Every year Debbie Macomber writes a new Christmas novel and this year’s book is a wonderful addition to this tradition. In The Twelve Days of Christmas, Julia’s neighbor Cain angers her; she merely is a very cheerful person. He won’t talk to her, barely returning her greetings seemingly wanting her to leave him alone. Then, he steals her newspaper when she is standing right next to him. Julia doesn’t think Cain is in the Christmas Spirit at all and she sets out to change that

Julia has a job at Macy’s, which she has considered a temporary job for the past 3 years, until she can get a job in communications. She is one of 2 finalists for the job of her dreams, but the job will go to the person whose blog has the greatest number of followers and likes. So far, her blog about Christmas decorations is failing. While explaining her problems with Cain to her girlfriend, they come up with the idea of killing Cain with kindness for the twelve days up until Christmas. Cain will be her Ebenezer Scrooge and be the subject of her blog. She writes about all the kind things she can think of to do for Cain like pay for his coffee and delivering his paper and his reactions to her large doses of kindness. Her blog immediately becomes a hit with many new followers. The transformation begins and Cain starts to thaw into a loveable easygoing guy. However, Cain is not the only one changed by kindness. Will Cain forgive Julia for using him? Will Ebenezer change for good?

This is the perfect Christmas themed book, filled with just the right amount of cuteness and happiness vs. hurt feelings and betrayal. The characters are well developed and you find yourself caught up in the story just as Julia’s blog readers were.
And of course, the happy ever after ending every Christmas story requires.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and Ballantine Books.