Poppy has found in George, her boyfriend of five years, all the family she needs. When he breaks up with her a month before Christmas, she has to do everything she can to save the relationship and the only family she has known.

Although the title and the cover suggest a festive and light read, the story also cover some deeper topics. I liked the development of the main character, and as with all Elizabeth Neep's books, I love that the main point of the story is not finding love but finding your true self (and love may or may not come after that).

** Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion. **

As a great lover of festive books, this sounded right up my street. Unfortunately, it fell short of my expectations.

Whilst it was easy reading and not an unpleasant book to read, I found the main character of Poppy to be very desperate and I didn’t root for her. In fact, she annoyed me so much that I just couldn’t get into the story and enjoy it as much as I thought I would. She is whiny and complainy and desperate and a bit of a doormat. Her boyfriend George is also conniving and scummy and self-centered.

I know you shouldn’t necessarily judge a book’s quality on how you feel about the main character, especially if the author deliberately wrote them like that, but I couldn’t put my opinions on them to one side to enjoy the story. Even the background characters - whilst some had redeemable qualities - I felt they were definitely ‘background characters’, easily forgettable.

I hoped it would get better as things fell into place the further into the book I got, but for me, they didn’t. Sadly the characters’ flaws just took over too much and I couldn’t focus on the story enough to enjoy it. Not a book for me unfortunately.

I really enjoyed this an would recommend it as a pre Christmas feel good romance.
I particularly enjoyed the way the different relationships within the story were explored. Old friends, new friends and, ultimately, a whole lot of love!
Very well written and I will definitely look out for more by Elizabeth Neep.

I found this story to be quite heartwarming. Poppy is a delightful character who is struggling from the recent loss of her job and the recent loss of a five-year romantic relationship. When she finds herself at "Church Street", she meets many interesting and diverse people who help her to discover who she really is. One, upon hearing about her broken heart, challenges Poppy to win George back by Christmas. Basically, this is the story of the twelve days he will be available in order for her to do that. The last part dragged a little (I felt), but the ending was worth it!

Thanks, NetGalley for allowing me to read this early.

Twelve days to save Christmas
Poppy loves Christmas and has this year’s celebrations all sorted out. However, a month before Christmas Eve, her boyfriend Greg drops a bombshell and tells her that he feels they should break up saying that she is too needy. They will continue to share the flat until the end of the year and during that time there will be 12 days when Greg and Poppy will be in the flat together so Poppy has those days to try and convince him that he is wrong.
In a bid to show him that she is not needy, she ends up volunteering at a local community centre run by Theo and also joins a choir. As she becomes more involved with the centre, its staff and visitors, she begins to think more about her own past and to consider who she really is.
I really enjoyed this and completed it in one sitting. There are some very funny moments as well as some touching ones. One or two of the characters felt a bit like stock characters and didn’t come across as real but I loved Poppy and her journey through this novel. I felt that there were some real issues raised in this novel about the personalities that we show to other people and how real they are as well as it being a real romantic comedy. I also loved the ending which I felt was hopeful rather than being an outright happy ending.
Thank you to the publishers and Net Galley for allowing me to read an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Poppy is ready for her favorite time of the year - the days leading up to Christmas when her boyfriend drops a bomb, after the holiday season he thinks they should part ways and that this relationship isn't working for him anymore. So Poppy will spend the next twelve days trying to convince George that their relationship is one for the ages and that she is the one for him.

The second holiday book this season where the female is convincing the guy that she is right for him and while I don't love this kind of romance, there was a little more to this story that I could enjoy the other things beyond this core plot. Poppy's own self discovery and her confronting her own past were the parts of the story that I loved the most. I loved that while she was trying to win back George she basically won back herself!

There were moments where I felt as though the book went off a little, but then it went back to center and I enjoyed it again. I was a fan of Elizabeth Neep and will continue to be after this one, while this wasn't my favorite of hers, I will wait for the next one to arrive!

