The Twelve Dates of Christmas by Lisa Dickenson

 

Claudia and Seth are in a bit of a rut. They've been together for five years and the romance has taken a serious nose-dive. Wanting to re-ignite their relationship, Claudia sets up a date - their first in a long, long time - at the ballet. But the date doesn't go to plan and Claudia is left with the prospect of spending Christmas alone.

 

But with her best friends Penny and Nick to prop her up, Claudia finds herself experiencing new things as she goes on a series of dates in the run up to Christmas.

 

After reading Lisa Dickenson's You Had Me At Merlot during the summer, I was looking forward to reading her festive book and I wasn't disappointed. The Twelve Dates of Christmas is full of fun and festivity, with plenty of snow, gingerbread lattes and mulled wine. Claudia is a fantastic character for a romantic comedy; she's fun and flirty but also a bit flawed. She isn't exactly sure where she wants to end up in life and I liked that she started to discover a bit more about herself as the book progresses. As well as Claudia, there are loads of great characters, from her best friends Penny and Nick to barman Billy and Claudia's dad, who I thought was brilliant. He was caring yet had a wicked side that I loved and he was part of some of my favourite scenes in the book. Then there is Seth, who is a bit of a shit but a great character to throw in the mix. I was constantly waiting for him to get his comeuppance for the way he treated Claudia!

 

I thought the book had such a brilliant premise and I looked forward to seeing where Claudia would end up on her next date. Some of the dates are sweet, others hilarious and some are just plain awful (but while they were a disaster for Claudia, they were funny for the reader). The book has a lovely festive atmosphere that is sometimes missing from Christmas-themed books and I loved Lisa's humorous style of writing. I'm very much looking forward to reading more books from Lisa Dickenson in the future!