You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-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
emotional
funny
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I stayed up all night reading this book because I just couldn’t put it down. It was like a steamy Hallmark movie. I loved the characters and their different personalities. Another great story by Maggie Cole.
SUMMARY: Contemporary Holiday romance. Dual POV. Standalone novel.
TROPES: Fake Relationship / Fiancée, Marriage of Convenience, Grumpy / Sunshine, Enemies to Lovers, Billionaire Boyfriend, Workplace romance, Opposites Attract, Instalust, Grovelling.
SPICE: 3.5 stars (explicit / detailed s*x scenes but overall was somewhat vanilla / traditional s*x).
* * * * *
PLOT: Georgia Peach (24 years old) is a new intern at Cartwright Enterprises, where she is working to save money to establish her cupcake bakery franchise. She is walking sunshine and loves to bring her cupcakes into the office for her colleagues to enjoy. It's here that she meets her sugar hating, unlucky in love, gossip hating, grumpy boss, Sebastian Cartwright.
Sebastian (36 years old) is currently Vice President of Cartwright Enterprises and is impatiently waiting for his Father to retire so that he can become CEO. His Father issues an ultimatum, Sebastian is to return to his hometown (a cattle ranch a few hours out of Dallas) for a month (1st December to 1st January) to spend time with his big family over Christmas, otherwise his Father is retiring 2nd January and naming his brother as the new CEO. Once he agrees to return, his Mother instantly tries to set him up on dates, so he tells his Mother that he is in a relationship and he’ll bring her home for the trip.
Sebastian has had 4 failed engagements and now doesn’t believe in love at all, so decides the best way to get around town gossip is to bring home a wife, and that Georgia is perfect for the role. He proposes that Georgia marry him until January 2nd which is when they’ll annul the marriage and he’ll give her money to pay for her part in the deal. Georgia negotiates a $1m payment and accepts the business proposal (as $1m can go a long way to contribute to her bakery dreams!) but will she be able to make it to 2nd January while immersing herself in Sebastian’s family, being nice as pie to him, sharing one bedroom and participating in PDA when there’s company? Little does she know, Sebastian has requested for his Attorney to draft a loophole into the paperwork so that he won’t have to pay her anything above $100k.
* * * * *
MY THOUGHTS: The set-up was a bit over the top and the characters didn’t really seem real to me but I enjoyed the journey. I don’t think I’ve read a romance novel yet with so many different tropes ticked-off and it was a fun read.
I didn’t like that the Author chose for Sebastian to have 4 broken engagements, with all 4 women being painted as only after his family name, status and money. I feel like the point that Sebastian doesn’t believe in love could’ve been made with one or two failed relationships / engagements. For me, reading that he kept making the same mistake over and over, among other faults he has just kind of undermined his supposed ruthless business acumen and portrayed that he had a very fragile ego to be that sensitive to the town gossip. I totally get that this was a bit of a “romance reasons” plot to set-up the marriage of convenience but it was a bit over the top, but I did like it.
Georgia was kind of sold as a very strong, sure of herself heroine, but not sure that this translated this way through the whole novel. I loved Sebastian’s family, it wasn’t too many characters on screen where you had to familiarise yourself with different voices, as often there’s a lot of characters on the page which can get confusing, so I think the Author did this is a good way.
MINOR SPOILER: Sebastian also has for me a few irredeemable moments, right at the start he tries to force himself on Georgia (as he is under the impression that he is paying for her given the marriage contract and that she is the same as his previous 4 Fiancées) but also undermines her dreams. Predictably he has some moments where he realises she is more important than money and without giving away any proper spoilers, kind of disregards what she is all about to take control of her dreams again. I did however like the grovelling, but if it was me, I would’ve left him to stew for a bit longer. Also, this is minor but Sebastian kind of sold himself at the start that he was very kinky and his other relationships weren’t able to handle him but overall the sexual scenes were minor. I think they only mentioned spanking once and he grabbed her throat once. I don’t mind, but feel like the reader was set-up to expect kinkiness.
TROPES: Fake Relationship / Fiancée, Marriage of Convenience, Grumpy / Sunshine, Enemies to Lovers, Billionaire Boyfriend, Workplace romance, Opposites Attract, Instalust, Grovelling.
SPICE: 3.5 stars (explicit / detailed s*x scenes but overall was somewhat vanilla / traditional s*x).
