The Fake Fiancé for Christmas Eve

They agreed to fake it for one night. Neither expected to want it to be real. One panicked phone call. One Christmas Eve lie. One neighbor willing to help. Sophie's plan was simple: Eli would pretend to be her fiancé, survive dinner with her nosy family, and by morning they'd go back to being friendly neighbors who share an elevator. The plan falls apart the moment Eli meets her family and fits in like he's always been there. It crumbles further when he tells a proposal story so genuine her mother cries. And it completely unravels when Sophie realizes the connection between them isn't an act—it's the most real thing she's felt in years. But Sophie doesn't do vulnerable. She doesn't do trust. And she definitely doesn't do falling in love with a man she barely knows over a fake Christmas engagement. Eli has been noticing Sophie for months, and this weekend shows him everything he's been hoping for. But he won't pressure her. He won't demand. He'll tell her the truth and let her choose. Now Sophie must decide: will she choose safety and loneliness, or will she choose love and all the beautiful, terrifying risk that comes with it? A swoon-worthy Christmas romance about the courage to be honest, the beauty of chosen family, and finding love in the most unexpected places.