What would you do if you fell in love with your cousin’s boyfriend? Joy Zamboni is a magazine writer for a rag called Cats and Dogs, her Christmas assignment is to produce an article about how dogs are replacing men in the loves of modern women. To aid in her research she has adopted an Australian shepherd dog from a shelter. The dog is skittish and does not trust her, and on their first outing together, Rocky runs halfway down the block before stopping. As soon as she gets close he takes off again. They play this game for ten minutes until a dashing and charming man appears out of nowhere and shows Joy how to win the dog’s confidence. His name is Jack Tinsle, and he owns a canine training school, which recently opened in the neighborhood. They hit it off. In fact Joy is so smitten that she enrols Rocky in classes, and has the guts to ask Jack if he’d like to have dinner with her so that she can interview him for her article. He flashes his engaging grin, giving the impression that the feelings are mutual, and they meet to discover they have everything in common. They plan to meet again but not until after the holidays because both are going away for Christmas. Joy drives from her hometown of Calgary with Rocky to the mountain resort of Emerald Lake where her father owns a winter lodge. There her brother and sister have already arrived. Her dear cousin Ellie is there too. And she has brought her boyfriend—Jack.
