Title: The Holiday Hoax
Author: Skylar M. Cates
Genre: Contemporary Romance, M/M Romance
Sensuality Rating: Innocent
Source: review copy provided by publisher
Published: December 12, 2014 by Dreamspinner Press
I’m Evan Goodman, budding actor, future star, college freshman. Oh, and let's not forget—recently dumped. If only my family wasn't expecting to meet my new boyfriend over the holiday break. Enter JD Laurens—a sweet and quiet science major who mostly keeps to himself. When he gathers the courage to come out, poor JD gets abandoned by his only family right in front of me, and now he has nowhere to go for Christmas. But I have a proposition for him: pretend to be my boyfriend for the holidays so I can take him home. It’s a win-win. What could go wrong?
Reviewed by: Crissy
In A Nutshell: Besides the fact that I’m a sucker for all things Christmas/Hanukkah/Advent related, this story had the whole secret non-relationship appeal. It’s adorable in its setup and has great potential, but is a bit uneventful on the follow through.
The Setup: When Evan’s non-boyfriend breaks up with him, Evan ends up inviting JD home with him for the holidays after he witnesses an argument between JD and his brother. The only catch: JD has to pretend to be Evan’s ex-not-really-boyfriend Tyler.
What I Liked: I loved the setup of this story. I mean, what’s better than a completely false relationship believed to be real by all other supporting characters? Evan and JD were bound for love from the very beginning and I was cheering them on the whole way. The progression of the relationship was sweet—from complete strangers to friends to crushes and eventually lovers (though that doesn’t really happen in this story). I liked the way the author revealed little pieces of JD’s character by endearing him to Evan’s family and by making him Evan’s hero. They were cute together.
What I Didn’t Like: There is a lot of setup to this story and then the follow through fizzles. Like the thing with Tyler. Evan is in love with Tyler, or so he thinks, and then he takes JD home for Christmas/Hanukkah, but where is the drama that could come from the actual Tyler crashing Christmas/Hanukkah at Evan’s parents? And why is JD so agreeable? I feel like he should be angry at some point. Yes, he agreed to be used, but that was before he fell for this family, right? So where is the blow up between him and Evan for all the lying? There is a lot of potential in this story, but I was let down by the big reveal and reaction to it.
In My Opinion: This story was adorable and the setup held so, so much potential, but it just didn’t do it for me in the end. It wasn’t bad. It was just okay.
Crissy’s Rating:
It sounds cute, and I've almost purchased it a few times. I still may get it, but I agree there should be a little angst involved, though sometimes a sweet romance is nice too.
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