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Port Lane Romances #2
Penny's Christmas Date
I'VE BEEN IN LOVE WITH ALEXANDER RIGBY FOR MY WHOLE LIFE.
I fell in love with Alexander Rigby when we were six years old. Back then, I was naïve enough to think it might actually go somewhere. Now, I'm sixteen and know that I will never fall in love again, least of all with Alexander.
But when my ex-boyfriend humiliates me in front of everyone by suggesting that I can't find a date to the Christmas Formal, asking Alexander to be my date seems like the only logical solution. Except he thinks that we really need to sell the idea that I've moved on — by fake dating until Christmas Break.
Uh, what?
On top of that, he's insistent on getting me into the Christmas spirit, even though I've told him it is so not happening this year. Before I know it, we're having Christmas movie marathons, gingerbread house decorating competitions, and reliving old holiday traditions from when we were kids.
Needless to say, my old feelings for him are coming back at full force and soon, I can't tell which feelings are real or fake.
It will take a Christmas miracle for me to ever admit my feelings for a boy again... Good thing Alexander believes in them.
PENNY'S CHRISTMAS DATE is a standalone romance novel full of sweet and wholesome Christmas cheer. Get your copy today!
I fell in love with Alexander Rigby when we were six years old. Back then, I was naïve enough to think it might actually go somewhere. Now, I'm sixteen and know that I will never fall in love again, least of all with Alexander.
But when my ex-boyfriend humiliates me in front of everyone by suggesting that I can't find a date to the Christmas Formal, asking Alexander to be my date seems like the only logical solution. Except he thinks that we really need to sell the idea that I've moved on — by fake dating until Christmas Break.
Uh, what?
On top of that, he's insistent on getting me into the Christmas spirit, even though I've told him it is so not happening this year. Before I know it, we're having Christmas movie marathons, gingerbread house decorating competitions, and reliving old holiday traditions from when we were kids.
Needless to say, my old feelings for him are coming back at full force and soon, I can't tell which feelings are real or fake.
It will take a Christmas miracle for me to ever admit my feelings for a boy again... Good thing Alexander believes in them.
PENNY'S CHRISTMAS DATE is a standalone romance novel full of sweet and wholesome Christmas cheer. Get your copy today!
188 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 1, 2022
156 people are currently reading
203 people want to read
About the author
Clara Nielsen
20 books197 followersClara Nielsen writes sweet & swoony YA romances set in high school, all about shy girls and the boys who are head-over-heels for them. When she’s not busy writing, you’ll probably find her out on the lake, putting together the perfect playlist, or sipping on a chai latte while daydreaming about her next story.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
September 15, 2025
Binged read this in one sitting <3 I absolutely loved this book
December 11, 2022
**Thank you to BookSirens for this ARC. All thoughts are my own.**
A cute Christmassy tale of fake dating to make your ex-boyfriend jealous with the cute guy you've known your whole life, what could go wrong?
Penny is dealing with the aftermath of a public breakup, her ex Joseph cheats on her with her best friend Nikki. Now at school Penny is a social pariah, is ignored and looked at with pity by everyone at high school, all except Alexander.
She's having a bad day where everything seems to go wrong, and Alexander helps her. There's a Christmas Formal coming up and to save face she declares that she has a date. In comes, Alexander, and they hash out a plan to fake-date to make it believable, but suddenly things change for Penny, and her childhood crush comes back at her with full force.
This story was cute, and the grumpy x sunshine trope was here between Alexander and Penny. This is very YA sounding, as a 36-year-old woman, it was a little hard to read a story from the mind of a sixteen-year-old, and how naive one's mindset is at that time. But I did enjoy how Penny finally realized she could speak up for herself, and that people wouldn't leave her.
A cute Christmassy tale of fake dating to make your ex-boyfriend jealous with the cute guy you've known your whole life, what could go wrong?