Poppy loves Christmas and always tries to make it magical. When Poppy wrestles her boyfriend George into the Christmas sweater built for two, she finds out why he doesn't appear to have the Christmas spirit this year. He tells her that he is leaving her. She is devastated as she thought things were perfect in their relationship. She is not going to give up on her five year relationship without a fight. She has 12 days until Christmas to prove to him that they are meant to be together. She meets several new people that help her through this rough time. They also help her to really examine her relationship with George. This is a festive Christmas rom com that I highly recommend.

In this book we follow Poppy our main character who has been struggling with her recent "unemployment" (relatable), and to top it all off, her long time boyfriend George decides it's time for them to break up. Poppy being heartbroken by the thought of losing her one true love decides to use the twelve days that they have together to try to remind George of why he should resend his breakup. In order to prove to George that Poppy's life doesn't "revolve around him" as George literally put it in the book, Poppy stumbles upon a volunteer opportunity AND a choir she joins.

My opinions on characters: George is quite literally the worst in my opinion. If he was a real person there would be so many red flags popping up you'd have to be blind to not see them. After spending five years with Poppy, he decides that she's around too much and has nothing going on in her life other than being with him. Then when Poppy actually starts becoming busy with the Church Street Community Center (where she volunteers), and meets friends like Theo, Aran, Avery, and Marie, all of a sudden she's good enough to warrant George's time and love again? Like Poppy acknowledges in the book, the only reason that George wanted to get back together with Poppy is because he was jealous that she was no longer giving 100% of her time to him.

Poppy's character also ended up getting on my nerves. While I understand that her past plays a lot into her not wanting to give up on her relationship with George, she NEVER stands up for herself. It was. a struggle to get through parts of Poppy's journey, from the time that George first "gets her back" til the end of the Cotswolds trip. George's friends make fun of Poppy and her wanting to be in a choir, they belittle her accomplishments and are just plain mean. And during the whole trip she knows that they are making fun of her and the new friends that she's made, and she still continues to make excuses for them and again ignore all of the red flags.

Marie and Aran however are probably the best part of this book. They helped Poppy understand her worth and realize that she's better than just accepting her life the way it was. When Marie told Poppy that if George really loved her wouldn't he be supportive of her, I have never agreed with anything more. Theo's character also was a plus, he definitely told Poppy how it is, and I am glad that the author didn't push these characters together in the end. I felt like there wasn't as much of a connection between the two to make sense that they would be together by the time the book ended. So I actually do appreciate that it was left with a possibility of them being together rather than them for sure being together.

Strangely, I felt that if this book was actually a movie, I would have really liked it. However as a book, it felt as if there wasn't enough development between characters. The will they/won't they between Poppy and George was predictable to me that they never would, especially because of the band, that was quite literally my first reading red flag where I knew they weren't going to make it. Any character that puts his band before his girlfriend, isn't it. And because I knew that they weren't actually going to make it, it made the process drawn out and at parts unnecessary. Bottom line, I wouldn't really recommend this to anyone.

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for this ARC

This is the second book I’ve read by Elizabeth Neep and I love her approach to the rom com! She seems to have a formula for a character that goes through some deep emotional growth and comes out on top. This book is no exception!

Poppy loves two things more than anything in the world: Christmas and her boyfriend George. So when George drops the bomb that is breaking up with her only a month away from Christmas, Poppy is devastated. She finds herself pulling out all the stops to save her relationship, even volunteering at a community centre and swimming outside in December. The only problem is, Poppy needs to work on saving herself first.

I loved how much I was rooting for Poppy and wanted to joint her on her journey. I was also rooting for Theo and his sister. This story is the perfect feel good holiday romance! Definitely worth the read this holiday season!

I have previously enjoyed Elizabeth Neep's novels and her ability to balance a fun romance with examination of some grittier themes - 'Twelve Days to Save Christmas' is no exception to this. Let's be honest, I requested this also partly because the main character shares my name which was a cool bonus!

