Emma Thompson is determined to finally write a novel! She has put it off for years. Her husband had insisted that it was not a practical goal and that she had to have a "real" job. Between the demands of work and marriage, she had never found the time to write. But now she is divorced. And, without a husband, a mortgage, or a job, she has nothing but time. What, then, is keeping her from writing?

Emma moves into her childhood home, in Pine Forest, Minnesota, just before the holidays. She and her sister have inherited the house, and Emma uses a large chunk of her divorce settlement to buy out her sister's share, only to find that the house needs constant repair! Luckily, her next-door neighbor is a handyman who can help her with a string of emergencies. Unfortunately, the handsome handyman becomes just another distraction, when he lures her into a fierce billiards competition at the Big Bear Lodge.

Between her distractingly handsome neighbor, home repairs, money worries, a pair of cute, but mischievous, kittens, and her competitive nature and tendency to procrastinate, will Emma finally find the time to become the writer she has always longed to be?