Penny is dealing with the aftermath of a public breakup, her ex Joseph cheats on her with her best friend Nikki. Now at school Penny is a social pariah, is ignored and looked at with pity by everyone at high school, all except Alexander.
She's having a bad day where everything seems to go wrong, and Alexander helps her. There's a Christmas Formal coming up and to save face she declares that she has a date. In comes, Alexander, and they hash out a plan to fake-date to make it believable, but suddenly things change for Penny, and her childhood crush comes back at her with full force.
This story was cute, and the grumpy x sunshine trope was here between Alexander and Penny. This is very YA sounding, as a 36-year-old woman, it was a little hard to read a story from the mind of a sixteen-year-old, and how naive one's mindset is at that time. But I did enjoy how Penny finally realized she could speak up for herself, and that people wouldn't leave her.
April 28, 2024
4 stars
This book is amazing. I have always loved books by Clara Nielsen , so no wonder this was amazing. Even though it was amazing, my favorite for now is definitely Madison&Charlie’s. Definitely recommend.
This book is amazing. I have always loved books by Clara Nielsen , so no wonder this was amazing. Even though it was amazing, my favorite for now is definitely Madison&Charlie’s. Definitely recommend.
December 3, 2022
What can I say other than I LOVE Alexander Rigby? Perfect book boyfriend!
November 10, 2023
such a cute romance! i love this sweet rom com series!
December 12, 2025
Reader’s Notes:
– this is part of a series, but can be read as a stand-alone
– this is told from Penny’s point of view
– it is mentioned that Penny’s boyfriend had cheated on her with her best friend before they broke up (before the events of this story)
-romance: just kisses
Review:
I’d been waffling between 3.5 and 4 stars (though ultimately settled on 3.5 stars – 3 stars for sites that only take full stars) for this book for multiple reasons.
*And as a disclaimer before I start listing the reasons: I am an adult reading a young adult book, but I’ve read and enjoyed many young adult books as an adult written by many different authors.*
I honestly didn’t really connect with Penny or the fake turned real relationship between her and Alexander. There were multiple times that Alexander’s dialogue/actions made me hope for their relationship, but then it would go back to not feeling it. There was also their non friendship (their mothers are friends and their families would get together for the holidays every year) and Penny’s crush on Alexander before the fake dating and it translating over into their relationship that didn’t make much sense to me (the way it was written/mentioned).
Not related to the characters/storyline: As I was reading, multiple times the same exact same descriptors/phrases were used within a few sentences of the last use and it took me out of the story each time because I thought that I accidentally backtracked in my reading. For example: (* “was floating on a cushion of air”)
“It felt like a dream, a beautiful, lucid dream in which I was floating on a cushion of air, borne along by his strong, sure steps. I was in a euphoric mood. Everything felt so perfect. I felt like I was floating on a cushion of air, borne along by his strong, sure steps.” -Chapter 17
So overall, I wasn’t really happy when I finished this book. There were some cute moments between Penny and Alexander that I really enjoyed (like their movie marathon, the dance, and a few other scenes) and that kept me reading though.
And since I’ve been wanting to read a bunch of Clara Nielsen’s books and this was one of her first ones, I am going to try again with one of her more recent releases to see if her writing changed for the better. (I’m hoping so!)
Summary:
Penny’s ex cheated on her with her best friend and yet Penny is the one being treated as a social pariah. And since her ex and her ex-best friend were her only friends, Penny just keeps to herself. After all, why would she open herself up to that kind of hurt again. But when her ex tries convincing Penny to give up the Christmas Formal tickets that she’d bought back when she was happily in love, Penny does the unthinkable and claims that she can’t as she already has a date.
Luckily, her family friend Alexander is willing to step into the role of her date. But he insists that fake dating and then amicably breaking up would not only show her ex that she moved on, but it’ll also stop the stares and whispers that have been following Penny. Plus their ‘relationship’ will get Alexander’s family to leave him alone for the holidays too. It’s a win-win situation.