We meet Poppy and George right before Christmas five years into their relationship. Poppy has recently lost her job and her direction in life, resulting in George labelling her too 'needy' and breaking up with her. To make things worse, he is not going to move out until after Christmas, a full month later! This gives Poppy a plan - find a job, a purpose, undo this reputation for being 'needy' and win back her man. To get busy, she starts volunteering at the local community centre, learning much about herself, her relationship and what she really wants out of life along the way.

The story was very enjoyable and had some funny moments, particularly Poppy and some freezing outdoor swimming in a tiny bikini... You'll see! Neep does a great job illustrating exactly why George and Poppy previously worked as a couple but sows the narrative with doubt about whether they are meant to be. The insights into Poppy's past, and her feeling a connection with service users at the community centre, is an interesting dimension to the story. I appreciated her character arc and the journey of self discovery, leading to a satisfying conclusion.

Overall, I enjoyed this as much as Neep's past works and look forward to diving into her romance novels again in the future! 4.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Poppy’s five year relationship comes to an end some weeks before christmas, which has been her favorite time of the year for a long time. she is devastated - George is the only home she’s known for a while, she has been struggling with finding a job , and she is now losing both her relationship and job. That is why she decides to stablish a twelve-day-long plan to win george back, and for him to see that after all, she is still the independent, strong woman he fell in love with in the first place.

This book felt like a really long, tumultuous ride. Thinks I liked about it? I loved the found family trope, but i also loved to see how Poppy went from being a really codependent person to develop a sense for self-worth, to stopping doing things just to please someone other than herself, and most importantly, to realise that to move onto the future she must embrace the past she’s been running away from. I think all of the characters are really well self depicted, and you can find yourself being attached to them, even the ones whom have not been created to be likeable.

However, it is marked as a ‘feel-good festive romantic comedy’ and i would have to disagree to that - Although the book’s ending may have that feel-good feeling the cover premises, the general plot can be really sad and angsty, and if you are looking for something fun and not dramatic, then i would not advise this book. Maybe another set of adjectives would be better!

It leaves a really strong message, and i feel as if this book is one i’m going to be thinking about constantly for the next few months - Am i the only one who really wants a sequel? A really recommended read for the months leading up to christmas!

Twelve Days to Save Christmas is a story about finding your place and accepting who you are, not just at Christmas, but all the year-round. I think that it's sold as a comedy (the cover certainly is similar to other romantic comedy books) and while there are moments that are amusing, I don't really think that this counts as a fun and light-hearted read.
When Poppy's boyfriend dumps her a month before Christmas, she decides to try and win him back and show him what he would be missing. As she gets involved in more and more things, Poppy begins to discover that there's actually more to life than George, her ex-boyfriend and perhaps the life that she's been dreaming of and chasing for the last five years isn't the one that she wants.
The reason that I don't say that this is a romantic comedy is that firstly, ex-boyfriend Geroge is a complete arse. Poppy goes on about how lovely he is, but I honestly couldn't see it. How anyone could justify treating someone that they supposedly loved, like that, I don't know. Even the way that he goes about breaking up with her is cruel. There is the hint of more romance for Poppy, but that isn't really what this story is about. Secondly, Poppy has had a lot to deal with in her life and really, as much as I love bittersweet comedy, that isn't really what this is. It is a good read though and one that I really enjoyed.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thought provoking and a well written story that goes to prove that friends are family that you choose. I love Church Street and having worked in similar places it made me smile thinking of the characters you meet at them.

George decides he's no longer happy in his relationship leaving girlfriend Poppy feeling confused and hurt; she didn't expect to be dumped and definitely not six weeks before Christmas.
Poppy embarks on a 12-day plan to convince that him they are the perfect couple that everyone has thought they were for the past five years. Through this, she meets new friends and finds somewhere she feels she can belong, something she's not had before and thought she had with George. But her new and old worlds don't mix.

