Macallan “Mac” Blaze and Aspen Sullivan meet while they’re both studying Architecture in grad school. Aspen finds out just before Christmas break that her newly ex-boyfriend Mike is just the latest in the string of “unavailable men” she’s been disappointed by. Desperate to avoid the family scrutiny that will drown her if she goes home alone after promising Mike would be with her, she grasps the lifeline Mac offers when he suggests he’d be the answer to her problems by coming home with her for the holidays and posing as her boyfriend. 

Festive Faking is a charming small town Christmas story with some nice open door spice in the mix. Think if HBO made Hallmark style Christmas movies. I love how down bad Mac is for Aspen, and how he couldn’t wait to help her anytime things got a little hairy. I got some Anne of Green Gables vibes from his nickname for Aspen (Freckles) and how he would playfully taunt her with it. While this is on the longer end of the novella spectrum at 209 pages, I didn’t mind at all. I have been enjoying Siena’s hockey books, and this spin off to a new series set in Rust Canyon, Oklahoma has me hooked already. The quaint country backdrop, and the side characters we’re introduced to that are just dying for their own HEA have a lot of promise for future stories. I definitely need more Meemaw in my life. 

Thank you to Siena Trap for the ARC opportunity to review!