Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Lovelight Farms

I went into this book with high expectations, because so many people love this book. Although I did enjoy it, I didn’t love it as much as the general public seems to.

This book is a friends two lovers story about a girl who is trying to save her farm business by winning a contest. In her application, she wrote that her and her boyfriend started this business, and she asked her friend to be her fake boyfriend. But by the end it doesn’t seem so fake.

I’m not gonna lie, I am not a huge fan of friends to lovers. I tend to find a lot of those romances to be a little boring and flat, and that’s what this one felt to me. Although the characters threw out, the book are all enjoyable, unique and funny in their own way, I just wasn’t invested in the main characters, romance, plot line.

I listened to this book via audiobook, and I think that negatively impact my enjoyment of this book. The narrator, in short terms, was not good. She barely changed her voice for any characters, and she was very monotone and flat while she read the story. I think if I read this book physically I would’ve enjoyed it a lot better.

I do think I will try another book by this author. If I read it physically as opposed to the audiobook, and if it’s not friends to lovers, I might enjoy her books more, so I look forward to trying something new from her.

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mandathebiblio's review against another edition

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lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Here's the thing. I did enjoy this book. But there were a few times where Harry Potter was mentioned and in a book released in 2021, that's just not going to do it for me. It took me out of the story and I just found myself cringing and just frustrated.

But. overall, I did enjoy the book. It was a cute Christmas romance and I had a lot of fun hearing these characters interacting. That said, I feel the "conflict" they had that all romances have was just... meh. It. was miscommunication to a level I just found frustrating and led me to just not really feel moved by the makeup. Which really took away from the relationship between these two characters. I can't say much more without spoiling, so I'll leave it at that.

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lhouston87's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Super cute story, mild spice.

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immovabletype's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I can see how this won't be for everyone. it's slow-paced and for the most part low conflict. innately so given this is friends to lovers, but the author also mostly* nips misunderstandings in the bud by actually having her characters communicate. (I don't mind miscommunication, it's human, but the lack of it here makes sense given the kind of long running intimacy the author is trying to build.) for my part, I loved this. friends to lovers is my jam, and I really, really jive with the writing style, the way Borison lends detail to action in a way that makes the characters come to life so vividly. the relationship feels complex enough that I feel like I could reread this and get things out of it that I didn't the first time, which isn't something I'd generally say about romance. weirdly, I really connected with our main character's business ownership woes and how it can be hard to balance your vision with financial realities. the steam was very, very hot even though it's probably a 4/5 spice level. my only quibble is that I always have to suspend my disbelief when the ensemble cast is overly invested in the outcome of the relationship, and there's a lot of that here. people are just not this invested in other people's romantic relationships unless they're your mother. it's silly hijinks in a novel that otherwise feels fairly grounded, so it pulled me out of the atmosphere a bit. however, it's still very cozy and lovely and sexy, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of this series.

there is a third act conflict/"break up" but the misunderstanding involved is rooted in the characterization.

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sxndaze's review against another edition

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lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

it’s a fun lighthearted holiday read! the premise is sweet and the characters are too, but they’re also a little bland. the basis of their relationship lacks substance, but they’re cute and they work. the sex scenes are pretty decent too.

you can definitely tell all the side characters are being set up for their own story down the line though, and it’s a little funny to notice.

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jkneebone's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

Lovelight Farms is a sweet, if predictable, Christmas romance with a surprisingly well-developed side plot about the female main character's business. Stella, the narrator, owns a Christmas tree farm (the titular Lovelight Farms) which, despite being well regarded by everyone in her small Maryland town, is in financial trouble - inherited debt from the previous owner, mysteriously dying trees in one of the pastures, and missing vendor deliveries have left Stella scrambling for a way to save her dream business. The answer comes in the form of an Instagram competition - Stella enters the farm to win a feature and a cash prize from a travel influencer, and they make the cut as semifinalists, meaning Evelyn (the influencer) will be coming to visit.

The only issue? Stella lied on her application - she said she owned the farm with her boyfriend, but she is decidedly single. Too far in to back out, she gets her best friend Luka to pretend to be her boyfriend while Evelyn is visiting...and for several weeks leading up to that, in order to convince everyone in their close-knit, gossipy small town. Unfortunately, Stella has been in love with Luka for most of their decade-long friendship (and he is obviously in love with her too), so complications develop and lines are blurred as they commit to "trying out" the time as boyfriend and girlfriend instead of best friends. If you've read literally any romance novel, I'm sure you can imagine where things go from here.

Lovelight Farms hits the spot if you are looking for a sweet holiday read. I genuinely enjoyed the friendship-turned-romantic-relationship between Stella and Luka. It was really obvious from the beginning that he was head over heels for her, but the author managed to pull it off in a way that didn't make me want to shake Stella for being so obtuse - it almost felt like she knew on some level, but wasn't willing to accept it. I liked the cast of supporting characters, both on the farm and in the town of Inglewild (sp - I listed to the audiobook), and how they were cheering Stella and Luka on. The Christmas vibes were also very good - although the book starts in October, it takes you through November and into December, and it's a great wintry read for sure.

However, I did have some issues with this one, which is why it's only getting 2.5 stars from me - some of these are personal taste issues, but some are more structural.

My first issue is specifically because I listened to the audiobook, but there were times when it was really hard for me to figure out whether Stella was speaking aloud or thinking. The book was written in first person, and a lot of the time Stella would think something more honest or snarky before she said something different, but a lack of dialogue tags and the narrator not differentiating between Stella's internal and external narration made it hard to decipher when that was happening. It probably wouldn't have been an issue if I was eye-reading instead of listening to the book, and generally the narrator did a good job, but I wish someone in the production process had realized this would be an issue, and either had the author add more dialogue tags, or encouraged the narrator to differentiate Stella's speaking voice. It pulled me out of the listening groove, because I had to think about if Stella had spoken out loud or simply thought something.

