In late November a few weeks after rare book expert Crystal McInney's relationship with her long-time boyfriend ends abruptly, she trades the sunshine of Orlando, Florida, for a more traditional Christmas atmosphere in her hometown of Placer, South Dakota. Unsure of her future, she begins a new job: cataloging and valuing the massive private library of Saul Custer, the town curmudgeon. Saul's son Jason, whom she had jilted in their junior year of high school, shows up from New York City with his fiancée. Crystal's feelings toward Jason, both attraction and anger over the past, resurface, but she is determined to stay focused on her job. Christmas almost isn't when Crystal finds a potentially rare and valuable journal and rushes off, with Jason following her, to Bloomington, Indiana, to get it authenticated. Will this journal prove to be a treasure that will save the library and get Crystal and Jason past their "youthful foolishness"?