The Twelve Dates of Christmas: The Complete Novel

Blurb: At thirty, Claudia's life is stale and the romance with long-term boyfriend, Seth, has disappeared. Determined to inject some festive spark back into their love life, Claudia and Seth go on their first date in a very long time. But when the night ends in disaster, Claudia suddenly finds herself facing life - and Christmas - alone.

Life alone is exciting, scary and full of soon-forgotten exercise regimes and ill-advised attempts at crafting sexy underwear. It's also filling up with dates, surprisingly. With best friends Penny and Nick at her side, a surplus of festive markets, mulled wine and Christmas tunes, Claudia attempts to face all this change with gusto. One thing's for certain: this year, Christmas is going to be very different . . .

This is the story of Claudia and her twelve dates of Christmas. Hilarious, uplifting and romantic, it's a story about losing love, finding love, and discovering what's been there all along. Expect Christmas sparkle, butterflies-in-your-stomach romance and a lot of very funny moments in The Twelve Dates of Christmas.

*First of all I would like to thank Clara, at Little, Brown for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

Review: Since I read You Had Me at Merlot, Lisa's second novel, last summer, I had been dying to get my hands on her serialised debut novel so when I was offered to review it to celebrate its publication as a complete novel, I was over the moon. I can trully say that I enjoyed every lovely page of this book. What a fabulous story!

Claudia is lovely and really funny. She is quite happy with her boring life until she realises that maybe life isn't supposed to be this boring. With the help of her friends (I don't know who I loved most... well yes... I fell a bit in love with Nick) she is more or less convinced that she deserves the best and she starts changing her life going to 12 dates. Some of the dates are just hilarious, like the guy who appears with his parents, and others are just perfect. 

But what makes this book so perfect is its atmosphere. It describes christmas at London so perfectly! And all this christmassy elements (snow, Winter Wonderland, the Nutcracker, gingerbread lattes... all you can ask for is there) make the story even more sweet and lovely. In fact, I have been eyeing the website of Ryanair to check the flight prices, I also want a Christmas in London! 

But this book only confirms a suspition of mine: Lisa Dickenson is a very talented writer that takes you to beautiful locations with her perfect descriptions and makes you giggle, dream and hug your kindle non-stop. This Christmas, you can't miss The Twelve Dates of Christmas, it is a must read!

Rating: 5 stars and the christmas special badge, meaning that it's the perfect Christmas read!