Contains Spoilers: Blending the seasonal familiarity of Twelve Days of Christmas with the holiday fun of an advent calendar, Sophie Ranald takes us on a delightful journey of daring risks, ceasing the moment, and truly feeling the magic and wonder that is Christmas.
What I liked about the book: I enjoyed how Sophie created a story incorporating the items of the advent calendar with Rowan’s growth. As each day passed, her friends directly (and indirectly) helped her come to terms with her past and find the courage to face her future. Instead of being the individual that "life just happened to", she slowly began to take charge, moving out of the victim role and into being the strong independent woman that she saw reflected in her daughter. I loved the friendship between the women and how much they were willing to do for her (showing how they valued her and what she was to them). I also enjoyed the full circle ending and the “comeuppance” of the individuals in her office. Even though that additional storyline was unexpected, it was a welcome B-story that reminded the reader "what goes around, comes around".
What I didn’t like about the book: While the book didn’t have the feel of a novice writer, it did lack the finesse of a seasoned one. I was surprised when I looked at Sophie’s bibliography and saw that she had several books under her belt. If I had not taken a peek, I would have assumed the author had gotten her feet wet with a few books (2 or 3) but was still fine-tuning her craft.
Although some of the discord was due to editing oversight, (Alex’s name being mentioned by Rowan in Chapter 10 but Chapter 11 she “finally” knows his name when he leaves a note for her), the discombobulated story is what contributed to the difficulty of enjoying the book. Simply put, the author’s attempt at mystery and suspense-like build up only created confusion and plot holes. In addition to that, I felt as if I was a third wheel/outsider to the individuals in the story, despite having first person POV with Rowan and third person POV with Alex. This was, in part, due to the author's tendency of introducing new characters that had no relevance to the story (or if they did, it wasn’t completely clear what the relevance was and the reader had to assume). For example, Alex is at a pub with a bunch of individuals we do not know and have no idea how they are relevant, even as the author takes the time to tell us a little about their backgrounds. How do they know Alex? Do they work together? Are they intricate to the plot? Do they come up again? Do they play a part in getting Rowan and Alex together? I had to assume towards the end that they were the freelance developers but I am still not 100% sure. Same with Daniel and Alan. I felt as if the introduction of Alan was forced to create potential friction/awkwardness between Alex and Rowan, instead of having him naturally introduced into the story and allowing that subplot to unfold. I also have no idea who Daniel is (I am assuming he played Rugby with Alan and Paul which is why he was also at Paul’s wedding) and why he was even mentioned or present. I am hoping she introduced the animosity between Kate and Daniel with the intention of writing an additional story or all of that could have just been skipped.
I am also assuming with the author's intention of creating intrigue and bating the reader, some of the very important details about the characters where saved until the end; however, doing this took away from the story or created suspense where it wasn’t necessary. I knew within the first quarter of the book that Alex had a cat or dog (honestly I assumed dog), that his sister (Ailsa) was pregnant, that Ailsa was who Rowan was helping.
The book itself was hard to follow and as mentioned above, the strong ending made it seem as if the author knew how she wanted to end the book but getting there was the struggle. I felt like the book didn’t need to be 354 pages and that length hurt it more than helped it.
In the end, this story as a whole (once complete and all is revealed) is quite charming. For those looking for a holiday romance that will bring a smile to your face, give you a few chuckles, and remind you that anything is possible if you are willing to believe, this book is for you.