JT Cox is back in her hometown, a celebrated hockey star with a penchant for stirring up holiday cheer alongside Ali Porter, a charmingly independent spirit. Together, they navigate a festive town contest and personal desires, discovering love amidst cocoa tastings and gingerbread decorating.
Intrigued? Well read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from Kate Cochrane’s Yours For The Season, which releases on October 28th 2025.
JT Cox never quite fit into Hart’s Landing. Playing on the boys’ hockey team and coming out young didn’t help. Now, thanks to an Olympic gold medal, JT’s name is on a sign greeting visitors to her hometown. Her family of artists and creatives still treat her as an odd duck, but elsewhere there’s a warm welcome. Especially from her best friend’s older sister, newly divorced Ali Porter.
Single for the first time since high school, Ali is ready to take the reins of her own life. She’s never had the chance to date another woman, and JT is an irresistible force of nature. When they team up for the town’s holiday contest, cocoa tasting and gingerbread decorating give way to snow-melting chemistry.
If teenage JT thought Ali was the prettiest girl on the planet, adult JT is completely smitten. But JT can’t see herself living in Hart’s Landing again and Ali can’t imagine leaving her job and her newly purchased home. And with Ali’s mom trying to plot a reconciliation with her ex, this holiday season might be bittersweet…or the start of something magical.
EXCERPT
JT slid into the booth opposite Ali. Part of her wished she’d sat next to her, but that would have been weird, right? Ali looked great. JT hadn’t been sure how she would look after all the divorce gossip she’d heard. Twelve-year-old JT had thought Ali Porter was the prettiest girl on the planet, and twenty-five-year-old JT wondered how it was possible that Ali was even hotter now. She had long bangs, swept to one side, and her long dirty-blond hair fell in gentle waves around her shoulders. If they’d been dating, JT would have happily reached across the table to tuck it behind Ali’s ears. But in what world would Ali Porter date her?
Ali’s eye sparkled. “Oh my god, Tommy didn’t tell me you were coming! How are you?”
For a second, JT wondered if she should give Ali a hug. Instead, she smiled across the table, trying to fight the nervousness bubbling inside her. “Hi. Tommy got that for you so if it sucks, it’s his fault.” JT kicked herself for being so awkward.
Ali took another sip. “Thanks for…” She trailed off, her eyes flicking to where Marisa and her buddies were clustered.
JT shrugged. “No problem.” She paused. “So, you’re divorced.”
Ali laughed and nearly spit her drink across the table. “Oh my god.”
“What?” JT asked, playing dumb.
“Everyone here pretends someone died or avoids talking about my divorce at all. But not you. It’s refreshing.”
JT shrugged. “Figured I’d get that shit out of the way. Besides, you’ve always been out of that boy’s league. Glad you finally realized it.” JT looked to where Marisa was standing. “She hasn’t changed since high school, has she?” she asked, making a disgusted face before holding her beer out toward Ali.
Ali tapped her glass against JT’s. “Yeah. She’s always been fake nice to me while making it very clear that she hates my guts.” She leaned against the booth cushions, looking effortlessly, unobtainably hot.
“If you want me to kick her ass, just say the word.”
Ali sighed. “She’s not worth the trouble, but thanks. Most people have been fine, I guess. But she seems really offended that Kyle and I got divorced.”
“It’s probably freaking her out that now she doesn’t have an excuse to keep her feelings for you a secret.”
Ali snorted, nearly shooting her drink out her nose. Her eyes watered as she swallowed. “JT!”
JT laughed, and it came out higher than she would have liked. It was hard to seem cool when her laugh made her sound like a teenager. But it must have been contagious. Ali joined her, and they both started fresh waves of laughter that only built the more they looked at each other.
“I cannot believe you just insinuated Marisa has a thing for me. Oh my god.” Ali wiped her eyes.
JT shrugged again. “It would make sense. You’re awesome, single, and hot so why wouldn’t she?”
“Because she’s been trying to get with Kyle since we were in high school.” Ali looked toward the bar where Tommy was laughing with some of his friends. “How come you’re sitting here with me instead of with Tommy?”
JT ran a finger through the condensation on her glass. “Bros aren’t really my thing. Your brother is possibly my favorite person on the planet but those guys he’s talking to are definitely not.”
Ali squinted through the dark as if she was trying to figure out who JT was talking about.
“You’re probably too old to remember but those guys liked to show off by taking runs at me on the ice. A few of them got some good hits in, but mostly they hated that I was good and leaned hard into being toxic assholes to prove their masculinity.” JT tried to wash the taste of that memory away with a sip of beer.
“Didn’t stop you from winning the state championship,” Ali said with a soft smile. She nodded toward the picture of JT on the wall hoisting the trophy. “Isn’t that you, superstar?”
