I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the audio version. A cute romance story. Perfect for the upcoming Christmas season. If you like Hallmark type love stories this is perfect for you.

Heat Factor: It’s not not sexy, but the vibe was definitely in keeping with the cover art
Character Chemistry: Stella and Luca have been in love for NINE YEARS but refuse to a) admit it and b) do anything about it
Plot: Thirty-year-old woman is incompetent at both entrepreneurship and love, figures out how to do both during the course of this book
Overall: I was not a great audience for this book, but there are many people who will totally love it

This book went on my TBR after I saw someone being excited about it last year. I mean, it has a fake relationship between best friends. I love that stuff. Also, it has one of those absolutely gorgeous covers by Ink and Laurel. And then NetGalley had the audiobook up for request so I thought, “Now’s the time!”

And here we are.

So. A couple of “me” problems.
I am SUPER over the single POV romance novel. Maybe this is something I should have expected or learned when I switched from exclusively historical romance, which is almost always written in 3rd dual/omniscient POV, to primarily contemporary romance, which currently seems to favor 1st person dual/single POV. But if a single POV romance is a hallmark of contemporary romance, then it can jump in a lake. The romances that are served by a single POV are 1) slooooooow burns, like the narrator is confused about the possibility of attraction because there are extremely subtle clues, not sweet little kisses every day and sex on the couch and 2) stories that involve one MC withholding information from another MC such that the reveal of that information provides a dramatic twist for the relationship. Neither of which scenarios is the case for this book.
I am SUPER not excited about protagonists who actively work against their own best interests. This is often a fault of mine, because I get irritated regardless of whether or not the characters are behaving in character. In this case they really are true to character, but I still don’t like it. Other people really feel seen when a thirty-year-old protagonist is finally figuring out that asking for help is okay when they’re overwhelmed by responsibility. Or that taking a risk might reap a greater reward than protecting oneself against one’s fears. I do not feel seen, I feel irritated. Characters who are aware that they’re making bad choices but can’t help themselves, I like. Characters who are complete boneheads, I do not. (This is more a me problem than point 1 because it’s exclusively a preference thing, not a structure thing.)

Okay, so, Lovelight Farms. Stella met Luka shortly after her mom died. She was 21. Nine years later, Stella and Luka are best friends. She lives on her new Christmas tree farm in a small town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, and Luka lives in New York but comes to visit Stella often, particularly since his mom also lives in the small town. Stella has been in love with Luka for nine years, and the only reason anything changes between them is that she’s also a very irresponsible business owner who has entered a contest for a 100k cash prize that will resuscitate her failing business. What does Luka have to do with this contest? Well, Stella said that she owned the farm with her boyfriend. Who does not exist. Because she fantasizes about Luka being her boyfriend but doesn’t actually want to do anything to make Luka her boyfriend because changing the status quo that is (very doubtfully) working is scary. Luckily, Luka agrees to be her fake boyfriend. He more than agrees.

Couple things here:
I said Stella is an irresponsible business owner. Look, I get she’s new to this job. She wants to see the best in people. But she’s running her business into the ground, depleting her personal savings to the point that she has no money and eats too much ramen, and jeopardizing all her employees’ jobs. Because bad things just…keep…happening at her farm. You know what a business owner does when a shipment goes missing? She gets on the phone with the vendor and figures out WTF is going on and how to fix it. When an entire field of pumpkins is destroyed? She files a police report so she can submit an insurance claim for damaged property. Or if I’m wrong about the insurance, at least so there’s a record of non-natural damage being done in case it becomes an ongoing issue. HELLO?! It isn’t until after the pumpkin patch vandalism occurs that she even thinks to install cameras, and when one alerts her phone one night and she sees a hooded figure smashing the camera, she’s like, “Really? Are you sure?” when Luka tells her to call the cops. Are you running a business or a fantasy land, Stella?

I was not impressed with her incompetence that bordered on airheadedness.

