A review by bellesmoma2021
The Holiday Stand-In by Kortney Keisel

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

4.0

I had my eye on The Holiday Stand-In by Kortney Keisel before it released. The cover is what drew me. It looks super cute, and it gives off the right kind of Christmas vibes. In case you’re wondering what the right kind of Christmas vibes are, for me, it’s everything NOT Hallmark. After I read the synopsis I thought, “This sounds like a story I would enjoy.” And enjoy it I did! I am not a fan of the character-swap trope. The lying and the cheating turn me off immediately. I told myself that if these two items were not addressed adequately in the book, I would DNF it right away. Keisel does a great job of tackling the lying and the potential for cheating throughout the story. She demonstrates how lies, small and big, are always problematic. Guilt festers and eats at us, and we truly are not set free until we get everyone in our life on the same correct page. Keisel also illustrates how cheating is more than just physical. She shows how foolish and naive it is to even suggest a swap in a relationship and expect to come out the other side unphased, unharmed, and unaffected. Summer and Caleb, our main characters, are actually quite strong morally and do everything in their human power to stay faithful to Justin, Caleb’s twin brother and Summer’s boyfriend. They both know Justin’s swap idea is dangerous and tell him his plan is foolish. But he is Justin — read the book, and you’ll understand what I mean by that — he thinks his plan is foolproof.

In a perfect world, Summer and Caleb would have said no immediately, but that would leave us readers with no story. So Summer and Caleb do become a fake couple. They do this in order to appease Summer’s family. Summer is the baby of the family with four older sisters who are each happily married and with children. Summer’s family is loud and quirky and unique, and they love BIG and BOLD. But they lay it on thick where Summer’s relationships are concerned. And this is the foundation of every single complication in this story. Well-meaning, elderly family members want the best for their children and grandchildren. But they often go about this the wrong way — with guilt, pressure, and double-speak. They’ll say things like, “All in God’s time” and in the next breath, “What’s wrong with you? Why don’t you have a boyfriend yet?” It is this pressure that causes Summer to enter into a fake relationship in the first place. It’s crazy the lengths we’ll go to in order to appease our loved ones. As you can probably imagine, things get pretty crazy for Summer, Caleb, and Justin, but I found the journey well worth the read!

The Holiday Stand-In is an excellent story. I enjoyed every single minute, and I’m sad my time with these characters is over. If you’re a fan of well-written, fast paced, and highly engaging Holiday Rom-Coms with substance, then this is a story I highly recommend.

I purchased a copy of this novel in eBook form from Amazon.com on December 2, 2023, in order to review. In no way has this influenced my review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.