Back to December

A Cozy & Heartwarming Holiday Novella

By: Laurel Osterkamp

Narrated by: Jama Smith

Why is it so difficult to feel happy in December?

One December, Penny made the biggest mistake of her life—walking away from Alex. Now, a year later, she's still haunted by what-ifs. When a Christmas invitation arrives from the man whose smile she can't forget, Penny takes a chance on second chances.

But reconnecting with Alex—and his whip-smart teenage daughter Sabrina—means confronting what tore them apart: their fourteen-year age gap and wildly different life stages. As a blizzard traps the three of them under one roof, old sparks reignite, bringing both warming comfort and the burn of past regrets.

Back to December is a tender, witty holiday romance about finding the courage to return to the heart that's been waiting for you all along.

©2025 Laurel Osterkamp (P)2025 Laurel Osterkamp

A Cute Second Chance Holiday Novelette

A sweet holiday novelette that showcases a second chance at love.

Decembers have marked many changes in Penny's life, but there is one December that she really regrets. That's the one in which she walked away from Alex, the love of her life. A year later, she is trying to thrive as a host of her podcast "Penny for Your Thoughts" and keep her mind away from her past life. When she receives an invitation to spend Christmas with Alex's family this year, Penny can't help but accept. Reconnecting with Alex and his daughter Sabrina is more than Penny ever could have wished for. She'll soon find that second chances are meant to be freely given to those that deserve them.

I just finished "My Winter Song to You" so Penny's character is still fresh in my mind. I am really glad that I waited on reading this one until after I read the main novel, because this novelette does reveal a bit of the conflict that occurs in "My Winter Song to You." This short story does do a great job of expanding on Penny's story and the entire town of Sugar Pine in general, so it serves as a great companion to Morgan and Max's tale.

Penny and Alex's relationship is a pretty wholesome one. Penny is also super tight with Sabrina (Alex's daughter) which is another thing that I adored about this novel. The fact that Penny and Alex don't let the age difference between them bother them is also pretty sweet. Another thing that these two bond over is their enjoyment of sociology and the fact that they both like to write nonfiction.

This short story, much like "My Winter Song to You," does a fabulous job of reminding the reader to chase one's dreams no matter how unlikely they seem. Penny desperately wants to write a book and Alex just wants to be an amazing dad. With the right support system, one doesn't have to give up their dreams in order to be with those that matter most to them.

The only thing I struggled with a tad was how the narrative jumped around in time quite a bit. I don't think this would have been that hard to follow, except I read this one on audio, which made my brain have to think fast about which timeline we were currently following in order to keep up with the story.

Overall, "Back to December" is a super quick read and a sweet holiday romance. It features tropes such as second chance romance and age gap. I found it to be a great addition to "My Winter Song to You," though I'm sure it could be read as a stand alone, too. However, just note there are slight spoilers for the main book if you read this one first. I do really enjoy Osterkamp's work, so I will definitely be checking out some of her other books outside of this series eventually.

Audiobook Note: Jama Smith is the narrator of this one. I must say, I was a bit concerned at the start because they spoke so fast. I literally double-checked that I was only on one time speed (I usually listen to books on at least 1.5x) and I was. I feel that Smith eventually slowed down as the story continued, but there is a chance that I just got used to their pacing. Beyond this though, they did a very solid job of bringing Penny's story to life.