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 . 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. Emily Stone is the author of Always, in December, One Last Gift , Love, Holly, and A Winter Wish. She lives and works in the UK and wrote her first novel in an old Victorian manor house with an impressive literary heritage. Chapter One Two weeks to Christmas The moment she steps out of the tube station, Mel has her phone to her ear. Amanda answers in two rings—­before Mel remembers that it’s gone 6 p.m., and she really shouldn’t be calling her assistant at this sort of time. “Sorry,” she says by way of greeting, “I thought it might be easier to call rather than send a million emails, but shall we catch up in the morning?” “It’s fine,” Amanda says brightly. “I was just finishing up a few things anyway.” And that is why Amanda is a godsend. Mel walks along the pavement toward Clapham Common under a line of trees, which are looking a bit sorry for themselves in the depths of winter, and past Christmas decorations in shop windows. She passes a pub she doesn’t think she’s ever been to but which is always busy—people milling out the front, huddling under heaters while clutching their pints. “So,” Mel says, “Lillian Hart.” The current bane of her life. The UK actress taking the world by storm, whose face is plastered over the London buses, advertising the next film she’s in. The actress who, after months and months of wooing, has finally consented to meet with Mel to discuss being the face of her jewelry brand. “Right. Her agent wants to move the call from tomorrow to the twenty-­third. Which I know is right before Christmas, and if you’re taking any time off then—­” “I’m not. It’s fine. What Lillian Hart wants Lillian Hart gets, right?” Though why she wants to have meetings the week of Christmas, she has no idea. Maybe she’s a workaholic. Maybe she, too, has no work-­life balance. Maybe that’s something they can bond over. “ You are taking some time off that week, though, right?” “Yes,” Amanda says, a little hesitantly, “but if you need me to—­” “I don’t—­you do enough. Just put it in my calendar, will you? And email the agent to confirm? Presumably she’ll send over a link.” “Yes, yes, and yes—­and she’ll be on the call too.” “Perfect.” Mel slows outside her favorite bagel shop—­which she loves in part because it’s opposite her flat, and also because it happens to be open both when she leaves for her office in central London, and when she returns. Despite the very long day she’s had, she feels a tiny fizz of excitement—­the way she used to feel when she finished a pair of earrings that she loved, the way she felt when the very first influencer posted about her earrings on Instagram and her hobby was turned into a career overnight. This might really happen. Lillian Hart might actually start wearing her jewelry. Well, her designs, at least. Her company’s designs. But still. “Okay, so the agent also said they want us to send through the suggested designs that we envisage Lillian ‘supporting.’ ” “Of course she did.” Mel peers into the bagel shop as Amanda speaks, where Andy, the owner, is wiping down the counter. “And she said that they would want it in the contract that Lillian can ask for any changes she sees fit, so that they ensure her brand is unaffected . . .” Mel sighs. “Right. Well, one step at a time. Why don’t you send her the Christmas catalogue and go from there. If she wants to see others, then I can send through some more, but do stress that we would create unique designs specifically for her shou