Dr. Christmas Eve Blevins does not do surprises, birthdays, or Christmas, and this holiday is shaping up to be the worst. Facing her 40^th birthday, still single, and refusing her mother’s summons home for the holidays, the last thing the emergency room doctor needs is having to tangle with the arrogant Detective Chuck Hollis in order to give him a shot.

Chris is still not sure what possessed her to draw the little red heart on his muscular backside and thinks little of it and more of him, as he keeps showing up in the ER.

The theft of her little Yorkie devastates Chris and brings to her doorstep a familiar presence: Detective Chuck Hollis. 

Chuck is enthralled with the self-assured, prissy man-hater and wants to help her find her dog. He also knows about the little red heart and threatens to contact the medical board, unless she promises to owe him until the evidence wears off. What she doesn’t know is he likes tattoos.

The payment for his silence is not what she expects. Believing family important, he insists she accept her family’s summons home for the holidays and to make certain she follows through, insists on taking her. Chris balks, but is forced to go as he holds her very future by the seat of his pants.

Thanks to him, Chris must now face her 40^th birthday and what would have been her twentieth wedding anniversary in the loving bosom of her family. There’s her nympho sister, Terri, who seduced Chris’ fiancé, two days before the wedding. Her brother-in-law, Ted (Chris’ ex-fiancé), and her mother, who insists Chris was to blame somehow for letting Ted go. To make matters worse, her mother has dug up an ex-boyfriend from high school (another of Terri’s conquests), whose hair plugs look almost natural. Can Chris come to terms with the old betrayals and, worse, can she face her newest fear, losing Chuck as well?