A Small-Town Holiday Rom-Com

1st Place Chick Lit Fiction - 2025 PenCraft Book Awards for Literary Excellence

‘Twas the night before Cruisemas…

Starting over in the little town of Occoquan, Katie Young finds solace in small-town life with best friends at their thriving gallery and a deepening romance with the town’s resident scientist. Her college-age daughter bakes up holiday memories in their river house. And Katie can’t wait to captain the boat parade and deliver Santa to the town dock on her new ferryboat.



But when the holiday-averse Deke flies south for the season and Santa goes swimming, Katie wonders if she needs a survival suit—or just a really strong cocktail—to weather midlife mayhem. Can the single mom save the holiday festival and salvage her belief in love?

With the help of the Beach Bonfire Babes, a dash of holiday magic, and a lot of heart, Katie just might navigate life’s choppy seas to kick off the town’s festival and get her perfect Christmas gift: a second chance at a forever love.

Filled with heartwarming humor, time-honored tradition, and the soul-stirring natural world, Carolyn McBride’s second book in the Potomac Shores series is a delightful escape to the enchanting banks of Virginia’s Potomac and Occoquan Rivers.