You know the tired old tale—leave the big city to return to that sleepy hometown for the holidays, discover who you truly are, and find love where you least expected. But that’s the last thing Mitch wants to do with his time off.

Living in Hell’s Kitchen he’s happy with his life—great job, nice apartment, great friends. When his boss surprises the company with a full week’s vacation for the holidays, Mitch does the opposite of the hackneyed romcom fantasy. He doesn’t want to go back to Scranton and spend the holidays with his family. He wants to relax, stay home, go out, hook up, and have fun. He wants the gay staycation of his dreams, and he’s determined to keep it that way no matter how much his mom makes him feel bad.

His best friend David isn’t buying it. There’s got to be more to life than going out, drinking, and hooking up. As David puts it, “Instead of going home for the holidays, you want to be a homo for the holidays?” And that’s exactly what Mitch intends to do. But sometimes that love you didn’t see is hiding in plain sight, and sometimes it’s not in the tiny, small town you already escaped once.

Even without the small town and the family drama, will Mitch find the unexpected holiday romance he didn’t even know he wanted in HAPPY HOLIGAYS, Matthew Cooper’s non-Hallmark-Holiday novella?