Quick Synopsis

Could a fake relationship with your ex over Christmas in Scotland be the perfect opportunity for revenge—or a second chance at love? One woman is about to find out in this charming holiday romance from the author of Always, in December and A Winter Wish.

Publisher’s Synopsis

Melanie hasn’t had a good year. Her work life isn’t what she dreamed it would be, her best friend has moved to the other side of the world, and Finn, the man she was sure was the love of her life, dumped her. In front of everyone. At his sister’s engagement party.

So when Finn shows up at Mel’s doorstep two weeks before Christmas, asking if she’ll help him, her first instinct is to slam the door in his face—or punch him. 

But he has a proposal for her: Spend the week of Christmas with him and his family in a vacation cottage in the Scottish Highlands. His mother is obsessed with the idea of a perfect Christmas—and to make this dream come true Finn told his mother that he and Mel are dating again. All Mel has to do is come with him and pretend they’re back together.

Mel may hate Finn, but she loves his mom. So she agrees—on one condition. At the end of the week, Finn will allow Mel to publicly dump him so that she can get her dignity back and he can experience the same humiliation she felt. 

It’s only a week. Mel can pretend to still be in love with Finn for one week, surely. Except as the festivities bring her closer than ever to Finn and his family, Mel starts to lose track of which feelings are fake and which are for real.

Book Review

I had sworn off Emily Stone’s holiday books after I read Always in December. I am personally not a fan of sad holiday books. I read the synopsis for Yours for the Season and see that no one seemingly dies. So I decided to give Stone another chance.

Yours for the Season is a fake dating, second chance holiday romance set in a cozy Scottish cottage. After enduring a very public break-up, Mel has tried to move past Finn, but then he shows up on her doorstep two weeks before Christmas. Finn told his family that they were dating again in order to give his mom the Christmas of his dreams… but that will require Mel’s cooperation. Despite her anger at Finn, Mel decides to give in because she adores his family and mom and negotiates that she will very publicly dump him this time. Is this the most believable of premises? No, but just go with it.

Despite not resolving any of the animosity between them or the hurt feelings, Mel and Finn head to the Scottish countryside to spend Christmas with his chaotic family. This provides wonderful cozy, holiday vibes with likable secondary characters. Of course, there are also a lot of winter and holiday activities thrown in.

This novel is told in alternating timelines – one the present and one the past. The present is a countdown from the vacation’s beginning to Boxing Day/break-up day, while the past is a countdown from the couple’s meet cute to their first break-up. I found this set-up to be easy to follow and that it pleasantly fleshed out the second chance romance. My big issues with books of this trope is that the relationship and feelings are often underdeveloped as authors too frequently rely on the off-page past and end up telling rather than showing. Stone’s usage of two concurrent timelines helped avoid this.

Yours for the Season is a bit predictable (more than a typical romance novel); I even saw one of the twists coming from 3 miles away. The conflict mainly centered on their lack of communication and Finn’s hang up on being his father. For me, this did not create enough tension in the story. The miscommunication could have been so easily solved if they were open and honest with each other. So I ended up being frustrated that Mel and Finn did not simply do that and avoid the whole debacle. Plus, Finn just needed to go to therapy. Anyway, that is to say that I felt the romance itself a bit lacking of excitement and spark.

My other issue with Yours for the Season is that I did not find Mel to be a very relatable female protagonist. Perhaps this is partially due to being written in third-person, but I also think Mel’s intense focus on running her business took away from other aspects of the narrative. As I mentioned previously, I enjoyed Finn’s family, who were the secondary characters. They had wonderful banter and snarking at one another that made me wistful that my siblings and I got on better. I also appreciated that each character had a distinct identity and personality.

Overall, Yours for the Season is an enjoyable holiday romance, particularly if you like ones with lots of family hi-jinx. The story is a bit thin in places and heavily reliant on miscommunication, but I still recommend it.