Faking to be still madly in love for just the festivities, can that truly work?

Synopsis

After years of being everyone’s favourite couple, always up for a party and having fun wherever they go, things have fizzled out.

But when they realise they have a whole calendar of events and celebrations with friends and family coming up, Cara and Millsy can’t face letting them down.

So they decide to make a pact: just convince everyone they’re as madly in love as ever and get through the festivities without causing suspicion, and then deal with the break up in the new year. How hard can it be…?

Swept up in the festive spirit, will Cara and Millsy fake it tilthey make it? Or will they realise they are meant to be after all…?

My review

Ever since Cara and Millsy got together, they were everyone’s favourite couple. But what nobody knows, is that after years of being together, Cara and Millsy have decided to end their relationship. With many shared festivities for the holidays on the calendar, they both have decided to pretend to be still together and only inform every one of their break – up later on.
However, how long can they pretend to be still madly in love? And how easy will it be, when Millsy’s accent coach is tagging along everywhere they go?

So first I have to talk about the thing I didn’t like, so that I can focus completely on everything that I *did* like.
I didn’t know that this was an actual sequel, so it felt a bit that I missed out on a great story. I would have loved to know how Cara and Millsy got together, as it’s clear that it took them a while to get where they were before their break – up.

But on the other hand, perhaps it was better that I didn’t read the first book? Because I think I would be heart – broken to see how a lovely couple would be breaking up?

Yet that didn’t take away my positive feelings I had while reading this book.

Of course a relationship isn’t always sunshine and rainbows, and even the best of relationships can reach its end.
It’s sad, but that’s life…

While I didn’t agree with Cara and Millsy’s decision to pretend to be still together for the holidays, to spare everyone’s feelings, I could understand it somehow.
Being the perfect couple comes with extreme high expectations and admitting defeat isn’t easy. And it’s only more difficult when so many plans have been made beforehand, especially during the holidays.

It’s always nice to see how an ex – couple still care about each other, and have end things amicable, instead of pushing each other’s limits at each possible occasion.
And it’s obvious that Cara still cares deeply about Millsy. Just because things didn’t work out, for one reason or another, it doesn’t mean that the love has gone.

And I found it truly sweet to see how, even if they are pretending, Cara and Millsy are still so in sync with each other. From sharing plates, to understanding each other with just one look.
Even if I haven’t read about how they got together, I could clearly envision how they worked as a couple.

It saddened me though, to see how Millsy was trying to push Cara to move on, as if he wanted to do the same as soon as possible.
And the presence Tally for sure wasn’t helping! There wasn’t one moment that I liked her character at all.
I understood how Millsy needed her to get his accent right, but was it truly necessary to be present at every activity, to wriggle her into just everything, appropriate or not.

Even if you could see the theme as a sad one, because it’s about a couple that have broken up, it was still a funny story to read!
Not only are the dates that Cara is going to, hilariously terrible, but also the weird situations Cara and Millsy find themselves into for sure put a smile on my face!

But it was also a heart – warming story, because no matter how hard they try to hide it, the love is still so obvious. And then of course a certain ‘incident’ involving Santa, well actions speak louder for words, that’s for sure!

I found this a wonderful story to read, about a couple wanting to protect in a way their loved ones. But we also see how they pretend to be okay with the decision they took, but in fact they are not. Sometimes breaking up is the right thing to do, but let’s be honest, sometimes it’s just not. And while it may have been a difficult decision to break up, perhaps sometimes we need to find the courage to admit that the initial decision was a wrong one.

Portia MacIntosh found the perfect balance with her latest book, as she wrote a lovely, heart – warming, heart – breaking story about the consequences of an (unwanted) break – up. But even if the premise is a sad one, it is also filled with joy, fun and laughter, as hope is always the last thing to die!