My Christmas Pretend Boyfriend: A Sweet Fake Dating Christmas Romance

A fake boyfriend. A Christmas lie. A town that never stops watching.

When Lisa Simmons returns to Maple Hollow for the first Christmas without her mother, she expects quiet days helping her dad—not public humiliation. But when her ex announces his engagement at the town’s beloved holiday kickoff, panic strikes…and Lisa blurts out a lie.

She is seeing someone.
Someone wonderful.
Someone who absolutely doesn’t know he’s her boyfriend.

Enter Chris Blake, the quiet carpenter next door—steady, kind, and still recovering from the fire that destroyed his workshop. When Lisa’s spur-of-the-moment lie puts him in the spotlight, Chris does the he plays along.

What starts as fake dating to survive small-town gossip soon becomes something softer, deeper, and dangerously real. Between Christmas markets, late-night cocoa, decorating the farmhouse tree, and learning to trust each other’s broken pieces, Lisa and Chris discover a connection neither of them planned for—one that feels like coming home.

But with Christmas ticking down and both their hearts on the line, they must
Was it all pretend…or the beginning of something real?

A cozy, sweet small-town romance about healing, hope, and finding love right where you least expect it.


✨ Tropes ✨

🎄 Small-Town Christmas Magic

💔➡️❤️ Broken Hearts Learning to Love Again

🧣 Returning Home After Loss

🤝 Fake Dating… That Stops Feeling Fake

🔥 Grumpy–Quiet Carpenter x Soft-Hearted Heroine

🏡 Next-Door Neighbors

🧁 Holiday Community Events (Cookie Exchange, Markets, Tree Lighting)

💕 Slow-Burn

🫶 Healing Together / Emotional Comfort

🌟 Found Family & Community Support

🧤 Cozy Domestic Moments (Baking, Decorating the Tree)

🪵 Man Who Fixes Things… Including Her Heart

🥺 Hurting, But Still Hoping

✨ Heartwarming HEA Under the Christmas Lights