Series: Lovelight #1
Author: B.K. Borison
Published June 6th 2023 by Berkley
Goodreads Synopsis
Two best friends fake date to reach their holiday happily ever after in this first romantic comedy in the Lovelight series.
A pasture of dead trees. A hostile takeover of the Santa barn by a family of raccoons. And shipments that have mysteriously gone missing. Lovelight Farms is not the magical winter wonderland of Stella Bloom’s dreams.
In an effort to save the Christmas tree farm she’s loved since she was a kid, Stella enters a contest with Instagram-famous influencer Evelyn St. James. With the added publicity and the $100,000 cash prize, Stella might just be able to save the farm from its financial woes. There’s just one problem. To make the farm seem like a romantic destination for the holidays, she lied on her application and said she owns Lovelight Farms with her boyfriend. Only…there is no boyfriend.
Enter best friend Luka Peters. He just stopped by for some hot chocolate and somehow got a farm and a serious girlfriend in the process. But fake dating his best friend might be the best Christmas present he’s ever received.
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
After buying a Christmas tree farm, Stella Bloom discovered that it isn't quite the winter wonderland she expected it would be. Instead she faces dead trees, raccoons running amok, and shipments going missing just when she needs them. The money is running out, and she needs a miracle to survive the season. In a last ditch attempt to save the farm, she enters a competition with influencer Evelyn St. James. If she wins, it comes with a $100,000 cash prize, as well as the added publicity which might just tide Stella over into another year. However, she told Evelyn she bought the farm with her boyfriend, and she's been decidedly single for years now. Can she ask her best friend Luka to be her fake 'boyfriend', when she's had a crush on him from the beginning?
I was drawn to this book by its cover initially, but as soon as I started it, I was hooked. Stella was a wonderful heroine, and I felt for her so much. Because of her past, she had always wanted some place to call her own, and Lovelight Farms had always been a dream of hers. Unfortunately, it had recently become a bit of a nightmare, and though she worked with her friends, Layla and Beckett, she kept the truth of how bad it was getting from them, and from best friend Luka. She hated having to rely on others, or ask for help, and she was embarrassed that she had been able to do it all herself. Asking Luka to be her fake boyfriend was one thing, but opening up about how bad it all was, even asking him to come to the weird 'thanksgiving' her father hosts each year, it was too much for her feelings to cope with. I loved the way we saw the romance between Stella and Luka come to fruition, as well as how their friendship developed into what it was. They had missed out on so much by keeping their true feelings from each other, though they had been sending messages to each other throughout - the air fresheners were a stroke of genius! I had such a grin on my face while reading this book, and I couldn't be happier than where Luka and Stella's romance was by the end of the book. Hopefully we see them again in the sequels, which I'm dying to get me hands on! A fantastic start to what is set to be a great series!
Dates Read:
May 3-5, 2023
Rating
4 Stars
