It Started with a Candy Cane

She's city. The more designer, the better. He's a closed-off butcher in a small northern Canadian town.
Emily Gates is hip. If a bag's got more than three zeros in its price tag, she's in. Cream is her favorite color. And her new role as junior city planner in the city of Toronto has her excited beyond all reason. For the gal with the troubled past, something she carefully keeps a secret - it's all about building community now. Even though she loves working and living in the upscale, trendy area just east of Bloor and Yonge.
Rufus Richardson isn't fancy and his job is dirty. And he's always trying to slay the damn dragons, even when no one wants him to. He should settle for a local gal, one who's used to country and mosquitos and wild animals poking around. Instead, the moment he sees the vivacious city beauty, his heart tumbles, and his warrior's sword appears. But she doesn't need him to slay any dragons, and tells him so.
But when the life she's carefully curated falls apart suddenly and she goes off into the dark northern night alone searching for the meaning that's always eluded her, they find themselves thrown together, the night before Christmas Eve. On Ruf's annual infamous northern Candy Cane Run, and...
Everything changes. And this Christmas, it all started with a candy cane. She's city. The more designer, the better. He's a closed-off butcher in a small northern Canadian town.
Emily Gates is hip. If a bag's got more than three zeros in its price tag, she's in. Cream is her favorite color. And her new role as junior city planner in the city of Toronto has her excited beyond all reason. For the gal with the troubled past, something she carefully keeps a secret, it's all about building community now. Even though she loves working and living in the upscale, trendy area just east of Bloor and Yonge.
Rufus Richardson isn't fancy and his job is dirty. And he's always trying to slay the damn dragons, even when no one wants him to. He should settle for a local gal, one who's used to country and mosquitos and wild animals poking around. Instead, the moment he sees the vivacious city beauty, his heart tumbles, and his warrior's sword appears. But she doesn't need him to slay any dragons, and tells him so.
But when the life she's carefully curated falls apart suddenly and she goes off into the dark northern night alone searching for the meaning that's always eluded her, they find themselves thrown together, the night before Christmas Eve.