Jason Chercher is not doing well in love or life. Just two weeks after his wife leaves him he receives a phone call that his estranged mother has passed away, days before Christmas--leaving her home and all her belongings to him. While going through her things he comes upon her diary and the record of his childhood. He learns that his mother suffered from severe depression and during that difficult time he was taken care of by a young, unwed mother who was living with his family. The only clue he has to the woman's identity is her name: Noel, which is an eerily fitting discovery on Christmas Eve. As Jason reads the diary he begins to uncover the source of his pain in relationships and understand that what he believed to be the truth of his past was actually a lie. That's when he begins a journey to find Noel, wondering if she might hold the truth he needs to bring him peace and love.

"When bestselling romance author Jacob Churcher returns to Salt Lake City to settle his estranged mother's estate, a young woman arrives looking for her birth mother who lived with Jacob's family during her pregnancy. They discover a diary written by Noel and begin a quest to find her, reconcile their pasts and rewrite their futures"--

"A man receives the best Christmas present he could ask for: the chance to re-write the past. Bestselling romance author Jacob Churcher hasn't been home for almost twenty years--not since his mentally ill mother kicked him out of the house when he was just sixteen. When a lawyer calls, days before Christmas, to inform him that his estranged mother has passed away and left her house to him, Jacob returns not just to settle the estate but to try and reconcile with the past and the pain and abuse he experienced as a child. Also, maybe cleaning out her house will be slightly less depressing than spending the holidays alone, watching reruns of Christmas classics. But as it turns out, the house holds more than just difficult memories. Jacob's mother had become a hoarder and he must excavate through two decades' worth of clutter. As Jacob digs through the detritus like an archaeologist, he uncovers many puzzling items, including a diary left by someone named Noel, a young woman of whom he has