JT blushed. “I know. But it would have been nice to have a team where I didn’t have to get dressed by myself. Or where opposing fans didn’t scream at me for being a girl.” JT got lost for a second in the bitter memories of people questioning why she was on the team or insinuating she was both sleeping with her teammates and a raging lesbian with no thought about how those two things conflicted.
Three women stopped at the booth to say hi. “JT! Congratulations! We watched every game. You guys were awesome.”
“I told everyone at work that we went to school together,” another one said.
JT’s face shifted into a practiced smile. “Thank you so much. We really appreciate all the support we got from folks back home.”
The women asked her for a picture. “This way my boss won’t be able to say I don’t know you,” a woman with curly red hair said. Her eyes lingered on JT’s mouth. She wasn’t the first woman to do that, but she wasn’t her type.
JT got up and the redhead handed Ali her phone. “Do you mind?”
She flashed her an apologetic smile. Ali smiled back and JT was fourteen all over again, her stomach fluttering at the sight of Ali’s perfect lips curving into a smile. “Of course. Get together,” she said.
The redhead took the opportunity to put her arm around her waist. She was a little too friendly for JT’s taste but not quite inappropriate. She could handle it, but Ali’s eyes flashed with something JT would have said was jealousy if she didn’t know better. Ali snapped half a dozen pictures before handing the phone back.
JT talked to them for another minute or so before sitting down. “It was really nice of you to come say hi. If you don’t mind, I’d like to catch up with Ali. I haven’t seen her in forever.” The women lingered for a second. Finally, the redhead gave JT’s shoulder another squeeze and took a quick selfie with her cheek smashed against JT’s.
Ali laughed. “Are you blushing?”
JT shook her head, but her cheeks were on fire. “No. I mean that woman tried to give me her number but… I don’t know.”
“Did you want to go with her?”
“What? No. Not at all. I’m happy here.” She looked across the room. “Unless you want me to leave you alone. I can go if…”
Ali reached across the table and grabbed JT’s wrist. “I don’t want you to go. But I don’t want you to feel like you have to stay here with Tommy’s boring older sister. I’ll be fine if you want to go flirt or whatever.”
JT dipped her head to keep Ali from seeing her cheeks turning pink. She pulled off a strip of label from her beer bottle. “I’m good. I promise.”
While it was notable that there was a woman in her hometown flirting with her, it had not been JT’s experience that there were other queer women her age in town. But why on earth would she want to talk to any other woman in this place when she could talk to Ali? JT didn’t say all of that. Ali still was Tommy’s sister and JT still felt like the silly kid with a crush.
The silence stretched between them. They filled it by sipping their drinks and staring into the crowd. JT glanced over to the bar, wondering what was taking Tommy so long, when she saw someone walk in.
“Shit.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Okay, I have to ask. When you told Marisa you were fine with Kyle, was that true?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“Okay, because he just walked in with a woman who looks…” JT paused. Ali followed her gaze toward the door.
She laughed. “Oh my god. You’re seeing this, right? She looks…?”
“Exactly like you,” JT said. “Yeah. I mean, she’s less hot but—”
JT froze. How could she be so fucking stupid? Why did she call Ali hot, again? Her face burned hotter than before.
Ali bit her lip but it didn’t keep her from laughing. “I’m sorry, did you say I’m hot?”
Oh god. JT looked at Ali, who looked absolutely delighted.
Okay, JT could fix this. She leaned back against the booth cushions and gave Ali her best smile. “Look, you can’t argue with facts. The earth is round, the sun is hot, and so are you.”
Ali blushed and JT liked it too much. “JT Cox, are you flirting with me?”
JT laughed. “If I were flirting with you, you wouldn’t have to ask.”
She finished her drink and slid out of the booth to get a refill. “Why aren’t you?”
JT’s mouth dropped open. “What? You’re Tommy’s sister!”
“So? You lowkey flirted with those hockey groupies who were just here. We all saw you on Wake Up, USA flirting with that woman who is engaged to the other host now. But you won’t flirt with me. What’s up with that?”
JT opened her mouth but couldn’t think of what to say. She closed it, sure she now looked like some kind of deranged fish. When she looked at Ali, she had a smile playing at the corner of her lips. “Wait, do you want me to?”
Ali leaned forward, her hair falling around her face. She tucked one side of it behind her ear. “I’m divorced, not dead.”
“Flirting with straight women never ends well for me.”
“Who says I’m straight?” She grinned, like she was enjoying seeing JT this flustered. JT’s stomach dropped through the floor. Holy shit. Ali Porter was flirting with her. What on earth?
JT leaned forward. “Are you telling me…?”
“Bi, bi, bi,” she sang, complete with hand gestures.
JT sat back. “Well, in that case,” she said, unable to keep from smiling. “Can I buy you a drink?”
Ali bit her bottom lip. “Thought you’d never ask.”
