Review - - My Favorite Holidate

My Favorite Holidate

by Lauren Blakely

Publisher: Atria Books

Release Date: October 7, 2025

Reviewed by Santa

“Wanted: hot billionaire to pose as my Christmas boyfriend. Must be willing to make my cheating ex jealous by kissing me under the mistletoe at holiday parties. Bonus if you make him cry.”

To Fable’s surprise, her billionaire boss, Wilder Blaine, is more than willing to take on the challenge of playing her holiday boyfriend. The sexy single dad desperately needs a plus one for a Christmas Eve wedding, where he’s the best man and she’s the maid of honor. With her ex also in the wedding party, the two team up as a pair of insta-lovebirds for the holiday season. Their partnership includes participating in the annual week-long Christmas competition leading up to the snowy destination wedding.

What starts as late nights crafting the best popcorn balls for the contest soon turns into a passionate night together, where the sparks between them are impossible to ignore. But when the holidays end, can their winter wonderland romance turn into something real back at the office? Or are they destined to go the way of a Christmas tree on New Year’s Day?

Santa Says:

Is it ever too early to read a holiday romance? In a word - NO! In fact, now is the perfect time of the year. The air is crisper. Halloween decorations have been out in the stores. Christmas ones can’t be too far behind. My Favorite Holidate by Lauren Blakley ticks all those boxes and a few others. Fake dating. Close proximity. Family fun in the Rockies with a little winter games competition. I could go on and on. Did I mention the precocious kid and the eccentric Auntie? A five star Christmas gift tied in a big red bow.

Our heroine Fable finds herself in need of a plus one for her sister’s magical Christmas Eve wedding. Her most recent boyfriend, Brady, cheated on her at a Thanksgiving dinner with the caterer! A real classy guy! But he is also going to be at the wedding because he is Leo’s cousin. Talk about awkward.

Her sister Charlotte and her fiance Leo are tying the knot with family and at Leo’s best friend’s cabins in the Rockies. Leo’s best friend and best man, Wilder, has a yearly holiday in the mountains. Wilder also happens to be Fable’s boss. Fable runs the merchandising department for Wilder’s professional football team. Fable loves a little bling and copious amounts of glitter - like a t-shirt cannon’s worth.

Wilder and Fable decide to pretend to be lovers. They need everyone, especially Brady, to believe they are a real couple. But the snow angels work their magic on the pair who were already attracted to one another. They just never acted on it because they never wanted the other person to feel awkward. A beautiful winter wonderland and close proximity from sharing one of the “cabins” work their magic, too. 

Their romance was supposed to end right after the holidays but their make believe romance quickly turns into the real thing! This book was a pleasure to read and so much fun! I was smiling from beginning to end! I highly recommend you pick up this holiday romance. You will not be disappointed!

Review - - Christmas is All Around

Christmas Is All Around

by Martha Waters

Publisher: Atria Books

Release Date: October 22, 2024

Reviewed by Santa

Charlotte hates the holidays. As a former child actress, she starred in a modern classic of a holiday movie, and its fans won’t let her move on. When a piece revealing that her reluctance nixed plans for a reboot, she flees to London to spend the five-week countdown to the holidays with her sister.

But the ghosts of Christmas past follow her there when she ends up at Eden Priory, a filming location for the movie she has never visited. There, after being recognized by a fan while viewing the extraordinary holiday decorations, she’s accidently left behind, forcing her to accept a ride back to London from Graham, the son of the owners. Their family business—and the funds to keep their historic house running—relies on holiday cheer, and Graham knows a visit from a holiday star would bring in more visitors.

Now an illustrator, Charlotte accepts a commission illustrating iconic holiday movie scenes in London and its environs. Graham offers to help escort her, as long as she’ll commit to an art workshop at Eden Priory. But as Charlotte’s chaotic family holiday goes awry, she begins spending more time scouting locations with Graham. She may not love a Christmas romance…but what if she has one of her own?

Santa says:

Christmas Is All Around by Martha Waters is grumpy meets sunshine slow burn holiday romance set in England and I am here for all of it! What’s not to love when our one and done former child star heroine Charlotte would rather eat glass than make merry? Content to earn her living as a successful illustrator, Charlotte is thrown into the spotlight when her rabid fans react negatively to her nixing a reboot of her Christmas movie she made years ago. And who can resist a handsome Englishman? 

