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