Two people are about to discover that when it comes to finding love, sometimes Christmas magic isn't enough... sometimes it takes a pesky orange cat named Ambrose.

When a guy is in trouble, he starts making deals with his Creator...and Ambrose the cat is no exception. In danger of losing his ninth and final life, Ambrose makes a desperate plea to the universe. He'll do anything-anything!-if he can just survive and enjoy a nice long, final life. His prayer is answered when a stranger comes along and saves him-but then Ambrose is faced with having to hold up his end of the bargain.

The stranger turns out to be a firefighter named Zach, who's in need of some serious romantic help. If Ambrose can just bring Zach together with Merilee, the nice lady who works at Pet Palace, it's bound to earn him a healthy ninth life. Unfortunately for Ambrose, his mission is a lot harder than he ever thought. Merilee is way too shy to make the first move on a ladies' man like Zach, and Zach thinks he's all wrong for a nice girl like Merilee. Now it's going to take all of Ambrose's feline wiles-and maybe even a good old-fashioned Christmas miracle-to make them both realize that what they're look ing for is right in front of their eyes.

SHEILA ROBERTS is the author of On Strike for Christmas, which was the basis of an Original Lifetime Movie, and five previous novels for St. Martin's Press. When she's not speaking to women's groups or at conferences, she can be found writing about family, friendship, and other things near and dear to women's hearts. She lives in the Pacific Northwest.