⭐⭐⭐⭐ Was I hooked by that book? Yes. A surprise fake engagement leads to a heartwarming, toe-curling, enchanting romance.

Faking an engagement to my secret high school crush was not on my to-do list when I landed for a short visit home. But when Amanda Anderson announces that she’s my fiancée, I take a leap and play along with the farce. Why? Because the Capulets and Montagues have nothing on the Andersons and Silvers of Tinsel, Michigan. In the name of bringing peace to our Christmas-themed hometown and ourselves, we’ll play the part of Romeo and Juliet. If our relatives think we’re in love, they’ll have to end this ridiculous feud. Right? Amanda’s a professional dog walker, and I’m an engineer who loves dogs – how hard could it be to show our families what else we all have in common? The heat and this town’s infernal holiday cheer are messing with my head, though. And once we start making our fake wedding plans, I can’t seem to keep my heart out of it.

MY THOUGHTS

The romance between Dane and Amanda wasn’t like getting struck by lightning. Instead, it was more like a warm, cozy blanket that wrapped you up and you just wanted to stay there forever. Their friendship developed first and that quietly spilled over into falling in love. You could see it happening on the pages.

I loved how Dane put himself out there when he agreed to go along with Amanda’s deception. He supported her, no questions asked, and Amanda did the same for Dane. They may have had a fake engagement, but every interaction between them was honest and real.

The feud was something else. The way these families nursed their mutual hostility for a slight that no one remembered. I enjoyed Dane and Amanda’s attempts to get to the bottom of this hatred and how fed up the latest generation was with all this nonsense.

This was an amusing and lovely story, told from both Dane and Amanda’s viewpoints, and I can highly recommend it to anyone who loves a steamy romance that starts off with a pretend relationship. See what other readers are saying on Goodreads.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Were you hooked by that book? Let me know in the comments below.

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: October 8, 2024
Sensuality Rating: Warm
Tropes: Fake Engagement, Feuding Families, Small Town, Best Friend’s Brother