Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Three Dates of Christmas
AUTHOR: KC Burn
NARRATOR: Darcy Stark
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
LENGTH: 4 hours, 15 minutes
RELEASE DATE: November 29, 2019
BLURB:
Dean Murphy hates Christmas a little more each year. His job as a pharmacy manager requires him to festoon his store with seasonal cheer, but his distaste for the lurid commercialism is only topped by his irritation with the syrupy sentimentalism. Being alone sucks, but he’s managed just fine without friends or family for years. Why should December 25 be any different?
When the tattooed Tony Delvecchio walks into his store, Dean hopes that, maybe, Tony’s different. Maybe Tony’s the man who won’t be driven away by Dean’s Scrooge-like tendencies. But Tony loves the holiday season, and he challenges Dean to three dates. Three dates to change his mind about Christmas.
Despite knowing it will all end badly, Dean does the unthinkable. He agrees.
REVIEW:
I loved the idea of this book! I mean one man hating all things Christmas and one loving it. Add in a challenge, and this book had the set up for a fun book. Dean Murphy works as a pharmacy manager and every year he’s in charge of decking out the store with Christmas decoration, and despite his nickname as the Christmas Scrooge and hate for the holiday he goes all out.
A few weeks before Christmas Tony comes into the store and the two takes instant liking for each other. Tony wrangles a date out of Dean – something completely out of Dean’s comfort zone. During the dinner, Dean accidentally lets it slip that he loathes all things Christmas. The disbelieving look from Tony has him convinced the dinner would be the last time he saw Tony. He didn’t expect Tony challenging him for three Christmas themed dates for the purpose of converting him into a holiday-lover.
I loved the set up and the book lived up to my expectations. I loved how Tony went all out in introducing Dean to some holiday cheer. Nothing was over the top, but the dates were still perfect, a gentle easing into all things Christmas. Tony had this instinct with Dean from the start. He knew when to push or back off, to nudge or pull him along. It was a beautiful love story.
Darcy Stark captured the holiday feels of this book. He made you feel Tony’s love for the holiday, his determination to show Dean how much fun the holiday could be. He also captured Dean just perfectly. How reluctant he was to try the things Tony suggested – but also his curiousness and deep buried longing.
Three Dates of Christmas really shows you that resistance is futile. A Christmas-lover will always convert the Christmas-Scrooges of the world.
RATING: 
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