Going Along with The Twelve Dates of Christmas
#TheTwelveDatesofChristmas #JennyBayliss #bookreview
Next up on the long list of buddy reads for this month was The Twelve Dates of Christmas
by Jenny Bayliss.
Kate thinks it’s time to start dating again after a few years long hiatus of relationships. She moved back to her birthplace Bexford, England to be near her father and her best friends Matt and Laura are there too.
Laura convinces Kate to enroll in the local dating event, ‘Twelve Dates of Christmas’ where Kate is matched up with eleven men who then partake in an activity of their choosing. This is where the book gets funny with the outlandish things that Kate experiences on these dates.
Some of the dates that stuck with me was Kate getting stood up on date #1, the salsa dancing date because she was accidentally paired with a gay man who turned out to be someone I want as my best friend (also because I love to salsa dance too), the architect who goes berserk during a gingerbread house competition and a promising man who turns out not to be who Kate thinks he is.
Throughout these misadventures was Matt’s steadfast friendship. I spent pretty much three-quarters of the book hating on Matt because of the way he treated Kate and had a history of mistreating her. It’s also quite apparent that Kate’s unexpected realization for her feelings of Matt would lead her to him in the end. And so, although this story is very predictable, it had several funny moments that garnered great discussion for our buddy read.
Book Description
When it comes to relationships, thirty-four-year-old Kate Turner is ready to say "Bah, humbug." The sleepy town of Blexford, England, isn't exactly brimming with prospects, and anyway, Kate's found fulfillment in her career as a designer, and in her delicious side job baking for her old friend Matt's neighborhood café. But then her best friend signs her up for a dating agency that promises to help singles find love before the holidays. Twenty-three days until Christmas. Twelve dates with twelve different men. The odds must finally be in her favor . . . right?
Yet with each new date more disastrous than the one before--and the whole town keeping tabs on her misadventures--Kate must remind herself that sometimes love, like mistletoe, shows up where it's least expected. And maybe, just maybe, it's been right under her nose all along. . . .