He needs a date for Christmas. She needs money for a dream. Maybe they'll both get a Christmas miracle!
The handsome and kind, Mike Hamilton, doesn't want to go back to his hometown, Snow Valley, to attend his sister's wedding and spend Christmas, especially since he didn't tell anyone he got dumped two weeks ago. So when he discovers a girl standing on a roof praying, running to the top to join her doesn't feel that desperate. Too bad they both fall and she accuses him of trying to kill her.
Aspiring singer and songwriter, Zoey Harper, doesn't know who this guy is -- but she doesn't need his help. When he offers to pay her to be his FAKE girlfriend to get him out of a little situation, she immediately says no. But when she finds herself without a job, without a car, and with no money to go try out for The Voice and fulfill a life-long dream, she agrees! But ONLY kissing. And only pecks on the cheek!
She doesn't know how she finds herself making out with him to keep his ex-girlfriend at bay, then cannonballing into the hot springs on his property and spilling all of her secrets. And who would have guessed that her favorite person would be his grumpy grandpa? Her lonely heart doesn't know when things started to change between she and Mike--when he ran up on the roof to save her or when she finds herself singing a song for him in front of his whole family.
When their lies fall apart, they are left with a choice--forget the past five days or get the Christmas miracle that could change their lives forever.
My Take:
I've missed several Snow Valley stories, so it was wonderful to return. Years have passed since Janet Snow got her second chance by marrying Michael Hamilton. This story is about their son Mike who is attending Harvard law because he feels he needs to prove himself. He's miserable and lonely, but he's about to meet the best thing to ever happen to him. Zoey's more than down on her luck. She's clinging to the past and a supposed broken heart from losing her husband a year earlier.
Here's what I liked:
~Even though this is a story where one person was married before, they didn't come out of a bad marriage. I also liked that Zoey loved her husband and all the potential of their future, but in the end, they only knew each other and were married a short time--most of which they weren't even together. In a way, this makes it easier for me to believe in her falling in love again quickly and so deeply.
~I loved Zoey's spunk. Even when she felt so broken and defeated inside that spark kept her moving forward.
~I loved that Mike really did have a hero complex. He wanted to help Zoey from the moment he ran up that snow mound to the roof to the very end.
~It was a joy revisiting Snow Valley and some of my favorite places--Big C's, the hot springs, remembering the tree lighting at the hospital, it was all a fun trip down memory lane like returning home after being away too long.
I thoroughly enjoyed this quick read. I give The Christmas Girlfriend a Clean rating and solid 4 stars.
1-5 scale and what it means:
1: I couldn’t even finish it / just plain bad
2: I hope I didn’t pay for this / disappointing
3: I didn’t hate it, but it was still missing something / forgettable but inoffensive
3.5: On the line between good and ok / like, not love
4: Solid mind candy / worth reading
4.5: So very close to perfection! / must read
5: I could not put it down and I’m still thinking about it! / a true treasure
Movie Ratings in relation to my review:
Clean--Hallmark movies, some kissing, no nudity, no sex on or off "screen"
PG--Some innuendo but nothing kids don't hear every day, sex is all closed door
PG-13--some language (swear words not related to sex), more talk about sex, heavy petting, removal of clothing on screen, but sex is closed door.
PG-14—somewhere between PG-13 and R. Not erotica, but at least a paragraph of on-screen sex
R--swearing (F-bomb, on “screen” sex, sometimes feels like the whole story is about the sex and not the relationship or some other plot, but not always
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