Book excerpt: 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩, 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 & 𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘛𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘪𝘹𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴. Baker Annalee Martelli is not a Holiday Person™. A family feud and a contentious divorce make the holiday insistence on family togetherness depressing, and she much prefers hiding away from humanity in the kitchen of the tiny NYC bakery where she works. If that wasn’t enough to make her grind her teeth in November, her boss suddenly goes MIA after a “quick weekend trip” to her quaint hometown upstate turns into weeks of unanswered calls and emails. With the crazy holiday rush approaching, Annalee girds her loins and heads to Pine Lake to find her boss and save her job. While avoiding getting nature on her boots. Cam Berijssoen has lived his entire life in Pine Lake, the perfectly picturesque jewel of the Hudson Valley where frost sparkles on the pines, there’s always a parade or festival in the town square, and an unusual number of their visitors decide to stay. Permanently. He helps run his parents’ hotel and dreams of a life that doesn’t involve so many trees (he has allergies) and achieving the happiness everyone else seems to find in Pine Lake. Annalee and Cam both have good reason to want out of Pine Lake. When a series of events drops a world of possibilities in their laps, it seems to be time to take a leap of faith. Can a grumpy city girl and a charming master of hospitality make their dreams come true together? (But not like...together together. Right?) Pine Lake has one rule - Fall in Love. Or Else.