Jennifer Wade is the host of ''Homestyle'', a successful cooking show broadcast in New York City. Desperate for a break (and missing the "simpler Christmas" of her past), Jennifer takes a spur of the moment vacation at a mountain chalet in Colorado. However, on her way to the chalet she gets lost and swerves off the road. Dazed and confused, she stumbles into the road, where she is nearly hit by John Blake, a struggling veterinarian from nearby North Creek and a widower with three children who is still grieving over the loss of his wife.