A LITTLE HOLIDAY FLING

A Toronto woman plans to move to the U.K. to open an inn.

Ruby Dhanji loves the Christmas season, which reminds her of many joyful times with her late mother. Ruby recently gained access to an inheritance that will allow her to open the English country inn that was her mother’s dream. She’s moving to London on New Year’s Day and, before she goes, she’s determined to enjoy every last parade, holiday market, and gingerbread latte the city of Toronto has to offer. After a chance encounter with handsome but grumpy dermatologist Rashid Hakim, Ruby discovers he has loose ties to her friend group. Rashid has temporarily relocated to Toronto for his family. His sister has recently separated from her husband and needs help with her 5-year-old twin daughters. Ruby discovers his family owns a chain of European luxury hotels and thinks he might be able to help her; since she’s always worked in retail, she’s had difficulty landing a hotel job in England. She offers to show Rashid and his nieces the best holiday events in the Toronto, hoping he’ll give her a good reference to his family’s business. But while they have chemistry, it turns out that they only see the worst in each other: Rashid thinks Ruby is frivolous and materialistic, while Ruby thinks Rashid is judgmental and privileged. As they spend more time together, though, they discard these misconceptions and become friends. They decide a brief holiday fling can’t hurt either of them since they’ll both be leaving Toronto soon. Heron carefully crafts interesting, fully realized characters and gives them time to grow. Although the ending feels a little rushed, both Ruby and Rashid are given the opportunity to fully explore their dreams and obligations before committing to each other.

A beautiful, slow-burn romance celebrates love in all its forms.