But with every holiday date with Alexander, Penny is beginning to wonder if it’d be so bad to try opening up her heart to someone again…
– this is part of a series, but can be read as a stand-alone
– this is told from Penny’s point of view
– it is mentioned that Penny’s boyfriend had cheated on her with her best friend before they broke up (before the events of this story)
-romance: just kisses
Review:
I’d been waffling between 3.5 and 4 stars (though ultimately settled on 3.5 stars – 3 stars for sites that only take full stars) for this book for multiple reasons.
*And as a disclaimer before I start listing the reasons: I am an adult reading a young adult book, but I’ve read and enjoyed many young adult books as an adult written by many different authors.*
I honestly didn’t really connect with Penny or the fake turned real relationship between her and Alexander. There were multiple times that Alexander’s dialogue/actions made me hope for their relationship, but then it would go back to not feeling it. There was also their non friendship (their mothers are friends and their families would get together for the holidays every year) and Penny’s crush on Alexander before the fake dating and it translating over into their relationship that didn’t make much sense to me (the way it was written/mentioned).
Not related to the characters/storyline: As I was reading, multiple times the same exact same descriptors/phrases were used within a few sentences of the last use and it took me out of the story each time because I thought that I accidentally backtracked in my reading. For example: (* “was floating on a cushion of air”)
“It felt like a dream, a beautiful, lucid dream in which I was floating on a cushion of air, borne along by his strong, sure steps. I was in a euphoric mood. Everything felt so perfect. I felt like I was floating on a cushion of air, borne along by his strong, sure steps.” -Chapter 17
So overall, I wasn’t really happy when I finished this book. There were some cute moments between Penny and Alexander that I really enjoyed (like their movie marathon, the dance, and a few other scenes) and that kept me reading though.
And since I’ve been wanting to read a bunch of Clara Nielsen’s books and this was one of her first ones, I am going to try again with one of her more recent releases to see if her writing changed for the better. (I’m hoping so!)
Summary:
Penny’s ex cheated on her with her best friend and yet Penny is the one being treated as a social pariah. And since her ex and her ex-best friend were her only friends, Penny just keeps to herself. After all, why would she open herself up to that kind of hurt again. But when her ex tries convincing Penny to give up the Christmas Formal tickets that she’d bought back when she was happily in love, Penny does the unthinkable and claims that she can’t as she already has a date.
Luckily, her family friend Alexander is willing to step into the role of her date. But he insists that fake dating and then amicably breaking up would not only show her ex that she moved on, but it’ll also stop the stares and whispers that have been following Penny. Plus their ‘relationship’ will get Alexander’s family to leave him alone for the holidays too. It’s a win-win situation.
But with every holiday date with Alexander, Penny is beginning to wonder if it’d be so bad to try opening up her heart to someone again…
August 14, 2023
Giving this book two stars because of the following reasons:
1) The book was full of grammatical errors, contextual errors and inconsistencies in the plot as well. (KU edition) Not sure why.
2) Two friends falling in love with each other is one of my fav tropes but here, in one scene, the heroine claims that they were just acquaintances before, and then gushes about the moments spent together in childhood.
3) The lead characters have zero chemistry. There is a scene where the hero is giving a piggyback ride to the heroine after shopping and usually such scenes tend to ooze fiery chemistry but here, it's like he is carrying a sack of flour. Same thing when they share a kiss; totally bad.
4) Her so called BFF stole the heroine's first boyfriend, lied to her, called her names and after one unconvincing sorry, the lying witch is completely forgiven. What if she goes after her second BF too?
5) I have read other books by the same author, and they all were pretty good. Not sure why this book is an exception.
1) The book was full of grammatical errors, contextual errors and inconsistencies in the plot as well. (KU edition) Not sure why.
2) Two friends falling in love with each other is one of my fav tropes but here, in one scene, the heroine claims that they were just acquaintances before, and then gushes about the moments spent together in childhood.
