Book Blurb:
She just walked into her dream Christmas rental… and found her worst enemy already unpacked.
Eternal optimist Merrily Tucker is excited to spend Christmas in the most beautiful house in town; a twinkly, tinsel-lined rental that’s just hers for the holidays. But inside is one big problem… the man who once turned her down in front of the whole of Holly Grove, irritatingly handsome, certified Grinch Grant Moody. He says he’s the owner. And he’s planning to spend Christmas here too.
The town might think he’s a playboy, but Grant Moody is determined to spend his Christmas nights alone. Zero decorations, a ban on baked goods, and definitely no holiday spirit. A mix-up with the rental company isn’t going to get in his way. Even if the woman at his door is the irresistibly gorgeous one-who-got-away Merrily Tucker…
Merrily and Grant are both too stubborn to leave.
Battling for control over what music plays on the speakers and heaving Christmas trees in and out of the house, they find themselves all tangled in tinsel. But Merrily's "when I think about you, I touch my elf" t-shirt has Grant's candy cane tingling in a way that begs the question...
Secretly, do they actually want to be home alone together this Christmas…?
Tropes:
*Netgalley ALC *Holiday Romance *Fake Dating *Forced Proximity *Enemies --> more
*Spice *Small Town Romance *2nd Chance for Romance *Rom-Com *Grumpy x Sunshine
*hallmark vibes
Thoughts:
Merrily (FMC) is returning home for the holidays after several years away she loves the holidays and things are off to a rocky start --> she couldn't stay in her childhood home with her dad because he remarried and his wifes huge family is staying there... but that's ok she's making it work she rented her dream house for 2 weeks the huge home she calls the "home alone" house (not the actual one but similar).
Merrily has big plans and she is going to enjoy herself and celebrate the holidays in style... but she gets to the house and there is a big problem... in the form of playboy heartbreaker Grant Moody, they have a history he humiliated her 10 years ago in front of the town and she has spent all these years trying to put it behind her.
Grant has come home for the holidays from NYC wanting to escape his family who are very much all about money and big business at least he has a secret hideaway... no one knows but he bought the "home alone" house... he did tell them not to rent it out for the holidays though because he plans to enjoy his solitude as much as possible without all the holiday cheer... he spent the first few hours throwing out all the holiday cheer... so when he sees Merrily (christmas spirit in human form) he needs her to go too... in fact he'll refund her money and pay for other lodgings for her... only she's not budging.
Grant back in town is now being bombarded by his father to make a decision to take over the company... or it will be sold to an evil big money developer who will tear apart everything that he loves about the small town he grew up in. The other problem is that there is a family friend who is feeling she should be going up the aisle soon she will be the bride and she wants Grant to be the groom... no thank you, in fact he has a girlfriend... Merrily.
In comes Grant's plan if Merrily agrees to fake date him he will talk his dad out of raising the rent of her father's store, it will also help that the townspeople love her and he could use some help looking less like a grinch win/win no problems at all... only of course lines begin to blur and soon enough it's not feeling so fake anymore, but what will happen when their holiday vacation bubble bursts? Neither of them even live in this town anymore.
Grant also hasn't apologized for his behavior all those years ago... so there is that.
If you are looking for a fun holiday rom-com add this one to your list, it's funny, (it's got some hallmark vibes and is a bit corny at times) but I really enjoyed this one, if you are looking for something serious that does a deep character dive and has a big plot that's not this story it's a cozy holiday read. The banter, the back and forth, the will they just kiss already! Loved Merrily's family and the small town residents including the creepy neighbor that may have offed her husband... what!
I got the ALC and the narrators Max Meyers and Victoria Connolly did a great job bringing this story to life.
Have you read this one? What did you think?
I enjoyed this one but here are some negatives from other reviews :
*Plot and characters were not well developed
*over the top cheesy
*surface level relationship, mainly involving 2 hot people wanting to get together
*They didn't spend much time together in the past before "the incident", haven't spoken to eachother during their time apart and were together for a short time in the present and things felt rushed so it was harder to believe what they saw in each other was more than Lust
*Too much time spent on the town play (based on the Nutcracker (minus the dancing))
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