Robin Bayliss

Trope: Forced Proximity

  • Mistaken Under the Mistletoe

    Mistaken Under the Mistletoe

    Emma Walsh has enough trouble keeping the Ginger Bell Inn standing through Christmas. The pipes leak, the antique doorbell has finally met its match, and her to-do list leaves no room for the brooding stranger who arrives in the middle of a snowstorm.

    Her unexpected guest calls himself Colt and claims he’s nobody worth noticing. Emma might have believed him if he didn’t have an unforgettable voice, an expensive guitar, and the instincts of a man accustomed to being watched. Even Bing Clawsby, her deeply suspicious cat, appears to think their newest guest requires surveillance.

    Colt Hayes came to Snowball Falls to escape the headlines. As country music’s latest superstar, privacy has become a luxury he can’t buy. At the Ginger Bell Inn, he finds twinkle lights, relentless Christmas festivities, and an innkeeper whose quick wit makes him feel more like himself than he has in years.

    Then an impromptu duet at the Snowball Spectacular goes viral, and Colt’s carefully guarded identity becomes the town’s biggest Christmas surprise. With the media closing in, he must decide whether disappearing will protect Emma or destroy the life they could have built together.

    Mistaken Under the Mistletoe is a sweet, closed-door Christmas romantic comedy filled with secret celebrity, forced proximity, small-town chaos, musical sparks, and one judgmental cat who remains unconvinced by the hero’s credentials.

    Mistaken Under the Mistletoe by Robin Bayliss, showing innkeeper Emma Walsh with disguised country singer Colt Hayes, his guitar and a suspicious cat outside the snowy Ginger Bell Inn.
  • Reindeer Games

    Reindeer Games

    Natalie King believes in schedules, festive knitwear and plans so detailed they have backup plans. She does not believe in sharing the trivia microphone with a man who thinks reindeer costumes are a cry for help.

    As Snowball Falls’s most determined librarian and the driving force behind the Twelve Nights of Cheer, Natalie is used to running the show. This year, she’s been paired with Theo Morgan, the broody new fire captain and older brother of her best friend, Holly.

    Theo is as warm as a snow shovel, as expressive as a brick wall and completely unmoved by Natalie’s color-coded cue cards. Community spirit isn’t on his Christmas list. Neither is the woman currently reorganizing it.

    Then a blizzard traps them at the Ginger Bell Inn with one bed, dwindling cocoa and an orange cat with no respect for personal space.

    Between snowman contests, cookie catastrophes and evenings spent far too close beneath the holiday lights, Natalie begins to glimpse the steady heart beneath Theo’s gruff exterior. Theo starts to wonder whether the woman who organizes the entire town might be the one person he doesn’t want to keep at a safe distance.

    Unfortunately, falling for her best friend’s brother wasn’t in Natalie’s plan. Theo has spent years making sure nobody gets close enough to matter. Snowball Falls, the blizzard and one determined cat appear to have other ideas.

    Reindeer Games is a sweet, closed-door Christmas romantic comedy filled with grumpy/sunshine banter, forced proximity, flannel-wrapped feelings, festive disasters and surprising tenderness.

    Reindeer Games by Robin Bayliss, showing Natalie with her Christmas plans beside firefighter Theo and a disgruntled orange cat outside the snowy Ginger Bell Inn.
  • Snowed In With the Grump

    Snowed In With the Grump

    When Holly Morgan gets stranded in a blizzard, she has exactly three options: freeze, walk three miles in sparkly mittens, or knock on the door of her brother’s best friend, aka the town’s grumpiest carpenter who ever lived.

    Caleb Dawson has a cabin full of firewood, a very judgmental cat, and absolutely no interest in holiday cheer. But when a snowstorm traps them together with a hundred cookies to bake for the town fundraiser, sparks fly, and not just from the fireplace.

    It’s sunshine vs. sawdust in this feel-good Christmas romcom, where a snowstorm romance turns into something warmer than either of them expected. A grumpy-sunshine holiday romance with cookies, second chances, secret softies, and the magic of staying, all wrapped up in a sweet romantic comedy.

    Promotional graphic for Snowed in With the Grump by Robin Bayliss. A snowy nighttime scene shows a cozy log cabin with lit windows, smoke curling from the chimney, pine trees, a starry sky, and red mittens hanging on a wooden fence. Large white title text reads “Snowed in With the Grump.” Smaller text says, “Stranded in a snowstorm. Trapped with the town’s grumpiest man. What could go wrong?” and “One blizzard. Two opposites. No escape.”