COMING IN DECEMBER--ONE CHAPTER PER DAY

Acknowledgement of Country

I want to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land this story was written on: the Wulgurukaba and Bindal people. I pay my respects to their Elders past, present, and emerging. I extend that respect to any other Aboriginal peoples, Torres Strait Islander Peoples, and First Nations Peoples from which my readers read this story on.

Synopsis

On the first day of Christmas, Zara Fischer's 'true love' gave to her... a breakup. 

The day before seventeen-year-old Zara takes off for the Christmas holidays to the other side of the world—cold, dreary London—her boyfriend of two months dumps her for reasons she cannot comprehend. Reeling in heartbreak, she's convinced December will bring her endless doom and gloom. Especially because she has bitter memories of the place she left four years ago when her parents divorced.

However, the magic of Christmas has more in store for Zara than she could have ever expected.

On her third day of Christmas, she runs into once-best-friend, Jasper Sun. Yet their initial exchange left much to be hopeful for. Full of resentment, Jasper seems to loathe Zara, refusing to explain what happened that caused it all those years ago.

However, when Zara and Jasper wind up together in a 12 Days of Christmas competition whereby they must pretend to be a couple to win the prize money, could they foresee all their troubles being overcome?

And will pretending to be a couple, with the spirit of Christmas in the air, lead to the enemies becoming lovers?

Or will 31 days not be enough time to mend the broken bridge between them before Zara must leave Jasper in England once more to return to her mother's house in Australia?

Over the 31 Days of December, prepare for 31 Chapters about 31 Days, with two people and one intense Christmas competition.

Disclaimers

This is a Christmas story, but one told from someone who does not follow any faith. Therefore, the central themes pertaining to Christmas in this story revolve around the capitalist holiday.

The writer of this story is definitely somewhat of a Grinch towards Christmas. I wanted to try writing a wintery Christmas story and found much of my disdain towards the festive season leaking into the protagonist (so sorry for that). Nevertheless, I hope it is festive and Christmassy enough for you.

Age Rating

13+

Other Books

This is a standalone book and does not rely on any of my other stories.

Nonetheless, if you like the character Jojo, you may wish to check out Callie and Lexi's Kiss List.

If you want to know if Rowan (see chapter one) is always going to be a jerk, check out Fighting for April (takes place just after this story ends).

Topics

This book contains exploration of various topics, including: Christmas (the capitalist holiday rather than religious); love; jealousy; complicated family structures; and friendship.

Warnings

This story does reference sex. Chapters 28 and 30 reference intimacy in a fade-to-black fashion. No explicit depictions are made, but sex between characters is alluded to.

This story also contains mild use of profanity.

Reading Directions

Each chapter indicates one day of December. Chapters 9-20 contain the competition. Chapters 8-19 have the riddles for the next chapter at the end for you to comment your guess before the characters solve them. Feel free to play along!