Ashley Shepherd

Olivia Langley is the human embodiment of Christmas cheer, and she has absolutely no problem spreading it around for all to hear.Christmas sweaters? She has twenty. Christmas cookies? She'll take three dozen. Christmas movies? Yeah, she's seen them all. So it's no surprise when she's put in charge of Loveridge & McGowan's holiday festivities. Secret Santas? Yep. Ice skating? Of course. Holiday trivia? Duh. Christmas-themed bar crawl? That's one big jingle bell hell yes.Kissing her boss at a Christmas tree lighting in front of his ex-girlfriend? Well... it is the season of giving. And Olivia does not come with a gift receipt. No exchanges. No returns. No refunds. All sales are final.In an effort to ungrinch the grinchiest man she's ever met, Olivia enlists herself, Santa's Executive Helper, to scheme up a plan that includes sleigh rides, snow days, and one too many mistletoe kisses, which certainly gets Asher's tinsel in a tangle. She's pretty sure that she sleighed this whole fake relationship thing.Well... until she realizes there's nothing fake about her feelings for Asher, and suddenly tangled tinsel, unsolicited Christmas trees, and celebrity heartthrobs are the least of her worries.A fake relationship to lovers holiday romance!

Faking Under the Mistletoe

Darshini ✨

arwen

Ena Kalkan

i actually really liked this book! not gonna lie, some parts of this book felt sort of like a harry styles fanfiction and i'm inclined to believe maybe it was one at first? lol nevertheless, it was a cute and quick read! i absolutely loved olivia and asher's dynamic. the whole fake-dating paired with a little bit of enemies-to-lovers sprinkled in was most definitely it. 👌🏻

celene

they are so cute and soft and for what??? 😩

Liv and Asher had a cute relationship. Asher is Liv’s boss who she fake dates to make his ex jealous. All of this is happening during the holiday season so it is filled with holiday cuteness. Liv has a terrible friend named Bree who was literally about to allow her to get into the cab with a man alone while she was completely wasted. Asher stopped Liv. Bree got mad at Asher. I understand we were supposed to forgive Bree but Bree said some really mean things about Liv. Joey should’ve been a bigger part of the story. She was Liv’s roommate and more of a friend to Olivia than Bree ever was. Asher has the cutest niece named Chloe who adores him and Olivia and even during their third act breakup Olivia still went to Chloe’s recital. There were some really cute parts of this book and I highlighted a lot of them. It took me a while to read this book but at the same time at one point I was reading three books at once so I think that’s part of it. Asher and Olivia ended up getting engaged and it was in a cute way so I am happy with the ending. I do wish Olivia was closed as a friend with Joey though. It seemed like Joey really wanted to be her friend and she just mainly seemed interested in being friends with Bree who was arguably the fakest character in the whole novel 

Amanda Autumn Berrey

Taniareads 

i haven't laughed (out loud) this many times in a book this year holy crap olivia is a hilarious MC. and this was overall such a fun read, I love fake dating tropes with my entire soul

Nikki

olivia langley you are my best friend and the best thing to ever happen to this book

Tatiana

Although I do feel like the story could have used less obstacles between the two characters’ relationship, I have absolutely love reading this book.

I was hesitant at first, not sure the writing would actually resonate with me. However, I’m very glad I kept on going because the banter between Olivia and Asher is so good. I have laughed out loud more than a few times.

If you’re looking for a cute and funny read with the grumpy/sunshine, boss/employee, fake-dating, and kind-of-enemies to lovers tropes to read during the holiday season (or not, I’m not judging), I definitely recommend you check out this one!

TW: sexual assault and death of a parent.

Sofie

Is it possible to enjoy a book immensely and still be hyper-critical of it?

Because that's where I am.

4 stars because, like I said, this was a fun read. I loved the witty banter, I loved Olivia and her confidence. I loved watching her melt Asher's frosty exterior. In fact, this book reminded me a lot of The Hating Game, from the hate-to-love dynamic to the workplace romance, even down to a lot of the wit.

But.

A few things that left a sour taste in my mouth. Spoilers to come.

1. I didn't like the intern-boss power dynamic. Regardless of Asher's true intentions and the fact that Olivia, especially in the beginning, was making the moves, it left a sour taste in my mouth. All the "Ms. Langley" "Mr. McGowan" business, all the workplace events where they cross a line, it just didn't sit right. I wish that Olivia had been an intern and Asher could have been a son of the boss, no official job at the company, helping out around Christmas time.

2. This might be me nitpicking, but I also felt the constant reminders that Olivia ate so many carbs - bagels, donuts, brownies, mac and cheese, grilled cheese, granola balls, cookies... the list goes on - was a little... "not like other girls". I love a character who doesn't fit the mold, and obviously the point was to really nail down that Olivia is not like the girls Asher has dated in the past, but it was over the top. Constant reminders that she's "soft" and "squishy" and hates exercise and has no intention on changing (yet let's not get too ahead of ourselves, because of course despite all this she was still drop dead sexy and has another character drooling over her yada yada).. She's so ~different~ from other girls!

