HEART OF THORNS
Series: Shadow Valley U
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: S. Massery & S.J. Sylvis
Release Date: November 7, 2025
One cabin. One week. One fake relationship.
Winter break was supposed to be one last trip with my best friends, a little snowboarding, maybe some hot cocoa spiked with something stronger. No drama, no strings.
Then my cabin got double-booked.
Enter Mira Winters—my childhood neighbor and crush. And somehow, the girl managed to get even prettier since the last time I saw her.
She’s got one her family makes mine look like a walk in the park, and she’d rather fake a boyfriend than deal with their constant judgement.
Guess who she asks to step up? Yours truly.
It’s supposed to be for show. Hold her hand. Steal a kiss under the mistletoe. Pretend I’m head over heels for her.
Easy. Right?
Except the more we play this game, the more I want it to be real. And suddenly I’m less worried about the score her family is keeping and more about what happens when the week is over—because for the first time in a long time, I’m all in.
This Christmas, I don’t just want to win the game.
I want the girl.
This spicy, forced proximity holiday romance is a sweet companion novella to the Shadow Valley U series. It can be enjoyed as a standalone.
Fake dating or not, that kiss was a sucker punch I wasn’t prepared for.
This was a cute, spicy and quick little novella that put me right into the holiday spirit and anxiously anticipating the next full length installment in this series.
Having LOVED Heart of Thorns, I was so excited for more in this world, and of course for more cameos of Briar and Thorne. Now admittedly, this definitely had a much different tone to it than that book. Not in a bad way, but it was definitely different, and it worked with a novella. It was a light hearted read with an MMC who doesn’t take much seriously. Rhys had some golden retriever energy which I enjoyed, even if it I did find his humor and dialogue a bit cringey in parts.
Rhys and Mira get double booked in the same cabin in the funniest run in.
But it’s also a reunion since they used to be neighbors, and had a crush on each other unbeknownst to the other.
The novella definitely had an insta feel to it, which I struggled with slightly. It wasn’t even how fast things came together. I expect that in a novella. But it’s how quickly everything moved and progressed. But I also struggled to really connect to both Rhys and Mira. I can’t exactly put my finger on why, but it just never fully clicked. I enjoyed them, but I just didn’t fully connect with them either.
I also absolutely LOATHED Mira’s family. I swear, they almost ruined the book for me. I wanted Mira to stand up for herself so bad and it frustrated me to no end. I loved when Rhys stuck up for her, but I wanted her to also draw a line. It just never really resolved for me and so it felt slightly unsatisfying at the end.
All in all, it was still a good time with plenty of spice and laughs and hit the spot in my wait for the next full length. So if you’re looking for a spicy holiday novella, this one will hit the spot for you too.
S. Massery:
S. Massery is a dark romance author who loves injecting a good dose of suspense into her stories. She lives in Western Massachusetts with her dog, Alice.
Before adventuring into the world of writing, she went to college in Boston and held a wide variety of jobs–including working on a dude ranch in Wyoming (a personal highlight). She has a love affair with coffee and chocolate. When S. Massery isn’t writing, she can be found devouring books, playing outside with her dog, or trying to make people smile.
Author Links:
Website: http://smassery.com
Goodreads: http://goodreads.com/smassery
Amazon: http://amazon.com/author/smassery
Facebook: http://facebook.com/authorsmassery
Facebook Group: http://facebook.com/groups/smasserysquad
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Bookbub: http://bookbub.com/author/s-massery
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/authorsmassery
S.J. Sylvis:
S.J. Sylvis is an Amazon top 50 and USA Today bestselling author who is best known for her angsty new adult romances. She currently resides in Arizona with her husband, two small kiddos, and dog. She is obsessed with coffee, becomes easily attached to fictional characters, and spends most of her evenings buried in a book!
Author Links:
Instagram: @authorsjsylvis
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sjsylvisbooks/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@authorsjsylvis
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