Review: Faking Christmas by Kerry Winfrey

Thank you Berkley for my advanced copy! All thoughts are my own.

One of my biggest problems in life is that if I see a festive cover, I’m gonna be intrigued by the book. It’s an addiction at this point. And when it comes to holiday books, i really feel like a lot of them can be major hits or major misses. I am not someone who likes a Hallmark style holiday story. I like my festive reads to be grounded a bit more in reality. I like them to funny, messy, with just the right amount of holiday cheer and magic to remind you that it takes place during that thrilling time of American Thanksgiving and New Years Eve.

I am very pleased to report that Faking Christmas falls into the cateory of MAJOR HIT. I had the best time reading this book! It made me laugh and swoon while also transporting me to this adorable little farm in rural Ohio (I don’t think I’ve wanted wanted to go to Ohio in my life). It’s charming, realistic, while also being entertaining enough to keep you interested. I loved it.

Synopsis:

“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. . . .”—NetGalley

What I Liked:

The Setting—I loved this twist on “city girl goes to small town.” In this story, we get to see Laurel visit her sister’s farm. One of my favorite tropes is “snowed in” and this book has that on this adorable farm. I was obsessed! The goats are great side characters as well.
The Dialogue/Writing—I will admit I only read one other book by the other (and it wasn’t for me) so I wasn’t too sure I’d love this. But I was so pleasantly surprised by how smart, quick, and funny the dialogue was! I also really liked the writing in general and now I think I need to go back and read the rest of the author’s backlist.
The Festive Energy—Like I said above, I like my holiday books to be light on the cheese and this book DELIVERED. It’s a great rom com set at Christmas, not a Christmas rom com if that makes sense.
Cast of Characters—Loved the side Holly + Darius, the twins, and Gilbert! Sweet, sweet Gilbert. But I also adored Laurel and Max. I really liked how their story unfolded.