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Concédeme un deseo: Doce días de fake dating. Un amor… ¿real?

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De la autora de A dos metros de ti y de Chica conoce a chica , llega la nueva y emotiva romcom con fake dating , perfecta para las navidades.

Arden James es la actriz joven más sexy de Hollywood... y también la más perseguida por la prensa a causa de sus escándalos. Cuando su mala reputación casi le cuesta el papel de sus sueños, Arden y su representante inventan una mentira para darle la vuelta a la situación. Pero, para que funcione, tendrá que volver a casa para las vacaciones de Navidad por primera vez en cuatro años.

Caroline Beckett ha pasado los últimos cuatro años puliendo un porfolio estelar que la llevará a un programa de periodismo de primer nivel en la universidad de Columbia y convenciéndose a sí misma de que no podría estar menos interesada en lo que su ex mejor amiga y primer amor ha estado haciendo desde que se fue sin mirar atrás.

Pero cuando Arden aparece de repente en su puerta con la promesa de que podrá escribir para la Cosmopolitan un artículo sobre su «romance secreto» y así mejorar su imagen pública, Caroline no puede evitar sentirse tentada a seguirle el juego.

Debería ser bastante fácil aguantar doce citas navideñas con Arden para hacer realidad sus sueños, pero ¿podrán resistirse a sus sentimientos... o caerán más rápido que la nieve en Nochebuena?

324 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2024

263 people are currently reading
21237 people want to read

About the author

Rachael Lippincott

12 books7,101 followers
Rachael Lippincott is the #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Five Feet Apart. She holds a BA in English writing from the University of Pittsburgh. Originally from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, she currently resides in Pittsburgh with her wife and their dog, Hank.

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5 stars
1,156 (23%)
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3 stars
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,054 reviews
Profile Image for ♥︎ Heather ⚔ (New House-Hiatus).
986 reviews4,473 followers
February 7, 2025
I'm done with Christmas books lol. Probably for the foreseeable future. Back to the sad and painful books around this time of year for me.

This book just never grabbed me. I'm just over it.
➽──────────────❥
Our FMC, Arden, a Hollywood actress, returns to a Christmas-themed small town with a plan to fake date her ex-bff Caroline in order to better her image to get a coveted role.

Give me all the candy canes and jingle bells, and all of the ooey- gooey feels. Ready to sip my cocoa by the fireplace. 😍

╰⪼ ☃️Fake Dating
╰⪼ ❤️Enemies to Lovers
╰⪼ 🌟Badass Korean Grandma
╰⪼ ☃️Messy Actress ✘ Aspiring Journalist
╰⪼ ❤️Hallmark Movie but Fruity
╰⪼ 🌟Jewish ✘ Hanukkah Rep
╰⪼ ☃️Lesbian MCs

⋆✴︎˚。⋆ Connect with me on Instagram ˗ˏˋ★‿︵‧ ˚ ₊⊹
Profile Image for Birdie Schae.
Author 1 book185 followers
January 6, 2025
if rachael and alyson have a million fans, i’m one of them. if rachael and alyson have one fan, it’s me. if rachael and alyson have no fans, i have died of sapphic panic-
Profile Image for Rachael Lippincott.
Author 12 books7,101 followers
Read
December 20, 2023
WROTE A LESBIAN HOLIDAY ROMCOM WITH MY WIFE. Bon appétit to my fellow sapphics!
Profile Image for Marie.
132 reviews209 followers
October 2, 2024
This was a very sweet and light-hearted holiday romance.

I overall enjoyed the story. It’s well-written and an easy read, but it didn’t manage to fully grab my attention. The romance felt a bit rushed to me and I just didn’t really feel a connection to the characters. This might be because it’s YA romance, and I’ve sadly noticed that I struggle more and more with getting into these lately.

I do think this makes for a charming and festive read for the holiday season that a lot of people would enjoy. It just wasn't the right one for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

___
A sapphic Netflix-esque Christmas movie meets How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days 👀🤭😍
Profile Image for Anna.
1,971 reviews350 followers
October 29, 2024
I feel like I'm probably going to get a little backlash for this but I am a firm believer that this book would have been a hundred times better if it was not YA. I read a lot of YA and a lot of middle grade and I love it and so it was surprising to me that I thought this would work better as a new adult book. For me I just cannot grasp the intensity of these feelings and these experiences happening to 14-year-olds. So I'm not saying that teenagers don't have big feelings because that's clearly untrue but I am saying that it was hard to believe that the one character's grandma would just let her parents take her to Hollywood and immerse her in this really dangerous culture without any sort of fight as a 14-year-old.

