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Plot Summary
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Plot Summary
A Married Little Christmas is a collection of three interconnected holiday romance novellas set in Minnesota. The stories share characters and settings: Jeremy from the first story is the older brother of Matty in the second; Laci appears as a coworker in the second story and an assistant manager in the third; and the small town of Little Christmas figures across all three.
"Sweater Weather"
Anna Bellthrope, a lawyer, attends an early family Christmas party at her older sister Jodie's house on December 16. Because Jodie, an ER nurse, works on the actual holiday, the family celebrates early, but Jodie's cooking has set off smoke alarms twice. Anna secretly orders delivery from Pancake Disco, a local diner, and sneaks to the backyard to intercept the driver.
The gate opens and Anna comes face to face with Jeremy Todd, her high school sweetheart, whom she has not seen in nearly a decade. The original driver was rear-ended nearby and asked Jeremy, who had pulled over to help, to finish the delivery. Jeremy has recently moved back to Minnesota for a hospital residency and is considering a specialty in pediatrics.
Anna's father discovers them hiding behind the AC unit. Her parents, Mark and Terri, insist Jeremy come inside. Cornered, Anna claims Jeremy is her surprise boyfriend. Jeremy agrees to play along but insists Anna come to his family's party afterward. Anna agrees, welcoming the excuse to escape Jodie's disastrous cooking.
Inside, the families discover the two are wearing identical red Christmas tree sweaters, which everyone reads as a planned couple's gesture. Jeremy learns from Terri that Anna was previously engaged to a man named Beau. When they find a quiet moment, Jeremy says he missed her. Anna responds coldly, reminding him that he broke his promise to attend a state school until she could join him, instead accepting a full scholarship to UC Berkeley while she stayed behind to care for Terri during breast cancer treatment.
At the Todd house, Jeremy's parents, Debra and Frank, his four younger brothers, and his outspoken 90-year-old grandmother Bridgette welcome Anna warmly. Over drinks, their emotional defenses lower. When Jodie texts that she has burned the turkey, Jeremy invites the Bellthropes over, and both families reunite joyfully. Upstairs, Anna and Jeremy flip through old photo albums, stirring memories of childhood and first love. Jeremy kisses Anna, and she kisses him back before pulling away.
At dinner, Anna reveals that three months after their breakup she flew to Berkeley to reconcile, only to find Jeremy kissing another girl outside his dorm. She went home, blocked him, and never spoke to him again. Jeremy is stunned. In the confrontation that follows, both take responsibility: Jeremy argues they had been broken up and that the date was one miserable attempt to move on; Anna admits she was overwhelmed by her mother's illness and angry that he left. Both confess they never got over each other. Anna proposes they spend time together, and Jeremy suggests a trip to Little Christmas. She tells him they should never be apart again. This time, when he kisses her, she does not pull away.
"Stealing Christmas"
Matty Todd, Jeremy's youngest brother, arrives at Pancake Disco at 6:00 a.m. on December 19, sentenced to spend the entire day in a cheap Santa suit, green cape, and rubber zombie mask as penalty for losing a bet with his older brothers. For every three pancakes he eats, he can leave an hour early.
Rhiannon, his waitress and a college student studying to become a medical lab technician, quietly asks the cook to make his pancakes smaller than the restaurant's famously oversized portions, reasoning they are still technically full-sized. She and Matty chat between her other tables, and Rhiannon confides that her ex-boyfriend, Tate Greenwood, stole her cat, Christmas, when they broke up. Because Tate bought the cat and claims ownership, police consider it a civil matter, and Rhiannon has hired a private investigator to track him.
Matty reveals he performs professionally as "Sexy Sax Boy," a shirtless saxophone act popular at bachelorette parties that he has never told his family about. Rhiannon shares that her family runs Ghosts-Bee-Gone, a third-generation paranormal pest control and beekeeping business. Matty wins a stuffed cat from the claw machine and gives it to Rhiannon; she says it looks just like Christmas. He proposes a bet: If the next song to play in the restaurant is "Jingle Bells," Rhiannon has to accompany him to a gig in Little Christmas.
Before the bet can resolve, a party of 18 arrives unannounced. Matty helps Rhiannon manage the chaos for two hours. The group leaves without tipping, and Matty quietly retrieves cash from his car and hides it under a plate so Rhiannon will believe the party left a hidden tip.
That evening, Laci, Rhiannon's coworker, returns with a breakthrough: she catfished Tate on a dating app and obtained his address. He is staying at his grandmother's retirement home, where the elderly woman is allergic to cats. Matty devises a plan: He will pose as a booked musician and perform to draw residents out while Laci lures Tate to a fake date, leaving Rhiannon free to retrieve Christmas. Matty eats nine pancakes to shave hours off his sentence, and they leave.
At the retirement home, Rhiannon encounters a complication: Tate's grandmother is still in her apartment. Rhiannon tells her the truth, and the old woman, fed up with her grandson, lets Rhiannon take the cat. Matty closes his set with "Jingle Bells," honoring the earlier bet and confirming their trip to Little Christmas. In the epilogue, Rhiannon identifies the man in the photo that sparked Matty's original losing bet as Adam Sandler, not Ben Stiller, meaning Matty did meet a celebrity. They kiss.
