What do I say about this book other than: it completely changed me. It's changed my perspective concerning my high expectations for romance books, especially queer romance books. A bi demisexual female main character? A bookstore meet-cute? (Especially one I've been in before: Powell's!!) Graduated from OSU and formerly from Ohio? SAY LESS. This is absolutely everything I could want in a queer romance.  
 
The story fleshes itself out between present-day (Christmas 2022) and flashbacks to Christmas a year ago (2021) where our two MCs spend a magical day together walking around Portland, getting to know each other, and falling in love. Naturally, the magic has to come to an abrupt end early the next morning, and our MCs don't see each other again for almost an entire year. The problem? It's because Ellie agreed to marry Andrew so he could access his inheritance. After an agreement is struck, they escape to his family's cabin in the mountains for Christmas, and Ellie learns that his sister, Jack (Jacqueline), is the woman she fell in love with a year ago over the course of one day.

What feels illogical to Ellie, as a demisexual who only experiences sexual attraction to people after she knows and trusts them well, must be accepted as fact. Andrew and Ellie try to keep their false marriage a secret from the entire family, Jack included. Of course things quickly go off the rails, as they often do, and both women can't help but admit they still have feelings for each other.

Even though I knew how the story would end for both Ellie and Andrew's love interests, its progression felt realistic (as realistic as the fake dating trope can, anyway). I appreciate that we do not actually witness a sex scene between any characters until over halfway through the book - it satisfied the sapphic yearning I crave in books (and life, let's be real), and was a really nice affirmation of my own personal identity as a bi and demisexual person. It was hard not to see aspects of myself in Ellie, so this love story was a balm to my heart.

And now, I present my absolute favorite quotes in chronological order (because they just deserve to be shared):

“‘Well, I mean, isn’t forever the goal of marriage?’
Jack’s haw tightens for a minute, and I study her profile as she turns to look out at the snow. It’s obvious I’ve said something wrong, but I’m not sure what it is. ‘I think marriage is just promising to move someone as long as you can for as best you can. I think relationships can be exactly what they’re supposed to be,’ she says, eyes still on the snow, ‘even if they only last for one year, or five years, or even just for one day. The good parts of the time you spent with a person don’t go away simply because the relationship ends.’” (p. 105)
......
“My free hand clutches at my throat. The whole lumbersexual thing suddenly makes perfect sense because good lord. Watching Jack chop that piece of wood in half is the single most arousing thing my demisexual brain has ever witnessed. Even though her muscles aren’t visible through her flannel, I can somehow sense the way they ripple, the tendons in her neck straining, her hands flexing against the handle of the axe. Some primal instinct in me says, This one could build you shelter." (p. 250)
......
"The thing is, I used to dream about someone who would always choose me above everything else. There was romance in that dream, sure. I wanted someone who would see all my flaws and still lean in and tell me I'm beautiful. I wanted someone who would hold my hand in public and hold the rest of me in private, a warm body in my bed, a constant presence in my life.

I wanted someone who would see the whole mess of me - all the feelings and the perfectionism and the desire for control and the shape of my heart and the ache of my dreams, the wild, imperfect hunger of me, and the fear that keeps me from ever feeling full - and wouldn't get freaked out or turned off. Someone who would kiss me anyway." (p. 304)
......
"So yes. It was a romantic delusion. But beneath the desire to be cherished was the ever-present thrum of my desire to be chosen. I wanted someone who would pick me to be their family. I believe that somewhere out there was the person who would want to spend every holiday with me. The person who would pick me as their partner for every duet, the person who would always care about what I had to say, who would get me off the couch and into the world. The person patient enough to build trust and connection with me first; the person who would notice when I'm hurting and still never calculate the cost of loving me. Despite all my cynicism, I had to believe that person existed.

And last Christmas I thought snow magic had delivered her to me. And when I saw Claire standing there in front of the Airstream, I took it as proof that my belief was childish and naïve. My own parents hadn't loved me enough to stick around. Why did I think someone else would?" (pp. 304-305)
......
"But I didn't need an explanation. Claire confirmed what I'd already expected: that Jack and I were never meant to last. I convinced myself we could never have anything more than one perfect day together because I was terrified of what might happen between us when things stopped being perfect. I couldn't imagine a world where Jack might choose me after the snow melted." (306)
......
"I used to think letting more people in would mean having more people who could ultimately disappoint me. Hurt me. Walk out of my life. But having more people means there are more arms at the ready to catch me when I fall. And I fall a lot. 

And it feels good to be the arms for someone else, too. It feels good to both need and be needed - to have seasons of needing and seasons of giving." (p. 330)
......
"So I'm going to go ahead and embarrass myself in a room filled with fifty strangers. 'I fell in love with you after spending one day with you, which is a lot, I know. Definitely not something you're supposed to admit, because it's love-bomby and Romeo-ish, but it's true. I fell in love with you that day, and I was so scared of getting rejected, that I convinced myself it didn't mean anything. But it did. It meant so much to me.'

Jack bites down on the edge of her smile, and she's about to reject me. The trio is playing the chorus of 'Call Me Maybe,' and Jack is about to tell me it doesn't mean anything to her anymore. I'm scared, but I'm trying so hard to be honest. So I tell her: 'I am feeling very emotionally vulnerable right now, and I'm afraid of taking this risk with you, Jack. But I also know that you're a risk worth taking, and if there is any part of you that thinks you might be able to forgive me-'" (335)
......
"I wrap my arms around her. I know there's no guarantee this will last. We could fall apart in a year or five years. We could fall apart tomorrow. I could give Jack everything and lose her again anyway. I take Jack's face in my hands and kiss her one more time, on the little white scare across her upper lip.

If it's twelve hours, or twelve years, or the rest of our beautiful lives, I'm going to savor every damn second of it. Starting with this second outside in the snow, in the glow of Gillian's headlights." (345)