One year ago, widowed Harper Philips closed her eyes and stuck her finger on the map to escape another holiday in grief—she landed in South Florida where she met a handsome stranger on the beach beneath the stars. Agreeing to no names, they spend an intimate night so powerful neither can forget.

Jacob Orman credits his Christmas Angel for the courage to put all his worldly goods on the line to turn job loss into an entrepreneurial opportunity. They’d agreed to be strangers—but, if they wanted, they could meet again at the bench by the sea in exactly one year.

Sometimes magic fades in the light of day. What if the memory of the person from a year ago can’t measure up to the reality? How could those feelings actually be love?