"Marry Little Christmas"
Lauren, who manages a Minneapolis boutique called Lykke and Loom, learns that her best friend Noel is engaged to Nicholas, a wealthy pine tree farmer and hot chocolate shop owner in Little Christmas. The wedding is in three days, on Christmas Eve. Convinced Noel has lost her mind, Lauren drives three hours to the town.
At the local bar, Lauren meets William Dixon, a Chicago divorce attorney and Nicholas's best friend, who is equally alarmed. They form an alliance and draft a prenup: Nicholas's assets are shielded, the contract voids if he commits violence or infidelity, Noel receives compensation for wages lost by relocating, and Lauren adds a demand that Noel receive ownership of the struggling hot chocolate shop. Nick and Noel sign.
Over the next three days, William and Lauren grow close while sharing Nicholas's guesthouse. Both carry scars from past relationships: William's fiancée cheated on him, and Lauren's ex-husband was financially exploitative. Lauren loses her job when federal agents shut down Lykke and Loom after its owner is arrested for tax evasion. Noel offers to sell Lauren the hot chocolate shop for a dollar, both as a business opportunity and a way to keep them near each other.
On the eve of the wedding, someone steals the town's historic Santa's Sleigh from the museum. Nick and Noel find it in a ditch outside town with a broken steel runner, then summon William and Lauren. Lauren proposes contacting Big Al, a welder who restores vintage cars and whom she knows through her former employer's criminal connections. William suggests keeping the operation secret from the town council, and the sheriff agrees to look the other way.
William and Lauren drive the sleigh two hours to Big Al's shop, arriving at 4:00 a.m. on Christmas Eve. Sharing a hotel room while they wait, William asks Lauren on a date. She declines: She has decided to move to Little Christmas and take the hot chocolate shop, and starting something with a man who will not relocate seems unwise. Big Al, overcome with nostalgia upon recognizing the famous sleigh, fixes it for free. They race it back just in time for the parade.
They arrive at the wedding in yesterday's clothes. Nick and Noel ride the restored sleigh in the parade, the tradition preserved. William and Lauren dance every dance at the reception but part for the night without acting on their feelings.
On Christmas morning, William's luggage is packed. They share a bittersweet first kiss, and he walks out. Minutes later, he returns, telling Lauren he wants to relocate to Little Christmas and be with her. He asks her to tell him to stay. She does.
In the epilogue, set one year later, Lauren and William marry on Christmas Eve. The hot chocolate shop, now called Cocoa & Claus Hot Chocolatery, is thriving, and William has opened a law practice above it. Noel and Nicholas are happily married, and all four serve on the town council.
"Sweater Weather"
Anna Bellthrope, a lawyer, attends an early family Christmas party at her older sister Jodie's house on December 16. Because Jodie, an ER nurse, works on the actual holiday, the family celebrates early, but Jodie's cooking has set off smoke alarms twice. Anna secretly orders delivery from Pancake Disco, a local diner, and sneaks to the backyard to intercept the driver.
The gate opens and Anna comes face to face with Jeremy Todd, her high school sweetheart, whom she has not seen in nearly a decade. The original driver was rear-ended nearby and asked Jeremy, who had pulled over to help, to finish the delivery. Jeremy has recently moved back to Minnesota for a hospital residency and is considering a specialty in pediatrics.
Anna's father discovers them hiding behind the AC unit. Her parents, Mark and Terri, insist Jeremy come inside. Cornered, Anna claims Jeremy is her surprise boyfriend. Jeremy agrees to play along but insists Anna come to his family's party afterward. Anna agrees, welcoming the excuse to escape Jodie's disastrous cooking.
Inside, the families discover the two are wearing identical red Christmas tree sweaters, which everyone reads as a planned couple's gesture. Jeremy learns from Terri that Anna was previously engaged to a man named Beau. When they find a quiet moment, Jeremy says he missed her. Anna responds coldly, reminding him that he broke his promise to attend a state school until she could join him, instead accepting a full scholarship to UC Berkeley while she stayed behind to care for Terri during breast cancer treatment.
At the Todd house, Jeremy's parents, Debra and Frank, his four younger brothers, and his outspoken 90-year-old grandmother Bridgette welcome Anna warmly. Over drinks, their emotional defenses lower. When Jodie texts that she has burned the turkey, Jeremy invites the Bellthropes over, and both families reunite joyfully. Upstairs, Anna and Jeremy flip through old photo albums, stirring memories of childhood and first love. Jeremy kisses Anna, and she kisses him back before pulling away.
At dinner, Anna reveals that three months after their breakup she flew to Berkeley to reconcile, only to find Jeremy kissing another girl outside his dorm. She went home, blocked him, and never spoke to him again. Jeremy is stunned. In the confrontation that follows, both take responsibility: Jeremy argues they had been broken up and that the date was one miserable attempt to move on; Anna admits she was overwhelmed by her mother's illness and angry that he left. Both confess they never got over each other. Anna proposes they spend time together, and Jeremy suggests a trip to Little Christmas. She tells him they should never be apart again. This time, when he kisses her, she does not pull away.
