Mistletoe Stand In by Larissa Hommes: Book Review

 **ARC received for consideration. All opinions are my own. 

The Book

What do you do when the grumpy guy from your favorite coffee shop needs a fake girlfriend for Christmas? Pack your bags, of course!

Ember Sullivan has spent more Christmases alone than she cares to count, and she isn’t exactly looking forward to adding another one to the list. So when the grumpy man she’s spent months trading coffee shop banter with makes a completely unreasonable request—come home with him for Christmas and pretend to be his girlfriend—Ember decides a week in a charming Christmas town sounds a whole lot better than celebrating by herself.

Cole Dawson hasn’t spent Christmas week in Mistletoe Meadows in years, not since his parents’ divorce turned his favorite holiday into one he’d rather avoid. But with his matchmaking grandmother determined to find him the perfect woman, Cole decides the best way to survive the holidays is to arrive with a girlfriend of his own. And the peppermint-mocha-loving woman he’s spent months arguing with over coffee seems like the perfect person for the job.

Their plan should be simple: convince Cole’s family they’re happily dating, survive a week of Christmas festivities, and go back to their normal lives when it’s over. But between cookie-baking contests, sleigh rides, matching ugly sweaters, and an entire town determined to catch them beneath the mistletoe, pretending starts to feel dangerously close to the real thing.

As Ember finds the Christmas—and family—she’s always dreamed of, Cole begins rediscovering the holiday magic he thought he’d lost for good. But with December twenty-sixth drawing closer, they’ll have to decide if what they found in Mistletoe Meadows was only part of the act…or something worth taking home with them.

What happens when a fake Christmas romance starts to feel a little too much like coming home?

The Author

Larissa Hommes has always loved reading, especially anything to do with romance. She never gets tired of meet cutes, friends to lovers, second chances, pretend relationships, and more. Since she couldn’t get enough through reading about romance, she decided to write stories of her own. She loves traveling, eating treats, and being outdoors. When she’s not caught up in make believe love lives, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two children, who are her greatest joys and biggest fans.

Book Review

Fake dating, a meddling grandma, and all the Christmas cheer... what could be better than that? And when that fake dating is between basically strangers? Even better! Oh, I simply adored Ember and Cole! They had such an easy dynamic between them. Aside from a few chance run ins at a coffee shop, they were strangers before he has the crazy suggestion that he brings her home for Christmas to keep his grandma from her matchmaking ways, and yet, I loved how quickly she agreed! Both of these characters had some past hurts, and while their holiday experiences were very different, I loved seeing their healing in this story. It was a quick story, but packed full of so much holiday tradition and a story that truly felt like coming home for the holidays. If you love holiday romance filled with small town charm and family traditions, this is certainly one to add to your TBR.

Mistletoe Stand In is a closed-door romance with kisses only and no language. It is the third book in the Mistletoe Meadows series, but I do think that it could be enjoyed as a standalone as well. 


You can purchase your copy here: https://link.amazon/B0abAZYdZ