Kia Love was determined to enjoy her Christmas, despite having to work all day waiting tables. Never mind that she'd had a rather crappy Christmas Eve and eighteen months of bad luck before that; she tried to keep smiling, regardless.

Disgruntled vet Jalil Dunn isn't exactly riding high on holiday spirit, and when he and Kia cross paths after many years of not seeing each other, he's nowhere near warm and fuzzy.

Yet when he witnesses Kia have an uncharacteristic meltdown, he feels compelled to go check on her. They decide to ride out the rest of their subpar Christmases together and thanks to some forgotten mistletoe, maybe it won't suck so much after all.

Content warning: brief mention of attack/death (off page).