One December in New York

An Art of Staying Prequel

By: Alice Rowan

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Claire Whitfield has a pattern. She just doesn't know it yet.

At twenty-four, she's survived her parents' divorce, their remarriages, and a lifetime of Christmases spent as a guest in other people's lives. Now she's in New York—first real job, first apartment she's paying for herself, first holiday season completely alone.

She tells herself it's freedom. She tells herself she prefers it this way.

Then a snowstorm traps her in her office with Daniel Reeves.

Daniel notices things. The way she holds her pen when she's stressed. The plant on her desk that's slowly dying. The armor she wears like a second skin. And when he invites her to spend Christmas with his loud, chaotic, impossibly warm family, Claire faces a terrifying choice:

Keep running. Or stay long enough to see what happens.

One December in New York is a bittersweet holiday romance about first love, found family, and the patterns we inherit from the people who raised us. It's the prequel novella to The Art of Staying series, which follows Claire across six cities as she slowly—painfully, beautifully—learns that the hardest thing isn't leaving.

It's staying.

Perfect for fans of Emily Henry, Josie Silver, and anyone who's ever been afraid to let themselves be loved.