Every year, I read exactly one holiday romance. Last year, it was A Jingle Bell Mingle by Sierra Simone and Julie Murphy. This year I went a slightly different direction with Theirs for the Holidays by Eva Ashwood, a standalone why choose, fake-dating romance.
Violet’s family demands her presence at a dinner — a dinner to help plan her twin sister’s wedding to her ex-boyfriend. No matter what Violet says, her mother won’t take no for an answer, so she has to put all her feelings aside and show up.
At the dinner, she’s surprised to find her ex’s three older brothers, Lennox, Sawyer, and Rhett, who haven’t been back to town since a massive falling out between the three of them years before. Even more shocking, when Andrew, her ex, starts grilling her about the non-existent mystery date she’s supposedly bringing to the wedding, all three of the elder Sullivan brothers claim, in unison, to be her date.
Now they all have to cover for this uncoordinated effort to save Violet from embarrassment, and the only way is to fake a non-traditional relationship where Violet is dating all three of them.
What starts out as a way to save face quickly turns into something more, and Violet suddenly has three men obsessed with showing her she’s worth it, even when her family goes to great lengths to keep them apart.
Theirs for the Holidays is full of the dramatic, messy interpersonal dynamics that I adore. There are all kinds of jealousy, yearning, and miscommunications that make this book fascinating.
Lennox, Sawyer, and Rhett make for intense main characters, but in an almost wholesome way. This is not the toxic obsession of a dark romance, but something sweeter and softer, and still incredibly hot.
These characters are complex and cute all at once, and it makes you just want to cheer for them at every twist and turn.
A slow build of desire and lots of steamy sexual tension make this book engaging from start to finish. Theirs for the Holidays does not skimp on the spice, with multi-chapter spicy scenes and scorching hot dirty talk. Oh yeah, and all three love interests are pierced.
The story is character-driven but with a plot that moves, focusing on Violet’s family and the drama in her various relationships, all surrounding this doomed holiday wedding.
Theirs for the Holidays has the sweet and charming vibes of a classic small town romance, but with the added edge of the why choose element. There’s an amusing sense of schaudenfreude that brings catharsis for these characters, and every page of this book was so much fun to read. It’s the perfect holiday romance for readers who like their charming holiday cheer more than a little naughty.
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