Local waitress Holly Dawson needs a better paying job to pay for her sister's college tuition, and she's got to find it before the next semester starts. New jobs are hard to come by in a town as small as Painted Barrel. When Holly's offered a job at the Flat C Ranch to help clean and cook for the cowboys that work there, it seems like a dream come true... except that her nemesis, Adam Calhoun, works as a cowboy out there. She's hated him the moment he strode into town and insulted her. It doesn't matter that he loves dogs more than people, or that he's a war veteran. No Christmas spirit can save THAT particular grinch. They'll be working together day after day, forced to be around each other while the rest of the ranch goes out of town for the holidays. No sweat. Holly can deal with Adam. After all, it's Christmas... and if she doesn't kill him first, she just might fall in love with him.