Under the Christmas Tree by Jacqueline Ramsden

What if the only present you want this year is a person?

Katie’s position as an obstetrics doctor has her busy on Christmas Day yet again. Her mother isn’t happy about it—she wants Katie moving home and settling down with someone, but Katie never has time for home or for anyone.

Almost anyone.

Maggie is the one person Katie has time for. The two have been best friends for years, but Maggie’s feelings have long since shifted into something more.

The Christmas season brings friends pushing them to be together and family pulling them in directions they don’t want to go, showing up unexpectedly, and interrupting all of their carefully planned time together, as well as the slow realization that they might both be feeling something more than friendship. Will they get their Christmas wish, or will fate conspire against them and leave them feeling lonely this Christmas?

Under the Christmas Tree is a friends-to-lovers, slow-burn holiday romance, featuring meddling friends, intruding families, and hopeless pining sapphics. Content warning for pushy family dynamics.