My second structural quibble is with the sex scenes. Now admittedly some of this may be because I was trying to listen to a pretty spicy audiobook while visiting family, but for me the sex scenes just felt...unbalanced? Certain things which I would have glossed over were given a lot of specific description, while other things that IMO warranted more description were handled very vaguely. I don't really care whether an author chooses to handle those scenes in a super detailed way, or a less explicit fashion, but they need to commit to one approach rather than changing tact halfway through.

For example, in the most climactic sex scene, we got multiple sentences on Luka removing Stella's bra, which I didn't need, but I couldn't tell when he actually started fucking her?

It's more personal preference, but I also didn't like the way that light sexism and gender roles were used as a stand-in for men caring about women. This wasn't often a problem between Stella and Luka (or I probably would have DNFed), but in Stella's interactions with the other male characters, especially the town sheriff Dane, it felt like the author was relying too heavily on outdated male/female dynamics to get across a point which could have been shown another way. The idea is that Dane cares about Stella and is something of a father figure to her - great - but that's shown through him forbidding her from going after a trespasser because (implied) she is a fragile woman. A few-paragraph side plot to show us that Dane was gay didn't make this any more palatable.

Other minor complaints included the glorification of law enforcement (I get that it's set in a small town, but in 2023 I don't really want to read about the kindly town sheriff) and the introduction of too many side characters that didn't make a second appearance. The side plot about Lovelight Farms being sabotaged was interesting, but I didn't love how it wrapped up

even though I saw it coming, on a personal level I am slightly offended that the librarian was the villain of the piece

. I also liked the interpersonal dynamics between Stella, Beckett, and Leila(sp), and I wish that we had gotten more screen time/resolution between the three of them at the end.

They had only just forgiven her for not telling them about the farm's financial difficulties, how will they react to hearing she got them disqualified from the contest for lying??

Despite my quibbles and some plot holes (it wasn't clear until the end of the book how long Stella had even owned Lovelight Farms), I was invested enough in finishing the book to renew it from the library. The relationship between Stella and Luka is quite lovely, tender and sweet, and since it is (rightfully) the centerpiece of the story, I can overlook some other issues. The Christmas vibes were also very good. If you're looking for a wintry holiday romance and are perhaps less annoyed by certain writing choices than I am, I think you'll like this one. (I would say, though, read the physical copy and not the audiobook, and you'll probably avoid some confusion.)

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cielosiluminado's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

one of the best (best) friends-to-lovers books i've ever read. seriously, it's beautifully written.

b.k. borison has quickly become on of my favorite authors to read.

read if you like:
♡ holiday season
♡ (best) friends-to-lovers
♡ small town
♡ fake dating
♡ found family

my only complaint with this book is that, apart from the epilogue, it was written only in the fmc's pov. i would've loved to read about the mmc's thoughts and pov.

from the beginning, the atmosphere in the small town of inglewild felt calm, familiar. so whimsical and cozy.

now let's talk about estelle "stella / la la" bloom and luka peters-russo.

it all started because stella lied on an application. to save her christmas tree farm. fake date at a chance to win $100K. and in her mind, she hoped by fake dating her best friend, it'd also help her to get him "out of her system". two birds, one stone. oh, how wrong she was. it backfired, hard.

even though they were fake dating, the romantic vibe the two main characters immediately gave off was… *chefs kiss* the mutual pining, longing, lust and sexual tension.

the reason for how quickly and easily they slipped into fake lovers is because their friendship was already close, safe, wholesome… intense.

He's more than my best friend—he's tradition and familiarity.

i loved how we got flashbacks of how they were always there for one another throughout the years – close to a decade!! – and how their friendship transformed and flourished into a romantic relationship. it made it all the more genuine. it made me root for them so hard.

That I've liked him forever, and loved him just as long.

i have no idea how they managed to keep each other in the friend zone for years when they were both so desperate for one another. especially when the whole town knew! literally, everyone knew, except themselves. sometimes i really wanted to freak out knock stella upside the head, or yell at her, to stop being silly and be honest about her feelings to luka and tell him the truth. it was so rewarding as a reader when he finally bit the bullet… and well the rest is history.

I’m going to love her in all the quiet ways, the slow ways, the loud and obnoxious ways.

safe to say, i wanted to stay forever in the small town of inglewild. i loved the wacky, supportive community. not only did i adore stella and luka's love story in the end, but i also love the little family and trio that is stella, beckett, and layla of lovelight farms.

i'm so excited to read evelyn and beckett's story—In the Weeds—next.

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bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

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lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I enjoyed the found family aspect and the relationships Stella has with different townspeople!

I loved Beckett and Layla! They were so fun and I can’t wait to read their books in the series, hopefully enjoying them more. I also loved Luka’s interactions with his family and wish we had more of that!

I wish it had also explored Stella’s issues with her dad more as it’s brought up in the beginning but never really addressed ever again? It felt kind of pointless to introduce him and that storyline but then abandon it by the second half.

I also usually prefer romances with switching POVs to see both sides but Borison did a great job of showing Luka’s feelings even through Stella’s own POV.

The pacing was okay. It was a lot of slow build up just for everything (conflict wise) to explode and be solved, all within the last third of the novel.

The romance was cute but towards the end I wanted to shake Stella 😅 She was being so frustrating!

Overall it’s cute, fun story that was a quick and easy read! It’s not a favorite for me and didn’t make me swoon or smile as much as I usually do with romances but I’m interested to read more from Borison. Recommend for anyone who wants an easy read with a Hallmark type holiday romance 🎄

Tropes: friends to lovers, fake dating, found family, small town

Spice: 🌶️ (1.5/3)

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