A Merry Little Meet Cute (2022) is a romantic comedy cowritten by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone. Murphy is the New York Times best-selling author of several young adult novels, and Simone is the USA Today best-selling author of erotic romances. A Merry Little Meet Cute is the first in the Christmas Notch series of novels and novellas, an ongoing collaboration between these two authors.

In A Merry Little Meet Cute, Bianca “Bee” Hobbes is a plus-size actress cast as the star of a family-friendly holiday movie being filmed for the conservative Hope Channel. Unknown to the Hope Channel, Bee is also a successful bisexual porn actress, performing under the pseudonym Bianca von Honey. When she arrives in the quaint town of Christmas Notch, Vermont, Bee realizes that her co-star is Nolan Shaw, her teenage boyband crush. Nolan is trying to remake his image as an actor while concealing his bisexual identity. He is also an avid subscriber to Bianca von Honey’s private porn channel. Nolan and Bee soon begin a sexual affair that they must keep secret, along with their hidden identities. Filled with humor and eroticism, the novel provides a light-hearted approach to the exploration of identity, promoting sex- and body-positive attitudes and encouraging the pursuit of personal fulfilment.

This guide refers to the 2022 Avon e-book edition.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of R-rated sexual content, substance use, sexual harassment, bullying, antigay bias, mental illness, death, and cursing.

Plot Summary

Teddy Ray Fletcher needs to replace a star and part of the crew for a holiday movie he’s filming for the Hope Channel. He is taken aback when the director, Gretchen Young, chooses Bee Hobbes for her leading lady. Gretchen doesn’t know that Teddy also runs an adult film production company and that plus-sized, bisexual Bee is one of his biggest stars on the ClosedDoors online channel. Eager for a chance to realize her dreams of acting in mainstream films, Bee agrees to keep her identity as Bianca von Honey under wraps. When Bee learns that her costar will be Nolan Shaw, ex-member of the popular boyband INK and Bee’s teenage crush, she feels that this opportunity is a fantasy come to life. Equally fantastic is Christmas Notch, Vermont, the small, postcard-perfect town where they will be filming the movie over two weeks, including Christmas.

After an embarrassing debacle at the Olympics six years ago, Nolan is trying to reform his bad-boy image, a goal that is immediately jeopardized when he realizes his new costar is also his favorite ClosedDoors content creator. Nolan and Bee have both been warned that their behavior on set needs to be chaste, but desire sizzles between them as they start filming scenes. She stars as Felicity, a time-traveling modern woman, while Nolan plays the duke she falls in love with. Bee finds Nolan attractive and appealing in real life, and she learns that he needs this film to succeed because his INK manager left him broke and working in community theater back in Kansas City. Nolan, for his part, understands that Bee plans to keep Bianca a secret since the Hope Channel executives won’t approve of a porn star appearing in their family-friendly holiday film. However, when Bee needs Nolan’s help with costuming one morning, their encounter becomes steamy. During orgasm, Nolan calls Bee “Bianca,” making her wonder if Nolan, too, is confusing her with a fantasy.

Now that Bee knows that Nolan is as big a fan of Bianca von Honey as she is of him, Bee posts content to her ClosedDoors account that she knows Nolan will see. When, at the invitation of friends, they visit the local strip club, she buys herself and Nolan a private dance. That night, Bee and Nolan agree to have sex to assuage the intense physical attraction between them, but they find that one night isn’t enough to satisfy their desire. They spend another night just cuddling after Nolan tucks a drunken Bee into bed. The next morning, Teddy arrives in Christmas Notch to oversee production. Bee is nervous about a scene that requires riding a horse, and Nolan promises he will be beside her. However, when he gets a family call, Nolan interrupts the scene and isn’t there when Bee is thrown from her horse. Instead, Bee wakes up to find that her roommate, Sunny, has arrived in Christmas Notch.

Bee forgives Nolan when she realizes that he feels responsible for taking care of his mother and teenaged sister, and they wonder if there is a way they will be able to continue their relationship after filming is over. Nolan admits that they will have to keep their relationship a secret, as dating a porn star won’t help him rebrand his image. As they meet for ice skating, their first real date, Bee and Nolan realize how much they have in common: they both enjoy acting, both are bisexual, and both have secret identities. Nolan is nervous over the appearance of Dominic Diamond, a reporter who made a scandal of an innocent incident at the Olympics. To try to protect his family, Nolan agrees to an interview with Dominic, and Bee is hurt when Nolan says on camera that he and Bee are just friends. When Nolan finds her alone in the chapel, costumed in a wedding dress, they have sex again. Bee realizes that she is developing feelings for him.

Nolan finishes his scenes and returns to Kansas City to be with his family for Christmas Eve, where he learns that Dominic has unearthed Bee’s work as Bianca von Honey. There is a public outcry over her sex work and her association with the Hope Channel. Nolan’s manager issues a statement distancing Nolan from Bee and her career. Nolan tries to tell Bee how he really feels, but Bee is tired of being made to feel ashamed of her size or her work. She tells Nolan that she wants him to love her in public.

With the help of his friends and fellow ex-INK members, Nolan makes a public declaration of his love in another interview with Dominic and then drives to Bee’s house in Texas, where she is celebrating New Year’s Eve with her family. As she takes him to her childhood bedroom—papered with posters of Nolan from his INK days—Bee and Nolan discuss the uncertainty of the future and their desire to be together.

Seven months later, Teddy shows up at Bee and Nolan’s housewarming party for a house they bought together in Los Angeles. Both Bee and Nolan have secure and promising careers and are happy.