Publication: 1st August 2025 (eBook), 9th October 2025 (paperback) – Headline
Christmas with your ex and his family in a cosy cottage in the snowy Scottish Highlands?
It’s the last place Mel imagined spending the holidays.
But when her ex-boyfriend Finn shows up on her doorstep, only months after inexplicably dumping her at his sister’s engagement party, asking her to pretend to his family they’re back together, she agrees – on one condition. Mel can publicly dump Finn at the end of the week and show him just how it feels.
But with Finn’s mother set on making this Christmas picture-perfect, can Mel and Finn keep up the act without falling back into old feelings? As their white lie snowballs out of control, and the ice between them starts to thaw, Mel must decide if she really wants their romance to be just for the season – or something more…
A cottage in the middle of the snowy Scottish Highlands is my idea of the perfect Christmas so I was drawn like a moth to a flame to Yours for the Season, the new novel by Emily Stone. This is my first novel by this author, but I enjoyed it very much and I am looking forward to reading more of her stories.
Yours for the Season is a Christmas novel, a story about family, second chances, and romance. Melanie and Finn met in Edinburgh at New Year’s Eve and they had been together for three years until Finn suddenly ended things during his sister’s engagement party. Six months later, Mel agrees to spend Christmas with his family in the Scottish Highlands and pretend they are back together, but this time she will be the one ending things in front of his family. What follows is fake dating, only-one-bed situation, an equal amount of awkward and hilarious moments as well second chances and self-discovery.
The story is told from two perspectives. In the present time, Mel is still not over her break up with Finn when he turns up at her doorstep, especially because she’s never figured out why he left her. She accepts to spend Christmas with him because she likes his family and for some kind of closure, but there is a lot of anger, heartbreak, and love. On the personal side, she is also struggling with her career choices and what she wants for her future. I really liked this character because she felt authentic and relatable. I also liked the character of Finn, a more complex character with family and past issues. From his perspective, we find out how he and Mel met and how their love story developed and why their story ended.
Yours for the Season is a charming and immersive story. Mel and Finn’s love story kept me captivated as well as Finn’s family and their interesting stories. The Scottish setting was evocative and the Christmas atmosphere made me wish it was already December. Highly recommended!
A huge thank you to Headline and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of this wonderful novel.
Emily Stone is the author of five bestselling festive romance novels, including Always, in December. Her novels have been translated into eleven languages. Emily has lived in many places over the years, including London, Wales, Cornwall, Germany and Mozambique – before finally settling down in Bristol, where she spends most of her free time with her two rescue ponies. Emily Stone is the pen name for Becky Hunter, and she also writes speculative romance under her own name.
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