The Twelve Dates of Christmas: the gloriously festive and romantic winter read (Christmas Fiction)

by Lisa Dickenson

Prepare to fall in love this Christmas with the ultimate festive romance . . .

'A perfect Christmas treat' MIRANDA DICKINSON

'Sprinkled with humour, warmth and, of course, Christmas magic' CATHY BRAMLEY

*WINNER OF THE NOVELICIOUS DEBUT OF THE YEAR AWARD*

Claudia is thirty and fearing her romance with long-term love Seth has lost its spark. Determined to rediscover the magic they once had, Claudia and Seth go on their first date in a very long time. But when the night ends in disaster, Claudia suddenly finds herself facing life - and Christmas - alone.

But being alone doesn't mean she has to be miserable. Familiarising herself with long-forgotten exercise regimes and ill-advised sexy underwear, Claudia decides to fill up her Christmas with dates. And with best friends Penny and Nick at her side, a surplus of festive markets, mulled wine and Christmas tunes, Claudia feels ready to face anything life can throw at her. One thing's for sure, this year Christmas is going to be very different . . .

Filled with Christmas sparkle, butterflies-in-your-stomach romance and a LOT of humour, The Twelve Dates of Christmas is the perfect festive romance to settle down with this winter. Perfect for fans of Sarah Morgan, Heidi Swan and Cathy Bramley.

PRAISE FOR LISA DICKENSON:

'A very funny and touching tale' HEAT magazine

'A fun and festive sweet treat of a book' ALI MCNAMARA

'You need to read this romcom! Fun, flirty and funny' FABULOUS magazine

'A fun, flirty festive read full of Christmas sparkle and romance' JO THOMAS

• ISBN10: 0751557293
• ISBN13: 9780751557299
• Publish Date: 22 October 2015 (first published 6 October 2014)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
• Imprint: Sphere
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[Emma (SCR)]

This review was originally posted on Star Crossed Reviews I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.Thank you to Sphere for my copy of this book via Netgalley. I love a Christmas romance and I am a sucker for a pretty cover so I just had to read this book.

Our MC is Claudia. Claudia is a girl we can all relate to. She's in a relationship that isn't right for her, she's in a job she enjoyed but it's not her dream. Essentially Claudia is stuck in a rut. Over the course of the book, we see Claudia take a few chances and go on some adventures. I liked this side of Claudia. She's fun and free.

Claudia is best friends with Penny and Nick. Claudia is lucky to have such good friends. I loved both of these characters I would love to be friends with them myself.

I loved the 12 different dates. I loved how the book was split up and how each date location is the chapter title. I love things like this it just adds a little bit of uniqueness to the story.

I really enjoyed Lisa's writing style and I am excited to read more of her books.

[Joséphine]

Initial thoughts: I meant to read The Twelve Dates of Christmas last December but didn't get to it. With Valentine's Day this week, I figured that with a romance novel, I'd still be keeping up with the seasons, kind of. And I'm glad I didn't postpone it till the end of this year.

The Twelve Dates of Christmas was such a sweetly satisfying book to read, especially because that romance had been years in the making. It wasn't slow-burn per se, since a lot of things happened in the course of 12 dates but give the circumstances, things didn't feel rushed.

I loved the three-way friendship dynamic Claudia, Penny and Nick had going too. They had been best friends since high school and it really showed. Sure, they had disagreements and fought, but they also cared too much about one another to leave anyone hanging.

Also, The Twelve Dates of Christmas gave me such cosy wintery Christmas feels, even though it's February. It made me wanna sing carols, drink mulled wine, and watch The Nutcracker. Since it swept me up with those moods, I can safely say it's a good book to pick up around the Christmas season. I might just reread it come December.