3. I get this is part of the whole "melting his frosty exterior" thing, but Asher in the beginning is a straight up d*ck. And not "I'm trying to hide my true feelings for this girl" d*ck, but like, a genuine, sh*tty boss abusing his position.


(view spoiler)[

Quote:
“When I got the internship, I told HR that I couldn’t do late nights on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. They said it wouldn’t be an issue.”
“Of course it’s an issue,” he huffs and takes another bite of a peppermint hot chocolate cupcake. His face puckers again. “Because if you don’t do it, then I have to do it, and I would much rather get my wisdom teeth extracted without anesthesia than moderate a reading about nail polish.”

And then, when she leaves that event she said she couldn't do in the first place to make it to her other job, this happens: 

Quote: 
“My phone buzzes in my bag. It’s Asher. He’s called me eight times.
You seriously left?
Do you have any idea what I’m dealing with right now?
A menopausal momager from the seventh circle of hell.
I’m trying to watch Hamilton!”

I get Shepherd is trying to be funny, but Asher just seemed like a as*hole. I wouldn't have given him a chance like Olivia did. 

There are more examples, but I'm sure you'll read them for yourselves.

I also thought the whole story would be a little.. slower? If that makes sense. The story quickly geared up to the whole "fake dating" to real feelings (we get their first real ~night together~ less than halfway through the book). I usually enjoy more of a build up.

And then, the big fight happens just halfway through, and we get a full half novel of miscommunication and drama until they finally make up and get together. It was an odd story structure.

 (hide spoiler)]

Anyway, still a really enjoyable read. Asher doesn't top Josh Templeman in my book, but I enjoyed the Olivia/Asher dynamic enough to give the book 4 stars. Also, who can resist a good holiday novel?

Caitlyn DeRouin

tws for sexual assault and mentions of rape (which the author does warn about at the beginning of the book which I am appreciative of)

Olivia is a bubbly twenty-two-year-old interning at a PR firm who loves Christmas and has set up a bunch of Christmas/Holiday related activities for the month of December. Her boss, twenty-seven-year-old Asher is the absolute opposite of her. He's moody, cranky, and definitely not feeling the Christmas spirit the same way that Olivia is. At one of the events planned, Olivia and Asher spot Asher's ex-girlfriend, Francesca, looking blissfully in love with her new boyfriend, which leads to Olivia and Asher pretending to be in a relationship.

This book was enjoyable, but not what I had expected. I love the faking dating trope, especially when there's a little bit of the enemies to lovers type of thing in there (Asher and Olivier aren't necessarily enemies, he more finds her a bit annoying and over the top) and Faking Under the Mistletoe definitely delivers on that, but I feel like the first half of this book and the second half of it are two completely different stories. It starts off pretty cute and lighthearted, Olivia and Asher have some great banter and their relationship is steadily growing and you're totally waiting for them to get together for real, and then about halfway through the book, we find out that one of the clients at the PR firm that they work for has been covering up the fact that one of their top clients has a history of sexual assault. Really the entire tone of the book shifts then and it's no longer this cute fake dating Christmas story. I do think that the subject matter was handled well. Olivia calls out a lot of the unwanted sexual advances that she's had to deal with throughout her life, and the abuse that the client was inflicting was exposed. But I felt that it was completely out of place in this story that was being told at the beginning.

That being said, I did read the book in one sitting, and there were definitely aspects that I really enjoyed but I was not at all prepared for the complete tone shift and I found the description a bit misleading. Once again though, I would like to thank the author for mentioning at the beginning that the subject of sexual assault was part of the book. All authors should include trigger warnings at the beginning of their books.

sofia 🥀

I honestly did not think I'd like this book as much as I did, but god I loved it! It was the equivalent of a breath of fresh air. I loved that despite being a rom-com, this book touched and talked about so many sensitive issues. And it's amazing how those things didn't seem forced or like a buzzkill, rather blended into the story seamlessly. It's a perfect holiday read in my opinion; one that I'd recommend everyone check out!

Alice

Alexis 

5/5 Stars

I read this with Kindle Unlimited. I had a great time reading this. I laughed and swooned. I enjoyed the writing and the characters. Overall I just really enjoyed it and would highly recommend around the holiday season!

Kelsey Holtaway

Sali Nim

2,5 stars. Considering what theme this book has been dealing with, I sometimes felt uncomfortable at how Olivia came at Asher and some scenes felt inappropriate, but in a very Not Good way. So yeah. It was an easy read, but I felt bothered every now and then.

Coralie | she/her

5/5
This one was so good! Olivia is so funny, and I know I've already said that when I was at 36% of the book, but I could spend my life reading about O and Asher arguing. These two beans are so precious.

Faking Under the Mistletoe

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