Driving to December

Driving to December follows social media manager Mattie Appleton, whose one job—hauling the pieces of Santa’s Village from Edmonton to a new Christmas theme park in Manitoba—goes off the rails when her rental truck self-destructs. Her only option is a lift from Dave Magnusson, her brother’s best friend and a cowboy magician already touring the prairies as “Dave the Magnificent,” who agrees to hitch Mattie’s trailer to his camper van as long as she doesn’t mind stopping for his shows. Between endless hours on the road, calamities in every province, and too many magic tricks to count, their strictly professional travel arrangement starts to feel a lot more personal—proving that sometimes a romantic road trip is the best trick of all. No-spice readers who enjoy holiday romance, cowboy magicians, and laugh-out-loud road-trip mishaps will likely enjoy this novella. It blends festive small-town charm, forced proximity, and slow-burn sparks with a hero who’s determined to win her heart one show at a time.