* * * * *
PLOT: Georgia Peach (24 years old) is a new intern at Cartwright Enterprises, where she is working to save money to establish her cupcake bakery franchise. She is walking sunshine and loves to bring her cupcakes into the office for her colleagues to enjoy. It's here that she meets her sugar hating, unlucky in love, gossip hating, grumpy boss, Sebastian Cartwright.
Sebastian (36 years old) is currently Vice President of Cartwright Enterprises and is impatiently waiting for his Father to retire so that he can become CEO. His Father issues an ultimatum, Sebastian is to return to his hometown (a cattle ranch a few hours out of Dallas) for a month (1st December to 1st January) to spend time with his big family over Christmas, otherwise his Father is retiring 2nd January and naming his brother as the new CEO. Once he agrees to return, his Mother instantly tries to set him up on dates, so he tells his Mother that he is in a relationship and he’ll bring her home for the trip.
Sebastian has had 4 failed engagements and now doesn’t believe in love at all, so decides the best way to get around town gossip is to bring home a wife, and that Georgia is perfect for the role. He proposes that Georgia marry him until January 2nd which is when they’ll annul the marriage and he’ll give her money to pay for her part in the deal. Georgia negotiates a $1m payment and accepts the business proposal (as $1m can go a long way to contribute to her bakery dreams!) but will she be able to make it to 2nd January while immersing herself in Sebastian’s family, being nice as pie to him, sharing one bedroom and participating in PDA when there’s company? Little does she know, Sebastian has requested for his Attorney to draft a loophole into the paperwork so that he won’t have to pay her anything above $100k.
* * * * *
MY THOUGHTS: The set-up was a bit over the top and the characters didn’t really seem real to me but I enjoyed the journey. I don’t think I’ve read a romance novel yet with so many different tropes ticked-off and it was a fun read.
I didn’t like that the Author chose for Sebastian to have 4 broken engagements, with all 4 women being painted as only after his family name, status and money. I feel like the point that Sebastian doesn’t believe in love could’ve been made with one or two failed relationships / engagements. For me, reading that he kept making the same mistake over and over, among other faults he has just kind of undermined his supposed ruthless business acumen and portrayed that he had a very fragile ego to be that sensitive to the town gossip. I totally get that this was a bit of a “romance reasons” plot to set-up the marriage of convenience but it was a bit over the top, but I did like it.
Georgia was kind of sold as a very strong, sure of herself heroine, but not sure that this translated this way through the whole novel. I loved Sebastian’s family, it wasn’t too many characters on screen where you had to familiarise yourself with different voices, as often there’s a lot of characters on the page which can get confusing, so I think the Author did this is a good way.
MINOR SPOILER: Sebastian also has for me a few irredeemable moments, right at the start he tries to force himself on Georgia (as he is under the impression that he is paying for her given the marriage contract and that she is the same as his previous 4 Fiancées) but also undermines her dreams. Predictably he has some moments where he realises she is more important than money and without giving away any proper spoilers, kind of disregards what she is all about to take control of her dreams again. I did however like the grovelling, but if it was me, I would’ve left him to stew for a bit longer. Also, this is minor but Sebastian kind of sold himself at the start that he was very kinky and his other relationships weren’t able to handle him but overall the sexual scenes were minor. I think they only mentioned spanking once and he grabbed her throat once. I don’t mind, but feel like the reader was set-up to expect kinkiness.
cute read
Cute, fast holiday themed read.
Age gap ✔️
Enemies to lOVers✔️
Workplace romance ✔️
Fake marriage ✔️
Will read more from this author
Cute, fast holiday themed read.
Age gap ✔️
Enemies to lOVers✔️
Workplace romance ✔️
Fake marriage ✔️
Will read more from this author
Holiday Hoax
A Fake Marriage Billionaire Romance
By: Maggie Cole
Narrated by: Ava Lucas, Aiden Snow
If you want to get into the holiday spirit, look no further! Maggie Cole will grab you from the start with her fake marriage, office romance! I was prepared to enjoy this one, but I was pulled in and could not stop listening! Georgia is interning to save enough money to begin her dreams. Opening a cupcake franchise is what she wants, and with her plan in place, she has begun. Sebastian is her grumpy boss, waiting to take over the business when his father finally decides to retire. Only now there is a condition for his position as CEO, and spending a month with the family couldn't be that bad, could it? Well, if he is going to do it, he is going to bring a pretend fiance and get married while he is there to keep his mother from trying to fix him up. Georgia, or Miss Sunshine as he likes to call her, is the perfect candidate. Always seeing the silver lining in things, he knows she will be a good fit with his family for this short contract. What these two don't plan on is really liking each other. And as their feelings grow, the wedding planned and life being great, we can only imagine what is going to happen. Cole has a warm, embraceable family, a misunderstood man and a wonderfully warm and compassionate woman all packed into this fun, holiday listen. It's just what I love to hear this time of year and could not have been better.
