Alone for the Holidays by Vivien Mayfair

Not Alone for the Holidays

This is a super short, quick read. The heroine has gotten herself into a bit of a pickle when she invites a man she had met through a Goodreads group to spend Christmas with her. She had felt sorry for him because he had lost his wife the previous Christmas; this would be his first Christmas alone. She hasn’t been telling the truth about herself online, however. She’s a famous author but prefers to hang out on reader forums anonymously so she can just enjoy sharing books with like-minded book lovers. She’s even lied about her looks, believing that no man would be interested in a middle-aged, overweight woman. When the man shows up, she gets deeper and deeper into lies.

I thought that some of the language choices were a bit strange in places. I also felt that sometimes the writing seemed like it was trying to decide whether it was omniscient or third person. The story is so short that we can’t really get a window into the basis for their actual relationship, how they supposedly fell for each other while they were emailing back and forth. I just feel like this needed more.