Holly Winters never asked to inherit the worn-down mountain inn that carries her family name. December brings crowds, sure, but also collapsing stair treads, staff who quietly vanish, and accidents that make every winter feel like a test. Locals murmur about curses, ash, and guests who went out into the snow and never came back. Holly waves it off as bad luck until the storm arrives.

Travel blogger Jade Fox shows up before the blizzard with a camera bag and steady boots. She doesn’t flinch at the peeling wallpaper or the lights that buzz overhead. She asks about rooms that don’t exist anymore, hallways sealed after the fire. Jade knows the inn’s wounds before she walks through them, and she studies Holly like she’s someone she expected to find.

Snow shuts everyone in. Time bends. The power goes dark. Doors slam in empty hallways. Hidden stairwells open like memories pushing through the floorboards. Holly feels pulled toward Jade heat in one breath, a sudden shiver in the next. Jade insists she came to protect the inn, but her eyes tell Holly she came for more than brick and timber.

If Holly wants to survive Christmas at Holly’s Inn, she has to face the truth she’s stepped around for years: love isn’t always comfort it can be the spark that sets everything burning again.

When the only person who knows the ghosts is a stranger, can she trust her?

***

This story is one ember in the Fires of December a series where every flame tells its own tale of winter passion and unexpected love.

In a month built for cozy nights, five women learn that heat hits harder in the cold. Snowy cabins, bright city windows, a hidden inn tucked into the mountains, even skies brushed with aurora they all set the stage for desire that refuses to stay quiet. Each story carries its own spark: a forgotten crush finally spoken aloud, a moment with a stranger that feels too sharp to ignore, a flicker that might be human or something just out of sight. And every December, with holiday lights buzzing in the dark, one question lingers: what kind of fire will they find this time?

The Christmas Dare