This book takes place when the characters are 18 and they're in their senior year of high school. They were former best friends and one of them up and left at 14 to go live out acting dreams and she becomes this famous actor. But when her dream movie role is withheld from her because of her questionable choices, she and her agent come up with a plan that she is actually a small town queer girl with a long-term girlfriend. that long-term girlfriend that they're fake dating is her old best friend.

The amount of drama and depth that this book does manage to include is really great and I found myself really enjoying it and then there would be moments that remind me that these characters are barely 18 and I was kind of like ripped from the story.

Personally, I think this book would have been a million times better if the leaving the best friend to go to Hollywood had happened at age 17 or 18 and then this actual plot of the book was revisited when the characters were 21 or 22. It just would have worked better and would have been more believable.

Now beyond my ranting about this being the wrong age range, this is a really cute queer sapphic holiday book and I definitely do recommend it. I seem to be the outlier here so I'm reading other reviews so I actually think that most people will enjoy this. And I did enjoy it, I just didn't love it.

My other single qualm with this book is that there's a scene where the characters older brothers who own a bar serve the two girls alcohol inside the bar and that would never happen. No business owner is going to risk their liquor license, which is notoriously difficult to get and maintain, by serving underage patrons. It just would not happen and that scene was wild because no matter how small your town, it's just not a thing.
Profile Image for tara シ.
35 reviews
January 1, 2025
New sapphic fake dating from the queens Alyson and Rachel? Yes please 😍🤭
·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ pre read
I’m so ready for the sapphic Christmas vibes 🤭🤭
·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳post read
this was cute and interesting rtc!!
Profile Image for Misha.
1,573 reviews59 followers
October 23, 2024
Arden James, they could never make me like you.

Truly, about 30% in, I was really hoping this would end up being a romance where Caroline learns her lesson about giving her heart and friendship to someone who completely ghosted her and her own grandma for four years. I was hoping this cute cheerleader who seems really nice and genuine and actually interested in Caroline's well-being would be endgame but disappointed.

One of the biggest issues with this book, I think, is that it works way better as a new adult or adult story. A child actor at 14 goes to LA, works for four years and somehow emerges at the end of it cultivating a false image of a star who parties, does cocaine, sleeps with tons of people AT EIGHTEEN? It would make sense if this was a 21-year-old trying to break out of the innocent child-star image but in the year of our lord two thousand twenty-four, a child between 14-18 years old partying hard, emancipating herself and having no adults in her life except a paid agent would be looked upon with concern, not as some cool, edgy young star.

But back to my primary gripe, which is that Arden is clearly the villain in this story but nobody told the authors. She plays with emotions, ghosts people, turns up again after four years of radio silence to her grandma and best friend to ask for their help without even an apology and then continues to just play with everyone's feelings (including her own) for a movie role. I am appalled at every single one of Caroline's friends and family seem to not really care about her either because instead of being wary and angry at Arden for simply ghosting Caroline and hurting her deeply, they just encourage this fake dating scheme and ask Caroline at every opportunity if she still has feelings. With friends like these, who needs enemies.

The whole thing is just really strange if we keep in mind at all times that the events referenced happened to a child between the ages of 14 and 18, not a twenty-year-old. This book would have been one thousand percent better if the main characters were aged up and Taylor was the real love interest after Caroline learns that pining after someone who literally did not give her a second thought after leaving four years ago is pointless and inviting more hurt into your life.
Profile Image for Jasmine from How Useful It Is.
1,641 reviews381 followers
November 10, 2024
Great read and audiobook! This story was cute and sweet. It got me teary eyed in some places. It got me laughed in others. The dates were good. The friendship was good. Good diversity. I liked Arden's grandma. Poppy's younger sister was cool as well as older brothers. Her best friends were great too. The small town holiday was good.

This story was cute. Childhood best friends. They loved each other but no one said anything. Then Arden moved away after middle school to become a Hollywood star. The whole time away, Poppy missed Arden and mad at Arden for leaving her. Due to a movie role, Arden was forced to come home after 4 years. Arden was also forced to ask Poppy to fake date her for the movie role. Poppy was mad at first and refused until Arden offered her something in exchange she couldn't refuse and it's not money. Along the way, they grew closer..

