Set amid the twinkling lights of a snowbound Utah ski town, one woman’s quest to win back her ex leads her instead to a future she didn’t know was possible.
“Delightfully Christmasy and unabashedly queer, this book brought me so much joy!”—Alison Cochrun, USA Today bestselling author of Every Step She Takes
“Your favorite Hallmark movie with a chaotic bisexual twist.”—Susie Dumond, author of Bed and Breakup
Sometimes the route to love is the one you never planned.
It’s the holidays, and Alaina has just been dumped. Determined to have a romantic Christmas, she sets out on a cross-country road trip to surprise her ex-boyfriend and convince him she’s the one. But her plans are derailed when she drives straight into a snowbank. She’s rescued by Priscilla, a terse, unsmiling bookstore owner with zero interest in holiday cheer. Stranded, with her car out of commission, Alaina makes a bucket list of festive adventures to make her ex regret his decision, and to her surprise, Priscilla offers to join her.
Alaina’s plan goes off without a hitch—except that the more time she spends with Priscilla, the less she’s sure of what, or who, she really wants. A heartwarming sapphic romance packed with small-town cheer, A Very Merry Detour explores how true love always makes room for our most authentic selves.
Release date:
October 13, 2026
Publisher:
The Dial Press
Print pages:
368
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If someone had asked Alaina where she would be a week before Christmas, she would’ve said snuggled up with her boyfriend on the couch, watching a rom-com, drinking eggnog, and enjoying the holidays for the first time in a decade.
She would not have said stuck in a snowbank in the middle of god-knows-where, Utah, after swerving to avoid what she definitely thought was a deer on the pitch-black road.
And yet, there she was, just after midnight, her beat-up Toyota half swallowed by snow. Reversing had only spun her tires deeper, and the drift on her right was piled so high she couldn’t see out the passenger window. She’d tried a quick expedition outside, the cold cutting through her hoodie the second she’d opened her door and stepped into the dark. Her headlights were useless, smothered by the drift she’d plowed into, casting only a faint, murky glow. With no shovel and zero plan, she’d managed maybe three minutes of clawing at the snow with her bare hands before retreating, fingers numb and stinging.
Normally she’d call Cole. Not an option anymore. And with her phone reading SOS instead of even one bar of service, she was truly on her own.
What had that Instagram reel said to do in this exact scenario? Leave the car running? Or turn it off in case the tailpipe got blocked?
Shit, shit, shit. Alaina put her head down on the steering wheel.
This was so stupid. She was out here chasing a guy who didn’t even know if he wanted her, armed with a half-baked plan to prove they were a perfect match, and now she was going to die alone in her car.
A sharp knock rattled her window.
Alaina’s head shot up, her whole body going rigid. Slowly, she turned. Headlights lit the road, barely visible through the heavy snow. A person stood in their glow, face obscured by a thick black scarf and fur-lined hat pulled tight. Just a silhouette.
This was it. She was going to be taken out by an ax murderer during a blizzard in the middle of nowhere. Classic.
Then the stranger raised a gloved hand, and because she was apparently incapable of self-preservation, Alaina waved back. Although, what kind of killer waved at their victim before chopping them into bite-sized pieces? A friendly wave had to be a good sign.
The hand motioned for Alaina to get out. She hesitated, then glanced around her car. Not much worth taking. She grabbed her phone and stared at the lock screen. It was a photo of her and Cole at the carnival, her curly brown hair windswept and wild at the top of the Ferris wheel. She looked like a mess, but Cole looked like a model, so it became her phone background anyway.
Alaina tucked the phone, along with her keys, into the pocket of her still-damp hoodie. Bracing herself, she swung the door open. An ambush of cold slapped her in the face.
“Holy shit.” She laughed, because what else was there to do? She’d been in her apartment in San Francisco ten hours ago. Now she was about to follow a stranger through a snowstorm. Possibly to her doom.
“Come on.” The voice was soft, almost lost in the wind. Definitely a woman. Maybe British? Or Australian? “Before you freeze to death.”
Alaina followed her, boots crunching through snow, toward the other vehicle. She hadn’t even heard it pull up. Snow seeped into her Converses with each step, drenching her socks and chilling her to the core. She hugged herself tightly and pushed forward, barely able to see past her own eyelashes.
The woman led her to the passenger door of a pickup truck. She yanked the handle, and a fierce gust of wind flung the door open, slamming it straight into Alaina’s shoulder.
