November book club pick 
This showed promise but was overall lacking for me. The chapters are way too long, there are way too many inconsequential characters that add nothing to the plot (NOT the 12 dates), there is so much filler “Christmas” content that only exists to remind us of the hallmark movie world they live in. By the time I was halfway through I was just skimming the pages of descriptive Christmas shit and looking for the next line of dialogue. Don’t even get me started on the plot holes 😂 (Except for Laura and Matt, no one does ANY work? Ever? How do they have any money?) 
Honestly I would overlook ALL of that if the romance felt satisfying, but it didn’t. We went from 0 to 100 real quick and the story was not fleshed out enough for it to feel believable. We basically rambled on about shitty dates (that were very entertaining, don’t get me wrong), then suddenly she’s realizing she’s in love with him, then they’re professing their love for each other and happily ever after. I NEED MORE! If you LOVE hallmark Christmas movies (even the bad ones) this is for you. But only you. This is a very niche audience. 
Lastly, can you be more on the nose than naming the cafe “the pear tree” in a Christmas novel? OF COURSE there will be a partridge in a pear tree at some point 🤣