Thank you SimonTeen and Simon Audio for the opportunity to read, listen and review.
Profile Image for emma.
331 reviews296 followers
November 28, 2024
this would have worked better with two women over 30, but it was still very sweet! exactly the kind of romance i wanted to read over the christmas period.
Profile Image for Rebekah.
518 reviews47 followers
October 15, 2024
1 Sentence Summary: Famous teen actor Arden James’s messy reputation is threatening her ability to land her dream role, so with a plan from her agent to rehabilitate her image, she goes back to her small hometown for the first time in four years to fake date her childhood best friend Caroline, who never got over Arden leaving and now wants nothing to do with her.

My Thoughts: So yes it was a little cheesy, but it’s a Christmas romance! Cheesiness is expected! It was fun and festive and overall lighthearted yet with some more serious moments intertwined.

I really liked the deeper topics that were explored, and in fact even wished they had been fleshed out a bit more. I loved the explorations of the struggles of child/teen celebrities, as well as the need for inclusion of Jewish and other non-Christian faiths during the holiday season.

The characters were likable, the romance was sweet, and I really want some salted caramel hot chocolate now.

(Also, this would be such a good movie.)

Recommend to: Fans of holiday romance and fake dating trope!

(Warnings: swearing; underage drinking; implied sexual content; child abandonment)

***
thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me an eARC in exchange for an honest review
Profile Image for danie &#x1f3f9;.
69 reviews6 followers
November 28, 2024
the universe knew i would be too powerful if i read sapphic christmas romances when i was 14 so instead they're coming out when my brain is fully developed
Profile Image for Star.
654 reviews262 followers
December 10, 2024
Content warnings: alcohol consumption/underage drinking, references to drug use, references to parental abandonment.

Rep: Caroline (MC) is cis, white, lesbian, and Jewish. Arden (MC) is cis, Korean-American, and lesbian. Side achillean characters, side lesbian character, side Korean-American characters, side Jewish characters.


Rachael and Alyson have done it again!

Not only have they managed to write an incredibly wonderful holiday YA novel, but they managed to pack it full of heart, warmth, and hope.

I am so happy to have read this one - I laughed, I cried, I did the kicky feet, I clapped. It was all the good things.

I especially loved how, in a town full of Christmas, how it managed to carve an important spot for those who aren't Christian or Catholic, and want to celebrate their Jewish faith. This was such a lovely touch, and it shows that we can make changes even when 'tradition' is strong.

There is more I'd love to say, but I don't want to spoil it.

But this is my new favourite YA holiday romcom, and I can't wait for y'all to read and love it, too.
Profile Image for mads.
680 reviews562 followers
dnf
November 7, 2024
DNF @ 25%

Nothing wrong with this, I'm just not really enjoying it.

I think I need to stop trying YA romcoms because I (almost) never connect with them, especially when they want you to feel like the HS seniors are in their mid-twenties lol.

This sounded super cute (Christmas/Hannukah, second chance, Sapphic fake-dating; all a lovely mix!) and I hope more people pick it up and enjoy it, I can just tell it isn't for me.
Profile Image for Kyra Leigh.
71 reviews28 followers
April 30, 2025
This is a great holiday romance, although it would make a lot more sense if they were older, and also, how the heck were they getting some fast flights from Pennsylvania to Los Angeles? I mean, I know it's fiction, but it felt like no time difference happened between them traveling and the events happening during Christmas Eve and Christmas Day lol
Profile Image for Bethany (Beautifully Bookish Bethany).
2,693 reviews4,618 followers
January 30, 2025
This was cute!! A sapphic holiday rom-com with fake dating between former best friends, one of whom left for a big Hollywood career. But now, in order to land a role she wants, she needs to prove she's "homegrown". But it's her first Christmas back in her small hometown in four years, and perhaps she's forgotten just what she left behind...

It's giving Netflix holiday movie but for teens and I enjoyed it. I saw a lot of people saying they would have preferred the characters be older. And while yeah, this would make an excellent setup for an adult romance too, I do think it works for this age demographic. Because it is certainly the case that there are teenagers in Hollywood doing a lot of partying before they are of age. Anyway, I thought it was fun, heart-warming, and gave great holiday vibes. And one of the girls is Jewish so we get Hannukah representation as well! Delightful. I received a copy of this book for review from the publisher, all opinions are my own.
Profile Image for Cristina.
307 reviews151 followers
December 17, 2024
Where do I find a childhood best friend who moves to LA to become a hotshot actress and cuts contact with me for four years, but as soon as I begin to move on from my unrequited feelings for her she shows back up in town and asks to fake date me for the tabloids. So we go on 12 days of holiday themed dates where all those locked up feelings get rekindled and I begin to bring out the old her…? Asking for a friend.

