Guest Post with Kerry Winfrey - Faking Christmas ~ JeanBookNerd

Photo Content from Kerry Winfrey

Kerry Winfrey is the author of the romantic comedies WAITING FOR TOM HANKS , NOT LIKE THE MOVIES, VERY SINCERELY YOURS, and JUST ANOTHER LOVE SONG, all published by Berkley. She’s also the author of two YA novels. She lives with her family in the middle of Ohio.

TEN RANDOM FACTS ABOUT FAKING CHRISTMAS
1. I wrote most of Faking Christmas in the middle of summer, which is a challenging time to get into the Christmas spirit! I listened to Christmas music whenever I was writing and kept a Christmas candle on my desk to get the right vibes even when it was 95 degrees outside.

2. Faking Christmas is inspired by one of my favorite Christmas movies, Christmas in Connecticut. A couple of years ago when I was watching it, I asked my husband, “Why has no one remade this?” And then I remembered that I’m a writer, so I could rewrite it! My version is very different from the original, but I kept the basic premise of a farmhouse and a woman who’s lying to her boss.

3. Okay, so there’s technically a remake of Christmas in Connecticut from 1992. It was made for TV and directed by Arnold Schwarzenegger (!), but I’ve never seen it.

4. “Last Christmas” by Wham! is my favorite song of all time, so I had to make the Laurel love it, too. And since many people (with horrible taste!) don’t love it, it was easy to make that the source of another argument between her and Max.

5. One thing I love about Hallmark or other TV Christmas movies is their dedication to a theme, so I wanted to be as over-the-top about Christmas as possible. Hence the name of the main character and her twin sister: Laurel and Holly. And yes, they WERE born on Christmas.

6. I included many of my favorite Christmas movies as Laurel’s favorites. I cry during It’s a Wonderful Life and Elf!

7. “Snowed in” is my absolute favorite romance trope (closely followed by similar tropes “forced proximity” and “just one bed”) so it was a thrill to write a book that’s based around a group of people getting snowed in.

8. Max is a Lego fanatic, which was very easy for me to write because my husband is VERY into Lego. If you aren’t part of the Lego world, you’d be surprised by how many acronyms are involved, many of which found their way into the book.

9. I spent so much time reading about Beef Wellington for the scene where Laurel tries to make it, although I’ve never attempted it myself…maybe this is my year.

10. Christmas in Connecticut is a screwball comedy, and I tried my best to translate that screwball spirit into book form. It was fun to write something that’s supposed to be zany, wacky, and over the top, but also it’s very hard to bring that energy to the written word! It reminded me of why I love classic screwball comedies so much (my favorites are the ones with Cary Grant and Irene Dunne, specifically The Awful Truth).

Laurel Grant is playing house for the holidays--complete with a fake husband and kids--in this delightful, cozy rom-com by Kerry Winfrey.

Laurel Grant works as the social media manager for Buckeye State of Mind, an Ohio tourism magazine and website. She is most definitely not an owner of a farm...but one tiny misunderstanding leads her boss, Gilbert, to think she owns her twin sister Holly's farm just outside of Columbus. Laurel only handles the social media for the farm, but she's happy to keep her little white lie going if it means not getting fired.

And keep it going she must when Gilbert, recently dumped by his wife, invites himself over for the farm's big holiday dinner (as advertised on Meadow Rise Farm's Instagram, thanks to Laurel herself). Laurel immediately goes into panic mode to figure out how she can trick Gilbert into thinking she's basically the Martha Stewart of rural Ohio and keep her job in the process.

Laurel and Holly come up with a plan--all Laurel has to do is pretend to own the farm for one dinner. But when Laurel shows up at the farm, an unwelcome guest is there: Max Beckett, her nemesis since Holly's wedding. The annoyingly attractive man she hates will be posing as Laurel's husband just for the evening, but when a snowstorm traps them all for the entire weekend, Laurel is going to have to figure out how to survive with her job and dignity intact. Whatever the case, this promises to be the most eventful Christmas in ages...

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