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A review by clioreads
Holiday Hoax by Maggie Cole
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
The ridiculously named Georgia Peach catches her new boss's eye, even though he is a jaded sourpuss with four failed engagements under his belt, and Georgia bakes cupcakes and ... well, actually, she doesn't have much going for her beyond the cupcakes. The boss, Sebastian, has been running his father's company for ten years and is in line to be named CEO, but Daddy threatens to name his brother CEO instead unless Sebastian drops everything at work and goes home for a month. Clearly, this is a super healthy, well-adjusted family we're dealing with here.
Well, Sebastian just can't stand the idea of his momma trying to set him up with every single woman in the county for a month, so rather than, say, talking to her, he decides to preempt her matchmaking by bringing home Georgia. Only it wouldn't be enough for Georgia just to pose as the Fake Girlfriend for a few weeks; Sebastian says it will make his parents so happy if they actually get married at the family compound at Christmastime... and then they'll get an annulment on January 2nd, once dear old Dad has signed off on the CEO thing. Because that won't upset the folks, I'm sure.
Since Georgia is a Nice Girl, she wouldn't ordinarily go along with such a devious plan, except that Sebastian has agreed to pay her a million dollars. Fear not, our Nice Girl doesn't actually care about money; she just plans to use the $1m to start a cupcake franchise to honor the memory of her dearly departed Grammy. Unbeknownst to her, Sebastian, stand up guy that he is,has had his lawyer work a loophole into the prenup so that Georgia won't actually get the money when they annul the marriage . (Georgia is supposed to be shrewd enough to negotiate Sebastian up from his original offer of $100,000 to $1,000,000, and to have a brilliant plan for launching a cupcake franchise in January, the month when the whole world resolves to give up carbs, but somehow she's not sharp enough to notice that the prenup screws her over .)
Of course they get to Sebastian's family ranch, and his family is Just Lovely, and Sebastian begins to realize Georgia is Not Like Other Girls, and the wedding and honeymoon are a perfect fairytale (except for the whole Fake thing). But then Georgia overhears Sebastian talking to someone else, misunderstands what she hears, and rather than have an adult conversation to clarify the situation, she throws a grenade at their relationship and flees home for a Sad Christmas Alone in her Crappy Apartment. Because Sebastian is Fabulously Wealthy, he tries to win her back with Wildly Expensive Things, but somehow money can't solve this problem. All seems absolutely hopeless, until they finally grow up and Use Their Words like they should have done from the start. How unexpected!
Well, Sebastian just can't stand the idea of his momma trying to set him up with every single woman in the county for a month, so rather than, say, talking to her, he decides to preempt her matchmaking by bringing home Georgia. Only it wouldn't be enough for Georgia just to pose as the Fake Girlfriend for a few weeks; Sebastian says it will make his parents so happy if they actually get married at the family compound at Christmastime... and then they'll get an annulment on January 2nd, once dear old Dad has signed off on the CEO thing. Because that won't upset the folks, I'm sure.
Since Georgia is a Nice Girl, she wouldn't ordinarily go along with such a devious plan, except that Sebastian has agreed to pay her a million dollars. Fear not, our Nice Girl doesn't actually care about money; she just plans to use the $1m to start a cupcake franchise to honor the memory of her dearly departed Grammy. Unbeknownst to her, Sebastian, stand up guy that he is,
Of course they get to Sebastian's family ranch, and his family is Just Lovely, and Sebastian begins to realize Georgia is Not Like Other Girls, and the wedding and honeymoon are a perfect fairytale (except for the whole Fake thing). But then Georgia overhears Sebastian talking to someone else, misunderstands what she hears, and rather than have an adult conversation to clarify the situation, she throws a grenade at their relationship and flees home for a Sad Christmas Alone in her Crappy Apartment. Because Sebastian is Fabulously Wealthy, he tries to win her back with Wildly Expensive Things, but somehow money can't solve this problem. All seems absolutely hopeless, until they finally grow up and Use Their Words like they should have done from the start. How unexpected!