Give me all the cheesy hallmark-vibes sapphic holiday books, please! I read this in practically one sitting. I loved loved loved Arden and Caroline and their small town romance. I owe Rachael and Alyson my life for consistently putting out such adorable sapphic romances.

I thought there were some great depictions of family and community, as well as important thoughts about fame. I also liked the side conversations about what it’s like growing up in a dual-faith household when your town is very dedicated to Christmas traditions. I always like it when my romance novels have some heavier topics to them to really round out of character experiences.
Profile Image for L.
157 reviews
December 23, 2024
⭐⭐⭐✨/5

Una romcom sáfica inspirada una vez más en las autoras que son mujer y mujer y pues obviamente yeiiii💗

Me gustan mucho estas autoras y cómo escriben juntas, y sobre todo cómo se basan en ellas mismas para escribir romance, de verdad, me parece una cosa monísima y me alegra mucho muchísimo que hagan esto :)

Le pongo 3'5⭐ a este libro por varios motivos:

El primero es que creo que no somos el público objetivo para esta novela ajdjjs. Es un libro con un tono bastante juvenil, y aunque a mí me hubiese gustado más si lo hubiesen enfocado como Young Adult, pienso en todas las chavalas de 16-17 años que estén leyendo esto y lo calentito que tienen que tener el corazón que pfff, qué bien qué bien💖
Si sois más mayores (i mean estáis en vuestros 20s) os recomiendo mucho más leer Chica conoce chica!!
De cualquier modo, si lo leéis teniendo en cuenta esto y desde esa perspectiva lo vais a disfrutar un montón.

Lo segundo es que la trama es súper cozy y muyyy navideña, algo que me ha encantadoooo. Es cierto que es predecible, pero vaya, como cualquier libro navideño, considero. Hacer galletas juntas, acudir al concurso de chocolate caliente del pueblo (mi cita fav sin duda junto con el karaoke😭), quedar para montar en trineo... En fin, es muy bonito ver a un grupo de amigues queer en general simplemente quedando y haciendo planes adolescentes sin dramas relacionados con su sexualidad/identidad.
Creo que las autoras siempre hacen un trabajo buenísimo con estooooo✨

Por otra parte, creo que todos los libros navideños son un 3-4 estrellas, la verdad, y hay que leerlos teniendo en cuenta esto y solo con la idea de disfrutarlos. Sí es cierto que incluyen algún detalle algo más profundo (como por ejemplo en este libro, que se hace mención a otras religiones y creencias en estas fiestas al margen de la navidad/cristianismo), pero al final se trata bastante de refilón porque lo importante en el libro es el romance.
En fin, que no es una novela que enfocar con grandes expectativas, pero que si tienes esto en cuenta y el simplemente pasar un buen rato con dos chavalas que han tenido siempre un crush tremendo en la otra y que se reencuentran después de 4 años, siendo una de ellas una actriz famosísima en Hollywood que necesita fingir que tiene una novia de su pueblito de siempre para mejorar su reputación pueeessss, dadleeee, leeroslo mis sáficas, lo vais a pasar bien bien🎄🫂
Profile Image for Fiebre Lectora.
2,258 reviews674 followers
August 10, 2025
Reseña completa: https://fiebrelectora.blogspot.com/20...

Arden es la joven promesa de Hollywood, conocida por sus escándalos, y cuando su mala reputación casi le cuesta el papel de sus sueños, inventa junto con su representante una mentira que la salve: volver al pueblo de su infancia y fingir que está saliendo con la que fuera su mejor amiga... y a la que no ve desde hace cuatro años. Caroline ha pasado ese tiempo echándola de menos, y puliendo un porfolio que le abra las puertas a un programa de periodismo en una gran universidad; así, cuando Arden aparece en su puerta prometiéndole un artículo para Cosmopolitan sobre su romance secreto, con el que mejorar su imagen pública, Caroline no puede evitar seguirle el juego, y mientras que no debería ser difícil sobrevivir a doce citas navideñas, ¿resistirán sus sentimientos?