Charlotte packs her bags and heads to her sister’s house to lay low and avoid Christmas cheer. No such luck as her sister, husband and his parents are bound and determined to pack in as much Christmas fun for her niece who expresses her opinions loudly. She reluctantly tags along and is most excited to visit the home of one of her favorite artists Eden Priory. An honest to goodness proper English home complete with its own park. She is horrified to find that she recognizes the interior from her movie and panics when a fan recognizes her. She runs to an alcove to hide where she finds one of the reindeer stepping out of costume. 

As meet cutes go, Charlotte’s watching Graham’s strip tease is a treasure. Her luck seemed to turn for the better because Graham is a direct descendant of the original owner of the Priory. He and his family are trying their best to conserve and maintain the Priory but leaky roofs cost money and so they have opened their home to nostalgic Christmas revelers. It didn’t hurt that visitors came to see where a portion of everyone's - except Charlotte - favorite Christmas movie was filmed. 

Graham takes her away from the crowds and following a private tour Charlotte finds she’s been left behind. Graham drives her back to London where he also happens to live. On the way they strike a deal for Charlotte to make drawings of famous grand houses to sell at the Priory. Going with Graham to all these locations gives Charlotte an easy out of further Christmas happenings on her sister’s must do list. 

As fate would have it, Graham loves Christmas and introduces Charlotte to his traditions. I mean the man even loves to make mince meat. And I’m sure there’s a plum pudding on the hob somewhere. As Christmas is all around, they fall in love at the end but don’t own up to those feelings right away. Charlotte does not like to be vulnerable and does not trust easily. Her fears are brought to light when Graham’s family blind side her. Can Graham prove his worth? It is a near thing at the end. 

Martha Waters writes the most delightful characters. The dialog is witty. The story unfolds naturally and there is real character growth. She always writes relatable stories no matter what the time period. I am glad to see her venturing into writing contemporary rom coms and look forward to her next projects.

 

Review - - Love, Lies and Cherry Pie

Love, Lies and Cherry Pie

by Jackie Lau

Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books

Release Date: May 7, 2024

Reviewed by PJ

Mark Chan this. Mark Chan that.

Writer and barista Emily Hung is tired of hearing about the great Mark Chan, the son of her parents’ friends. You’d think he single-handedly stopped climate change and ended child poverty from the way her mother raves about him. But in reality, he’s just a boring, sweater-vest-wearing engineer, and when they’re forced together at Emily’s sister’s wedding, it’s obvious he thinks he’s too good for her.

But now that Emily is her family’s last single daughter, her mother is fixated on getting her married and she has her sights on Mark. There’s only one solution, clearly: convince Mark to be in a fake relationship with her long enough to put an end to her mom’s meddling. He reluctantly agrees.

Unfortunately, lying isn’t enough. Family friends keep popping up at their supposed dates—including a bubble tea shop and cake-decorating class—so they’ll have to spend more time together to make their relationship look real. With each fake date, though, Emily realizes that Mark’s not quite what she assumed and maybe that argyle sweater isn’t so ugly after all…

PJ's Thoughts:

I hadn't read Jackie Lau before this book so I really didn't know what to expect. What I discovered was a charming rom-com with strong Asian-Canadian roots, complex family dynamics, a cute fake (to real) romance, and a delightful Toronto setting. I need more books set there. It's a city I grew up visiting but haven't been to in much too long. 

There's a lot to like about this book. First of all, there's Emily's family. Lau does a great job of creating this loving, but very complicated, family of four sisters and their parents. The tensions are visceral but the strong bond is as well. The young nieces are hilarious and so well drawn. The babysitting scene between the nieces and Mark is one of my favorite scenes in the book and when I knew this man was a keeper. Parental relationships are also well developed, especially the one between Emily and her mom. I love how this relationship evolves over the course of the story. There's a discussion between them near the end of the book that I wasn't expecting but that brought me to tears. For good reasons. 

Friendships are also an important part of Emily's life. The relationships with her two girlfriends are lively, supportive, funny, and real. I enjoyed the humor and heart that they brought to the story. 

The first half of the book is almost entirely from Emily's point of view so I was surprised - but pleased - when it suddenly shifted to Mark's. It was fun to get inside his thoughts and see things from his perspective. The second half picked up the pace and I became more invested in their relationship, largely due to that dual perspective. 

If you're looking for a fun, slow-burn, rom-com with emotional depth, strong Asian-Canadian rep, drool-worthy food, matchmaking mamas, and a hard-won happy ending, give Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie a try.