3) The lead characters have zero chemistry. There is a scene where the hero is giving a piggyback ride to the heroine after shopping and usually such scenes tend to ooze fiery chemistry but here, it's like he is carrying a sack of flour. Same thing when they share a kiss; totally bad.
4) Her so called BFF stole the heroine's first boyfriend, lied to her, called her names and after one unconvincing sorry, the lying witch is completely forgiven. What if she goes after her second BF too?
5) I have read other books by the same author, and they all were pretty good. Not sure why this book is an exception.
December 8, 2022
4.5 stars
I ADORED this sweet, Christmassy novel!
While she was far from perfect, Penny was a great protagonist. Her flaws were relatable, and her choices were understandable.
Alexander was SO SWEET!!!!!! He knew how to make Penny happy and knew what she needed, even when she didn't. I would have loved to see him punch Joseph, but I guess no one's perfect...
I loved the portrayal of family in this book. Both of the main characters had large families, which I have not seen too often, and both had good relationships with their siblings (which you REALLY don't see too often).
My only main complaint with the book was that there were a few grammatical errors, but they did not detract from the story too much.
Overall, I highly recommend this clean Christmas story to anyone who needs a bit of romance in their lives!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I ADORED this sweet, Christmassy novel!
While she was far from perfect, Penny was a great protagonist. Her flaws were relatable, and her choices were understandable.
Alexander was SO SWEET!!!!!! He knew how to make Penny happy and knew what she needed, even when she didn't. I would have loved to see him punch Joseph, but I guess no one's perfect...
I loved the portrayal of family in this book. Both of the main characters had large families, which I have not seen too often, and both had good relationships with their siblings (which you REALLY don't see too often).
My only main complaint with the book was that there were a few grammatical errors, but they did not detract from the story too much.
Overall, I highly recommend this clean Christmas story to anyone who needs a bit of romance in their lives!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
December 26, 2022
Pennys christmas date by clara nielsen
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Thank you to booksirens and clara nielsen for the opportunity to read this book
This is a cute and christmassy YA romance. Friends to lovers with a touch of jealous ex drama. Clara nielsen really knows how to write a male love interest that is genuinely sweet and raises the female main characters bar for men significantly higher than the previous guy.
I've given it 3 stars because I do wish it was longer so we got more build up to them actually falling for each other. The end conflict was rather predictable and I do wish the author had chosen a different direction. I also wasn't particularly a fan of the level of forgiveness of a certain character at the end. By all means forgive and let go but you don't need to be friendly.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Thank you to booksirens and clara nielsen for the opportunity to read this book
This is a cute and christmassy YA romance. Friends to lovers with a touch of jealous ex drama. Clara nielsen really knows how to write a male love interest that is genuinely sweet and raises the female main characters bar for men significantly higher than the previous guy.
I've given it 3 stars because I do wish it was longer so we got more build up to them actually falling for each other. The end conflict was rather predictable and I do wish the author had chosen a different direction. I also wasn't particularly a fan of the level of forgiveness of a certain character at the end. By all means forgive and let go but you don't need to be friendly.
December 17, 2022
I am not the demographic to read this book being over 60 years old. Nevertheless it is a sweet, romantic, high-school 'fake' dating story that leads to true caring.
I am so glad I went to girls only school in the early 70s because at times life sounds quite grim with all the passive bullying…..
The reason for the 4 stars is the story is good but the book could do with a good editor as at times names appeared to be confused and some of the grammar is lackadaisical.
Still a good read and a peep at the life of teenagers today. I add that the romance is very clean and engaging.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I am so glad I went to girls only school in the early 70s because at times life sounds quite grim with all the passive bullying…..
The reason for the 4 stars is the story is good but the book could do with a good editor as at times names appeared to be confused and some of the grammar is lackadaisical.
