Reviews

The Twelve Dates of Christmas by Jenny Bayliss

suzyq436's review against another edition

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4.0

A cute and engaging British chick-lit with a sprinkle of Christmas. What more could you want?!

I loved this book from the random dates to the typical small English village vibes to the cutsie romance that ensues. Truly adorable and perfect for the Christmas season!

bargainsleuth's review against another edition

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4.0

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I was just browsing Audible.com a few weeks ago when they had a sale on selected titles and was looking for Christmas-themed books when I stumbled across The Twelve Dates of Christmas by Jenny Bayliss. I decided to take a chance based upon the reviews I read.

Do you want a light and fluffy romance where all the characters are attractive, the problems aren’t that dark, and true love lives on in the end? I’m not saying the problems Kate has aren’t big, but even the subplots don’t involve issues that are more serious than an After School Special. And that’s just the point: this a feel-good holiday book with true love at the end of the story. I don’t know about you, but around the holiday, when I even have time to read, I want something lighthearted.

As Kate progresses on these 12 dates of Christmas set up through a dating service, I do have to say that she had the right attitude going in. That these dates were supposed to be fun, get you in the holiday spirit, and maybe, just maybe, find a love match. Or at the least, a lust match for a hookup. So many times the trope in a book is that the person being thrown into dating is reluctant to do so, and that was refreshing to have Kate be a willing participant in the dating plan.

The men Kate meets are all attractive and somewhat successful, and in some cases, if the situation were different, something would have sparked with Kate and the man into something more. All the dates were creative, festive and unique, yet still maintaining that traditional English cheer. There are so many other reasons to love this book: the picturesque English village (one of these days I’ve just got to stop reading about these villages and go visit one), a community of close-knit people celebrating traditional English Christmas tidings was wonderful. There’s a real sense of comradery and support for one another with the characters that makes you more invested in them.

One last thing: make sure you’re well-fed as you read this book, because the descriptions of all the food and drink made me so hungry! Everything sounded fabulous; it reminded me much of the feasts mentioned in my beloved Nancy Drew books.

sophrolijkbooks's review against another edition

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4.0

Super leuk verhaal! Tussen die twaalf dates zit voor iedereen wel een herkenbare date denk ik! Verder is Laura, de beste vriendin, echt een leuk karakter, maakt het verhaal wat grappiger. Natuurlijk is het gewoon voorspelbaar a la kerstfilm op Netflix, maar daar was ik precies naar op zoek.

Wat ik ook erg leuk vond is hoe de Britse natuur in de winter steeds wordt omschreven, je krijgt echt een mooi winters beeld en zin om warme chocomel of een grote kop thee te drinken.

jquinn's review against another edition

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1.0

Reading what the book was about seemed perfect for this time of year. A romantic Christmas book! Just what I been looking for!

There were spelling errors, grammar errors, and I couldn't get past the writing. All I read was two pages.

stephbbrown's review against another edition

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3.0

This was a sweet book for the holidays with the predictability I love in my Hallmark Christmas movies, but I can’t help but think I would prefer this as a movie. I found myself skimming over many of the descriptions and near the end of the twelve dates I was just waiting to get to the big moment we knew was coming from very early on. I’m sure I will read it again during the holidays because it does give you the warm and fuzzy holiday feeling — and if it comes out as a movie it will definitely be on my repeat watch list!

yara_adorablebooks's review against another edition

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5.0

Wat een leuk en lief boek, zo'n fijne feelgood voor de kerst!

slicciardi's review against another edition

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3.0

This was good but I liked A Season of Second Chances better.

lanahugs11's review against another edition

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4.0

At times I thought mulled wine might actually drip from the pages. A great holiday read! Also, books are always better when they come from a friend’s library like this one kindly did

brianne_k's review

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3.0

*3/5*

So.. I bumped this up to a 3 because I loved the uniqueness and the twelve dates leading up to Christmas.

But, the actual love interest was so glaringly obvious.. like neon sign obvious which made going in to the dates less fun. And the actual love interest was kind of a jerk for chunks of the book.

This is also very closed door.

Another thing sticking out in my brain was the dates. The activities were awesome but
Spoiler the men were basically all trash. Many were still in love with exes and Kate helped those couples get back together.. it happened like 3 or 4 times. And then we had two mega-jerks. I get we are supposed to root for Matt but out of 12 dates, the majority were duds. Not saying she would find amazing dates, time after time.. but even if they weren't in love with an ex, one asked to be switched to another person's date, one was a control freak, one was threatened by someone Kate was seeing and couldn't enjoy himself (don't even get me started on the threatening and Kate forgiving that).. ugh!!!!

blumoongirl's review against another edition

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4.0

Fluff-but enjoyable fluff