The Twelve Dates of Christmas series- Lisa Dickenson *Blog Tour post including author guest post*

The Twelve Dates of Christmas series is a wonderfully entertaining, festive romp.  There are six 'episodes', each comprising two dates. 

We are introduced to Claudia as she separates from her unreliable, inattentive boyfriend Seth and throws herself back into the world of dating.  Each of the dates are perfect bitesized chunks of humour, romance and drama and the overall story gains momentum as the series progresses.  Can Claudia put herself back 'out there' and find someone who appreciates her?

Claudia and her ballerina friend Penny will be easy characters for many readers to relate to.  They are young women trying to find out what they want from life- learning about relationships, making decisions about their career and weighing up whether they want children of their own.

I also really loved the London setting.  Top sights such as St Paul's Cathedral, Buckingham Palace and the Shard feature heavily, and as a huge fan of everything London I revelled in reading about places I have visited.

Lisa Dickenson has written a perfect festive read-heart-warming, laugh out loud funny (honestly, date four will stay with me for a LONG time to come!  I snorted!) and absolutely, totally, utterly Christmassy.  I feel ready to crack out the eggnog and mince pieces now!

Dates 1-10 are available to read now, with the final episode, dates 11-12 released on December 16th.

9/10

With thanks to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

 

Lisa very kindly agreed to write an exclusive piece about her best ever Christmas present for Books with Bunny.  Here it is...

 

The best present I ever had…

The best Christmas present I have ever had was my engagement ring.  She came twinkling out of a little black box on a cold December night of 2010, one week before Christmas.  We met each other on a rooftop terrace bar in New York City, surrounding by heaters and fairy lights.  While everyone else was keeping warm inside, my future husband I wanted to be out there, with a view of the Empire State Building and with the yellow taxis whooshing past below. 

                It turned out my ring had been by my side for the past three months, ever since my partner and I jetted to the US to finish the final leg of our year round the world.  She’d been chosen in Tiffany’s and been safely snuggled in his bag, enjoying the sunshine of LA, the canyons of Arizona, the coffee of Seattle, the snow and waterfalls of Canada, the monuments of Washington D.C – but always desperate to get to the Big Apple. 

                Then there we were, looking at each other, on the last night of the trip.  And behind my lovely ring was my lovely Phil, smiling, nervous, apologizing in case she didn’t fit, a bit glassy-eyed from the cocktail he’d practically gulped moments before.  She did fit, just perfectly.

                And now we’re two years on, and she’s here with me spangling away among the smudgy red taillights of winter commuter traffic.  So I love my engagement ring.  She was my favourite present.   But not just because of the diamonds, but because of the memories she reflects back at me.

Merry Christmas, all xxx