Faking Christmas by Kerry Winfrey

 

4*

Laurel Grant has always struggled to find her passion and her place in the world. She also has an unfortunate habit of engaging in workplace romances which invariably go bad, the most recent of which left her homeless and jobless. So when her best friend suggests she apply for a social media position at Buckeye State of Mind, an Ohio magazine and website, she gives it a shot and is offered the job. The only hitch? Her new boss Gilbert, who she’s at no risk of falling for, thinks she’s a successful farmer thanks to the Meadow Rise Farm Instagram account she moderates for her twin sister Holly and her husband Darius. Fearful that the job offer will be rescinded if she sets him straight, she keeps up the ruse by writing a monthly column highlighting her life on the farm as a fabulous cook, custom furniture maker, and goat tender. So when Gilbert invites himself for their traditional Christmas Eve Eve dinner, she conspires with Holly to switch places, complete with playing Mom to her niece and nephew. How hard could it be to pull off?

Turns out it’s a lot harder than Laurel thinks when her nemesis, Max Beckett, shows up at Holly’s invitation to play her husband. When a blizzard turns an evening’s dinner into a weekend gathering, it’ll take a Christmas miracle to pull it off, especially since she’s hated Max ever since Holly’s wedding when she overheard him trying to convince Darius to call it off. Is it possible that she’s misjudged the grumpy, Christmas-hating killjoy who’s doing his best to help her fool her boss since she has no clue how to cook or milk a goat or why she suddenly finds herself fighting an attraction?

This sweet slow-burn, enemies to lovers, grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity, fake relationship Christmas romance is the perfect recipe for a holiday treat. Combining plot elements from the classic movie Christmas in Connecticut with The Parent Trap, blended together with favorite Christmas songs and movies, Winfrey offers up a great escape for readers looking for a heaping helping of holiday cheer. 

I received an ARC from Berkley Books through NetGalley for an honest review. Opinions are strictly my own.

Dream On by Angie Hockman

 5*

What happens when the man IN your dreams turns out to be real?

In Dream On, author Angie Hockman explores the idea of whether fantasy can live up to reality in this romance with a twist. Cassidy Walker slowly wakes up from yet another delicious dream featuring her perfect boyfriend, Devin Bloom. So, she’s shocked to learn that she’s in the hospital after a 6-day coma and that Devin doesn’t exist. Despite the detailed conversations and clear vision she has of him (which she fills up a sketchbook with during her year-long recovery), she finally acknowledges the truth and turns her focus to resuming her fledgling law career. However, fate has other plans when she runs into Devin in the flesh at his brother Perry’s florist shop, and he doesn’t recognize her.

Intrigued, he agrees to help her solve the mystery despite Perry’s suspicion of her motives. As they spend more time together, she begins to wonder if the memories are a sign they were meant to meet, if fate brought them together, or if dreams should be left in the realm of fantasy. With the thoughtful and sensitive observations Perry shares with her, she also begins to question if a career in a high-powered law firm will bring her fulfillment and the life she wants.

Although this is a slow-burn, only slightly steamy romance, it also deals with traumatic brain injury, parental interference, sibling rivalry, and betrayal. In a departure from the normal trope, Hockman also ingeniously uses government corruption and the evils of capitalism as vehicles to drive the plot. Add in a twist that observant readers will pick up on early in the books, and you have a delightful summer read which will appeal to fans of Kate Clayborn, Christina Lauren, and Abby Jimenez. Highly recommended.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Gallery Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

The Wedding Ringer by Kerry Rea

5*

This has much more emotional depth than the preview blurb would have us believe. It’s not a simple enemies to lovers romance, but a story of friendships lost and friendships found. Willa, a successful lifestyle blogger, faces the worst heartbreak when she finds her best friend in bed with her fiancé just six weeks before her wedding. It throws her into a deep depression resulting in the loss of her job, her female friends, and her trust. However, when Maisie finds her in a  coffee shop and begs her to pretend to be her friend and bridesmaid, it begins a journey of healing and believing that her heart can be trusted. When she finally gives up the idea of running from her heartbreak and chooses to embrace her family and new friends, she realizes that this new Willa is one worth sharing with her loved ones and her large social media following. 