"Stealing Christmas"
Matty Todd, Jeremy's youngest brother, arrives at Pancake Disco at 6:00 a.m. on December 19, sentenced to spend the entire day in a cheap Santa suit, green cape, and rubber zombie mask as penalty for losing a bet with his older brothers. For every three pancakes he eats, he can leave an hour early.
Rhiannon, his waitress and a college student studying to become a medical lab technician, quietly asks the cook to make his pancakes smaller than the restaurant's famously oversized portions, reasoning they are still technically full-sized. She and Matty chat between her other tables, and Rhiannon confides that her ex-boyfriend, Tate Greenwood, stole her cat, Christmas, when they broke up. Because Tate bought the cat and claims ownership, police consider it a civil matter, and Rhiannon has hired a private investigator to track him.
Matty reveals he performs professionally as "Sexy Sax Boy," a shirtless saxophone act popular at bachelorette parties that he has never told his family about. Rhiannon shares that her family runs Ghosts-Bee-Gone, a third-generation paranormal pest control and beekeeping business. Matty wins a stuffed cat from the claw machine and gives it to Rhiannon; she says it looks just like Christmas. He proposes a bet: If the next song to play in the restaurant is "Jingle Bells," Rhiannon has to accompany him to a gig in Little Christmas.
Before the bet can resolve, a party of 18 arrives unannounced. Matty helps Rhiannon manage the chaos for two hours. The group leaves without tipping, and Matty quietly retrieves cash from his car and hides it under a plate so Rhiannon will believe the party left a hidden tip.
That evening, Laci, Rhiannon's coworker, returns with a breakthrough: she catfished Tate on a dating app and obtained his address. He is staying at his grandmother's retirement home, where the elderly woman is allergic to cats. Matty devises a plan: He will pose as a booked musician and perform to draw residents out while Laci lures Tate to a fake date, leaving Rhiannon free to retrieve Christmas. Matty eats nine pancakes to shave hours off his sentence, and they leave.
At the retirement home, Rhiannon encounters a complication: Tate's grandmother is still in her apartment. Rhiannon tells her the truth, and the old woman, fed up with her grandson, lets Rhiannon take the cat. Matty closes his set with "Jingle Bells," honoring the earlier bet and confirming their trip to Little Christmas. In the epilogue, Rhiannon identifies the man in the photo that sparked Matty's original losing bet as Adam Sandler, not Ben Stiller, meaning Matty did meet a celebrity. They kiss.
"Marry Little Christmas"
Lauren, who manages a Minneapolis boutique called Lykke and Loom, learns that her best friend Noel is engaged to Nicholas, a wealthy pine tree farmer and hot chocolate shop owner in Little Christmas. The wedding is in three days, on Christmas Eve. Convinced Noel has lost her mind, Lauren drives three hours to the town.
At the local bar, Lauren meets William Dixon, a Chicago divorce attorney and Nicholas's best friend, who is equally alarmed. They form an alliance and draft a prenup: Nicholas's assets are shielded, the contract voids if he commits violence or infidelity, Noel receives compensation for wages lost by relocating, and Lauren adds a demand that Noel receive ownership of the struggling hot chocolate shop. Nick and Noel sign.
Over the next three days, William and Lauren grow close while sharing Nicholas's guesthouse. Both carry scars from past relationships: William's fiancée cheated on him, and Lauren's ex-husband was financially exploitative. Lauren loses her job when federal agents shut down Lykke and Loom after its owner is arrested for tax evasion. Noel offers to sell Lauren the hot chocolate shop for a dollar, both as a business opportunity and a way to keep them near each other.
On the eve of the wedding, someone steals the town's historic Santa's Sleigh from the museum. Nick and Noel find it in a ditch outside town with a broken steel runner, then summon William and Lauren. Lauren proposes contacting Big Al, a welder who restores vintage cars and whom she knows through her former employer's criminal connections. William suggests keeping the operation secret from the town council, and the sheriff agrees to look the other way.
William and Lauren drive the sleigh two hours to Big Al's shop, arriving at 4:00 a.m. on Christmas Eve. Sharing a hotel room while they wait, William asks Lauren on a date. She declines: She has decided to move to Little Christmas and take the hot chocolate shop, and starting something with a man who will not relocate seems unwise. Big Al, overcome with nostalgia upon recognizing the famous sleigh, fixes it for free. They race it back just in time for the parade.
They arrive at the wedding in yesterday's clothes. Nick and Noel ride the restored sleigh in the parade, the tradition preserved. William and Lauren dance every dance at the reception but part for the night without acting on their feelings.
On Christmas morning, William's luggage is packed. They share a bittersweet first kiss, and he walks out. Minutes later, he returns, telling Lauren he wants to relocate to Little Christmas and be with her. He asks her to tell him to stay. She does.
In the epilogue, set one year later, Lauren and William marry on Christmas Eve. The hot chocolate shop, now called Cocoa & Claus Hot Chocolatery, is thriving, and William has opened a law practice above it. Noel and Nicholas are happily married, and all four serve on the town council.
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