Reviewed by Ro
TITLE: A Grump in Moose Falls
SERIES: Moose Falls #2
AUTHOR: Emily Silver
PUBLISHER:
LENGTH: 148 pages
RELEASE DATE: November 7, 2025
BLURB:
Wanted: one fake boyfriend for the holiday season.
There are few things I need more in life than my work and my friends. Sure, I’m inexperienced in all things love, but who cares? My life is good.
When my coworkers try to set me up, I invent a fake boyfriend to get them off my back. But when the company holiday party comes around, I need a real boyfriend.
Who does a man turn to in his moment of need?
His best friend.
Hunter is the perfect person to help. One night. That’s it. We can pretend to date for a few hours. But when Hunter needs me to return the favor, it all starts to come too easily.
Kissing. Holding hands. Feelings. I want to experience everything with Hunter.
Can we keep this going after the holidays?
Maybe it’s time to make this whole fake relationship real…
REVIEW:
Fake boyfriends and friends-to-lovers? Two of my faves in one book, so I was excited. Ollie is a little socially introverted at work, but not enough that people lay off trying to matchmake. A friendly coworker, Sharon, is one of the ones that wants to see Ollie happy and to her that means getting him a boyfriend. “I could only fend off Sharon and her wanting to set me up with her cousin’s boyfriend’s best friend’s brother so many times before I snapped.” Ollie snapping is gentle, just him telling people he has a boyfriend at home. They’ve never met him, obviously, since he is imaginary, but it’s worked so far. Until the company holiday party rolls around and plus-ones are invited.
He freaks out a bit, calling his friend group (who I loved) for help. Ollie not only doesn’t have a boyfriend, he’s a virgin who doesn’t use dating apps. So finding someone is difficult. But during his friend help session they come to the conclusion that what will work is one of the friends steps up to be the fake boyfriend. Ollie’s long-time bestie, Hunter, steps up as tribute. Just one night, they are best friends, no worries. And the fact that he didn’t want anyone else to do it means nothing. Hunter doesn’t do relationships, so it’s all for his friend. Friend. FRIEND!
Ollie does get adorably drunk at the office party and pays for it the next day, so it’s two days, not just one. Except Hunter’s mom finds out about it, and so now they have to do it one more day. Here I thought it was a little odd. Hunter and Ollie’s moms have been best friends since the boys were born, so the boys themselves have been besties since birth, so when Ollie starts talking about “…I cannot go empty-handed to meet my boyfriend’s mother for the first time” I was confused. But to Ollie, meeting her as a boyfriend is totally different than just going there, and mama agreed.
As is the case of friends-to-lovers, there is the fear of losing the friendship, ruining the friend group if something happens, and too many changes meaning they won’t be friends after. I liked seeing how they were trying to navigate things. The one thing I didn’t get was the title, “A Grump in Moose Falls”. No one here was a grump!
RATING: 
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