Title: Twelve Days Of Christmas
Author: Debbie Macomber
Publisher Random House & Publishing Group
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Five
Review:

"Twelve Days Of Christmas" by Debbie Macomber

My Thoughts...

What a sweet Christmas romance story that this author brings to the readers. The two main characters Julia and Cain were definitely good for each other after it was all said and done. I loved how this author was able to give the readers of a read of one showing kindness that turns into after a few twist and turns a HEA. We find from this story there was a act of kindness coming from Julia to Cain...from delivery of a newspaper to his door, cookies, being quite a challenge .... all of this to see if it would make a difference in the way he treated her. Now, why was Julia doing this? She had gotten this idea from her best friend Cammie to use on her blog page featuring [Ebenezer who was Cain] that Julia needed in order to complete for a position she was working on for social media for 'Havestware.' How will this come out when Julia finds out that her neighbor who had trust issues from a previous situation? Will this experiment prove that kindness did make a different? What will Cain think about Julia especially after he learns about her blog and the feelings they had developed for each other? What happens when a news reporter there in Seattle after seeing her blog page ask Julia about a interview with her and Ebenezer? What will happen when Julia finally tell Cain about this experiment...and her blog? Will she be able to keep this a secret from Cain until after Christmas? Will Julia and Cain finally get the love and understanding they needed from each other? Well, to get all of these questions answered ... this is where I say you will have to pick up "Twelve Days Of Christmas" to find out how this story will come out. I loved the secondary characters who were well developed, portrayed and believable that will keep you turning the pages till the end. I will add that I loved the epilogue and you will too!

This is from back in January, but I missed it when it was first posted. Now I just need some license rescue news, pretty please.

A very mixed bag; a few I enjoyed, but overall not one I personally felt super enthusiastic about. I often feel ambivalent about anthologies, especially those featuring many different authors. I did, however, like Kelly Link’s Tam Lin story, which was the main reason I read it.

 So, my deep dark secret is that a few years ago, I was writing a Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling, and then I frogged* it for several reasons. But during that time, I didn’t read any of the multitude of TDP retellings that were being published. The Princess Curse is the first I’ve picked up since then, and I really liked it. It weaves in the Persephone myth at the end as well, and I was JUST THINKING how much I want more Persephone retellings. Anyway, I liked it, although I was sort of wilfully ignoring Reveka’s age because of reasons. I also think the cover skews the book a bit too young–I would love a beautiful Kinuko Crafty cover that reflects the mythological richness of the book a little more.

* This is a knitting term, and I’m sure there’s an equivalent writing version, but I don’t know it.