Second, Stella has been in love with Luka for nine years, and her excuse for pining for almost a decade with no action whatsoever is that if something were going to happen it would have happened already. This is probably the primary space we should have gotten a second POV, because we have an idea of why Stella’s in stasis (woman’s a scaredy cat), but we have no idea why Luka is as well. Why he finally takes this opportunity to make his move. What are Luka’s fears and motivations? We just don’t know. But he goes from being Stella’s platonic bestie to being a first rate boyfriend in about thirty seconds. He’s no Bonny Tarleton, but he lays his cards on the table pretty early on, not only acting the part, but suggesting to Stella that they spend the week of fake dating as a trial period of real dating. And just…how self-delusional do you have to be not to realize that people don’t give people they’re not interested in multiple sweet little hello kisses because the first one wasn’t enough?

I was not impressed with Stella’s unwillingness to trust Luka, either with the truth of…almost any of her problems OR with her heart. There’s commentary about things that Luka has done for her in the past, but there’s not a ton of on-page textual evidence to support that Stella is willing to trust Luka. You know what the foundation of a good relationship is? Trust. Does Stella trust Luka at all? Not with asking him to be her fake boyfriend. Not with the circumstances of the farm. Not even about calling the police while there is an actual trespasser acting maliciously on her property right in the moment. Why am I supposed to believe that she suddenly does trust him with everything at the end? She’s been invited to Thanksgiving at his house FOR NINE YEARS and doesn’t go because it’s too close to what she actually wants her life to be like. If she’s withholding that much of herself from the relationship they already have, is it actually the best and most important relationship in her life?

Anyway. Women sabotaging themselves is not my jam, but if it’s yours, there are a lot of people who are totally squeeing about this book.

Structurally speaking, I wanted to note that the pacing is slow. This is a gentle small town romance, and I don’t think Pippa Jayne’s narration was the reason that I felt things weren’t really moving. Her voice is somewhat somnolent, but it was in keeping with the sentence structure and pacing of the story. I listen to books at the fastest pace I can and still have the narration sound normal, so I was listening at 1.25x speed, and I still felt like I was lazily wending my way down a scenic, slow-moving stream. There were a few moments that I felt Jayne’s emphasis was on the wrong word or that she hadn’t emphasized the action in a sentence or scene quite the way it seemed it should have been, but it was a very dulcet narration.

Even though there were several secondary characters I really enjoyed, I probably won’t continue the series. It’s just not for me.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report. (November)

- 4.5 Stars -
So I did not listen to this book as the first in the series like the psychopath that I am, so I did spoil some things for myself by reading In The Weeds first, but honestly it didn’t ruin the story of this one for me at all! All I can do honestly is just applaud B.K. Borison for again writing one of the sweetest romance books I have ever read. Luka and Stella deserve EVERYTHING.

The cute Christmas vibe was so warm and cozy and made the whole story feel that way as well. I just couldn’t get enough of how much Stella cared about not only the farm, but also about all of the people that she worked and lived alongside. My heart was just rooting for her the entire time the story was progressing. And Luka, we love a good man who is obviously in love with the female lead when the female lead has no idea. He was such a good friend to Stella that it just made me absolutely melt.

I loved this story and will definitely be on the lookout for more books in this series in the future! I cannot wait to read Mixed Signals because I am officially a Lovelight Farms Series Fan!!

⚠️TW: death of a parent, grief, abandonment, alcoholism

Thank you, @netgalley and @dreamscape_media for this advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review! All of the thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

This book was good. I didn't love the main female character and their connection didn't really feel believable to me. The main male character is totally swoon worthy though.

R E V I E W 💖

This holiday romance was such a delight! This has been on my radar since last year and was so excited when the audio was released.

I loved the main characters Stella and Luca. Easy flowing writing that was both captivating and descriptive. Adored the small town vibes, friendship focus, romance development.

FRIENDS TO LOVERS (my least fav trope but executed well). Great on audio, narrator had such a soothing voice.

My only “complaint” if you will is WHY it took 10 years for them to be together. So much wasted time without the one you love 🥲

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My full review will be on my Instagram page in the next few days!

I absolutely loved this book! While it takes place on a Christmas tree farm, it isn’t an overly Christmassy book. Though, I never mind lots of Christmas cheer in my books, but if it isn’t your think, you could still enjoy this one. This is a fake relationship/friends to lovers trope…and I am here for it. I just loved Lucas and Stella!!! The build up and pace of the book was perfection. You get fun and a little steam. There is also a little bit of a mystery going on at the farm, which kept it interesting. I cannot wait to read the next one!

