Christmas has always been a sad time for young widow Holly Brown, so being asked to look after a remote house on the Lancashire moors is the perfect excuse to forget about the festivities. Sculptor Jude Martland is determined that this year there will be no Christmas after his brother ran off with his fiancee. He's keen to avoid the family home. However, he will have to return by the twelfth night of the festivities, when the hamlet of Little Mumming hold their historic festivities and all of his family are required to attend. Meanwhile, Holly is finding that if she wants to avoid Christmas, she has come to the wrong place. When Jude unexpectedly returns on Christmas Eve he is far from delighted to discover that Holly seems to be holding the very family party he had hoped to avoid.