Still a good read and a peep at the life of teenagers today. I add that the romance is very clean and engaging.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
March 15, 2023
What do you do when the boy you thought you loved, dumps you and humiliates you? Go out with your childhood best friend on a fake dating scheme. That’s what Penny does, however Alexander, her fake boyfriend, helps her make it seem real and soon Penny is starting to fall for him. Will she realize the man she loves is the same one she grew up with? You’ll have to read to find out.
If you are a fan of second chance or new beginning romances, you’ll want to read this. Personally it’s a favorite of mine and this book got me in the Christmas spirit and some romantic feels.
I graciously received an advance e-copy from Book Sirens for review. All opinions are my own.
If you are a fan of second chance or new beginning romances, you’ll want to read this. Personally it’s a favorite of mine and this book got me in the Christmas spirit and some romantic feels.
I graciously received an advance e-copy from Book Sirens for review. All opinions are my own.
December 11, 2022
Penny's Christmas Date us a wonderful YA novel by Clara Nielsen. High School is a time for many emotions; and, when Penny discovers her best friend, Nikki, kissing her boyfriend, Joseph, life is over and Christmas is ba-humbug! I found this Christmas book to be so enjoyable with great characters and I felt realistic situations. Penny and Alexander's mothers are best friends and they have known each other since forever. If you enjoy a outstanding holiday stories that make you smile, Penny's Christmas Date is not to be missed! I received an arc for free and am leaving my review voluntarily.
December 26, 2022
A sweet young and innocent romance.
Penny is humiliated and cheated on by her boyfriend. And in the worst case, with her best friend. But to prove her ex wrong, she asks her childhood friend Alexander to be her date to Christmas formal. Him being and handling so opposite of her ex, is something Penny isn't used to. And slowly their pretended relationship grows into something real.
I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Penny is humiliated and cheated on by her boyfriend. And in the worst case, with her best friend. But to prove her ex wrong, she asks her childhood friend Alexander to be her date to Christmas formal. Him being and handling so opposite of her ex, is something Penny isn't used to. And slowly their pretended relationship grows into something real.
I am leaving this review voluntarily.
December 28, 2022
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you, Book Sirens!
This was an okay read for me. I was really easily distracted by the grammatical errors and repetitions throughout it. It didn’t help that I read a friends to lovers book before this that I loved (Lovelight Farms on KU). This felt like a journal entry instead of a book to me. I still enjoyed it, I just needed more and for it to be reviewed more thoroughly.
This was an okay read for me. I was really easily distracted by the grammatical errors and repetitions throughout it. It didn’t help that I read a friends to lovers book before this that I loved (Lovelight Farms on KU). This felt like a journal entry instead of a book to me. I still enjoyed it, I just needed more and for it to be reviewed more thoroughly.
July 9, 2025
love
This was such a cute story. Definitely realistic to high school. I took a Star off for two reasons. One there were a lot of small errors-between spelling errors- name errors- and things that didn’t add up. Also, I wasn’t a fan of Penny and Nikki’s ending. At all.
On the other hand the story was super cute and easy to get into. Shorter read. A happily ever after. Friends to lovers. Fake dating. All the feel goods
This was such a cute story. Definitely realistic to high school. I took a Star off for two reasons. One there were a lot of small errors-between spelling errors- name errors- and things that didn’t add up. Also, I wasn’t a fan of Penny and Nikki’s ending. At all.
On the other hand the story was super cute and easy to get into. Shorter read. A happily ever after. Friends to lovers. Fake dating. All the feel goods
October 13, 2025
It had the makings of being super cute childhood, best friends. But there were so many spelling errors and so many parts that didn’t make sense. One sentence she was in a sweater and the next in a sentence she was in a dress. But she didn’t change clothes. I feel like Alexander was great, but she was just all over the place. Finding this cute there was only one curse word, I think in the whole book, and only kissing very slow burn.
December 4, 2022
This was a decent read. There were a few errors with the wrong words/grammar (ex. ‘friends’ instead of ‘fingers’ in chapter 22). And I think there was a mix up with the friend character in chapter 21 when comparing Alexander and Joseph. But besides that, I enjoyed the story.
