Christmas is just around the corner and the streets of Chernivtsi are blanketed with fluffy white snow and the annual Christmas market is in full swing.

After a few tumultuous months Mila has settled into life in Chernivtsi, she has her own place and is enjoying her classes and students and reconnecting with old friends. She has even taken on the task of sorting through the collection of books and documents her predecessor, Natalia, left in disarray when she quit her position as department head, a position Mila now occupies. Her once rebellious student, Ivan Popov, has become a model student, eager to graduate and spending hours reading the library.

Even Oleck, Ivan’s older brother is becoming a good friend, they text and chat occasionally, as he is always busy on assignments all over the country. So, when he shows up to surprise her at a birthday party she is throwing for her dad, Mila is excited to see him.

The holiday season also brings some old friends back into Mila’s life. The new dean is her former advisor from her Ph.D. studies in Kyiv, Svetlana. Mila is thrilled to have Svetlana as her new boss, and along with Ania and Katia they quickly all become friends.

But sometimes things just never really settle down in Mila’s world. When Oleck’s new assignment keeps him in Chernivtsi, a quiet and unusual student starts working in the library and Mila gets a new secretary, things start to come to mind, memories are rekindled and Mila and Ania find themselves questioning the origins of the mysterious book collection that Natalia left. What was in the part stored in the library? Is there more to this than meets the eye?

Can Mila figure this out? And what exactly is she supposed to be looking for…?

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