Fake Holi*Date: A Sweet Christmas RomCom Novella

by Brynn North

Who knew wedding invitations look just like Christmas cards?

I can’t believe I thought Sam wanted to get back together. Instead, he hands me a wedding invitation - for two weeks from now! Even worse, I foolishly told him I’ll go... and bring my boyfriend.

Too bad said boyfriend is nonexistent.

When my best friend Declan offers to come as my fake date, my Grandma pressures me into accepting, telling me it’ll be a good way to move forward on my terms. Better than attending alone, I guess.

Declan insists on getting me into the holiday spirit and out of my funk by signing us up for a Christmas contest. Practicing cooking, baking, and wrapping holiday gifts together sure feel like dates, even though they tend to end in disasters. Too bad he rejected me when we were in college, so he’s clearly not interested.

But when I find out he’s got a Christmas Eve date? Well, I feel like my heart just got stomped for the second time in a week.

Because it’s too hard to hide these feelings anymore. Being friends with Declan isn’t going to be enough.

It’s going to take more than Santa to give me what I want this Christmas.

This Christmas novella is a third in the East Village Christmas series. Each book can be read as a standalone in any order.

This novella belongs to the collection, Holiday Fakeout: 22 Fake Holiday Dates to Heat Up the Season.

Genres: Christmas, Friends To Lovers, Clean Romance, Fake Dating, Romance, Holiday, Contemporary

150 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 31, 2021

About the author

Contemporary Romance & Chick Lit with sizzle and sass

Brynn North's goal is to write fun, witty, and relatable books that leave you with a smile and laugh. Her heroines are often finding their way in life, in and out of relationships. Her characters may not always be perfect people, but hey, neither are we, right? She hopes that you can see another perspective or even parts of yourself in her books and realize you aren't alone in figuring this whole life thing out. 
Her books are chick lit or closed-door romance, perfect for readers who love chemistry and sizzle but no explicit content.

She is a Minnesota native and still lives in Minneapolis with her family, loving it for approximately eight months out of the year. The other four months she dreams about moving to a warmer zip code. She is a total cat lady, with the best cats in the entire world. #sorrynotsorry

Reviews

[Karen_Lee_Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Fake) Holi*Date
A Christmas Rom/Com Novella
Written by: Brynn North

Hattie and Declan have known each other since high school, but one fated missed kiss had them both in each others friend zone for years.

Hattie was hoping to get back with her ex-boyfriend Sam, but their coffee meet up wasn’t to reunite, Sam gave her an invitation to his New Years Eve wedding.

Instead she leans on Grandma, Grandpa and Declan and come up with a fake date for the wedding. Yes…Declan has volunteered to be the fake date, the problem is, he’s still in love with Hattie, but he just can’t spit it out.

Honestly, it was so much fun watching Hattie and Declan spending time together, from fake dates, to a competition – Millennial verses Boomers Christmas Contest realize that they truly are in love with each other, they just keep missing their cues!

If you’re looking for a fairly quick Holiday read, this is one you want to pick up.
Just remember to stay clear of Hattie’s Grandmother; she always has her phone at the ready to film a TicTok video.

[Arceli · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoy this book. I also surprisingly really liked the names of the characters. Declan and Hattie one of my favorite personal favorite names. I loved how Declan is a redhead and that is kind of a personal favorite because I see way too many redheaded heroines. But this is beside the point. Declan is super sweet and I love how he cared so much about Hattie. He really was there for her and was super sweet. The premise of the book featuring fake dating is obviously very formulaic but the characters were so sweet that it didn’t even matter. I also loved HATTie Was super confident and really gained her own confidence and self as the book progressed. I also like the grandparents meddling and close family dynamics. I highly recommend this book for Christmas lovers.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this charming Christmas story. Hattie and Declan were the best of friends. I loved how they both grappled with their feelings and not wanting to lose their friendship if the other person didn’t feel the same way. Their grandparents were adorable in their meddlesome ways. It ended perfectly.

[Takudzwa Mutangadura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cheesy, predictable but cute

[Lizzi Craine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3⭐️ Another short and sweet Christmas novella. Hattie and Declan are cute, but the story was predictable from the first chapter. I like the little links to Christmas Crush, but it was just another generic festive-themed love story. Would recommend for a quick Christmas read, but not for a gripping story.

[Emily Pennington · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Fake Date . . .

Hattie was expecting that Sam was trying to get her to come back to him. Imagine her surprise to find a wedding invitation. In shock, she agrees to be there with her new boyfriend. That gives her two week to find one!

