Sophie Reads YA: December 2025

Stacking the Shelves: December 20th 2025

10:00

ARC Review: The Holiday Fakers (Hideaway Harbor #2) by Evie Alexander

10:00

The Holiday Fakers
Series: Hideaway Harbor #2
Author: Evie Alexander
Published November 7th 2025 by Emlin Press

Goodreads Synopsis
One fake boyfriend. One bed. One very complicated Christmas.

Piper
I promised my mom I’d bring a boyfriend home for the holidays.
I did not mean Brody King—Hollywood heartthrob, tabloid trainwreck, and the reason I have a folder of fantasy fan art I’ll take to the grave.
He’s also my brother’s best friend and the man who ghosted our small town (and me) twelve years ago.
Now we’re sharing one bed, faking a relationship, and pretending he’s changed.
The problem? I’m starting to believe it.
But Brody doesn’t do forever.
And I don’t do heartbreak twice.

Brody
The plan was simple: come home, look reformed, and don’t fall for Piper Locke. Again.
Instead, I’m stuck in a snow-globe town with the girl I never stopped wanting.
Piper’s smart, hilarious, way too sexy—and still completely off-limits.
She thinks I’ll leave like last time.
And she’s right. My next job’s a world away from Hideaway Harbor.
But this fake relationship feels dangerously real, and Piper isn’t just a PR fix.
She’s the reason I want to stay.
Too bad I’m the last person who deserves her... and the one person who can’t seem to walk away.
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via BookSirens. This in no way impacted on my view.

Piper Locke never expected that the google alert she set up for her old friend, turned movie star, Brody King, w0uld state she was his hidden girlfriend. She hasn't seen him in over 12 years, and next things she knows she's agreeing to be his fake girlfriend to help him get the role of his lifetime. Brody knows he messed up, and leaving Hideaway Harbor the way that he did, avoiding the only family he's ever had because he was scared, was a mistake. He needs Piper to help him, but hiding his feelings is getting even more difficult.

I always love a second chance romance, especially when there's a brother's best friend element too. This book had it all. Piper and Brody had basically grown up together, with Brody being her brother, Ethan's, best friend. They had feelings for each other, and nearly kissed when Piper was 16, but then Brody left. First he did some modelling, but then he made it big in Hollywood. The last few years have been hard, though. He's had bad press, time and time again, and he needs to change it around before he loses it all. I loved the way he and Piper managed to rediscover their past friendship quite quickly, and they didn't fight their feelings for each other too much. They realised they had lost out on the last 12 years, and they weren't going to waste any more time being apart. The conflict between them was handled so well, and the epilogue was the sweetest! I really need to see more from the Locke family, especially after little Martha's Christmas wish for her single dad, Ethan.

Dates Read:
November 30, 2025

Rating
4 Stars

4 Stars

ARC Review: The Luminaries (The Luminaries #1) by Susan Dennard

10:00

The Luminaries
Series: The Luminaries #1
Author: Susan Dennard
Published November 1st 2022 by Tor Teen/Daphne Press

Goodreads Synopsis
Hemlock Falls isn't like other towns. You won't find it on a map, your phone won't work here, and the forest outside town might just kill you.

Winnie Wednesday wants nothing more than to join the Luminaries, the ancient order that protects Winnie's town—and the rest of humanity—from the monsters and nightmares that rise in the forest of Hemlock Falls every night.

Ever since her father was exposed as a witch and a traitor, Winnie and her family have been shunned. But on her sixteenth birthday, she can take the deadly Luminary hunter trials and prove herself true and loyal—and restore her family's good name. Or die trying.

But in order to survive, Winnie enlists the help of the one person who can help her train: Jay Friday, resident bad boy and Winnie’s ex-best friend. While Jay might be the most promising new hunter in Hemlock Falls, he also seems to know more about the nightmares of the forest than he should. Together, he and Winnie will discover a danger lurking in the forest no one in Hemlock Falls is prepared for.

Not all monsters can be slain, and not all nightmares are confined to the dark.
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

After her father was revealed to be a traitor to the Luminaries of Hemlock Falls, Winnie Wednesday and her family have been outcasts. On the edge of society, looked down upon, Winnie lost everything, but especially her friends, Jay and Erica. Now that she's turning 16, she has a shot of restoring her family's reputation, when she takes part in the deadly Luminary hunter trials. She has once chance, and without the training that everyone else has had, she's at a distinct disadvantage. There's only person who could help her, but can she trust Jay not to let her down again?

