Faking Christmas

Written by Cindy Steel

Narrated by Justis Bolding

One little white lie—that's all it took. Now I'm suddenly having to fake-date my work nemesis to get through a week at a Vermont Christmas lodge with my family.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dreamscape Media
• Release date: Oct 3, 2023
• ISBN: 9781666643800

Cindy Steel

Cindy Steel is the author of the romance titles Christmas Spark and That Fine Line. She graduated with a bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University, Idaho. She is married and a mother to twin boys. She loves making breakfast, baking, photography, reading a good book, and staying up way past her bedtime to craft stories that will make you smile.

Reviews for Faking Christmas

[Janeen Sullivan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I started listening to this once. I couldn’t handle the beginning. The prologue. I had trouble with the narrator so I stopped listening. A week or so later as I was scrolling to find a story to listen to I came across this one again. I read the reviews. One of the reviews caused me to reconsider because she loved it so much.
I skipped the prologue and went right into the story. Even though the narrator’s voice grated on me the story had me hooked. Literally, hook line and sinker. I loved this story so much. The dialogue was so well written. It had a few parts that caught me off guard which was great. Definitely several notches higher than a Hallmark Christmas Movie. I plan to listen to some of her other stories.
If you can get past the narrator’s voice—stay with it. The story is worth every minute of it. I can see how this would also be a great book to read, curled up on a snowy weekend with a cup of hot chocolate with peppermint sprinkles!!

[Amber · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Oh my goodness!! Adorable!! I loved every moment of this story! It will definitely be one of my Christmas favorites ♥️♥️♥️ I laughed out loud! I cried a few times and I even felt like covering my eyes more then once which is hard to do when reading a book ?
Well done Cindy Steel! I have now added every one of your stories to my reading list?
Let this be your next Christmas adventure people!

[kaylenemily222 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Loved loved loved! The story, the banter, the characters, all so good!

[Becca · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Cute and fun easy read that had me laughing all the way through! Perfect for a cozy Christmas read!

[Curtis Youngberg · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Cute and fun. Stress free, believable relationship. Well formed characters. Thanks for the fun read

[Jdrichardson16 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It's great . I enjoyed listening to it at Christmas.

[Melanie Ritter · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very cute book. The narrator was fantastic. Great, easy listen

[Charlotte · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The idea of this book was really interesting and I thought it was going to be a different element to a Christmas read that I've not read before. It was the perfect way to create the forced proximity with the added tension with the person you dislike.

It had great potential to be a Christmas read I loved. Going away to the Miles family lodge with the guy you dislike at work and having to fake date? What's not to like? Well, Olive needed to pack more of a punch. She was very lacklustre and came across as very childish in her mannerisms. She didn't have that main character personality that dominated the scene in a book. Miles was an interesting character and I liked that he was an author. He seemed to be able to read Olive when it came to the spicy scenes and he had a softer side to him when things became difficult.

The book repeated itself a lot and it was drawn out unnecessarily or it could have had more added elements of the tasks that needed to be completed throughout the book instead of adding filler that became boring. The plots were very predictable and the ending became confusing with the characters emotions and reasonings. I did enjoy the back and fourth banter between the two characters which was a constant throughout the book. It kept it entertaining when it started to lack.

[Sarah Fruge · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Easily my favorite holiday romance read this year! No spice, but it more than makes up for it with swoon worthy moments and great banter.

[Jennifer Johnson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

So so cute! It was really clean but a great story. It would make such a good movie ?

[SerendipityReads · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was my first book by this author, and will NOT be my last!

I enjoyed every little bit of it, and felt like the author took a premise that COULD have come across as bland and cliche and formulaic, and made it….not.

I lived every tingly moment of this couple falling in love with each other right along with them, and it was delicious!

I also appreciated the author not shoe-horning in a third act breakup when the story really didn’t lead to it organically.

[jessica · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Really cute not too cheesy, the characters had really good banter. I really enjoyed it. No spicy scenes

[Karen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fun, lighthearted enemies to lovers, fake dating, somewhat forced proximity, contemporary Christmas romance between two high school teachers. This is the second book I’ve read by he author, and her books are clean and engaging. Narration was exemplary!

[Cintia · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It is so cute. Great christmas romance,light read. I enjoyed the narration.

[Emily Williams · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this sweet romance. It was funny and I found myself laughing out loud several times. It was witty and pretty realistic. I will seek more from this author.

[Parrish Peddrick · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A sweet, well-written story that had enough Christmas flair to put me in the Christmas spirit.

[Berly · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I remember the buzz around this series when it released, especially this book. It is part of a Christmas series written by different authors. They are completely standalone books though. I purchased the whole set and never had time to read any of them. When this was released in audio format this week, I immediately downloaded it!

I understand the hype for this book. It was great. There was so much fun and humor in it, but there were also tender moments and some life lessons.

Miles was just the best! Olive was a dear also. I can't think of a bad thing to say. If you haven't had a chance to read this book, listen to it now that it is available. The narrator is very pleasant to listen to.

[elle · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An excellent book with an excellent narrator. The writing was great and the storyline kept me engaged throughout. It was the first time in a while that I actually wanted to actively listen to instead of just background noise.

[nnk7mx54sn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It was a sweet book. If you like non-spicy books, this is exactly for you!