Accidentally Engaged for the Holidays

by Amberlee Day

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She’s a former socialite and MyHeartChannel host who wants her life back. He’s a philanthropist and shameless flirt. Both have plans and neither wants a relationship, but will the magic of Christmas in Victoria, Canada, make all their secret wishes come true?

Alyssa Jones-Blakely had it all—wealth, a place in high society, and a popular MyHeartChannel showcasing her impeccable sense of fashion and globetrotting lifestyle. Loss of the family income sent her tumbling to the bottom of the social ladder. While she’s long since righted her own wrongs, she remains shunned and sharp-eyed for an opportunity to get back where she was: living a fabulous life.

Ex-Marine Dean Stallings went through rough times after his war-zone injury. Years later, he’s spending his life creating tiny house villages to help people experiencing homelessness. He’s happy as a single bachelor, flirting and keeping things light on the dating scene. A relationship would only slow him down, especially to a shallow ex-socialite.

When Dean stumbles into Alyssa, he sees a beautiful woman to flirt with and she sees a ticket back to her old life. Will Dean’s belief in second chances include the woman who may break his heart? And will Alyssa open her own heart to discover that the best things in life don’t come with a designer label?

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Book Details

Genre

Contemporary Romance

Subgenre

Holiday (Christmas, Valentine’s, etc.)

Series

MyHeartChannel Romances • Book 3

Audience

Adult

Bell Peppers

🫑

Profanity

1 None

Violence

1 None

Drugs, Alcohol, Tobacco

1 None

Publication Date

November 14, 2018

Language Versions

English

Fiction Form

Novel

Sensitive Themes

Poverty or homelessness

A Great Book

I really enjoyed this book.

Accidentally Engaged for the Holidays

I enjoyed this story.

Accidentally Engaged for the Holidays

Enjoyed the story. I didn't feel a connection between Dean and Alyssa in the first part of the book. It took me awhile to get into it but once I did it ended up being sweet.

4.5 stars

Humbled villainess Alyssa from The Billionaire's Mermaid & former bad boy Dean from Sweet Home Vermont meet in this story of aspiring redemption.The start is a little shaky - Dean's intervention in the initial confrontation Alyssa has with Lana & her friends was not particularly believable.And it took a while to warm up to Alyssa, I was beginning to wonder if I would ever learn to like her. But the author really does a great job of making Alyssa's redemptive arc credible for such a relatively short story.By the end, I was fully on board with their happily-ever-after!Amberlee Day still has room for growth as a writer, but I always look forward to her books because I know I'm going to get an unusual and engaging love story with a satisfying ending.Clean romance level: sweet kisses

4.9 stars: Accidentally Engaged for the Holidays by Amberlee Day

Alyssa has been on the outs with her wealthy peers for years when a handsome stranger rescues her from mean comments by claiming to be her fiance; spending time with Dean gets her back on track socially, but also gets her to interact with the homeless and wakes up her heart.Notes from February 2019:Plot and Setting: 4.8 -- The overall story arc was somewhat predictable, but the individual events and choices along the way were surprising and engaging. (Ha!) Unlike most fake-engagement stories, this one does not focus on making people believe the relationship lie, or even wholly on the relationship, which I found refreshing.Characters: 5 -- Nuanced, realistic characters who are sometimes unlikeable and sometimes downright loveable. Interestingly, both Dean and Alyssa appear in other books by this author -- as antagonists! So if you've read those books, right off the bat we can see these characters have done some growing already. Dean is pretty solidly a good guy in this one, but Alyssa faces some painful realities and makes some important choices during this story. Minor characters are appropriately developed, and cover an interesting range of humanity.Mechanics and Writing: 4.9 -- Very few word or punctuation errors. Well-written.Redeeming Value: 4.8 -- Clean. No sex, just a few kisses. Drug use and violence in the homeless community is mentioned, and a few specific instances intersect with the story more specifically, though not in great detail. Strong themes of homelessness and wealth, specifically treating the homeless with dignity and seeing their humanity, and using the power and influence that comes with wealth to make a difference in the world, not just for selfish gain.Personal Enjoyment: 5