Well, I'm not sure why I put off reading these books for so long. I adored Suze's Something Strange and Deadly series when I read it way back when, and I can remember when the Luminerd's was happening on twitter during the pandemic. Oh well, I'm here now, and this book was definitely enjoyable. I really liked the world building of the Luminaries, with the seven different family's all being named after the days of the week, and each had their own distinct role in Hemlock Falls. Winnie was a great main character, and her growth across the book was great. She may have lied to everyone about the first trial, but she proved her worth as time went on. I definitely have my theories over the Whisperer, and I'm sure I'll discover if I was right in the next two books.

Dates Read:
October 17-21, 2025

Rating
4 Stars

4 Stars

ARC Review: Auction to Altar (Men of Mill Creek #1) by Elodie Ashwood

10:00

Auction to Altar
Series: Men of Mill Creek #1
Author: Elodie Ashwood
Published May 29th 2025

Goodreads Synopsis
One bachelor auction. One fake marriage. One ex-wife with a grudge.

Now I’m living with the town’s grumpiest vet— and I’ve officially lost control of this dumpster fire. Send wine.

Jake Rivers.

Single dad.

Stupidly, devastatingly, ruin-your-sanity hot.

Mill Creek’s town council gave him thirty days to prove he’s “stable” and “family-focused”…
or lose his clinic.

Lucky for him—he’s got me.

My solution? Fake marriage.

The rules were no feelings. No complications. Definitely no… (ahem) touching.

Then he kissed me.

Pinned against his barn wall. Hand in my hair. Body pressed against mine.

Chemistry that would make my science classroom explode.

Now I'm wearing his grandmother's ring, living in his farmhouse, and every time he looks at me, I forget this marriage is fake… and that I have dignity.

But his conniving ex is manipulating the town council.

She wants Jake humiliated.

Wants to take it all—
his clinic.
His daughter.

If she finds out we’re faking?

He loses everything.

And I might lose the one thing I never meant to want.
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via BookSirens. This in no way impacted on my view.

All Jake Rivers wants is for his daughter, Emily, to be happy, and for his veterinarian practice to flourish. So when the town council decide to introduce a new initiative showing they are family focused, they've got their eyes set on him. A divorced, single dad doesn't fit in with the Mill Creek narrative, and the council are out for blood. Luckily, Jake's best friend since college, Lexie Brown, will not let anything or anyone hurt Jake or Emily, and she agrees to marry him to prove he is a family man, and help get him through the next month. However, the council are being controlled by his ex, and they don't seem to be convinced by the whole charade, so Jake and Lexie step up the PDA - to the point that they are even wondering if it's fake any longer.

As soon as I saw this book on BookSirens, stating it had fake dating, single dad, friends-to-lovers, small town romance tropes, I knew I needed it. The minute it landed on my kindle I dove in, and devoured the whole book in 2 sittings - I only put it down to sleep. Jake and Lexie were the best of friends, and the insight we saw into how they were when they met in college was really good for understanding them more. There was one moment in college when they nearly kissed, but then Jake's now-ex got in the way, and they've been in the friend zone ever since. Once Jake's divorce was finalised, Lexie was there to help him and Emily get through it, and she is probably the second most important person in Emily's life after Jake. I loved seeing the family dynamic between them, and the fact it didn't actually change all that much after the wedding. They were already a family, Lexie just had a ring on to prove it. Jake's ex, Marissa, was such an awful character, and the way she treated everyone she came across - including her daughter - was horrific. The only good part of those interactions was seeing Lexie go all mama-bear on her to protect Emily. The drama was really well thought out, and I enjoyed the extended cast of characters all having a part of play. I really hope we get to see the story between Jenna and Travis because there's a lot of chemistry between them! I'll definitely be on the lookout for more books in this series.

Dates Read:
August 28-29, 2025

Rating
4 Stars

December

Stacking the Shelves: December 13th 2025

10:00

3 Stars

ARC Review: Playboy in Paris (Jet-Set Billionaires #1) by Sylvia Leigh

10:00

Playboy in Paris
Series: Jet-Set Billionaires #1
Author: Sylvia Leigh
Published August 1st 2025 by Solace Press

Goodreads Synopsis
Rule #1: Don't kiss your notorious, impossibly gorgeous billionaire boss.
Rule #2: Don't agree to fake marry him.
Rule #3: Do. Not. Fall. In. Love.
I've already broken the first two.

Jane
One year ago, I indulged in a fiery forbidden kiss with Riccardo del Conti, Europe’s most notorious playboy. Now I’m in Paris interviewing for a promotion, but Riccardo has a different role in his fake wife.

His offer is eighteen months of marriage, an eye-watering sum of money, and a clean break afterwards. He gets his inheritance, I get my financial independence.

I agree with one condition.

Rule #4: No physical intimacy.

