Haf Hughes is the protagonist of Lizzie Huxley-Jones’s festive rom-com Make You Mine This Christmas. She is a young bi woman from Wales who now lives in England and works for a charity. Haf tries her best to build a life in a new place, but she often feels lost, tired, and a little bruised by her past relationships. Her bisexuality is a natural part of her life. It’s not a secret and not something she hides, it’s simply who she’s, and her best friend, a non-binary person, is helping her with being proudly bi.
Haf jokes about being bi with her best friend, talks openly about the women and men she likes, and carries her identity without shame. She isn’t an activist or loud about her experiences, partly because she doesn’t want to feed old stereotypes, but she’s still open and comfortable with who she’s. She even jokes about being a “messy bisexual” with strangers.
At the start of the book, Haf doesn’t have much of a dating life. Her last relationship ended painfully, and now she’s facing Christmas alone. Her parents are travelling, and she does not want to spend the holiday in an empty flat. When she meets posh, elegant and attractive Christopher Calloway at a pre-Christmas party, everything changes too quickly for her to understand what is happening — mostly because they shared a drunken kiss. Soon he invites her to spend Christmas with him and his family, because his parents are pressuring him that he needs to date a girl and settle down. Haf agrees to come because she has nowhere else to go, and she also wants to help someone who clearly feels trapped by his own family’s expectations.
Before she leaves for the Calloway estate, Haf has a short but intense moment in a bookshop with a woman who chats with her about queer literature. She is funny, sharp, and obsessed with queer books, and Haf feels an instant crush that leaves her shaken. The woman disappears before Haf can speak to her properly, and Haf assumes she will never see her again.
She is wrong. When Haf arrives at the Calloway house, she discovers that Christopher has a sister named Kit — and Kit is the same woman from the bookshop. The shock of it hits Haf immediately. Now she’s spending the holidays pretending to date Christopher while falling for his sister. The house is full of demanding parents, strange posh traditions, forced cheerfulness, and a lot of awkward moments. Haf and Kit keep being pushed together, and the tension between them grows with every conversation and every accidental touch. Haf knows the rule: do not fall for your fake boyfriend’s sister. But she has already fallen.
The story centers bisexuality without turning it into a lesson. Dating a woman she likes makes Haf happier and more confident. Her attraction to Kit doesn’t cancel her friendship with Christopher, and that friendship doesn’t erase her queerness either. In fact, Christopher trusts her enough to come out as bi too. The story respects their bisexuality and never questions it. That matters for bi readers, since many rom-coms erase bisexual characters or use them only for drama.
Make You Mine This Christmas does the opposite. It allows a bi woman to be the heart of a joyful, chaotic, warm holiday romance. Haf’s story is tender, funny, and proudly bi, and the representation is clear, visible, and treated with care. Haf is an unforgettable bi character for bi readers who love Christmas and the holiday season.