Title: ⟫ The Christmas Leap (Festive Fakes)
Author: ⟫ Keira Andrews
Rating: ⟫ 3.5/5
Blurb: ⟫ Fake romance shouldn’t feel this real…
Will: I’ve never been with a man.
Sure, I’ve thought about it. Wondered. Daydreamed. Imagined. But I wasn’t ready to take the leap.
I have a reputation as a “ladies’ man.” No one has any idea how curious I am about men—not even my openly bi best friend. Make that former best friend. Michael ghosted me, and I have no idea why.
Michael: The man I love is straight.
It hurt like hell when I had to distance myself from Will. I’ve tried desperately to grow up and get over him, but my carefully constructed life just fell apart—and Will rushes to my rescue.
Now we’re pretending to be a couple to impress his boss at a holiday retreat. We’re holding hands and hugging.
We’re sharing a bed.
And Will just kissed me.
Is my best friend falling in love with me after all?
The Christmas Leap by Keira Andrews is a Christmas romance featuring friends to lovers, bi awakening, first times, and of course a happy ending. This stand-alone novel takes place in the same universe as The Christmas Deal.
Review:
⟫ Okay, just how
does anyone in this verse manage to keep anything a secret? They are
constantly
talking about their capers, and not in private either – how have
they not been overheard by now?
Angela is meant to be this fabulous boss who’s a bit of a genius yet she is constantly being ‘fooled’ by these people into thinking that they’re queer? Sorry, but of all things, this was the thing that annoyed me the most – that and the whole ‘pretending to be bisexual in order to get ahead’ – it just left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth.
Anyway, the story is nicely written and you immediately feel a little sad for Michael – not because of the whole Will thing but because it’s incredibly crappy timing for what happens to him at the beginning. The whole Will thing – him ghosting him to enable himself to get over his feelings was a big struggle for me. What an awful thing to do to one of your best friends, no matter your reasoning.
I enjoyed reading this story but upon finishing it, I couldn't really tell you much about it. There were some relatively hot sex scenes between Will and Michael, and I enjoyed some of the family members and friends that we got to meet. There were at least two couples who I am pretty sure the author has written other stories about (I haven’t read them).
But the meat of the story – the idea that Michael has been in love with Will for years and Will has become a bi-curious? It was resolved what felt like so quickly and so easily, it was a bit of a non-event.
I loved Will’s accent and listening to him talk to his parents – I feel that that was well done. There didn’t feel like enough differentiation between the two main leads because sometimes I didn’t realise who was narrating.
I’ve read other stories by this author and enjoyed them more – I guess this one just didn’t resonate with me. It was a sweet, enjoyable story with some heat between the leads with only a little angst – it will probably be just the thing to relax with with the run-up to Christmas.
I received an ARC from GRR.