Puesss bien: ligerito, navideño, comedia romántica sáfica, pueblo pequeño... tiene muchos toques que lo hacen un libro disfrutable, y reconozco que se lee en un suspiro, porque es mono, la relación entre Arden y Caroline atrapa, y el toque de la actriz famosa vuelve al pueblo es muy tópico.
Profile Image for K.
284 reviews952 followers
Read
December 27, 2024
I really like the way this duo writes YA. A second chance romance that actually processed the initial rupture too! I wish that just as we heard about what it was like to be Jewish in Barnwich, we learned more about what it was like for Arden to be a person of color in the town, and also Hollywood. But overall I really loved this and can’t wait for the next book they write together.
Profile Image for Charles .
255 reviews25 followers
December 13, 2024
Caroline Beckett grew up in a small town known for it’s love for all things Christmas. She did typical small town things, always with her best friend Arden James. She even managed to keep her biggest secret…her crush on her best friend, until one day after a successful screen test, Arden moves to Los Angles to pursue her dream of acting, and leaves Caroline and their small town life style behind.

All Arden ever wanted to do was to act, so getting her first job was a dream come true, even if it means leaving her beloved Grams, but even worse, leaving behind her girl crush best friend Caroline.

Now four years later, Arden has developed a reputation as a party girl and the movie part she most covets, that of a small town girl who moves to Hollywood to chase her dream, she is turned down for. The director doesn’t think she is “small town” enough. She lies and says she is so small town that she still has a girlfriend back in her home town. The director offers to give her 2 weeks to prove him wrong.

What happens next is the plot of Make My Wish Come True. The story takes place in the two weeks before Christmas and alternates points-of-view between Caroline and Arden.

Did I mention that now Caroline hates Arden because she never came back, and never wrote her. Should make for an interesting two weeks.

I was looking for a holiday romance to read and I confess to really enjoying this story. This is YA, and as such, people hold hands and a kiss is still a very big deal, so if you have been reading romantasy,(ie: ACOTAR) it will not have the physical intimacy...But that doesn’t change the very real feelings going on here. This is a nice story that takes place at Christmas in a small town where people are supportive of each other, and both of the FMCs are easy to like and easy to root for.

I have feelings for Caroline and she might have feelings for me, but… I’m not the right person for her. My life, despite this brief break from my reality, is still a mess. And I’m not about to drag her into it. I’m not about to make a mess of her life too.
Profile Image for sb.
17 reviews
October 8, 2024
rachael and alyson wrote this specifically for me and me only. there is nothing on planet earth that is better curated for me than this book. parts of both caroline and arden exist within me. childhood friends to lovers? fake dating? christmas? using the word lesbian instead of gay? korean representation? i feel whole again.
Profile Image for Char.
82 reviews
November 13, 2024
the most unbelievable part of this book was that the main wasian character calls her korean grandmother "Grams"
Profile Image for sana ୨୧.
630 reviews74 followers
December 18, 2024
3.75

this was a cute read but arden was so insufferable at times. also i’m getting severe deja vu right now, like i feel like i’ve read something very similar, down to lilian and arden’s struggle between her small town and hollywood.
Profile Image for Niham  Teradhalys.
136 reviews34 followers
December 9, 2024
The whole issue with this book is that it just doesn't make sense in 2024.

First of all, as an actual actress, I can very confidently say that Stanislavskji is turning in his grave...the whole depiction of what acting is and feels like is completely off.

Second of all, what in the Drew-Barrymore-Britney-Spears-world is this?
15teen year olds are no longer exposed to that type of life, drinking, doing cocaine (???), sleeping around unsupervised, that's just unrealistic.
The Hollywood scene looked like pre Harvey Weinstein and luckily things have changed you know.
This whole book would've made more sense if the characters were older or if it was set in the 80s or something.
The book was this weird halfway between wanting to feel YA but also talking about drugs and sex??? How is that YA?

Finally, something that bothered me so much is how we spend the entire book reading about this article that's going to be published in Cosmopolitan (how that could actually happen I honestly have no idea, even if you have connections there's something called journalistic integrity), the article that is going to show us the REAL RAW Arden...and then...we get that crappy paragraph that's so bad I'm afraid this girl will never get into ANY College.

The one thing I enjoyed is how queerness is represented and just embraced, almost like it's a given, no one has a tragic coming out story or struggle connected to being gay
Don't get me wrong I know it's not easy believe me, but if we never stop associating queerness as a big life changing issue we'll never move forward as a society.

All in all I don't think this book is that much worth it sorry.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,054 reviews

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