If I act on the invitation in Riccardo’s hot gaze, I can’t trust myself not to fall in love. But as I’m whisked away into a life of extravagant luxury, he makes me feel seen for the first time in my life, and my willpower crumbles.

I can get close to the fire without getting burned, right? And who better to teach me about no-strings bedroom fun than my new fake fiancé?

But every touch, every kiss, edges me closer to getting my heart broken.

Riccardo
Jane should be the perfect fake practical, independent, and not interested in love. But I’m the problem. I thought I’d be able to spend my nights with her while keeping my emotional distance. There are things about me she must never know.

The complication? I’m craving her more and more. You see, there’s nothing plain about my Jane.

But if I let my guard down and she learns my secrets, she’ll run for the hills—and losing her will destroy me.
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via BookSirens. This in no way impacted on my view.

Jane never expected to find herself in the company of billionaire Riccardo del Conti, also known as the Playboy of Paris, let alone married to him, but here she is. The chance meeting a year ago at the fundraiser she helped organised set her future on a path no one expected, but she proved to Ric that she was trustworthy. Though he's a billionaire and successful in his own right, his father secretly imposed a clause into Riccardo's inheritance and if he's not married by the time he turns 28, he'll lose it all. Seeing Jane again, he knows that she is the person he can rely on to marry him, be his wife in name only, and they'll go their separate ways when the time is right. He's too broken to be worthy of love, though Jane makes him want it more than anything.

I didn't know what to expect from this book, but I was hooked. Jane and Riccardo may come from very different worlds, but they were made for each other. The tragic backstory that made Ric believe he was unworthy of love, and try to keep Jane at arms length, was devastating. It was understandable why he was the way he was, and with Jane by his side, he had the strength to fight his demons. Jane also believed love would be her downfall, and did everything to protect her heart, but Ric showed her she was everything already, and that she didn't need to change herself at all, not for anyone, but especially not him. I loved the twists and turns, and really hope they're explored further in the other books.

Dates Read:
October 31, 2025

Rating
3 Stars

3 Stars

ARC Review: Eye Candy (Holliday Family #1) by Esme Brett

10:00

Eye Candy
Series: Holliday Family #1
Author: Esme Brett
Published September 18th 2024

Goodreads Synopsis
He's a strict and stuffy ethics blogger who loves knitwear and decorum.

I'm a professional seductress who breaks all the rules.

When my last chance at a paying burlesque gig in New York ends in humiliation, I accept a sketchy job impersonating an heiress to ruin the reputation of a trust-fund dudebro. The problem is the dudebro’s older brother, who isn't proving susceptible to my (many) wiles.

But the more time I spend with Chase Sanford, the more I think there's more to him that meets the eye. He’s not as boring and sexually repressed as everyone believes. Beneath the glasses, and the cardigans, and the excessive wealth ... Chase is nursing some deep wounds and a serious case of Stern-Brunch-Daddy-itis.

Things go from bad to worse when I brat him too far and *things* happen on top of the bar at an upscale club.

The spark between us could ruin my career and send me and my pink sequin luggage back to parochial New Zealand. I tell myself I'll get out, I’ll wash my hands of the Sanford brothers, and go back to minding my broke-a$$ business. But Chase Sanford and his particular brand of goodness is like a drug, and I'm so hooked I can't see straight.

We're from different worlds. The trust fund guy might bang the downtown showgirl, but he’ll never keep her.

... So what could be the harm?
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via BookSirens. This in no way impacted on my view.

New Zealand burlesque artist Caroline Holliday is down on her luck. Sharing a tiny apartment with her new friend Lyssa, complete with bunk beds, she needs to get a break before she has to call out out, and head back home. So when she's headhunted by club owner Gerard, asking her to pretend to be a stuffy socialite for an evening, to ruin a reputation, for $20,000, she can't really say no. However, she didn't expect to be drawn so much to the handsome professor-type Chase Sanford, who looks like he doesn't know his way around a woman, but underneath it all, there's a fire that's dying to get out.

This was definitely an enjoyable read, especially the funny parts when Caroline was pretending to be Teddy. Chase had always hated the real Teddy, who had got her claws into his younger brother Joe when they were teens, so knew from the beginning that Caroline really wasn't her. He was drawn to Caroline like he'd never been drawn to someone before, and it was hard for him to come to terms with that. Caroline's Teddy and Summer personalities really messed with Chase's head - but in the best way - and he was drawn to them all, but Caroline was always his number one. The angst was a bit too over the top for me, but I liked the reunion, and I'm definitely interested in seeing how Lyssa and Caroline's brother, Mike, get on in the next book.

Dates Read:
October 11-12, 2025

Rating
3 Stars