Lovelight Farms (Lovelight #1) — Books, Beauty, & Buys

By: B.K. Borison
Published Year: 2021/2023
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 332

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion of this novel.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Two best friends fake date to reach their holiday happily ever after in this first romantic comedy in the Lovelight series.

A pasture of dead trees. A hostile takeover of the Santa barn by a family of raccoons. And shipments that have mysteriously gone missing. Lovelight Farms is not the magical winter wonderland of Stella Bloom’s dreams.

In an effort to save the Christmas tree farm she’s loved since she was a kid, Stella enters a contest with Instagram-famous influencer Evelyn St. James. With the added publicity and the $100,000 cash prize, Stella might just be able to save the farm from its financial woes. There’s just one problem. To make the farm seem like a romantic destination for the holidays, she lied on her application and said she owns Lovelight Farms with her boyfriend. Only…there is no boyfriend.

Enter best friend Luka Peters. He just stopped by for some hot chocolate and somehow got a farm and a serious girlfriend in the process. But fake dating his best friend might be the best Christmas present he’s ever received.

First Impressions

I adore this cover. It makes me want to curl up in front of a fire and drink hot cocoa while reading it. I have seen this book all over TikTok and Instagram and fell in love with it based off of the cover alone. I don’t know if this is a re-release or what, but I was super excited to be offered to review this book.

What I thought

What a delight! I understand why this series is taking the internet by storm.

Stella/Estelle/Ella/Lala/a million other nicknames owns a farm in a small town in Maryland. She enters a contest to bring more business and a cash prize but in the application, states she owns the farm with her long time boyfriend. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, she asks her best friend of 10 years Luca to be her fake boyfriend. She has been in love with him forever, but refuses to say or do anything about it in fear of losing him from her life forever.

The chemistry between these two character leap off the page. I loved Luca. Stella was a little annoying at times, but nothing unbearable. She has some serious abandonment issues and I got a little annoyed her friends didn’t try to help her deal with them sooner than this story. They obviously know that the reason she hasn’t told Luca she likes him is because of this fear, yet they don’t confront her about it until the end of the book. Why did they not talk to her about this 5 years ago?

Luca is a gem. He is absolute perfection. I loved his banter with Stella. Especially in the steamy scenes. It was just so good and really made me giggle. And maybe blush. What I also appreciated about this story is it avoided the third act breakup. No spoiler, but just to have you not worry about it, but there is no massive blowup at the 75% mark that will make you want to smash your head against the wall. They do have a small conflict but it is resolved super quick and I loved it.

There are so many side characters too. This series could go on forever because very side character is great. The next book is even set up in this one which I adored. The only issue I had with this book was the writing at times was a bit weak. The repetition of some of Stella’s issues, stated in the exact same sentence, as well as other repetitive comments drove me a little nuts. Within the first 15% of the book it was stated “I’m just touchy.” Or “I’m just someone who has to be physical.” By multiple characters in multiple situations. It could’ve been reworded or cut from certain parts.