Published November 2026 via Amazon Original Stories
It's as classic a setup as it gets: He's been in love with her since they met. She needs a date for her sister's wedding. And there's only one bed...
This is part of a Christmassy short-story collection, with some of the short stories admittedly a bit more Christmassy than others—actually, as much as anything I'd say it's something of a winter wedding collection. But in any case, here, Emma finds herself needing a fake date (the tropes are strong in this one), not least to show her ex she's moved on; what she doesn't realize is that Cole (her best friend and fake date) would prefer that the date be real.
It's cute and fluffy, a bread-and-butter romance if ever there was one. I wasn't wildly in love with either character (Cole's acting skills are abjectly terrible—it's a mystery how he's hidden his crush for so long—and Emma just feels a bit frothier and substanceless than typically keeps my attention), but it didn't matter so much for such a short story. Might have been nice to have Emma a bit more...aware?...earlier on, though, as in Cole's place I'd worry that there was a bit of a zero-to-sixty element about her interest.
If there's a lesson here, in any case: Shoot your shot. Why spend years waiting and wondering?
Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.