong. This was a fresh start in a quiet town where nobody knew her name or her history. Where Sabrina could grow up without her mother constantly looking over her shoulder.
Riley checked the mirrors one more time, then opened her door. The cold hit her immediately, sharper than she’d expected. Mountain air, clean and biting. She pulled her jacket tighter and circled to Sabrina’s door, her boots crunching in the gravel.
“Cold!” Sabrina announced as Riley unbuckled her.
“Very cold. That’s why we’re going to get inside quick, okay?”
She lifted her daughter out, settling Sabrina on her hip with the ease of long practice. Sabrina immediately buried her face in Riley’s neck, seeking warmth. Riley grabbed the diaper bag and her purse from the front seat. The car’s trunk held everything they owned -- three suitcases, two boxes, and a garbage bag of toys. After struggling to pay the bills and stay one step ahead of her ex, she didn’t have a lot left over for extras.
Riley approached the cottage slowly, her eyes adjusting to the darkness beyond the porch light’s reach. The forest was quiet -- too quiet, maybe, but she didn’t know enough about forests to judge what was normal. She’d grown up in the suburbs and spent the last two years in a city apartment. Trees and wildlife were outside her experience.
The lockbox hung on the doorknob as promised. Riley shifted Sabrina’s weight and worked the combination with icy fingers. The key fell into her palm, small and ordinary. She fitted it into the lock and felt the deadbolt slide open with a solid click.
“New house, Mama?” Sabrina lifted her head, looking at the door with wide eyes.
“New house,” Riley confirmed. “Our house.”
The words felt like a promise and a lie at once. This wasn’t really theirs, just borrowed space, a temporary shelter. But Sabrina didn’t need to know that. Sabrina needed to believe in stability, in permanence, even if Riley couldn’t.
She turned the knob and pushed the door open, reaching inside to find the light switch. Yellow light flooded a small living room, revealing worn furniture and walls badly in need of fresh paint. Still, the space felt clean. Warm air drifted out from inside, proof someone had turned on the heat before their arrival.
Riley stepped over the threshold, carrying her daughter into their new life, and tried not to think about all the ways this could go wrong.
About the Author
Jessica Coulter Smith is an acclaimed romance writer with a passion for storytelling. Her works showcase the power of love and its ability to transcend boundaries, capturing the hearts of audiences worldwide. With a unique writing style and perspective, Jessica continues to inspire and entertain readers from all walks of life.
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