The following version of the novel was used to create this study guide: Macomber, Debbie. Alaskan Holiday. Ballantine Books, October 2, 2018. Kindle.

In the novel, Alaskan Holiday by Debbie Macomber, Palmer Saxon and Josie Avery were madly in love with each other but miserable because they could not see any way to make a relationship work with the differences in their lives. Palmer lived in Ponder, a remote town in Alaska. It was in Ponder that he met Josie when she worked during the summer as the chef at the Caribou Lake Lodge. Palmer fell madly in love with Josie and proposed to her on the night before she was to leave on the last ferry out of Ponder for the winter. Josie loved Palmer as well. She had tried hard to keep from falling in love with him because she had been hired to work as a sous-chef with Anton, a world famous chef in Seattle. Josie was so flustered by Palmer’s proposal that she set her alarm wrong and missed the ferry on the morning she was set to leave Ponder.

Josie confronted Palmer because she missed the ferry. She told him it was his fault she was still in Ponder and that he needed to find a way for her to get back to Seattle. Even though he wanted Josie to stay in Ponder with him, he arranged for a friend with a ski plane to pick her up. Palmer knew that Josie would be miserable in Ponder, and he did not want to be the reason she missed her opportunity. Ironically, when Josie was back in Seattle and working for Anton, she discovered the job was not what she had imagined. Anton was demanding and unstable. He put a good deal of the responsibility for the restaurant on Josie.

When Palmer visited Seattle to deliver the replica of a Civil War-era sword that he had created, he decided to surprise Josie by showing up for dinner at the restaurant where she worked. Palmer and Josie’s mutual friend, Jack Corcoran, had traveled with Palmer to Seattle. Palmer liked that the surprise visit gave him a chance to, perhaps, see Josie and Anton working together. He had seen pictures of the two on the Internet and suspected that Anton was attracted to Josie sexually. After Palmer and Jack arrived at the restaurant, Josie went into the dining room to greet them. Anton reprimanded Josie for leaving the kitchen. Fed up with Anton’s demands, Josie quit.

Josie invited Palmer and Jack to stay in Seattle through Christmas. Because Josie was no longer working long hours with Anton, she and Palmer were able to reconnect. Palmer proposed to Josie again, and she accepted. Three years later she was surprised how full her life was even though she and Palmer were living in Ponder. She was writing a successful food blog, and she had been contacted about hosting a cooking show on television. She and Palmer learned they were expecting their first child. Josie realized how blessed she was despite her original doubts about life in Ponder.