A perfect relaxing read. Some laugh out moments . Set in remote Scotland. An ace mother-in law to be. Loved the sound of the jewellery . You wanted to buy it Being honest in a relationship is important . You just escape into the story.. A proper neat ending. Read it

My second book by Emily Stone and another enjoyable Christmas read.

Mel is stuck in a rut, her best friend is on the other side of the world, her boyfriend has finished with her and her parents are also abroad, leaving her alone for Christmas. However her ex boyfriend asks her to spend Christmas with him and his family pretending they are still a couple as his mother wants the perfect couple.

I disliked Finn when I began reading this book but as the story progressed and we learnt more about him I felt like I understood him more.

I enjoyed how the story took us back to when the couple first met as this really added to the story.
A great cosy Christmas read which shows the true meaning of Christmas.

Thanks to NetGalley, Emily Stone and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an unbiased and honest review.

What a delightful story this is. Finn and Mel will make you want to run away to the Scottish wilds and fall in love. Everyone in this story plays their own part, they add layer upon layer of delightfulness to this story, there are some elements that are a little sad, but honestly the story will sweep you up and have you hoping the fake story that they are portraying will be reality, sometimes the past is too much to overcome, but an old romantic like me always hopes for the best. I wont spoil the story, as it really is delightful, Emily Stone brings characters to life and makes you fall for them, as they fall for each other.

Thank you to NetGalley and Headline for this ARC.

Mel is a jewellery designer, Finn does up houses to sell them on. They were together for three years before Finn suddenly dumped Mel at his sister Hattie's engagement party. Now, six months later, he is back, begging Mel to spend Christmas with him and his family in a cottage in the Scottish Highlands, pretending to date again, as it would make his mother happy. I have no idea why Mel agrees to this, but she does.

So we get the fake dating, forced proximity and one bed only tropes neatly tied in a Christmas bow. Unfortunately we also get miscommunication, my least liked trope. No wonder Mel and Finn broke up if they couldn't talk to each other. Now they are thrown together again but it still takes until the end of the book for them to sit down and talk it out.

The rest of this fairly formulaic story is bulked out by the antics of Finn's family - mother Susan, brother Mark with Kristen and little Freya, and Hattie and Dylan. Mel's best friend Priya gets to weigh in from Australia and her parents from some other far-flung place. There are also flashbacks to Mel and Finn's relationship.

Christmas in the Scottish Highlands sounds dreamy but while there was a nice number of Christmas activities, I didn't feel that the Scottish Highlands were described enticingly enough. It's a solid and well-written story, but not very original. If you like books that describe family holidays in rented cottages with all the chaos that comes with that, this will be for you. The characters are all likeable and you will root for them.

3.5 stars

This was such a fun and cute read! I highly enjoyed it!
Mel and Finn were great characters. I wanted to hate Finn at first for breaking Mel’s heart but it was fun to read and see if he “redeemed” himself. The books had beautiful scenery and a cute winter holiday theme and J highly recommend it if you are looking for a cozy romance for the upcoming holiday season

After pretty much hating The Christmas Letter, I wanted to give Emily Stone another chance, and I’m glad I did. Yours for the Season was an absolute joy from start to finish. It did have some sad elements, which I’m starting to associate with Emily Stone’s books, but these didn’t last too long so the book does have an overall joyful feeling.

We all know by now that I’m a real sucker for a fake dating book and one set at Christmas is just perfect for me. I especially loved that in Yours for the Season our fake dating ‘couple’ are ex’s that only broke up six months ago. This left a lot of room for angst, begrudging physical touch and anger. Which also equals fiery passion apparently.

I loved how Mel and Finn’s past was woven into the current day story. The flashbacks to their relationship didn’t feel out of place or like they were detracting from the festive vibes. These actually made their relationship far more believable and didn’t make you question why they’d even think about getting back together after such a harsh break up.

Neither of our main characters are perfect and, to be honest, it’s a little hard to like both of them to begin with. However, they do really grow on you. I think Finn ends up being one of my favourite characters actually, which if you’d told me that at the start of the book I would have thought you were crazy. No way would I like a character that breaks up with his long time girlfriend in front of his whole family at his sister’s engagement party. But yeah, his reasoning for that is still ridiculous when you find out why, but you do understand it.

The side characters in Yours for the Season are great. I wasn’t a fan of Mark (Finn’s brother) but I did love Hattie (Finn’s sister), Susan (Finn’s mom) and Kirsten (Mark’s wife). Kirsten was a stand out character for a few reasons. She had one of the deepest and most complex character arcs and I loved how she and Mel grew much closer than they were before Finn and Mel broke up the first time.

The Christmas vibes are off the charts. The family do so many festive activities together that this really got me excited for the Christmas season (even though it’s mid July when I’m writing this). The scavenger hunt and Come Dine With Me style cooking challenge were my favourite parts. These made me want to do something similar with my family for Christmas.

Learning why Finn’s mom wants to do these activities is a little heartbreaking, but it is something you see coming. There are subtle hints throughout the whole book about what’s going on with her so it’s not a total shock. But it does create the drama element that seemed missing from Yours for the Season. I’m not a fan of creating drama/sadness in this way, but it’s been a common theme in both of Emily Stone’s books I’ve read so far.

Something I always wish for in festive romances is for Christmas day to last longer than just one chapter or a few paragraphs. Having the perfect Christmas day was a big theme of this book so while I did enjoy what we did get to read, I would have loved even more. I can’t complain too much though, there were a lot of festive activities, which is more than can be said for most books set around Christmas.

I’d highly recommend Yours for the Season. It was my first festive read of 2025 and it has made me excited to really get stuck into more Christmas books.

*This review will be published on youngcreativepress.com in December as part of my annual 'The 12 Books of Christmas' series*

As soon as this landed in my inbox I knew that I had to start reading it straight away. I have read books by the author and loved them so I know that I would love this one too. It's the perfect festive read or anytime for when you want a cosy novel. With an easy to follow story and a great cast of characters I highly recommend it and I look forward to reading more by the author.
💝 Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for my arc ebook copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.