Title: Fool Me Twice at Christmas
Author: Camilla Isley
Genre: Holiday, Romance
Published On: September 28, 2021
Publisher: Pink Bloom Press
Source: ebook
Pages: 200
Synopsis:
There are two types of relationships: fake and real.
Chuck and Kate’s used to be real, oh-so-real. But after she broke his heart four months ago, leaving him, it became all just pretense for the sake of their entwined families.
With parents who are best friends and business partners, it’s not easy for Chuck and Kate to announce they’ve split up. But with the holidays looming over them, they can no longer keep pretending.
Chuck and Kate head home for Christmas, determined to tell the truth—and end up accidentally engaged instead. The more they try to pull apart, the more the Universe seems to push them back together, shortening the road to the altar. And when just-for-show kisses stir up forgotten feelings, things get even more complicated.
Now, with the midnight hour approaching, will Chuck and Kate’s relationship turn out to be real or fake?
My thoughts
(Spoiler free)
Ohmygosh I loved this holiday rom-com so much! Fool Me Twice at Christmas by Camilla Isley may end up being my favorite holiday read of the year and I haven’t even made it to November yet. I smiled, I laughed, I couldn’t put it down.
You may have seen that I recently shared authors’ newsletters as one of my favorite bookish online resources—even mentioning Camilla Isley by name—and once again signing up for updates has paid off. I opened my email to find a message from her offering a free ebook of Fool Me Twice at Christmas to the first 250 people who responded and I immediately responded. I’ve been eyeing this book to read for the holidays, so I jumped at the chance and was thrilled to receive a copy. (Thank you Camilla Isley!) I ended up reading it in one day!
Fool Me Twice at Christmas is Isley’s first book in her holiday romantic comedy series, but each one can be read as a standalone. And I may have already purchased the next one, A Christmas Caroline, which is inspired by A Christmas Carol. Fool Me Twice at Christmas is a second chance, fake-dating, only-one-bed romance set at Christmas. One might think, well that’s too many tropes in one book, but somehow Isley makes it work! This one is a fast, heart-warming ride.
“So much for ‘if there’s a will, there’s a way’. Will has nothing to do with it. It’s clear to me now that the only law determining my fate is Murphy’s Law; Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”
Camilla Isley, Fool Me Twice at Christmas
From the first page, Isley had me fully committed. I had so much fun watching Chuck and Kate slowly unravel as their lies kept growing and they couldn’t seem to catch a break. But also knowing it’s what they needed to push them into admitting how they really felt about each other.
And what instigates this couple’s troubles? Their parents have been best friends for years, as well as being business partners, and Chuck and Kate’s joining of the families has been their parents ultimate dream since their kids were young. And so much of their relationship is tied into the success of the family business, a highly successful chocolate factory that is the talk of the town.
Watching how Chuck and Kate go from attempting to gently break the news to their parents that they are no longer a couple to being engaged was laugh-out-loud festive fun! Oh, and the author also sent a bonus epilogue to her subscribers that was the perfect ending for Chuck and Kate. And their families. Add this one to your holiday TBR!
Rating:
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About the Author
Camilla Isley
Camilla is an engineer turned writer after she quit her job to follow her husband on an adventure abroad.
She’s a cat lover, coffee addict, and shoe hoarder. Besides writing, she loves reading—duh!—cooking, watching bad TV, and going to the movies—popcorn, please. She’s a bit of a foodie, nothing too serious. A keen traveler, Camilla knows mosquitoes play a role in the ecosystem, and she doesn’t want to starve all those frog princes out there, but she could really live without them.
*Be sure and visit her website for lots of free book opportunities!
A Song For A Book
I love when books include songs. It usually makes picking one to highlight even easier, and this time I couldn’t resist going with “Everything Has Changed” by Taylor Swift (featuring Ed Sheeran), which is mentioned in Fool Me Twice at Christmas. I almost felt like it should be a Christmas song, but this one was too perfect.
And all my walls
Stood tall painted blue
But I’ll take ’em down, take ’em down
And open up the door for you
And all I feel
In my stomach is butterflies
The beautiful kind, makin’ up for lost time
Takin’ flight, makin’ me feel like
I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now…
Have you read Fool Me Twice at Christmas? Or did you add it to your tbr? Let me know in the comments!
Happy Wandering!
Oh, wow! This one sounds like a book that I need to read! I’m all about the holiday romances right now! I’m going to have to join in on the author’s newsletter too!
Oh yay!! I hope you get to pick this one up!
🙂 Thanks so much for this post and review ❤️🔥
Great review! I’ve been enjoying reading more holiday romances lately and this sounds like a ton of fun! I could already tell from the synopsis and reading about them going from breaking-up to fake-dating to being accidentally engaged that this would be such a trip! 😂 You’ve convinced me to give it a try and I found it’s going for 99p on Kindle right now so I scooped it right up!
Yay!! I’ll be excited to hear your thoughts. I’ve seen a few mixed reviews, but I went into it with no expectations and had a blast!