Elara’s journey begins when she gets her car stuck on the contested family land while attempting the first item on her list. She is rescued by Rhys Carroll (25), t /he arrogant, ruthlessly efficient, and handsome grandson of the rival family patriarch. Rhys is back in town on a cynical mission to find evidence to crush the Everetts' business.Forced into proximity, Rhys agrees to a highly volatile "Mistletoe Truce": he will help Elara fulfill her bizarre, increasingly public list items (like baking disastrous cookies and intentionally falling while ice skating) in exchange for access and information about her family.As they complete the list, their lifelong rivalry rapidly dissolves into deep, undeniable affection. Through shared acts of defiance—culminating in their secret collaboration to fix the town's broken Christmas star—Rhys sees beyond the "enemy" and falls fiercely in love with Elara, completely unaware that their time is being measured in days, not weeks.

Elara’s journey begins when she gets her car stuck on the contested family land while attempting the first item on her list. She is rescued by Rhys Carroll (25), t /he arrogant, ruthlessly efficient, and handsome grandson of the rival family patriarch. Rhys is back in town on a cynical mission to find evidence to crush the Everetts' business.Forced into proximity, Rhys agrees to a highly volatile "Mistletoe Truce": he will help Elara fulfill her bizarre, increasingly public list items (like baking disastrous cookies and intentionally falling while ice skating) in exchange for access and information about her family.As they complete the list, their lifelong rivalry rapidly dissolves into deep, undeniable affection. Through shared acts of defiance—culminating in their secret collaboration to fix the town's broken Christmas star—Rhys sees beyond the "enemy" and falls fiercely in love with Elara, completely unaware that their time is being measured in days, not weeks.

A century ago, the Hawthorne family paid a terrible price for love: an eternal curse.Lady Seraphina arrives at the ancestral, shadow-draped Hawthorne Hall and immediately senses the melancholy that permeates its stone. She is drawn—irresistibly and inexplicably—to the Hall's master, the Silent Lord, Nathaniel Hawthorne.Nathaniel is a man sculpted by centuries of isolation, bound by an ancient pact to immortality and an endless, lonely vigil. He is the Heir of Shadow, forbidden to love, for the curse warns that any profound connection will awaken the dark entity within the manor. Seraphina’s sudden arrival, and the strange, elemental chaos that follows her, confirms his greatest fear: she is the prophesied Heir of Light, the only soul capable of breaking his chains—or being utterly consumed by them.As their forbidden passion flares into an impossible love, Seraphina discovers hidden journals detailing the dark truth of the manor and the impending threat of a powerful, unseen figure who seeks to steal their combined energy. With the handsome, amiable Alaric offering a safe, mortal haven, Seraphina must navigate a treacherous game of deception, questioning everyone's motives—from the charming scholar, Dr. Wren, to the watchful butler, Thorne.Is Seraphina destiny's deliverance or the curse's final meal? The answers lie hidden in the Hall’s deepest secrets, where the price of power is measured in broken hearts, and love, however bright, may demand the ultimate sacrifice.