Hers for the Weekend

A woman recruits a fake girlfriend to bring to her ex’s Christmas wedding in this paint-by-numbers romance from Greer (For Never & Always). When high-powered lawyer Tara Chadwick receives an invitation to her ex-fiancée’s wedding, she has no excuse not to attend. All of her closest friends will be there, and she doesn’t want them pitying her, so to save face she mentions she will be bringing her new girlfriend. The only issue is Tara doesn’t have a girlfriend. To sort out what to do, she heads to her favorite café, where she blurts the whole story to Holly, a waitress who has had her eye on Tara since her breakup. Holly is desperate to escape her mother’s matchmaking and avoid going home for the holidays, so attending a Christmas wedding with Tara is the perfect excuse. Their very real mutual attraction makes the ruse all the more believable. As feelings begin to develop, there’s one thing keeping the couple apart: Tara is looking to settle down and Holly doesn’t do commitment. While the main characters share plenty of chemistry, the love story feels entirely predictable and relatively mild. This is best suited for Greer’s diehard fans. (Aug.)