Mulligan's Mill

BUD I'm ready to open my flower shop Bud's Blooms and turn over a whole new petal. But when a new arrival in Mulligan's Mill-fancy French pastry chef Pascal Dupont-decides to open a new patisserie right next door, I find myself more than just a little distracted by the grumpy, gorgeous Parisian chef. Maybe, with a little help from my friends, I'll get all the love advice I need to become the smooth, suave, sophisticated gentleman that Pascal might notice. PASCAL Sacre bleu! How the hell did I find myself in a place like Mulligan's Mill, a white-picket, tiny-minded, tin-can town that couldn't be further than my glittering, glamorous Paris if it tried? But there's a secret hiding somewhere in this small American town that will save my reputation and send my culinary career soaring. What I wasn't expecting was the distraction of my hot, hunky, American neighbor. But I've been working so hard on my career, even I didn't know how much a man like Bud would make my heart bloom. Now the question is, can I solve my mystery, save my career, and win the heart of my American-pie sweetheart without setting the temperature too high and burning my chances of finally finding true love?

RIVER It's been way too long since I set foot on the streets of Mulligan's Mill. But after serving six years in the Marines I just wasn't ready to return home, so I got myself a motorcycle and spent another two years avoiding the idea of going back-hoping that reuniting with my best friend Clarry would wash away all the hurt and help me start over again. I'm a war hero and built like a tank, while he's still the sweet, sensitive, chubby kid he was at school, only now he runs the town's ice cream parlor. I can't put my finger on it, but the more I feel like I'm losing my best friend, the more desperately I'll fight to have him in my life . . . CLARRY Oh fudgesicles! River is back in town and although I want to see him more than anything else in the world, I'm also terrified that my lifelong secret crush on him will somehow surface and he'll never want to speak to me again. But like a scoop of Cherry Berry Bubblegum Bliss melting in the sun, I can feel my confidence dripping away and my terrified true feelings beginning to show. If I do blurt out my feelings for my best friend, will he stay strong and steadfast and reject my undying love for him?

BENJI Bastian Cole. He's the ex who broke my heart, the man who up and left without an explanation or so much as a goodbye, just a note saying he was sorry. Yep, in one fell swoop he crushed any joy I had in my soul, ruined my faith in true love, and destroyed the dream we shared of running our very own BnB in Mulligan's Mill. That was three years ago, but those shattered dreams are about to turn into my worst nightmare. For not only have my parents stayed in contact with Bastian all this time. To my utter dismay and anger, I now find out they've invited him to spend Christmas with us in Mulligan's Mill. Meanwhile, I seem doomed to spend the worst Christmas of my life with not only my dysfunctional family . . . but the man I never stopped loving. BASTIAN When Lonnie and Ronnie invited me to spend Christmas with them in Mulligan's Mill, the idea terrified me. I knew what Benji thought of me, and who could blame him? I had my reasons, but would Benji ever understand . . . I might be wishing for a Christmas miracle, but maybe, just maybe, Benji and I could reignite the love, the dream, the future we once had. If we can just survive Christmas at the Larsons first.

HARRY: Me, I'm just a simple guy living the simple life in Mulligan's Mill. I run the hardware store. No one here suspects I'm gay-least of all that I've been quietly in love with Dean Reeves for years. He's my best friend's son. I watched him grow up gentle and gifted, always strumming something on his guitar, lost in his music. But when he turned eighteen-when he stepped out of his backyard music studio, taller, broader, with something magnetic about him- I haven't been able to unsee it since. Now he's a real-life rock star, and he's coming back to town for a break. Just for a while, he says. DEAN: I tell everyone I just need a break from LA-the noise, the pressure, the weird messages from that stalker. But the real reason I'm going back? Harry Dalton . . . my dad's best friend. He was always there when I was growing up, but after I turned eighteen, something shifted. I started noticing the way his forearms flexed when he lifted lumber, the way his laugh rumbled low in his chest. I've been trying to convince myself it's just a crush. That he'd never look twice at a kid like me, especially now that fame and fortune have left their dirty marks on me. But I still can't stop thinking about him. Coming home is supposed to be temporary. But if Harry looks at me like I'm not just some kid with a guitar . . . I don't think I'll ever want to leave again.

BROOKS I never asked for much out of life-just a quiet tower above my bookshop, a bow tie collection, and the peace of knowing every book spine is perfectly aligned. Romance is something that happens in novels, not in real life, certainly not to men like me. Then he walked in. Cody Cameron. Sunburnt, swaggering, Australian, and already knocking books off my shelves like some chaotic force of nature. He's loud where I'm quiet, messy where I'm meticulous, and yet . . . I can't stop looking at him. He makes me laugh, he makes me furious, and he makes me wonder if maybe I could step outside the safety of my tower. CODY I've been wandering the world with nothing but my backpack and my compass, writing stories about places most people never see. I thought Mulligan's Mill would just be another stopover, another small-town article for one of my freelance travel stories. But then I met Brooks Beresford-the bow-tied bookshop owner who looks at me like I'm a tropical cyclone. He's stubborn, sharp, and somehow the sexiest thing I've ever seen. I've never stayed in one place for long, but something about Brooks makes me think about words I don't often use in my vocab . . . words like home.

MITCH: Wings. That was the nickname they gave me in the lead-up to the Winter Olympics. I was ready to take home the gold for figure skating, ready to make all my dreams come true . . . all but one . . . the dream of finding love. That dream ended the night I lost the only man I ever wanted. It was a moment that led to my downfall on the ice rink. And so I fled my hometown of Mulligan's Mill, determined never to return. That is until I get the call from Doc Morgan, letting me know that my sister's hoarding habit is getting out of control. Now it seems Mulligan's Mill is calling me back. Is it possible for a fallen hero to find his dignity once more? GAGE: He was the rising star of the ice-skating rink. I was the captain of the hockey team with my eyes on an Ivy League scholarship. We had everything. Then one night I freaked out, pushed him away, and nothing was ever the same. In the years since Mitch left, my life was turned upside-down by family tragedy. Now, as the sole carer of my niece, I spend every waking hour working part-time jobs. I barely get a minute to think about my shattered dreams, but I still think about him. When I find out that Mitch is returning, the news triggers a wave of excitement and regret. Would I find the courage to talk to him again, or would fear get the better of me just like it did on the night I broke both our hearts?