Review: Faking Christmas by Kerry Winfrey

Faking Christmas by Kerry Winfrey
Published by Berkley on 2023-09-26
Length: 286 pages
Reviewing Paperback from My Book Shelf
Rating:

Laurel Grant is playing house for the holidays—complete with a fake husband and kids—in this delightful, charming 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 most definitely does not run 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—she cannot be jobless again.

And keep it going she must when Gilbert, recently dumped by his wife, invites himself over for the farm’s big Christmas Eve Eve 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 the perfect plan—all Laurel has to do is pretend to own the farm for one dinner. But Laurel shows up at the farm to find an unwelcome guest is waiting: 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. . . .

Faking Christmas by Kerry Winfrey is a fun, cozy rom-com about a woman who pretends to own her sister’s farm and must provide a fake family to match it when her boss suddenly arrives for Christmas. Laurel Grant is the social media manager for an Ohio tourism magazine and website. A misunderstanding leads her boss, Gilbert, to believe she owns her twin sister Holly’s farm. Laurel only handles the social media for the farm, but she’s happy to let the lie slide as long as she can keep her job. But when Gilbert is dumped by his wife the week of Christmas, he invites himself over for the holidays, and Laurel has to scramble to make her lie believable. It’s only for a few days right?

I adored this book! Laurel is a fun character. She knows nothing about the actual work that goes on around Holly’s farm, yet she takes it in stride. Holly has Laurel doing all the chores and tries to help where she can without letting Gilbert in on the lie. The part that truly makes this book though is creating Laurel’s fake family. She has to convince her niece and nephew to be in on the lie, and as much as Holly loves her sister, she has to find a different guy to be her fake husband. Lucky for Laurel, Holly knows just the guy: Max Beckett.

Max was the best man at Holly’s wedding and a surrogate uncle for her kids. He will be spending the holiday with their family, not knowing that Laurel will also be there. Laurel sees him as her nemesis. They have little in common, or so she thinks. Having him as her fake husband can only spell disaster, but she is out of options and must trust that Max will help her.

Overall, I really enjoyed Faking Christmas. It isn’t quite a full-length novel, but it’s pretty close and can easily be read over a weekend or even in one sitting. It’s very similar to the classic Christmas in Connecticut and makes a perfect addition to your holiday reading.

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