Reviewed by Sammy
TITLE: 12 Dates of Christmas
AUTHOR: Tanya Chris
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
LENGTH: 67 pages
RELEASE DATE: November 17, 2020
BLURB:
Orion has devised a brilliant strategy for achieving internet fame—an Instagram campaign where he goes on twelve dates over twelve days, culminating in a made-for-TV happy-ever-after with fellow influencer and hot Brazilian model Afonso. Their pre-arranged fake relationship is bound to capture hearts and dollars, skyrocketing Orion from mid-tier to top-tier. His plan couldn’t be more perfect.
And then he meets Gustav. Gustav isn’t famous or devilishly dark and handsome. He’s not even on Insta. And he has an annoying habit of calling Orion out on his dubious ethics.
Now Orion is torn between fake fame and true happiness as he tries to continue his campaign while dating Gustav on the sly. The world thinks it knows a lot about Orion, but none of what it knows is true, and as Christmas comes to a close, Orion is wishing he could start the new year in a whole new way.
REVIEW:
Orion just needs to stage his twelve dates and tease that maybe they are the one till he gets to New Year’s eve where he and Afonso can finally declare they are magically in love and launch their respective modeling/online careers. It’s all about his brand and exposure and finally quitting his boring day job and making it big. Nothing about any of the dates, including the final one where he supposedly meets and falls for “the one” is real. Everything he does is geared toward a successful take on the carol the Twelve days of Christmas and getting the online recognition he desires to capture a huge following on Instagram and launch himself to stardom.
What he doesn’t count on is the cute swede, Gustav, who chats him up on the subway on his way to meet his day one date. As much as Orion would love to spend time getting to know Gustav he must stay on track or everything will fail and he won’t allow that to happen. So what if he is more than bending the truth about his sexuality (bi versus the truth-gay) and meeting “strangers” by accident (versus pre-arranged dates). No one is getting hurt—except Gustav just happens to keep showing up where Orion is and after an invite to his place on Christmas day, Orion begins to feel really bad about his whole scheme. He likes Gustav—a bit too much.
With a clever little premise and a meet-cute moment, Tanya Chris’ new holiday story, 12 Dates of Christmas turns out to be quite a sweet little snippet of a story. Orion is so eager to be famous he never really stops to think how he is actually lying about so many things until his eagerness for stardom begins to wane. Gustav becomes the catalyst that pushes Orion to stop and reassess just what he is doing by being so absorbed online, about his branding, about nearly everything, including the “little lies” he tells. Gustav is kind, considerate and sexy. Orion likes him—lots–but this twelve dates thing cannot be derailed—even if it means hurting Gustav.
I really like how this story lends itself to a cautionary lesson about just what is important to those who seek to be a presence online versus living a real life and being honest with ourselves and others. Whether by the author’s design or just a happy circumstance, I think 12 Dates of Christmas carries a warning for us all to be careful of how vying for popularity online can tempt one to build themselves up too much—creating a false persona that others assume is real. But the true magic of this tale is that those ideas are all wrapped up in a sweet holiday romance. I think fans of this author and holiday romances will find 12 dates of Christmas a delightful little short story to curl up with this holiday season.
RATING: 
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