Home for Christmas in July by Melissa F. Miller

Welcome to Mistletoe Mountain, where the holiday cheer never ends. Even when you really, really wish it would.

Nick Jolly runs the Inn at Mistletoe Mountain, a quaint Vermont town that celebrates Christmas all year round. The town even holds a Christmas in July festival every summer to keep the holiday spirit flowing. Usually, Nick lives up to his name, but this year, he’s recently widowed and embracing his inner Scrooge. It’s his first Christmas in July without Carol, and he wants nothing to do with any of it. Nick leaves his adult daughters in charge of festivities at the inn and retreats to his fishing cabin. To grieve. Alone.
Noelle Winters is grieving, too. The town librarian and diehard mystery lover has always found the holidays a bit lonely. She’s especially melancholy this year because she’s mourning the loss of her holiday-loving best friend, Carol. So when she stumbles across an envelope that contains a Mistletoe Mountain map and head-scratching clues, she jumps at the chance to distract herself with a scavenger hunt.
At first, the hunt seems like harmless fun, but Noelle quickly suspects she’s not the only one searching. When she turns up at the fishing cabin, frightened she’s being followed, Nick reels in his line and joins her in her quest.
As Nick and Noelle work together to decode the cryptic, holiday-themed puzzle, threatening messages and sabotaged clues pile up. What began as an innocent game takes a sinister turn. And as the danger mounts, the pair’s long-buried feelings for each other spark to life.
Will Nick and Noelle survive to solve the puzzle and save Christmas (in July)? And is Mistletoe Mountain’s festive magic strong enough to return the sparkle to Nick’s eye and give Noelle the gift of love?

One way or another, there’ll be fireworks on the mountain this Christmas in July.

This heartwarming holiday rom-com mystery features a closed-door, second-chance romance loaded with crackling chemistry, gripping suspense, and small-town shenanigans. Home for Christmas in July can be read as a standalone.