Her best friend Declan came to her rescue, however. He offered to be her fake date. To raise her spirits, he signed them up for some contests – cooking, baking, gift-wrapping. That didn’t go very well, but it’s the thought that counts, right? And now some pesky feelings are threatening to mess her up. He rejected her in college, so she knows he is not interested. This just might ruin her entire Christmas.

Don’t you love it when the couple can’t see the truth staring at them? Each of them has feelings for the other, and yet they can’t figure that out. Perhaps some well-placed mistletoe will give them a clue? Grab this cute story and see how it all works out for them.

[natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm glad to say that this was a five star story. Yep.

Declan and Hattie were both just so oblivious of each others feelings, and that was what made this fun. For some reason, I've always been a sucker for the scenes where the H/h bring a different person with them to an event and the other is just so... jealous. Not to the point where they'd go up and ruin the "date", but to the point where they'd realize that they'd been wasting all their time not making their move and now the potential love of his/her life is going to fall in love with another person.

Get my gist? Well, this delivered. Extra points to the pretty cover. It's just so cute, especially with the minty green and everything, right? I don't know why and how these sort of covers started circling around and becoming the hottest trends for book covers, but I'm loving them.

[Kristine L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hattie was handed a card that she thought was a Christmas Card but instead was a wedding invitation. She told him she'd be there with a plus one but in reality she doesn't have a boyfriend. Declan came to her rescue and agreed to go to the wedding with her. She still finds that she has feeling for him but he wasn't interested in her when they were in college. Sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees. Some drama, humor, chemistry and love. First book I've read by this author. Great holiday story. I received a copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed ready about Declan and Sam. It was a great story about friends to lovers and to see them have different views of their "friend-zone" relationship.. It was a fun story and an interesting timeline of going from friends to lovers. A fun holiday story with some great humor inside. A good book. I am looking forward to reading more stories from Brynn North.

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

[Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is always a problem if you fall in love with your best friend, ie. will telling them your feelings ruin the friendship? In this story Declan and Hattie have been burying their true feelings for years but will the need for a fake date lead one or the other to come clean? At times amusing this was a sweet read, though I did feel it could have been tightened up and made shorter, so one didn’t feel like knocking the characters heads together.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC from the author and am voluntarily leaving my review. This is a short holiday romance between friends. An ex sets up the scene for these two to be thrown together as a couple. They create a lot of humor, some chaos and stepped on feelings. Love is still on their Christmas lists. 3.5 stars

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

[Kristen Lewendon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Urk! Declan and Hattie are so adorably awkward around one another. They’re cute and they make a fabulous couple. I was just so overwhelmingly frustrated by their inability to have an in-depth adult conversation with one another. But I suppose if they’d done that, there wouldn’t have been a story to tell.
I read this story as part of the Holiday Fakeout anthology.

[Slick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Save me from characters who have no communication skills, please save me. Best friends since junior high and after one almost kiss that wasn't, he was friendzoned because they couldn't talk about what happened so their grandparents set up a ridiculous ruse hoping if they spend time together they'll figure it out. Again why not just talk to them. Not my cup of tea, obviously.

[Manisha Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the third in the East Village Christmas series . The characters have great chemistry and the storyline is wonderful . This book is great to read for the holiday season .

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

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Christmas novella is a third in the East Village Christmas series. Declan and Hattie's story is well written with a great storyline that held my interest until the end. I received a copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is a good, and enjoyable short holiday romantic comedy between friends. The story has a good story line and a good pace. The characters are good, and they have good chemistry.

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

[Shweta · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hattie & Declan have got to be the MOST dense people in the universe. They also don;t know how to communicate. They are also an insult to best friends all around the world.

Merry Christmas & happy holidays to ya.

[LNC1012 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can men and women really be friends?

This story had it all getting over an ex, christmas spirit and celebrating with those you love, holiday bets, fake dating, true feelings for your best friend and having courage to tell your feelings no matter what.

[MissyLynne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt no chemistry between the characters. Weak. Story just drug on and never held my attention.

[Regan Latham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one really helped get me in the holiday mood! It was a great followup without being too repetitive and the characters kept the spice without being too cheesy.

[Nina Rodebaugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story to read around Christmas time. It was a little predictable but still very enjoyable! It’s almost like a Hallmark Christmas movie which I love this time of year.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

(a sweet Christmas)

[Jude · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading this book

[Ella · Rating 1 out of 5]

I liked the idea of what the author tried to do but the way it was executed was definitely not for me, mainly the writing style.