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A review by rnshack
The Twelve Dates of Christmas by Jenny Bayliss
2.0
2 stars
I was so excited to read this book. I waited weeks for my hold at the library to come though and ultimately I was so stinking bored. Nothing happened in the book for 350 pages! Nothing.
You are introduced to the man she will no doubt end up with on literally the second page of the book. And it’s not even subtle. There is no reason to keep reading!?!? Why would an author do this?
I did keep reading though hoping it works at least be fun. It wasn’t. This bill was a fun, laugh out loud premise that just fell so sadly short. There was too much telling (SO MUCH TELLING), descriptions, and cooking. The cooking was so random. Why was an artist by trade and profession doing so much cooking for her friend who owes a coffee shop? And for free? I can’t even imagine how much her grocery bill is!?! And how many times can a person describe the same walk up a hill, or to a manor, or describe the same square. It was all just so wordy. I bet if you took only the dialogue and put it on pages all by itself it wouldn’t total any more that 50 pages.
As for Matt. He was pretty unlikeable. It felt to me like he was using her a lot. Her cooking, helping him at his store and the market. He was controlling and was not nice to her about dating and trying to fall in love. Kate wasn’t much better though. It was so weird how she just all of a sudden 250 pages in declares that she loves Matt. Um, ok but that was random!?! The story wasn’t fleshed out and the plot was a mess.
And the worst part? I loved the town. And I really like the idea of this book but the execution wasn’t there. Maybe she gets it right in her next book, this was her very first book after all. I hope so because I loved her vision she just got caught up in a lot of detail that didn’t contribute to the book in a way in which I ended up liking. It was a slog and I struggled to finish it. Too bad too because I would have sworn this was going to be a favorite.
I was so excited to read this book. I waited weeks for my hold at the library to come though and ultimately I was so stinking bored. Nothing happened in the book for 350 pages! Nothing.
You are introduced to the man she will no doubt end up with on literally the second page of the book. And it’s not even subtle. There is no reason to keep reading!?!? Why would an author do this?
I did keep reading though hoping it works at least be fun. It wasn’t. This bill was a fun, laugh out loud premise that just fell so sadly short. There was too much telling (SO MUCH TELLING), descriptions, and cooking. The cooking was so random. Why was an artist by trade and profession doing so much cooking for her friend who owes a coffee shop? And for free? I can’t even imagine how much her grocery bill is!?! And how many times can a person describe the same walk up a hill, or to a manor, or describe the same square. It was all just so wordy. I bet if you took only the dialogue and put it on pages all by itself it wouldn’t total any more that 50 pages.
As for Matt. He was pretty unlikeable. It felt to me like he was using her a lot. Her cooking, helping him at his store and the market. He was controlling and was not nice to her about dating and trying to fall in love. Kate wasn’t much better though. It was so weird how she just all of a sudden 250 pages in declares that she loves Matt. Um, ok but that was random!?! The story wasn’t fleshed out and the plot was a mess.
And the worst part? I loved the town. And I really like the idea of this book but the execution wasn’t there. Maybe she gets it right in her next book, this was her very first book after all. I hope so because I loved her vision she just got caught up in a lot of detail that didn’t contribute to the book in a way in which I ended up liking. It was a slog and I struggled to finish it. Too bad too because I would have sworn this was going to be a favorite.