When Sarah's Christmas Wish "to meet her meant-to-be love" unexpectedly brings her Nutcracker to life, she's stuck with her gallant, wide-eyed guest until Christmas Eve. Their embarrassing roommate moments; Sarah's snooping Father; a nefarious Toy Collector; plus their holiday tradition misadventures, leads them to hope this Christmas Wish never ends.

SYNOPSIS:

With Christmas only ten days away, Sarah, a busy holiday bookshop owner, makes a wish "to meet her meant-to-be love”. A shrewd Christmas Faerie instead grants Sarah's Nutcracker's wish "to experience Christmas as a real person". Sarah reluctantly agrees to take the wide-eyed & gallant Nutcracker in as long as he helps-out at her bookshop. She names him Finn and promises to guide him through as many holiday traditions as she can spare time for before he turns back into a Nutcracker on Christmas Eve. Their embarrassing roommate moments, awkward bookshop interactions, Sarah's snooping Father, a nefarious Toy Collector, plus their holiday tradition misadventures, leads them into love and the hope this Christmas Wish never ends.

SARAH BAILEY: Sarah grew-up with a playful sense of wonder for all things Christmas. Her tenacious hard work is what transformed her All-Holidays Bookshop dream into a reality. (in fact Sarah owns the bookstore’s brownstone and lives upstairs). She’s used to living alone. Doing everything her way. When Sarah realizes her bookshop’s future is in question, she’s going to need to learn she doesn’t have to do everything on her own. Can a little Christmas magic help Sarah save her bookshop and restore her heart?

ROYAL GUARD NUTCRACKER, “FINN”: In 1940, the son of music-box sculptor, Greta Baumann, was tragically killed rescuing soldiers during the invasion of Dunkirk. To honor his brave legacy Greta crafted “The Gallant Christmas Guardian” music-box featuring a Nutcracker figure infused with so much love that at Christmastime he seems almost alive. Now, with his music-box placed in Sarah’s bookshop window, the Nutcracker’s wish "to experience Christmas as a real person" is granted. With a wide-eyed sense of wonder for all things Christmas, and a ridiculous curly moustache, Finn is excited to be fully alive, and determined to help Sarah rediscover her sense of wonder.

Comps: The head-to-head meant-to-be hijinx of ANYONE BUT YOU. A touch of the exuberance of ELF if you imagine Woody from TOY STORY getting the chance to be fully alive like Buddy in ELF.

Rachel Burger, Writer on ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING commented: "This was full of Christmas Magic! :) Was obsessed with Elora’s sass and was dying at the pee seen. Nutcracker, Finn and Sarah had this great connection from the start and you just knew they were gonna fall in love. Just like Pinocchio he got to be a real boy! Haha He also had Buddy the elf vibes which is literally my favorite character ever."

Why Now/Why Me: There's just something magical about how Christmastime nudges even the most guarded hearts to open up and take a chance on love.

Still, I love writing Holiday Rom-Coms. They’re Hope-Inspiring, Love-Fueled, Escapist Entertainment in its purest form. They're what my heart wishes life and love could be.

For me, writing Holiday Rom-Coms is about what my heart wishes life and love could be.