A heartwarming fake dating romance with a touch of bookshop magic!She came to Leafwood Falls to hide from her failure. She didn't plan on faking a romance with the one man who sees right through her.Amanda arrives in town just before Christmas with impractical boots, too much luggage, and a career in ruins. After her sustainable kitchenware business collapsed in a public scandal, her plan is simple: spend December working at the Oak & Ink Bookshop, avoid difficult questions, and lick her wounds in peace.She certainly doesn't plan on Finn.Finn is a rare book appraiser who prefers crumbling pages to people. He's hiding his own professional scars behind a wall of quiet reserve and a worn blue notebook full of secret sci-fi stories he's too afraid to share. When he meets Amanda on the shuttle, her relentless warmth crashing into his logical silence, he assumes they'll just be polite coworkers for the month.But Leafwood Falls has a meddling matchmaker, Mia, and when the pressure to couple up gets too high, Amanda makes a panic-induced decision: She tells everyone she and Finn are already dating.Now, they have a deal. They just have to fake it until New Year's.It should be easy. But between practice dates by the frozen lake, coffee delivered exactly how she likes it, and the discovery of the beautiful worlds hidden in Finn's notebook, the lines between "pretend" and "real" begin to blur. They make each other laugh. They make each other brave. And the town, including a certain opinionated orange cat named Hemingway, is starting to suspect that this "fake" relationship has more sparks than a fireplace.As Christmas Eve approaches and their January 1st deadline looms, Amanda and Finn must decide: retreat to the safety of their solitary lives, or admit that the best love stories are the ones you never planned to write.Perfect for fans of Jenny Colgan, Debbie Macomber, and the magic of a snowy small town. A gentle, funny, utterly romantic story about second chances, the courage to be vulnerable, and the magic that happens when you finally come home.
