"I feel like I'm destined to be alone...so I may as well isolate myself..."Xander Hart has always dreamed of living on the beach – and thanks to a bequest from his grandfather, a home on a private island in desperate need of repair, and some hard-earned construction skills, he’s planning to spend Christmas alone on his new property, preparing it to host his family after the New Year. The last thing he needs is the distraction of a lover. "My past has always haunted me...how will it shape my future?"Frederick ‘Bing’ Thurgood has it all – a stake in the family fortune, a beautiful fiancée, and a loving family all gathered in town for his upcoming Christmas wedding. So what if he has a feeling in his gut that something’s not quite right? On the surface, it’s all perfect. Then Bing walks in on his fiancée with his best friend, and his perfect future comes crumbling down. Both are running away, but can they stop to see that what's perfect, is in front of them?When Bing flees the disaster his life has become, he takes shelter in his family’s secluded beach house, intending to drink the holidays away. That is, until he comes face to face with the only other man on the island – his new neighbor. Blue Christmas is a standalone novella of approximately 25,000 words.