I consumed this on audiobook, and I really loved the narration. It definitely added to the enjoyment of the book.

Bottom Line: Read it!

**I received an audio copy of Lovelight Farms from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.**

I couldn't get into this audiobook. I was so excited to listen to this audiobook since the physical book has been on my TBR list since forever. Unfortunately, the narrator sounded very robotic and I couldn't get into it. I'll try reading the physical copy instead.

What a super cute holiday friend to lovers fake boyfriend romance. Luka and Stella are the perfect pair. I love that they were able to work through everything at the end. It was nice seeing that the “nothing will change” agreement held up. I feel that normally when one Character professes their love and another rejects it. Do you normally get the storm off and how do you think things could ever go back to normal reaction. Not here and that allows their love to fully flourish. I really enjoyed this book and cannot wait to read the rest of the series.

Stella owns a Christmas Tree farm that is going to be highlighted on a social media influencer’s page! Yippee! Only she lied about one thing… the part where she owns it with her boyfriend. Stella has no boyfriend. But she has a bestie! Stella asks her longtime best friend, Luka, to fake date her while the influencer is there filming her tree farm. Lucky for her, he readily accepts!

I reallly enjoyed this one. This is the Christmas romance I want to read! Fake dating and besties to lovers is a winner. Add this one to your holiday TBR!

Things I loved about this book:
🌲Christmas tree farm setting
🌲fake dating
🌲friends who are family
🌲small town antics
🌲epilogue of the MMC POV

Medium-high spice 🌶️

This is the first book in the Lovelight series and I’m excited to read the next book!

This one was spamming my feed for ages! When I spotted the audiobook on Netgalley I was pumped to get a chance to listen! The narrator is alright. Sometimes I just need a bit to get used to the narrator. It could also be the not great Netgalley app used to listen to it. 😒

Bye besties 👋🏻 moving to a tree farm asap.

“𝘓𝘶𝘬𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘺 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘺, 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘴. 𝘏𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧.“

This was fucking delightful, I couldn’t put it down. As y’all know I’m obsessed with Christmas rom-coms, and this DID NOT disappoint.

• Friends to lovers
• Fake dating
• Found family

It’s spicy in ALL the yummy ways 😉

“𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦,” 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺. 𝘏𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘭𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘯. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘮𝘰𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮. “𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥.”

5/5 ⭐️ | 3/5 🌶 | 18+

Loved this book! I have been seeing it all over and am happy to finally see what the fuss is about. Great holiday read. This was such a cute story and I will be reading the rest of the series from this author.

What a delightful book to introduce a new series that I want more of. This friends to lovers story is centered around Stella, who purchased a Christmas Tree farm and has fallen on hard times financially thanks to a series of unfortunate events, and her best friend, Luka. To pull herself out of the red and save the farm, Stella enters a social media influencer contest telling the white lie that the tree farm was purchased with her boyfriend Luka. To convince instafamous, Evelyn St. James, their relationship is real, the pair pretend to date and end up confronting feelings they have had for each other for almost a decade. Along the way, there are a variety of colorful small-town characters who add a layer of charm and warmth to this story that helped lay the groundwork for readers/listeners to want more. Stella was likeable for the most part. Her obliviousness to Luka’s feelings for her did start to grind on my nerves a bit, but overall was a strong female lead. Luka was nothing short of swoony and he really pulled together a compelling story that had me hooked by the end. Friends to lovers is definitely a tricky trope for me personally. It is hard to get right and is often not done well. I feel like the transition from friends to lovers happened as organically as it could for these two characters once you realize where they were in their lives and what each was dealing with. The audio was good and done in single narration from Stella’s point of view. This was my first time listening to this narrator and I felt like she did an excellent job portraying a cozy, small town story. Her voice took a little getting used to and was lower than I am used to, but once the story got going, I didn’t mind her at all.

I would recommend starting with this book first as it lays the groundwork for the series unlike other romance series that could be read out of order as standalones. I enjoyed this author and can’t wait to listen to the next book.

