Emma Anderson loves Christmas: the lights, the celebrations, and especially her family traditions. She's also in love with George Landon, her boss at Landon Literary, even though he doesn't seem to like anyone or anything, including Christmas. But she has a plan to get him to fall in love with her before the end of the year.

Things get complicated when George ends up in a coma, and appears as a spirit that only Emma can see and hear. But even though she has his complete and undivided attention, she still has trouble succeeding with her plan because she keeps getting sidetracked by his gold-digging girlfriend, his flirtatious younger brother, and his own emotional ghosts from Christmases past.

To make matters worse, the clock is ticking and the timetable has been moved up...Emma discovers she now only has until Christmas Day for her plan to succeed. If she fails, both George and her Christmas spirit will be lost to her forever.