Laurel Grant works as the social media manager for Buckeye State of Mind, an Ohio tourism magazine and website. She is most definitely not an owner of a farm…but one tiny misunderstanding leads her boss, Gilbert, to think she owns her twin sister Holly’s farm just outside of Columbus. Laurel only handles the social media for the farm, but she’s happy to keep her little white lie going if it means not getting fired.

And keep it going she must when Gilbert, recently dumped by his wife, invites himself over for the farm’s big holiday dinner (as advertised on Meadow Rise Farm’s Instagram, thanks to Laurel herself). Laurel immediately goes into panic mode to figure out how she can trick Gilbert into thinking she’s basically the Martha Stewart of rural Ohio and keep her job in the process.

Laurel and Holly come up with a plan–all Laurel has to do is pretend to own the farm for one dinner. But when Laurel shows up at the farm, an unwelcome guest is there: Max Beckett, her nemesis since Holly’s wedding. The annoyingly attractive man she hates will be posing as Laurel’s husband just for the evening, but when a snowstorm traps them all for the entire weekend, Laurel is going to have to figure out how to survive with her job and dignity intact. Whatever the case, this promises to be the most eventful Christmas in ages…

This is one of the cheesiest romance books that I’ve ever read. At times, it was hard to read and continue because it became too much. This was over-the-top cheese with an extra side of cheesiness times two. But if you like that much cringe and sweetness, then you may enjoy this book. For me, it was just mediocre. 

I intentionally picked up this book because it’s set in the Columbus, OH area, and the author is from Columbus, and I’m originally from Columbus. So I was excited to read a story based on my hometown, but unfortunately, it didn’t feel much like Ohio. This story could’ve been set anywhere in the north with a farm and snow. I was hoping to read references to places in Columbus that I knew or heard of or read about Ohio culture that I could relate to, but it was very minimal, which was disappointing. 

If you’ve ever watched the old classic holiday movie, Christmas in Connecticut, this is basically a retelling of that story but with the enemies-to-lovers romance trope. It was very predictable, but it was fine because there were many humorous sequences as the family tried to keep up the charade of Laurel and Max being married, having kids, and owning a farm. I always enjoy the fake dating/marriage trope because there are usually funny antics that happen, and this story is no exception. It’s one disaster after another that kept the story entertaining and interesting. It did make me smile many times, and kept me wondering what was going to happen next.  

However, I had a problem with Laurel. She kept protesting about Max staying with them and being in the role of her husband because she doesn’t like him due to something she heard him say at her sister’s wedding years prior, and we don’t get the full story until almost the end of the book. So for the majority of the story, we don’t know why Laurel hates Max so much. Usually, I really enjoy the miscommunication trope, but it wasn’t executed very well in this book. I found myself getting impatient with the lack of details and how Laurel was acting the whole time. Her meanness felt unnecessary and didn’t make me like her character as much as I would’ve liked her. At times, I felt sorry for Max and the way she was treating him. 

There’s also not a lot of romance for a quirky romcom, which was disappointing. I like to root for the couple to get together in the end, but in this case, I didn’t really care if they did or didn’t. Both Laurel and Max were decent characters to like, but I wasn’t overly invested in them and couldn’t relate to them. So when it ended, I was glad it was over and ready to move on.