What’s the story- From Goodreads:
Friendly and bubbly, Julia Padden likes nearly everyone, but her standoffish neighbor, Cain Maddox, presents a particular challenge. No matter how hard she’s tried to be nice, Cain rudely rebuffs her at every turn, preferring to keep to himself. But when Julia catches Cain stealing her newspaper from the lobby of their apartment building, that’s the last straw. She’s going to break through Cain’s Scrooge-like exterior the only way she knows how: by killing him with kindness.
To track her progress, Julia starts a blog called The Twelve Days of Christmas. Her first attempts to humanize Cain are far from successful. Julia brings him homemade Christmas treats and the disagreeable grinch won’t even accept them. Meanwhile, Julie’s blog becomes an online sensation, as an astonishing number of people start following her adventures. Julia continues to find ways to express kindness and, little by little, chips away at Cain’s gruff façade to reveal the caring man underneath. Unbelievably, Julia feels herself falling for Cain—and she suspects that he may be falling for her as well. But as the popularity of her blog continues to grow, Julia must decide if telling Cain the truth about having chronicled their relationship to the rest of the world is worth risking their chance at love.
Favorite Words: “As a kid I can remember my mother telling me that our lives are merely a reflection of what we see and do. If we are kind, others will treat us with kindness. If we love, we will be loved. If we care, we will be cared for.”
I always see Debbie Macomber books sitting on shelves at my favorite stores. I always think that the covers are of quaint little towns and about people that seem like the type of people you would see sitting in coffee shops sipping a latte and reading a good book. I also always think of Hallmark movies when I see her name. And there was even a time that I would scoff at these books, roll my eyes, and say that those romances were too clean for me. I liked the sexier stuff.
HOWEVER, that has changed for me. I have matured. I’m in my 30’s now and I realize that there is something beautiful and wonderful about a nice Hallmark-esque romance.
What I loved about this book was that there was a blog involved. It’s a great twist to this holiday romance. I relate a lot to Julia because I absolutely love Christmas. There is something magical about decorating the tree and baking cookies while belting out Christmas carols. What I also love is that the spirit of Christmas down to it’s very core is goodwill towards everyone. You want to help those in need. You want to cuddle your family in a warm embrace. You want to share joy with others.
Cain was very much a Scrooge in the beginning but I could see the desire he had to be a happier person. He had his grandfather who was a great secondary character that brought the story full circle. You wanted Cain and Julia to get together and I loved reading each entry she wrote for the blog. It helped build on the relationship you saw unfolding in front of you.
There were many layers to the story and it was an easy read but not a simple story. This is the type of love story you want to read by the fire around Christmas time.
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