Book Reviews

Book Blurb

Lance is an American student in London, left alone in his dorm over the Christmas holidays. He’s twenty, he’s gay, he’s shy, and he’s determined to once and for all find a boyfriend, so he sets up twelve dates to accomplish his goal. Twelve dates to defeat his shyness, to get out into the world, and to finally beat his loneliness.

It turns out he’s not the only one spending Christmas alone that year. Tom is a handsome, cold-eyed, tight-lipped Polish boy who is also staying in the dorm over the holidays. Lance finds Tom intimidating, but stuck as they are together, they get to know each other better. Soon, the twelve dates with strangers turn into twelve days of pining over a surprisingly kind boy, whose unconventional approach to wooing might be the very thing Lance needs to overcome his shyness and land a boyfriend.

Book Review

There is something super sweet about first love, and this story is full of the angst, the drama, and the little fluttering feelings in the stomach that go with it. Lance does not have an easy time finding what he so desperately wants and, in fact, initially looks in all the wrong places. I mean, planning twelve dates in twelve days sounds very organized, but I didn’t think dating for the sake of it was going to get Lance anywhere. It takes him a little longer to realize this, but he does eventually figure it out.

Lance is shy and doesn’t like being around people, it is his first Christmas away from home now that he attends university, and he dreams of falling in love. The fact that he is outside his home country, in the UK, doesn’t help, and there are lots of things he finds strange – like the weather.

“It’s grey outside, but it doesn’t rain. Not that it can’t start raining at any moment. The thing about British weather is that you can start the day with sun in the sky and birds in the air, suddenly be interrupted by a snow blizzard, and then still have a heatwave that same day. And nobody would be very surprised.”

I had to laugh – but having lived there myself for over twenty years, I can confirm that it is totally true! The weather isn’t the only thing that strikes Lance as weird – one of his flat mates, Tom, who lives in the same dorm has an extremely mysterious aura. All kinds of rumors make Lance wonder whether it is safe in the dorm now that everyone else has left for the two-week holiday break…. Yet Tom is sending some very clear signals. They were not clear to Lance though, so it takes him a while longer to figure it all out.

If you like sweet stories with lots of angst, if you think a shy student can find love despite his lack of talent for dating, and if you’re looking for a cute read full of humor, gentle feelings, and a wonderful ending, then you will probably like this novella as much as I do. Adorable!

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by JMS Books for the purpose of a review.

Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Novella, 60 pages/18562 words
Heat Level
Publication Date	08-December-2018
Price	$2.99 ebook
Buy Link	https://www.jms-books.com/romance-c-29_105/twelve-dates-of-christmas-p-2576.html