Christmas at the Ranch

A second-chance holiday romance about a woman who flees family scandal by returning to Wilder Ranch for Christmas, where she first found love—and heartbreak.

She hasn’t been in love in ten years, but she’s about to get back in the saddle.

With the holidays around the corner and her father recently imprisoned for financial fraud, disgraced journalist Emory Oakes doesn’t know where to turn. She’s only certain of one thing: She needs to get away.

Fate takes the wheel, leaving her stranded in snowy Evergreen, the picturesque town where she spent her happiest Christmas as a teen—and chronicled every moment in her journal as she fell in love with handsome local, Tate Wilder, at his family’s idyllic horse ranch—until it all went wrong.

Emory isn’t ready to face Tate, but kismet and Christmas magic have other ideas. As the love they’ve denied for a decade rekindles, the betrayals that kept them apart resurface, as does Emory’s family scandal. Yet Tate Wilder and his ranch feel more like home than anywhere ever has. Will Emory and Tate’s alchemy fizzle or will their Christmas wishes come true?

Julia McKay is the pen name of Marissa Stapley, a New York Times bestselling author of numerous novels, including the Reese’s Book Club pick Lucky, soon to be an Apple TV+ limited series starring Anya Taylor-Joy. She has also co-written several bestselling holiday romances, including The Holiday Swap and Three Holidays and a Wedding. She divides her time between city life in Toronto and lake life in Haliburton, where she writes about love, second chances, and the magic of the holidays.

ISBN: 9780735248120
Format: Paperback
Pages: 320
Publisher: Penguin Canada
Published: September 23, 2025

PRAISE FOR CHRISTMAS AT THE RANCH

Swoony Christmas cowboy magic! This second chance love story crackles with chemistry and holiday cheer."

—Annabel Monaghan, bestselling author of Summer Romance

“Scandals, betrayals, snowy horse rides, hot chocolate, and even hotter kisses—Christmas at the Ranch is a complicated love story, and the perfect holiday escape.”

—Amanda Eyre Ward, New York Times bestselling author of The Jetsetters