Series Name: Carrigan’s Christmasland, #3
“Wait, what? Why would you spend your Christmas pretending to be my girlfriend?” Somehow, even though Tara had gotten herself into this, Holly actually offering to pretend to be her date made her fully process what a wild idea it was.
Truly, it was top tier terrible.
Instalment 3 in the Carrigan’s Christmasland series by Helena Greer, gives us plenty of antics to enjoy with the “Carrigan’s Crew”.
No-nonsense lawyer Tara Sloane Chadwick is perfectly fine with going to her ex’s wedding—the break-up was congenial, and Tara is nothing if not well-mannered. But after one too many reminders of her dismal dating track, Tara panics when asked if she’ll need a plus-one and declares she’s bringing her new girlfriend. One Tara is seriously single. Thankfully, Holly, the waitress she’s been crushing on, happily offers to be her fake date . . . Only Holly’s offer isn’t quite selfless—she’s been lusting over Tara for ages, but Tara only dates women she can marry. And Holly has no interest in settling down with anyone or in any one place. A temporary arrangement is the perfect solution. Holly and Tara can enjoy a no-strings fling for the wedding and part ways after. However, between sharing kisses and hotel beds and cuddling under the mistletoe, Tara begins to dream of a life with Holly in Charleston . . . just as Holly starts wishing she could travel with Tara by her side. Soon, neither can see a future without the other, but can they find a path forward where they both can thrive?
I wanted to love this book so hard. Really, I did. I have been so excited to read it. It has all the elements I look for in a romance – a fun premise, a unique location, strong female characters. It even gets bonus points for quirkiness. Unfortunately this one fell a little flat for me.
Before I tell you why, I do want to explain that part of me not jiving with this book is likely my fault, and not the author’s. This is book three in a series and I haven’t read the previous two books. I think if I had it would have resolved a lot of my issues. So keep that in mind.
Most notably, I felt a little lost. There are a lot of secondary characters that obviously feature prominently in the previous two books and their backstories would have been helpful to understanding the current relationship dynamics amongst the group of “Carrigan’s crew”. Specifically, it is critical to understanding Tara’s character, and her motivation for bringing a fake date to the wedding of her ex-fiance. As a standalone, I don’t feel I got enough detail to believe Tara’s situation, and that kinda wrecked the whole premise for me. I’m not a huge fan of the fake dating books to begin with, so I really need it to make sense to me. I know some romance readers can be content with “for romance reasons”, I’m just not one of them. If fake dating books are your jam, you will probably love this.
Part of my issue with Tara and her story arc is probably that I just didn’t like her very much. Again, if I had all the backstory, I may have felt differently. The highlight reel didn’t give me enough to cheer for her. Tara is pretty closed up, and to be fair, we do learn how her upbringing contributed to this, but it wasn’t enough for me to sympathise with her.
In contrast, I really loved Holly’s character. Holly takes no nonsense from anyone but is also kind. She’s not afraid to stand up for herself or others. She’s not perfect, she definitely has some commitment issues, but we see her develop and grow as a character and deal with her past in a productive way. I think the contrast between Holly and Tara made it difficult for me to believe they could really be into each other. I’m all for opposites attract but in this case, I wasn’t buying their chemistry.
I’d like to go back and start the series over from book one and see if it makes a difference. I absolutely loved Carrigan’s Christmasland and would like the opportunity to spend more time there, getting to know the other characters better. If you like the sound of this book, I would encourage you to start at the beginning as well.
Thanks to Hachette Book Group for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
