The Spanish Love Deception meets The Holiday in this fake dating romance about a city girl and country boy’s lives colliding at Christmas.
City girl Tia Solanké is dreading the festive period. She’s on a break with her boyfriend and the last thing she wants to do is spend Christmas away from London. Arriving at Saiyan Hedge Farm, Tia takes an instant disliking to it. She falls in horse manure, is chased by sheep and the Wi-Fi sucks. How is she meant to stalk her ex now and concoct a foolproof plan to win him back?
Country boy Quincy Parker and his family run the farm, and this year they’ve been selected to host the biggest event in the town’s calendar – the Winter Ball. Preparations are underway, and Quincy is working around the clock to make it a success. The only problem is, he’s told everyone he has a date to the ball, when in reality that couldn’t be further from the truth.
At first, Tia and Quincy don’t see eye to eye, until they realise they both have something to gain by pretending to be a couple. But when a snowstorm threatens to cancel the Winter Ball, their fake relationship is put to the test. Will Tia and Quincy be able to keep up the pretence and save the day, or will real feelings get in the way?
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
*This book was sent to me by Simon & Schuster via Literally PR, please read our disclaimer policy for more information.
The Review:
Abiola Bello is back with another cutesy warm Christmas romance and I’m so here for it.
After reading her previous book ‘Love in Winter Wonderland’, I knew this next book would be the perfect read in the lead-up to Christmas. And I can safely say I wasn’t disappointed. I inhaled this book and quickly fell in love with the characters.
“The first time you walked through the door, I remember thinking, Who is that girl with the most perfect face? I was drawn to you from the moment I laid eyes on you.”
It’s cute, cosy and such a light-hearted read. You’ll laugh out loud at the pop references, easy dialogue and short chapters that make this book incredibly easy to read. It’s passionate and lively and the setting is lovely! The whole book takes places in a small village town called White Oak, in the English countryside. It’s different and I think that’s why I adored it even more.
Tropes:
👩🏾❤️👨🏾 Fake Dating
👿 Troublesome exes
😍 He falls first
⛸️ Ice-Skating
🧼 Hot Tub
💃🏾 A Winter Ball
We’re introduced to Tia and Quincy separately very quickly. Quincy is without a doubt, ‘the nice guy’. The lover boy who gets done so dirty. His kindness is abused and you can’t help but adore him. He helps out on his family farm. He’s kept quiet about the very thing that broke his heart because of how it makes other people look. He’s someone that puts his happiness last.
Tia is a bit more headstrong than him. She’s a typical city girl. Not used to spending hours away from her phone and with animals. She’s determined to keep her boyfriend, Mike, despite him saying he wants a break. At times, she can come across as a bit of brat. But the more she spends time with Quincy and away from London, the more you fall in love with her. It was adorably sweet.
In every sense, her and Quincy are the complete opposites.
I’m a huge fan of ‘fake dating’ tropes and this was no different. With this dual pov, it’s so much fun to see situations and events from Tia and Quincy’s perspective. Abiola was really good at doing this, often jumping between the two with very short chapters.
I actually liked the pop references and there’s LOADS in this one. From references to music such as Wizkid and Burna Boy to Netflix. It’s done really well and honestly, I normally cringe. But yet it felt the music was picked deliberately, to add to the tone of the book and serving to facilitate the love story between these two characters – but in a extremely modern way.
“You have to believe that in there, not because some boy tells you, but because you know it to be true. You can’t rely on boys to bring you happiness, Tia.”
My favourite thing about this book was the family dynamics and I think they were written extremely well. Both Tia and Quincy had a very close-knit family and the characters are well fleshed out. And the parents were actually parenting? It sounds ridiculous but I actually expected the parents to be lenient in order to serve the storyline. And was really really surprised when that wasn’t the case. It feels incredibly more realistic if I’m being honest.
Both characters deal with insecurities and feeling as if they’re ‘good enough’ in relationships. The temptation to compare yourself to everyone and anyone around you is strife in today’s society with the popularity of social media. It manifests in different way for both characters but it’s such a common feeling that I’m sure many young people share. Tia, especially, was very relatable. I truly felt for her.
Abiola mentions in the acknowledgements of this book how she wanted to really delve into that saying ‘the nice guy finishes last‘ and prove that they definitely don’t. And normally, I will scream the LOUDEST that the self-proclaimed nice guys are the ones you should run away from.
Chances are he will stomp all over your heart.
However, Quincy is very much a ‘nice guy’ and, most importantly, not a self proclaimed one either. His kindness was so refreshing and it’s so easy to see how that can be manipulated. But yet, it was nice to see him meet Tia, who could also relate to some degree. It just makes SO much sense that they get together.
This is the perfect read for those cosy evenings when it’s cold outside and you want to curl up under a blanket with a cup of hot chocolate.
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