The Christmas Pact

There's something irresistible about a rivalry that starts in your inbox. Riley and Kennedy have been exchanging misdirected emails for months — his unsolicited commentary, her barely contained irritation — and when they finally meet face to face at the office holiday party, the tension only gets more complicated. He's annoyingly charming. She's not impressed. And somehow they end up in a pact that puts them side by side for the most emotionally loaded stretch of the year: the holidays. What follows is the slow, delicious collapse of two people's best intentions.

Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward write enemies-to-lovers with a sharp wit that keeps the pages moving fast, and this novella-length story is a concentrated shot of that signature style. The banter is the thing — quick, layered, and genuinely funny without tipping into farce. The authors resist the urge to slow things down with unnecessary angst, instead letting the chemistry build through small moments that land harder than they should. It's a tight, satisfying read that knows exactly what it is and delivers on that promise without overstaying its welcome.