Side note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review
Side note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review
December 19, 2022
Penny's Christmas Date by Clara Nielsen is a good, and enjoyable sweet clean young adult romance read. The story has a good story line. The characters are good, and they have good chemistry. This is Alexander and Penny's story which is a childhood friends to lovers romance read. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
July 30, 2025
Needs editing badly
I feel like 3 stars is generous.
It was a sweet story, but it almost seemed like it was written by AI. It had so many errors, I lost count: typos, mixing up characters, mixing up plot, way too many random commas, randomly switching to present tense...
Please edit, people!
I feel like 3 stars is generous.
It was a sweet story, but it almost seemed like it was written by AI. It had so many errors, I lost count: typos, mixing up characters, mixing up plot, way too many random commas, randomly switching to present tense...
Please edit, people!
December 24, 2022
Lived next door to each other and their mothers were best friends
She goes looking for her boyfriend — and finds him making out with her best friend!!! And so her neighbour friend becomes her ‘fake’ boyfriend. TOTALLY loved this story—lots of unexpected things happening.
She goes looking for her boyfriend — and finds him making out with her best friend!!! And so her neighbour friend becomes her ‘fake’ boyfriend. TOTALLY loved this story—lots of unexpected things happening.
December 3, 2022
Another great romance from Clara Nielsen! It gave me all the good Christmas vibes.
December 21, 2022
A sweet young adult romantic story about Penny and Alexander and how even as they got together as a fake relationship their meant to be together.
December 24, 2022
Overall, it was a pretty fun, cute book that was in perfect time for Christmas, and I had fun reading it.
December 31, 2022
I enjoy the type of stories. Good plot, lots of emotions and good reality. Easy to read and follow. Pleasurable and relaxing.
February 26, 2024
Repeats how the moms’ are best friends in different aspects of grammatical errors. Typical boy falls for girl at the end
October 26, 2025
3.75⭐️
August 17, 2025
another re read but like- i completely forgot how good these books were!!!!! we already got a bit of penny from the last book but it’s so nice to be able to read about her story. also love how the author explored more of the big family dynamic because it was just so wholesome and sweet! ado alexander being a family friend? I LOVE IT. gonna be honest, absolutely HATE JOSEPH AND NIKKI. like idc about your TINY character arc at the end, you were a full on BULLY through the book. when alexander and penny first got together i was wary of liv because it made me think, so you only wanna be friends since she’s alexander’s girlfriend? but when continuing i realised it wasn’t like that and i love LIV!! she’s so cool, calm, badass and sweet. it’s so nice to watch as penny went from sitting with no one to being able to realise she has friends she can truly rely on. even though they technically already know each other, still loved watching them grow closer whether just at school, watching the movies, PICKING OUT HER DRESSES!!!! just such a swoon overall and i lived for every moment! their were also such funny moments which just made me laugh out loud!! loved her end like grand gesture with the snowball (i laughed so hard) and her singing to him and then them getting together!!! joseph DESERVES to end up ALONE. also watching as you CAN TELL alexander started falling for her FAST AND HARD. and at the dance? the song “LOVER” BY TAYLOR SWIFT?! MY HEART BE STILL!! love this series and am DEFINITELY reading the next one!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 5, 2024
I love how the childhood family friends get together. I also like how the friend-turned-not friend- turned friend learns the guy who cheated on her is a jerk (who is the bad one). I didn't like how she couldn't speak when the moment needed to. However, I appreciate the grand gesture she made after all his several gestures. All in all a sweet Christmas romance because I love how he helps her like Christmas again.
December 8, 2023
I really just couldn’t get into it . I was bored with 95% of the book . But everyone once in a while something cute happened.
February 26, 2024
There were so many grammatical errors and wrong words that it was hard to fully get into the book. Other than that, it was sweet and fine.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews