England – …on the B.L.

The Twelve Dates of Christmas by Jenny Bayliss

December 7, 2021December 7, 2021 RaeAnna

Worth A Read Eh
Length 340
Quick Review Single and independent Kate is coerced into a dating service consisting of twelve dates with twelve men by her best friend in Blexford, England.

I really don’t know what I’m doing, but whatever!

It’s a cute yet predictable story—I feel like I will probably say that a few times over the course of my Christmas book reviews this year and for the rest of eternity because I have yet to find a revolutionary one. Anyways, The Twelve Dates of Christmas is cute. Frankly, give me anything set in England and I’ll like it more than I would if it’s set in the U.S.

Kate is an artist. Having moved to her hometown of Blexford to be with her father, she’s been single in a small town for a good bit. She’s a smart and sassy sweetheart with a fierce independence that makes it hard for her to find a partner. Though Kate has all but given up on a happily ever after, her best friend, Laura, has not and convinces her to join a dating agency that will send her on twelve dates with twelve different men spanning the Christmas season. At the age of 34, Kate has very much decided she’s not searching for passion but compatibility. Throughout the Christmas season, she spends her time with her best friend Matt, Laura, and all the vibrant characters decorating the town.

Like all romance novels, the characters are ridiculously over the top, but I personally enjoyed “The Knitting Sex Kittens were a formidable group of women, all over age sixty and all single, by either design, divorce, or death.” The town and characters are saturated in Christmas joy and cheer, and, let’s be honest, that is the only reason I read this or any Christmas novel at all. I’m here for the Christmas spirit.

Kate is an ambitious woman with lots to give but she ends up having many conversations along the lines of: ““I’m not looking for sparkle, Dad,” said Kate. “I am on a grown-up-woman mission to find a suitable, sensible partner who has no improper pride and is perfectly amiable.”” As a single woman in my thirties, I can, in some ways, identify with the want to search out compatibility over passion, but, and luckily Kate does figure it out, both is an option and the best option.

The biggest problem I had with The Twelve Dates of Christmas were the grammatical errors and typos. I’m not even going to blame Bayliss for this because the copy editor should have caught it. For me it was distracting, but the average reader probably won’t even pick up on it. I’m going to call this: editor problems. As in most rom-com books, the character development is lack luster at best, but it’s a fun, easy read to take our minds off the holiday stresses.

You can put this one on your holiday reading list to enjoy.

Memorable Quotes
“Kate had to admit that her regime of pajamas, toast, and telly by seven thirty every night was not conducive to establishing a satisfying sex life.”
“But for her, contentment waned quite quickly to become a faint questioning, which bloomed into nagging doubt and ultimately wholehearted assuredness that it wasn’t right. Laura called it self-sabotage. Kate called it gut instinct.”

bisous und обьятий,
RaeAnna

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Title: The Twelve Dates of Christmas
Author: Jenny Bayliss
Publisher: Putnam
Copyright: 2020
ISBN: 9780593085387

Books, Fiction

Mr. Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva

November 21, 2019November 20, 2019 RaeAnna

Worth A Read Yes
Length 271
Quick Review Charles Dickens is having a midlife crisis at Christmas time, and his publishers are demanding a Christmas novel when everything in his life is falling apart.

201910046980211226805544503 — Mr. Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva | Dress | Watch

Silva bases her novel, Mr. Dickens and His Carol, off a real winter of Dickens’ life but reimagines and reorders facts and people to make an interesting novel. I’ve read a fair few Christmas novels, and this is far from the worst.

Charles Dickens should be feeling joy welcoming another child into the world before Christmas, but instead he’s feeling everything but. His latest book was a disaster, his family’s debts are piling up, his wife takes the children and leaves him, and his publishers are demanding a Christmas book. A usually jolly and kind man, Dickens becomes a morose grump searching for a muse when he stumbles on inspiration.

Ebenezer Scrooge’s journey is paralleled with Charles Dickens’ character development throughout the plot of Mr. Dickens and His Carol. It’s a sweet story full of Christmas spirit and a little mystery. Silva gets three points for using “defenestration” in a sentence – not a word that normally comes up.

The style can be a little much for the story. Silva has a tendency to become overly descriptive in an attempt to mimic the real Dickens but with less success. When Silva is not decorating the page with her verbosity, she tells a pretty good story about Dickens’ internal struggle to be a good father, husband, citizen, and writer while not giving in to the whims of publishing or depression. The character development is solid and interesting if not predictable.

Mr. Dickens and His Carol is a great easy read for the whole family this Christmas season. It will warm the heart and make you wish you could be in London listening to the real Dickens tell his carol.

Memorable Quotes
“His father was north of sixty, but by temperament still a good deal south of death.”
“He knew that every person was a fiery furnace of passions and attachments, unknown to every other.”

bisous und обьятий,
RaeAnna

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Title: Mr. Dickens and His Carol
Author: Samantha Silva
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Copyright: 2017
ISBN: 9781250154040

Books, Fiction

Mutts and Mistletoe by Natalie Cox

December 13, 2018 RaeAnna

Beau and I curled up in our jammies reading Mutts and Mistletoe | My Jammies | Beau Jammies

Should I Read It Yes
Length 320
Quick Review There’s dogs, love, personal injury, English countryside, mystery, hunky men with accents, and Christmas, what else do you need in a satisfying Christmas tale, or should I say tail?

Natalie Cox rights a puppy filled Christmas romance in Mutts and Mistletoe from P.G. Putnam’s and Sons. She fills the pages with everything a reader could possibly hope for in an easy going novel to curl up with by the fire or with your four-legged friends. As I was reading this, I realized four out of the five Christmas themed books I’ve read this month are set in England. Spoiler alert, but there are several more books coming set across the pond before the big guy lands on December 25th.

Charlie hates dogs. The only thing she likes less than dogs is Christmas. Mutts and Mistletoe begins with top ten list of things she hates about Christmas. To be fair, she does try to find a handful of things she enjoys about the season. She’s overworked, but suddenly finds herself with a bunch of time on her hands when the apartment above falls on her. Literally. Impermanently homeless, she visits her cousin, who owns a dog kennel, in the English countryside for a few days. Her cousins tech-aided, long-distance, lesbian relationship is made possible when Charlie agrees to watch the dogs for a few days. A hot but hard to read veterinarian makes an appearance. A dimpled, rich man drops off a Great Dane. A pregnant beagle. A scary white van. A reindeer dressed as an elf. So many wonderful little things to look forward to.

The bit with the white van is everything my nightmares are made of. I’m not kidding. It’s my greatest fear as a dog mom. There could literally be nothing worse in my life.

One of my favorite aspects of Mutts and Mistletoe is the witty dialogue. It’s definitely giggle worthy: “Better pack your wool knickers, then.” | “Who has wool knickers?” | “Sheep.” Cox has a talent for coming up with dialogue that is interesting and comical. I can imagine having these conversations with my best friends.

The plot is cute. I definitely appreciated all the dog personalities and appearances. I wish the puppies on the cover more closely imitated the pooches on the page, but I’m being nitpicky. The plot, though engaging, is very thinly veiled and highly guess worthy. I think that is a flaw of romantic comedies; the reader expects their happy ending.

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Memorable Quotes
“Sian has long maintained that Beatrice and Eugenie will single-handedly bring down the monarchy, simply through their choice of hats.”
“Admittedly they (dogs) are rubbish at housework, but then, so is every man I’ve ever known.”

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Title: Mutts and Mistletoe
Author: Natalie Cox
Publisher: P.G. Putnam’s Sons (Penguin Random House)
Copyright: 2018
ISBN: 9780525539193