This was so cute! I love the best friends to romance trope and this did not disappoint! I accidentally listened to book 2 before this one, and I love this one more than book 2! It's not the most memorable romance I've ever read, but I really enjoyed it!

I am DNFing this book for now. I will definitely be trying this again closer to the Christmas season.

Stella is willing to do anything to save her Christmas tree farm. On a whim she signs up for a contest and tells a small little fib about owning it with her boyfriend. Now that’s she’s in the running, she’s got to find a boyfriend quick. So she asks her best friend Luka to play the part.

This was a sweet feel good story of fake dating and friends to lovers. I enjoyed the warm fuzzy feelings this story gave me and I will say there were a few steamy scenes! I give it a 3/5 🔥 on the steamy scale. Over all a sweet quick holiday romance read!

Cute holiday romance featuring tropes of fake dating and friends to lovers. Borison fully immerses readers in the tree farm owned by Stella Bloom, making me yearn for the holiday season and the Christmas trees, Santa, snow, and holiday treats that come with it. References to social media marketing firmly plant this romance in the present day.

The romance is fairly predictable, but includes a few twists to keep readers' interest. There are a few steamy scenes that elevate this romance above the typical Hallmark-movie winter love story. The importance of friendships and the mystery of vandalism on the tree farm also give this story layers of depth. I did not love the narration of this book, and experimented with different speeds to try to smooth it out, but never found a speed that made the story enjoyable to listen to.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison! Admittedly, I listened to In The Weeds first, as I hadn't realized it was a series. It was nice to have the background story for the characters from In The Weeds. This series is absolutely adorable and the town it is set in (and it's characters!) reminds me of Stars Hollow, Gilmore Girls (LOVE!). Friends to fake dating to lovers was done so well. Swoony romance, spicy scenes and a bit of humour made it very easy to cheer for this couple to get together. Such a cozy listen/read. The narration was excellent and I look forward to more in this series!

Thank you to Dreamscape and NetGalley for this ALC!

This book is absolutely a magical delight! I feel like I know it's a great book when it makes me think I would thrive living in a small town or on a farm of any sort! 😂

I’ve been listening to Lovelight Farms and it’s simply perfect! These books are magical in their own right, but the audiobooks really bring the story to life! They make you feel like you’re right there in Inglewild, and I’ve already started wondering if it’s too early to start decorating for Christmas? I know it probably sounds cheesy, but honestly, listening to the audiobook feels like coming home and getting the biggest hug from a friend. I love these characters and their stories, and I’m so excited that even more people will be able to experience the joy that is these books!

I know I'm not the first one to say it, but this series is wonderful, and everyone should read it!

Stella Bloom is the owner of Lovelight Farms. She loves the farm and has done everything to make the farm successful. She has some unlucky things happen with She loves the place and has been trying to make it all work but a lot of bad things from shipments not arriving, trees dying pumpkins being destroyed. the biggest problem is the farm is in financial trouble.

Stella enters a contest that could win her farm publicity and $100,000. When filling out the application she thought it would sound better to embellish to say she owns the farm with her boyfriend. The only problem is she doesn't have one. She will get a fake boyfriend.

Enter her best friend Luka she has always had a crush on him but thought he could never feel the same way. Does she risk asking him to help with her boyfriend problem or will this ruin their friendship? Plus they would have to tell the whole town so it will be believable but what happens when they "break up" how is that going to be handled?


I really enjoyed the story and the town and the people in it are funny crazy and loveable. Once Stella got out of her own way it turned out to be the happy ending we all needed and wanted. I can't wait for the rest of the books in the series just to get another glimpse of the town and the people in it.

This is Book 22 of 30 for September participating in the Bookopoly Readathon

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for this Audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed reading this entertaining, well-written romance with likable main characters and a great cast of secondary small-town characters. Stella Bloom has wonderful childhood memories of the Christmas tree farm she manages to buy as an adult. The farm has suffered a number of unexpected financial losses. So Stella decides to enter a contest to win $100,000 and hopes to better her odds by claiming to co-own the farm with a non-existent boyfriend, a role her best friend Luka Peters agrees to play. Except neither of them are faking anything in this story that leads to their HEA.

I listened to the audible edition, which had excellent narration.