Baxter Baker: As a 42-year-old single father the last thing I expected before Christmas was for my daughter to sign me up for a community matchmaking event. The Christmas Buddies program becomes a challenge I can’t wait to overcome when I realize the man that has been assigned as my buddy for the holiday season is none other than Paxton Montgomery. He’s massive, grumpy, incredibly gorgeous (in a lumberjack kinda way), and also—weirdly enough—the only person in town who doesn’t like me. Can I change Paxton’s tune by the end of the holiday season? Or am I destined to spend yet another Christmas craving companionship and someone to hold my head up before I drown in the stress of my broken bakery?

Paxton Montgomery: I’m not a people person. I know this about myself and I am at peace with it. The only exception I have is my son. He’s the most important person in the entire world to me. So I had no choice but to go along with his scheme as he rigs the Christmas Buddy drawing so we can spend the holiday season with the girl he’s had a crush on since junior high. The only catch: her father is a crucial part of the bargain. Can I survive the holiday season with sunshine golden boy Baxter bombarding me with his jokes and his too-bright smiles? Or will I succumb to my dark desires and strangle the grin right off his too-pretty face?

A stranger is just someone you haven’t been forced to spend Christmas with yet.