Maggie Chalke, a journalist at the Gazette newspaper in her small hometown of Harrison, has always dreamed of working for a prestigious big city newspaper. In the lead up to Christmas, Mitch O'Grady is hired as the new morning DJ at Harrison's radio station, WCNQ. Maggie and Mitch knew each other casually ten years ago both working for the radio station at their college in what was her freshman year. That Christmas, Mitch, on the spur of the moment, vowed to give Maggie the best Christmas ever when it looked like she wouldn't make it home on time to spend it with her family. As it was arguably the best Christmas gift she could have received, Maggie has thought about Mitch all these years in he unexpectedly not returning to college in the new year. While Mitch was all about Christmas back then, he is now an avowed Christmas hater in refusing even to play Christmas music on his show. So Maggie decides to help Mitch regain his Christmas spirit in being his Secret Santa. Much like he fashioned their Christmas together as the twelve days of Christmas, Maggie wants to give him twelve secret gifts, each celebrating something about Christmas and winter. While Mitch initially wants nothing to do with these mystery gifts from a Secret Santa, Rita, Mitch's producer, has other ideas in wanting him to play up the gifts on his show. From there, the story takes off to Alan Kramer, Maggie's boss, who wants Maggie to write a series of human interest stories on what look to be Mitch's twelve days of Christmas courtesy of his Secret Santa. Despite crossing the journalistic line in secretly being the subject of the story, Maggie feels she has no other option but to take the assignment as her job is on the line with the Gazette having been sold to the conglomerate Wrightsbridge, which will clean house at the paper in the new year. In the process, Maggie and Mitch do end up spending much time together in Mitch slowly getting his Christmas spirit back despite the reason he lost it in the first place still being a fact of his life. As it seems that Mitch is starting to notice Maggie once again, there are some obstacles in their way, including some other women in town, especially yoga instructor Brianna Parker, who are interested in Mitch romantically, trying to take credit as his Secret Santa, and the journalistic lines Maggie has crossed in possibly being misconstrued as she having arranged this entire scheme solely to further her career.
