Black Coffee & Mistletoe

By Thanh Tuyền

She invented a boyfriend. He happened to be standing right there.

Mai Tran has an ancient oven named Old Man, a Lower East Side bakery her late father built one b che de No l at a time, and a lease about to jump forty percent. What she doesn't have is the boyfriend she's been describing to her mother for four months: the tall, quiet architect who brings her coffee and hates sweet things.

So when Mom and Aunt Lan fly in from California unannounced, pink binder of eligible dentists in hand, Mai grabs the nearest tall, quiet man at her counter. Theo Ashby, her 6:52 a.m. black-coffee regular, has barely said more than his order in fourteen months. To everyone's surprise, including his own, he plays along.

Theo needs a date for December too: his sister's Christmas wedding, a mother who pities him, and an ex who just got engaged to the developer circling Mai's block. So they write the rules on bakery parchment. Hand-holding in public. Kissing only under mistletoe, and only if family is watching. One Vietnamese pastry for Theo every morning. And one term that isn't up for negotiation:

No falling in love. Obviously.

But between skating in Bryant Park, karaoke with the aunties, a gingerbread Orchard Street in the bakery window and a nor'easter that snows them in, the only thing harder than keeping the rules is remembering why they made them.

Black Coffee & Mistletoe is a sweet, swoony standalone Christmas rom-com with fake dating, grumpy-meets-sunshine banter, a big loving Vietnamese family, a New York bakery and a guaranteed happily-ever-after. Clean romance: kisses only.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0HQ7QM32H
• ISBN13: 9798167606968
• Release Date: November 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 204 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"