Room at the Inn — Ruthie Knox

Carson Vance couldn't wait to get out of Potter Falls, but now that he's back to spend Christmas with his ailing father, he must face all the people he left behind . . . like Julie Long, whose heart he broke once upon a time. Now the proprietor of the local inn, Julie is a successful, seductive, independent woman -- everything that Carson's looking for. But despite several steamy encounters under the mistletoe, Julie refuses to believe in happily ever after. Now Carson must prove to Julie that he's back for good -- and that he wants her in his life for all the holidays to come.