Book Review: Faking Christmas by Kerry Winfrey

Rating: ★★★
Audience: Holiday Romance
Length: 286 pages
Author: Kerry Winfrey
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: September 26th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Laurel Grant is playing house for the holidays–complete with a fake husband and kids–in this delightful, cozy rom-com by Kerry Winfrey.

Laurel Grant works as the social media manager for Buckeye State of Mind, an Ohio tourism magazine and website. She is most definitely not an owner of a farm…but one tiny misunderstanding leads her boss, Gilbert, to think she owns her twin sister Holly’s farm just outside of Columbus. Laurel only handles the social media for the farm, but she’s happy to keep her little white lie going if it means not getting fired.

And keep it going she must when Gilbert, recently dumped by his wife, invites himself over for the farm’s big holiday dinner (as advertised on Meadow Rise Farm’s Instagram, thanks to Laurel herself). Laurel immediately goes into panic mode to figure out how she can trick Gilbert into thinking she’s basically the Martha Stewart of rural Ohio and keep her job in the process.

Laurel and Holly come up with a plan–all Laurel has to do is pretend to own the farm for one dinner. But when Laurel shows up at the farm, an unwelcome guest is there: Max Beckett, her nemesis since Holly’s wedding. The annoyingly attractive man she hates will be posing as Laurel’s husband just for the evening, but when a snowstorm traps them all for the entire weekend, Laurel is going to have to figure out how to survive with her job and dignity intact. Whatever the case, this promises to be the most eventful Christmas in ages…

DIDN’T HOLD UP.

I know there’s some suspension of belief sometimes in a romance, but y’all. I just couldn’t get past this plot set up. With her boss coming over?? And faking who she was?? And then of course it snowed and they all had to stay together for multiple days?? I don’t know, the holiday magic wasn’t charming me this time.

Neither was the romance. For a short book I was hoping to see more connection, flirting, tension, something. That came in late in the second half when I was thinking these two were waaaay too different to ever find common ground and a love story.

It gets the three stars because I was never hate reading it, I just wasn’t that invested. A bit of a lackluster holiday read.

Overall audience notes: