Her Totally Hot Forbidden Fake Fiance

by Lucy McConnell

Taking the wrong man home for Christmas never felt so right.

Diana Dalagar can’t stand the idea of her neighbor spending Christmas alone, so she invites Cliff to the family cabin. In the planning, there’s a slight misunderstanding that gives her mother the impression they are engaged. Which is great, because it will keep Diana’s family off her back about why she’s still single. She’ll just have to make sure that Cliff doesn’t find out what she’s done.

Cliff has no desire to get into another relationship that could embarrass him in front of a church full of people. When he finds out Diana set him up as her fake fiancé, he’s understandably upset. But, Diana is the color in his otherwise dreary winter day. He’d do anything for her—even play the doting fiancé for Christmas.

Pretending to be a couple puts the two of them in close quarters where their lips continually come together to create Christmas magic. When the stakes are raised by a chaotic Christmas Day wedding, Cliff’s hurtful past crashes into his possible future with Diana.

In order to start a life with Cliff, Diana will have to confess how she truly feels. But, saying “I love you” is a dangerous thing. Can Diana make their wishes come true; or, will she be alone under the mistletoe again this Christmas? 


Genres: Christmas, Romance

156 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 8, 2019

About the author

Please hit the follow button. I'd love to keep in touch!

Lucy McConnell loves romance, chocolate, Christmas, horses, music, crochet, and fun!

She believes that romance books should:

Keep you up past your bedtime.

Make you laugh out loud.

Have happy endings.

With that in mind, she's written over 200 novels full of fun and flirty characters who navigate the turbulent waters of romance with open hearts and creativity.

If you enjoy closed-door romance, follow her on Goodreads.♥️

Reviews

[Aimee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet Holiday Romance

What a sweet holiday romance! It puts me in the mind of Hallmark movies and is the perfect way to begin the holiday season. It's easy reading, full of traditions, growing feelings and the magic of Christmas.

[Meegy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a super cute Christmas read, I really enjoyed it, and will continue reading the rest of the series

[Pearl Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and very light story! Good friends with plenty of baggage turned into sweethearts at a holiday getaway. Easy with minimal drama.

[Megann · Rating 5 out of 5]

How many of us have gone home for the holidays only to have your parents, siblings and family tell you how you are living your life wrong and you need to do what they tell you to. Diana knows just how this feels. She loves her job, has friends and has a good life but is not married and having children.
So now it is Christmas again and she has to go home and face all the blind dates, suggestions and condemnation because she is not married. She is talking with her best friend when they hatch an idea that she should just take a friend and let her family think they are a couple. This will defiantly get them off her back for the time she is home.
The man who lives next door to her Cliff is a scruffy electrician that would be perfect. Her family defiantly will not approve so then when she gets home she can say they have broken up and be safe for another year. Cliff agrees but doesn't understand that they are supposed to be a couple, he just thinks of her as his neighbor and friend.
But, the family does not see it that way and after he saves their post holiday party by knowing what to do to get the lights back on they decide that he is a good match for Diana and are all in favor of the relationship.
Now what is Diana going to do? On top of that she is starting to have feeling for him and realizing he is so much more than she originally thought. Cliff on the other hand has had a really terrible breakup and has vowed to never get into a relationship again. He to is drawn to Diana and is having feelings for her.
Oh my as Walter Scott said..Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive! and now they are both in trouble.
This story shows how we can find our one and only and that many times it is more due to GODS work than the work we think we are doing for ourselves.
Great book.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a sweet and quick read for romance lovers during the Christmas season. I really enjoyed this story. The characters were great and the romance was lovely. It worked in a shorter read because there was background established before the book picked up. Cliff and Diana were neighbours and Diana, wanting a break from the matchmaking and nagging of her family, invited Cliff to join her, as a friend, for Christmas. When her mother made the assumption that Diana and Cliff were engaged, Diana didn’t correct her. Needless to say, Cliff was not pleased to discover the deception, however he agreed to stick it out. Both came to realize that through their prior interactions they had already developed stronger feelings for each other than they had been previously willing to acknowledge. Unfortunately, the situation with Diana’s family escalated in unforeseen ways that tested those feelings. This is a sweet and clean romance with mild innuendo and no harsh language.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Emily Pennington · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Happy Couple ? . . .

Diana Dalagar knows her grumpy neighbor Cliff is going to be alone for Christmas. She also knows her family will try to push potential husbands on her if she goes home by herself. So she invites Cliff, without warning him about the family, to spend Christmas with them at their cabin. Assumptions are made and in their minds Diana is suddenly engaged. Wait until Cliff finds out…

Cliff wants no part of a painful relationship, so he is right to be upset with her. But despite himself, he does care, so he goes along with it. The fake part starts to feel a bit real, but it brings back painful memories for Cliff when they are manipulated into something real. It’s up to Diana whether she is willing to be honest with him and tell him she loves him. Or will she back off and let him walk away?

[Jane litherland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cliff is alone , he’s had his fair share of heartbreak. No desire to get into an embarrassing situation in front of a church full of people again…When Diana feels for neighbour Cliff , not wanting him to spend Christmas alone , she invites him to dinner at the family’s cabin. Her mum gets the wrong idea and suddenly there’s a fake fiancé ( just as long as Cliff doesn’t find out) then chaos as a Christmas wedding springs up on the horizon . It’s going to take a Christmas miracle of epic proportions that may need more than Mistletoe ,can a simple I love you do…. Awesome work, loved this story sooo much . Well written , compelling story.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Shanna Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fake relationship kicked up a notch, and I love it! This is the first I have read in this series but now I desperately need to read the rest! I love how even though they don't know each other well, you can feel their chemistry so quickly, not all fake relationship books pull this off as well as author Lucy McConnell did in this book.

This book had complete Proposal movie vibes, adding in Christmas, and many more beautiful moments. I couldn't believe how this story pulled at so many emotions, and felt like Christmas magic. It's easily a must read and making it into my top 10 this year for sure.

[Kristen Lewendon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my gosh! That was just so stinking adorable. When one teensy little exaggeration designed to make her holiday more bearable blows up in her face, Diana has to decide what’s really important. Diana and Cliff were the CUTEST couple imaginable, even when they weren’t an actual couple. They’re both so determined to make one another’s lives simpler and better that I’m not surprised a fake relationship brought a bunch of very real feelings to the surface. And despite her family constantly being all up in her business, I kind of loved seeing all that love and togetherness they displayed. I don’t want it to be over already.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through Booksprout.

[Richard Goodrum · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful, fake-fiancé romance. Diana doesn't want to be the subject of her family's tortuous attempts to find her a husband again this Christmas. So, she invites her neighbor Cliff to the family Christmas festivities. Without telling him all the details. The story goes pretty much as expected. But the manner of the storytelling makes it wonderful to read.

Easy-to-read. Entertaining. Happily Ever After. Romantic. Twisted. Whimsical. Wonderful characters.

I received a review copy of this book from a third party. This is my honest review.

[Alison Ramsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Taking her neighbour Cliff home with her for a family Christmas on the pretext of him being her boyfriend, Diana and Cliff both get more than they bargained for from her matchmaking interfering and over-zealous family, to such an extent that it almost ends in tragedy. I liked both main characters. Overall it is a fun, emjoyable and romantic Christmas romance.
I received an ARC of this book but voluntarily leave this review.

[Merry Jelks-Emmanuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Dana invites Cliff home for the holidays omitting the fact that she told her parents they are engaged sets the tone for this Christmas romance that is filled with lots of drama and interfering relatives. It is a heartfelt story that will warm your heart and have you in Cliff and Dana's corner cheering them on to finding happiness!

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Sandra Hartzel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had a free copy of this book, but this is my voluntary and honest opinion. Donna Delager invites her grumpy Mr. Fix it neighbor, Cliff, to her family Christmas gathering. Her mother mistakenly gets the impression they are engaged, and lets the rest of the family in on the secret. Cliff isn’t against the idea as the more he’s around Diana the better he likes her. An interesting and tender book about love, insecurities, and overcoming family misunderstandings.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a sweet Christmas read!
I really loved Cliff and how he fell in love with Diana without realizing it and I loved how Diana had him wrapped around her little finger without knowing the power she had.
I have not read a book by Lucy McConnell that I haven't enjoyed and I look forward to reading more of her books.

I received a free copy of this book courtesy of Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Niki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Diana does not want to go home for the holiday's alone again this year, when she realizes that her neighbor Cliff is spending them alone, she invites him along. The problem is when her mom jumps to conclusions and she does not straighten her out, things go from interesting to O NO right quick.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Jacqueline Johnston Cotton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this Christmas romance. This was a wonderful book with such great, loveable characters. I read this one cover to cover, just couldn't put it down. The story line is so well written and real. This is an easy to read, sweet story that will make you smile. You will enjoy this charming book.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Jaleesa | jaydee4219 · Rating 3 out of 5]

FMC invites her neighbor to her family's house for Christmas and neglects to tell him that she told her mom they were engaged. This was a fun book. It is a fully clean romance though which was annoying.

[Jeanette Cepietz · Rating 5 out of 5]

good story

I really enjoyed this story and found it hard to put down. The characters are fun but there are serious sides to them as well. I found this story well written and fun to read.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

sweet

A fun fast paced romance with mistletoe and magic. He would do anything for her, even be her fake boyfriend. She couldn’t imagine him alone for Christmas and everyone would quit bugging her about marriage. A simple plan. What could possibly go wrong?

[casvec · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a sweet and fun holiday romance with the fake relationship story line that grabs you from the start. Diane and Cliff realize her mother misunderstands their relationship and lead them on interesting holiday.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Marianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Christmas contemporary romance that is totally sweet! I liked it a lot. It has fun and charm, with lots of love..

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Laramee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the fake dating trope and this one is soooo good! I was hooked from the beginning and couldn't put it down!

[Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fake fiance trope with a twist of him not knowing? Sign me Up!
This book has been a cozy and swoony lecture and I have enjoyed reading It

[Chaelah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short and sweet!

Another home run for Lucy McConnell! I lived Cliff and Diana together, a perfect opposites attract/friends to more narrative. I wasn't frustrated with the main characters, which is always the most important thing for me in a romance novel. I dont like to see stubborn, rude, irrational main characters just to lengthen a novel and I was pleased that the H and h in this story were so sweet and so kind to each other, alwayseating the other as better than themselves

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 Stars

This was a wonderfully cozy, quick, light read that is perfect for the holidays and if you're wanting a feel good book. Perfect for readers needing something frothy and cute after a heavy read or to get out of a book slump. The budding relationship between Diana and Cliff is sweet and natural. While there isn't a ton of depth within the book there is still enough humor, drama, and love to be a rewarding and entertaining read.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is so misnamed. I inferred from the title truly forbidden like first cousin or sister’s husband or best friend’s fiancé. This was so not the story. Also, it was slightly offensive to mean he was a blue collar worker and that made him forbidden.

I also really had to overcome my embarrassment about the title to be able to even list as currently reading. 😬

All in all, it was a great story with fun characters. Lucy writes great stories.

[Cherye Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun read

First thing I want to say --I hate Celine. What a mean, spiteful, angry miserable cow.

Okay. I got that off my chest. I love Diana and Cliff's story. The book was well written. Definitely a happily ever after feel good story. First time I read this author's work. Now I will have to read more

[Audra · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful romantic story of 2 people meant to be together. The emotional pull in this story will leave you wanting more. I was hooked from the very beginning and was easily able to relate to Diana and the stress her family puts on her. While her friend tried to persuade her not to take Cliff home she does it anyway. As things escalate you just want to know how things will work out for these 2.

[vicki zimmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the usual ‘fake fiancé’ romance

Very sweet romance, without becoming sickeningly sweet, as most tend to do.
Likable H, and h, nice hea.
I only give 5 stars to books I would read again and again. While this one does not quite reach that level, it was the perfect way to spend a cold, rainy afternoon.

[Vibliophile · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5 stars) - ridiculous premise, cheesy story, but fun anyway

This is one of those stories that you read when you're in the mood for a fluffy fantasy romance. It's not remotely believable, and you know what's going to happen before it does, but you just check the logical side of your brain at the door and enjoy the ride.

*Clean romance level: sweet kisses