He swore never to fall for a city girl again. She’s on a mission to charm his small town.
MATT BECKER is stretched thin. Running his flower shop solo is a full-time job, but now he’s also tasked with caring for his teenage sister while their parents are away. With her expensive new school draining his savings, Matt’s barely keeping his head above water. He needs money—and fast.
Groomed to inherit her father’s hotel empire, ZOEY DELACROIX is finally poised to take the reins. But first, she must convince shareholders she’s got what it takes and silence her own doubts. Her plan? Secure a piece of land in the town where her father once failed. Falling for a local? Definitely not part of it.
When a crucial town vote spirals into disaster and her reputation takes a hit, Zoey finds an unexpected lifeline: Matt. He suggests a fake relationship to win back the town’s favor in exchange for a spot in her small business investment program. It’s strictly business… until it isn’t. Matt never expected the spoiled city girl to fit so easily into his world. And Zoey never questioned the future set for her until she began picturing a life that looked a lot more like his.
As lines blur and real feelings get tangled in their fake romance, Matt and Zoey must find the nerve to rewrite their future or risk losing the one thing they never saw coming: a shot at love.
In this cozy small-town romance where The Holiday meets Gilmore Girls, HOAX AND KISSES explores the path to self-discovery and the unexpected connections that bloom along the way. Steamy and soul-stirring, this story is a tribute to the kind of love that sneaks up on you and never lets go.
My thoughts:
Hoax and Kisses is a heartwarming small-town romance, blending just the right amount of Hallmark sweetness and sexy spice. Elodie Colliard has been an author I’ve wanted to read for some time now and this definitely lived up to the hype.
Big town hotel exec heads to small town Pine Falls to convince them to sell their land for her company to build a new hotel. What could go wrong? Well, it’s possible the handsome but grumpy town flower shop owner (who she may have had a one-night stand with) turns the whole town against her. He may also then decide to make amends by fake dating her in order to convince everyone in town how wrong he was about her. Let’s just say, shenanigans (and romance) ensue.
Hoax and Kisses is the perfect small-town romance. Pine Falls is charming, full of loyal (and a bit chaotic) townspeople, and the perfect blend of outdoorsy and cute. When they pitched it as Gilmore Girls meets The Holiday, they got the vibes 100% right. This is one setting that will make you feel right at home.
The characters only add to the coziness of the book. Matt and Zoey separately were lovely in their own right but put them together and they were absolutely perfect. Enemies to lovers, grumpy/sunshine, with insane chemistry.
Zoey is fiercely independent but sometimes a little too much so. The town of Pine Falls shows her, for the first time in her life, that it’s okay to ask for help. Matt may have been the first person to offer but he’s far from the last. Seeing her open up and let others take some of the weight off her shoulders felt so relatable and rewarding. Matt was the catalyst for a lot of Zoey’s changes. He was outwardly a bit of a grump but more of a teddy bear inside. He was insanely protective of his family, friends, and town. The connection between him and Zoey was immediate but the trust and love between the two of them took longer to build. I definitely wouldn’t call this a slow burn when it comes to spice but I think that title would fit when it came to their actual relationship.
While Zoey and Matt were the main characters, I loved the whole group. The town was full of such eclectic people. I know there is a previous Pine Falls book that I’ll have to check out but I’m also hoping there will be more in the future. Lola, James, Daphne, and the rest deserve way more page time.
The romance was the ideal mix of sweetness and spice. Matt and Zoey had instant chemistry that made every spicy scene between them so utterly hot. Matt was such a gentleman everywhere except the bedroom. That man had a mouth on him. I’ll let you interpret that how you will.
I also have to briefly mention the autistic representation. I thought it was written very well and very honestly. As someone who is neurodivergent, I appreciated the approach that Elodie Colliard took when writing Daphne’s character. She showed that autism is a spectrum and that it’s not something to be changed, but something to be embraced. Matt’s love and care for his sister was probably the sweetest thing about him.
Overall, Hoax and Kisses will have you ready to risk it all and move to a small town for your own happy ever after. Elodie Colliard has a new fan and I can’t wait to revisit Pine Falls and anywhere else they write into existence.
TL;DR
Hoax and Kisses is an adorably sweet small-town romance with just the right balance of story and spice. This book will have you swooning while trying to locate Pine Falls on a map to book your own trip. This cozy romance will leave you with a smile on your face and a sudden urge to embrace nature and possibly a grumpy small-town florist.