A Father For Christmas

Zuri Banks has learned to carry a lot.

A grief she doesn't talk about. A daughter she'd burn the world for. A dream she's building one community college class at a time - all while waiting tables in a city that wasn't supposed to be her home. She doesn't have room for anything else. Especially not a man.

Ian Vaughan is not supposed to be a complication. He's just the father of her daughter's best friend. A San Francisco firefighter with steady hands, a patient way of showing up, and the frustrating ability to see her clearly even when she's doing everything in her power not to be seen.
She tells herself it's friendship. He lets her believe that - for now.

But just when Zuri starts to believe that maybe life isn't finished with her yet, Ian's world fractures in a way neither of them saw coming. And what unravels next will test everything - what it means to be a father, what it costs to stay open after loss, and whether two people carrying that much weight can choose each other anyway.

Some families are built. Some are chosen. And some show up in the middle of December and change everything.

A Father for Christmas is a slow burn contemporary romance about grief, resilience, found family, and what happens when love refuses to let you stay closed.