“F***!” She staggered back, nearly slipping, then felt a firm hand on her back, steadying her. Even hunched against the wind, the woman stood a few inches taller than Alaina. Then again, at five foot two, Alaina found most people did.
“Careful,” the stranger said. With surprising strength, she ushered Alaina up and into the cab, then closed the door behind her.
Alaina looked at her car, stranded ten feet from the road and rapidly disappearing under snow. A deep chill ran through her, and not just because she was practically a human Popsicle. If this was how she felt after a few trapped minutes, she would’ve been frozen solid by morning.
She pried her hands from her armpits and held them up to the warm air streaming from the vents. Her fingers throbbed as feeling crept back in. The driver’s door opened, bringing another burst of frigid cold. Alaina swore under her breath.
The stranger climbed in, peeling back the furry hat to reveal dark brown hair tied into a neat bun. The scarf came off next, finally revealing the face underneath.
The woman looked to be in her late twenties, maybe thirty. Serious expression. Sharp jaw. Freckles dusted her cheekbones like someone had painted them on with a fine brush. Her eyes were warm brown, ringed with gold, like melted honey. Why were Alaina’s muddy eyes so boring, when eyes as fascinating as these existed?
It took Alaina a moment to realize she was being spoken to.
“Huh?” She blinked.
The woman’s mouth pulled tight. Her first flicker of emotion. “What were you thinking?” she said. “You would’ve been buried in an hour if I hadn’t driven by. Did you not see the news?”
“I—I didn’t know there was going to be a storm.” Alaina’s teeth clacked as she spoke. “I’m not from around here.”
“Clearly. No one from around here would be out in this weather.”
“You’re out in this weather.”
The woman’s brow creased. She turned to the road, shook her head, and wordlessly adjusted the vents toward Alaina. Warm air blasted her face. Her lashes started to thaw, her body giving a grateful shiver.
“Thanks, by the way.” Grumpy or not, the woman had rescued her. “You totally saved my ass.”
“Language,” the woman snapped.
Alaina’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re kidding.” One look at her face and—nope, not kidding. Okay then. Alaina raised her hands. “Sorry.”
The woman reached for the gearshift.
“Wait!” Alaina lurched forward.
“What?” The word shot out, sharp as a cat’s claw.
“We can’t just leave Bertha here.”
Alaina’s eyes darted to the snowbank, where the Corolla’s trunk still peeked out. She’d christened the car the day she handed a wad of cash to a chain-smoking, heavily perfumed woman in a Ralphs parking lot years ago. Since then, Bertha had faithfully carried her through thick and thin; she couldn’t just abandon her now.
“Who is—”
“My car. Don’t you have, like, a shovel or something?”
The stranger’s eyebrows knitted together. “The snow’s coming down faster than we could ever dig out.”
“Can’t we call for help?”
“And make someone else come out in this mess?” Her voice was flat, unyielding. “It’s too dangerous.”
“But—ugh. Fine.”
With that, the woman eased the truck onto the road. Alaina twisted in her seat, watching Bertha shrink in the rearview until she disappeared entirely. She made a silent vow to return as soon as this blizzard let up.
She slumped back, fingers instinctively reaching to fidget with the golden chain around her neck. Her eyes drifted across the truck’s interior—an older model, with a simple dashboard. No bells, no whistles. Nothing like Cole’s tricked-out pickup. The seats were worn leather, comfortable and soft.
Not a single wrapper on the floor. No crumpled receipts or empty bottles. Spotless.
A prickle of shame crept up Alaina’s spine. This woman had just seen the inside of her own car, which was nowhere near as tidy. She wasn’t sure why she cared—she had much bigger problems than whether or not this stranger thought she was a slob.
“Where are we going?” Alaina asked.
“There’s a hotel not far from here.” The woman kept her eyes on the road as the truck rolled forward. “Figure you’d rather sleep somewhere that’s not a tin box in a snow squall.”
“I definitely would.” Just the thought of heat and a bed loosened the knot in her shoulders. “I’m Alaina, by the way. Or Lani, to my friends—and rescuers.”
Silence. The woman drummed her fingers against the steering wheel as the truck crawled forward. With enough caffeine, a sloth could’ve beaten their pace, but at least they wouldn’t spin out into another ditch.
“Nice to meet you too,” Alaina muttered. Gratitude aside, she did wish her knight in shining armor was slightly more . . . well, charming.
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