Ok, that's not true. Aiden Snow and Ava Lucas made it even better. This team could not have been better cast for this story. I fell into their narrative and was happy to be in this world with their expressive voices. It's like an early Christmas present and one I absolutely loved!
A Fake Marriage Billionaire Romance
By: Maggie Cole
Narrated by: Ava Lucas, Aiden Snow
If you want to get into the holiday spirit, look no further! Maggie Cole will grab you from the start with her fake marriage, office romance! I was prepared to enjoy this one, but I was pulled in and could not stop listening! Georgia is interning to save enough money to begin her dreams. Opening a cupcake franchise is what she wants, and with her plan in place, she has begun. Sebastian is her grumpy boss, waiting to take over the business when his father finally decides to retire. Only now there is a condition for his position as CEO, and spending a month with the family couldn't be that bad, could it? Well, if he is going to do it, he is going to bring a pretend fiance and get married while he is there to keep his mother from trying to fix him up. Georgia, or Miss Sunshine as he likes to call her, is the perfect candidate. Always seeing the silver lining in things, he knows she will be a good fit with his family for this short contract. What these two don't plan on is really liking each other. And as their feelings grow, the wedding planned and life being great, we can only imagine what is going to happen. Cole has a warm, embraceable family, a misunderstood man and a wonderfully warm and compassionate woman all packed into this fun, holiday listen. It's just what I love to hear this time of year and could not have been better.
Ok, that's not true. Aiden Snow and Ava Lucas made it even better. This team could not have been better cast for this story. I fell into their narrative and was happy to be in this world with their expressive voices. It's like an early Christmas present and one I absolutely loved!
Sunshine for Mr. Smooth Moves
This! So much, this! ❤
I love everything about this book! I love that Sebastian has met his match when Georgia stumbled into his life. These two are opposites in so many ways, but they mesh perfectly... well, most of the time.
This book had me laughing and crying, as well as my heart breaking. I love when he really pays attention, gets things right and celebrates his successes. Of course, they both get other things really right - wowza!
This! So much, this! ❤
I love everything about this book! I love that Sebastian has met his match when Georgia stumbled into his life. These two are opposites in so many ways, but they mesh perfectly... well, most of the time.
I don't think I've ever encountered anyone so boldly nasty upon first meeting yet so sinfully seductive at the same time.
-- Georgia Peach
This book had me laughing and crying, as well as my heart breaking. I love when he really pays attention, gets things right and celebrates his successes. Of course, they both get other things really right - wowza!
If you need a spicy Christmas Hallmark movie - esque book in your life, this book is the perfect book for you. Holiday Hoax is a great fake marriage holiday story that stars a wealthy billionaire and a sassy heroine.
Georgia's dream is to open a bakery, so she starts a new job to save enough money to make that dream happen. She meets Sebastian at the new job, and he gives ms her a proposition that she cannot refuse. Sebastian and Georgia agreed to get married so he could become the CEO of his family’s company and Georgia could get the money to purchase a building for her bakery. Their phony marriage becomes real once they realize that they have undeniable chemistry with each other.
The entire book was so good, and I loved how Sebastian and Georgia are the total opposites but complement each other well. I highly recommend this holiday book!
Georgia's dream is to open a bakery, so she starts a new job to save enough money to make that dream happen. She meets Sebastian at the new job, and he gives ms her a proposition that she cannot refuse. Sebastian and Georgia agreed to get married so he could become the CEO of his family’s company and Georgia could get the money to purchase a building for her bakery. Their phony marriage becomes real once they realize that they have undeniable chemistry with each other.
The entire book was so good, and I loved how Sebastian and Georgia are the total opposites but complement each other well. I highly recommend this holiday book!