Ok, first off – that cover is GORGEOUS. Secondly, a Canadian f/f fake romance novella? Heck yeah!

After graduating from college in Canada with a photography degree, Dora’s coasting along at her barista job when she finds out that her student visa is expiring. Dora doesn’t really want to go back to Brazil, so luckily her best friend has an idea – marry her friend Abby! From a date at a Brazilian restaurant to a Christmas family trip, getting to know each other is a lot of fun, but is a fake relationship enough to build a real romance on?

“I stared at the street ahead of us, thinking of how much I always walked on eggshells when it came to my life. Waiting for things to happen on their own wasn’t going to fix my problems anytime soon. Abby and I could go for it, and if we decided it wasn’t worth it, then we could stop. But as I looked back at the cute girl by my side, a new fear came to me.
Two years living together was a long time. Enough time to maybe fall in love with Abigail or end up hating her guts.”


I thought Dora was an interesting, if grumpy, heroine. She almost read as a bit depressed to me, though I’m not sure that was the intent, as she’s dissatisfied with her life even before the visa news. She wants romance – she browses Tumblr for pics of cute girls kissing and watches romance movies – but hasn’t had much luck finding a girlfriend in Toronto. Though she loves photography, an accident has left her camera-less and without a creative outlet. Even a few dates in, Dora’s still very unsure about their fake relationship, and some of that comes out as frustration at Abby. Though Dora states that she believes that you need to work to get what you want, she’s so passive at times that it felt like Abby cared more about her visa status than Dora herself did! Abby is a nerdy librarian, described by Dora as always surrounded by books. She’s constantly reading – even while en route to dates via public transportation with Dora – and is rather serious, though she has a gamut of interests, from Abba to heavy metal. Dora initially thinks Abby is straight, though I’m not sure why, and it’s a quite funny scene when Abby disabuses her of that notion.

Oddly enough, I felt like Abby’s growing feelings about the relationship were clearer than Dora’s, even though the book is solely from Dora’s POV. I did think the relationship felt a bit underdeveloped, even for a novella, as I didn’t get much chemistry between the two of them. And I think that comes down to my main criticism of the book. While it reminded me a bit of a Jackie Lau book (from the trope-y title to the Canadian setting), it’s more simplistic. While Dora’s obviously worried about her immigration status, it doesn’t extend to the depth of emotion you’d find in a JL book – it’s got neither the emotional lows nor the almost over the top silliness that balances that out. The premise also immediately reminded me of Christina Lauren’s Roomies, though, luckily, this nicely sidesteps the legality of the issue – while they discuss the possibilities of a fake marriage and go through the motions of getting to know each other, the only people they try to fool with the fake relationship are Abby’s family.

That’s not to say I didn’t like the book. It’s quite sweet, from their first date is at a Brazilian restaurant, to making flash cards with silly “get to know you” questions, to “acting” like a couple for a short film for Dora’s roommate. The crowning bit is when they go to Abby’s family’s house for Christmas. It is a novella, so it’s a quick read, and I thought it was well-paced. I also liked that each character had great female friendships. Dora and Abby share a good friend – the one who introduced them – and Dora also has a supportive roommate.

Overall, I enjoyed it, but think it was missing something, so I’m giving it 3.5 stars, rounded down to 3. I definitely think that Ms. Hollis has a great voice, though, and I’ll be on the lookout for her next book!

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This story was such a breath of fresh air as it did in clue did lesbians from different ethnic groups so the book was not all about beautiful white lesbians meeting and falling in love. I wish more less fix books were like this one with a diverse cast of ethnic minorities.

The story revolves around Dora who left Brazil for a new adventure and travel to Canada to attend college on a visa. Upon graduation she received a letter telling her that she was to be deported for not having a valid visa to be in Canada. Dora is desperate and very much afraid of what her future may entail. She tells her story to a work colleague, Paige, who introduces her to a friend Abby who is willing to enter into a fake marriage with Dora so that she can stay in Canada. While Dora is fearful of this collaboration she agrees and she and Abby become friends. Slowly Dora realizes that she really enjoys Abby and is overwhelmed by the love and affection Abby's family gives her. This makes Dora think that the plan fake marriage has to end because she will be hurting not only Abby but Abby's family and she couldn't stand that betrayal so she calls the marriage off.
Dora now has limited choices to be able to legally stay in Canada but she was willing to risk that chance of deportation rather than hurting a woman she was beginning to have real feelings for and her family . What will toward you and what will happen with her as time moves on? This story is so well written and easy to read and a lot happens that is just heartwarming. But as I started out saying the best part for me was the fact that the cast was ethnically diverse and there were no phrases of "you're so beautiful I love you".

This was so cute and fluffy, and I loved the characters, especially Abby's family. I just wish it were longer and we got more time with everyone and to expand on things. It's a good novella though. I'm excited to read more books by this author.

This is a nice novella... it's sweet, but I have to say there wasn't as much chemistry as I expected them to have, and not much interaction between Abby and Dora besides some polite conversing... I expected more somehow...

This is my first f/f romance with a fake marriage trope and I was excited to read it. And though the story took some unexpected turns, it was a pleasant and sweet experience.

Dora is a very confusing protagonist and I’m not exactly sure what I feel about her. I could totally feel her anxiety about the deportation and about not wanting to go back home because she has already come to love Toronto like her own. However, she seemed very resigned to her fate and didn’t seem very proactive in trying to change her visa situation. I really liked Abby more and would have loved to read her POV. She could be both assertive and shy, and I could totally see that she was developing genuine feelings for Dora, despite Dora’s own cluelessness. And I just felt that Abby was more concerned about Dora’s visa situation than she was herself, which just made me slightly angry. However, I liked the way the uncertainty was resolved and the ending was very cute and optimistic.

The writing is very easy to read and I finished it pretty much in a single sitting. I think the author did a good job bringing Dora’s resignation (which almost felt like laziness) to life and then gave her that touch of inspiration to move forward with her future plans. It’s always great when the author is able to make me change my opinion about the main character and it definitely helped me come to agree with the direction the author took this story in. I also loved that both our main characters have supportive friends who always have their back. I always enjoy good female friendships.

Overall, this is a cute story of falling in love but I would have definitely loved to get to know the two MCs better. Give this a try when you want something short and fluffy.

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute holiday romance.

Dora who receives a letter from the immigration will be deported. When her friend suggest she marry a woman.

Since she not in the relationship she meets librarian Abby who all for helping her out and when they go on dates to get to know each other and spend time with Abby family they start to wonder is this a real relationship or are we still pretending.

I like this story because it remind me of the holiday movies on tv which I find a bit hiarlious when they could easily to do a same sex couples in these movies cause let's be honest basically every holiday movie has the same premise.