Love interest Liam is a wonderful book boyfriend. He’s gorgeous, compassionate, successful, and honest. Despite her hesitancy to trust her heart and her instant dislike of him after he laughs at her humiliation at a birthday party, he manages to crash through her defenses and have her start to believe that she can have a second chance at love.

The supporting cast of characters, including her sister Sophie, sister-in-law Glory, precocious nieces, feisty octogenarian neighbor Ruthie, and even Maisie’s monster-in-law, Mrs. Forsyth, add color, humor and balance to this heartfelt and endearing story of female friendship and romance. A worthy debut!

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Berkley through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Very Sincerely Yours by Kerry Winfrey

5*

It’s such a treat to read a romance in which the main characters bring out the best in each other and are given the space to work on their baggage without losing the elements that brought them together in the first place. Very Sincerely Yours is one such book. Teddy (Theodora Phillips) was once a daredevil who lost her spark when she crashed her bike, breaking her arm, and then witnessed her parents’ breakup, blaming herself for their divorce. As a result, she opted for a life of conformity in which she lives to make other people happy, subjugating her own needs in the process. As a result, she spends several years with the wrong guy who dumps her because she lives a “small life.” Once she has some distance and perspective, Teddy realizes that she needs to spend some time figuring out what she wants to do with her life, putting herself first for a change. With the help of her two closest friends, she decides to face her fears one day at a time.

Everett St. James is a unicorn of a man who, at the age of four, fell in love with The Muppets and made it his life’s mission to become a puppeteer, eventually bringing joy, advice, and hope to the lives of his young audience. In the process, moms fall in love with his looks, charm and sincerity. Teddy, although not a mom, discovers his show while babysitting and he becomes a source of comfort for her. So it’s no surprise that, post break-up, one of her first “Teddy Time” actions is to email him for advice. Thus begins a love story based initially on emails that blossoms when they finally meet face to face.

Winfrey has scored another romantic hit following her delightful Waiting for Tom Hanks duology. In the world of dating apps based solely on attraction, it’s a refreshing change to read about a relationship based on letter-writing that allows the female protagonist to initially remain anonymous. Email provides a modern medium for sharing thoughts, worries, and dreams without risk, but the reward is the chance for a true love based on a connection that is more than skin-deep. This feel-good romance is a delightful beach read. Highly recommended!

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Berkley Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Waiting for Tom Hanks by Kerry WInfrey

5*

If you’re a fan of the romantic comedies of the 1970s, 80s and 90s, this is the book for you. In an homage to the late Nora Ephron, writer of When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, and You’ve Got Mail Winfrey introduces us to Annie Cassidy, aspiring screenwriter with a major in film studies, who has spent her entire adult life waiting for the meet-cute with her perfect partner, someone like the characters Tom Hanks played. As a result, she’s 27, living with her man-child uncle, and still single because no man she’s ever met lives up to the ideal she set her heart on in high school after her fellow fan and mother died. What’s the likelihood that a sweet, sensitive, attractive man will fall into her lap, especially one who owns a houseboat in land-locked Columbus, OH?

When it’s announced that a top director is coming to her town to film a rom-com starring notorious prankster and action film hero Drew Danforth, Annie is less than pleased. When she’s hired as a production assistant, rather than swooning over the movie star, she constantly argues with him and makes it clear that she doesn’t like him and is very disappointed that a man who has never even watched a romantic comedy thinks he’ll be successful in the role of the hero.

What ensues is as much fun as any of the rom-coms she’s watched ad infinitum. Is Annie, as her friend Chloé suggests, hiding behind rom-coms to avoid making a major change? Will she give her heart to “Sexy Gaffer” Carter, a local who ticks all of the boxes and actually DOES own a houseboat, fall hard for immature joker Drew, or end up on her own? You’ll have to read this delightful, romantic story to find out.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Berkley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.