Plot

On her way home to spend Christmas with her grandmother, Mandy runs into Lucas, her old high school rival.

Mandy Leeds is a successful young woman: living in sunny Miami, she's on her way up the corporate ladder in the hotel industry. She doesn't get back to her small hometown much, but this year her Gram has finally convinced her to come home for Christmas. Mandy has another reason too: the quaint local inn is for sale, and she wants to acquire it for her company. With her eyes on the prize, Mandy travels back home but on her way there, she runs into none other than Lucas Menzino, her high school rival- and it turns out he's got his eye on the inn as well.

Chef Lucas Menzino abandoned his New York career to return to his native small town Holly Bush, Kentucky, where the senior couple running the popular Inn is looking for a new owning manager. He gets unplanned competition from high school friend and rival Mandy Leeds, who runs a hotel chain's Southeastern region and is home to visit her doted grandma for the holidays. She hopes for a promotion, which she could win by taking over the Inn, which just suits the chain's format. Being a former local is a pro for both, but when it gets out she intends to return to Miami, and if she gets promoted to HQ move New York, she withdraws, expecting it to go to Lucas, who during their rivalry become a very close friend, and makes his own grand gesture.—KGF Vissers