The characters are what sell this book. They're funny and honest, cringy and ridiculous but all make the story heart-warming and genuine.
Poppy's revelation is slow-going, but does feel like watching your friend in a complicated relationship; from the outside, you can see it isn't great, but they'll never listen. She needs to work it out for herself.
I found that I wanted there to be more physical description for some of the characters, like Poppy and Avery, beyond simple phrases, but it didn't limit my understanding of them.

This book is perfect to be made into a romcom film, if for no other reason that I want to see those games of Articulate played out in all their glory.

This is one of the best and funniest Christmas books I've read in a long time, story line was so gripping and I loved it, highly recommend and have recommended to my book group for one of our December reads will happily re read this and still laugh through it, uplifting and so enjoyable

The story
Poppy has been in love with George for five years and feels like he is her family. When he suddenly breaks up with her a few weeks before Christmas, she is devastated. George believes that she has been too obsessed with him, not living her own life. Poppy puts together a plan to woo George back in the twelve days that she will see him before Christmas. But she ends up broadening her own horizons instead. Will it be enough to win back?

My thoughts
This is the third book of Elizabeth Neep’s that I have read, and I do believe it’s her strongest writing. There are subtle Christmas messages woven into the story. Poppy starts to understand what the true meaning of love is, being selfless and not selfish. I loved how Poppy’s character grew and developed as Christmas approaches. It’s a sweet read, perfect for the holiday season! 🌲 🔔 🤶

Ok I thought that this would be more of a sweet romance, but it wasn’t for me. I didn’t love where the romance went.

Poppy's boyfriend, George, breaks up with her a month before Christmas. She is determined to win him back, by making him want to be with her. This sounds like a cute rom-com, but it had some deep history of abandonment in childhood.

I struggled with getting through some of this book. I found George an unlikeable person and found Poppy's history unexpected and like it was swept under the rug at time. In the end, yes, Poppy does begin to work through some of the trauma of her history, working toward finding her own happy, but that did not redeem enough for me.

The will they or won't they of George and Poppy's relationship goes on for far to long. Poppy could have had her "relationship epiphany" so much earlier in the book, and had not disappointed the people she did.

Poppy and George's friends were pretty terrible too. I think that is why I struggled with the book so much. So many of the characters were unlikeable, and I didn't think that many didn't learn anything from it. The people who were the "good guys"

The biggest issue I had was the blurb of the book, being so different between from what the book is. Describing the book as "delightfully fun, [and] festive" just did not match the story that felt heartbreaking for so much of it. Yes you see Poppy move toward healing, but that is in the last five percent of the book.

This book just did not work for me. I don't know how I would describe this book, but know that there is some trauma in it and you really dislike so many of the characters in the book. I received a copy of this from NetGalley and the publisher for an open and honest review. All opinions are 100% mine.

I almost gave up on this book several times, and I’m glad I stuck it out to the finish.

Poppy’s five year relationship with her true love goes off the tracks when George, the afore-mentioned love, declares she is too needy and too present ever since she lost her job. Just weeks before Christmas, he initiates the break-up, but stays in their apartment with her until the lease expires at the end of the year. Poppy is devastated – she has been struggling to establish herself as a free-lance public relations consultant and now is losing her relationship and her home. Determined to make the most of the time remaining – about twelve days of shared time and space – Poppy crafts a plan to show George that she can be the confident, successful woman he fell in love with and reverse his decision.

So here’s why I almost bailed on this book. Poppy is a poster child for codependency. She has catered to George’s every whim, supported his dreams and asked for little, if nothing, in return. Her obsessive behavior is rooted in her painful childhood, which is understandable, but becomes tedious as she puts reuniting with George as the motivation of all her choices. What made the story worthwhile is that Poppy begins slowly, but steadily, to develop her sense of self-worth, to cultivate new friends based on her own values, and to realize she must embrace her past in order to heal. The ending felt satisfying and realistic.

This is an unusual Christmas story. It is described in the promotional material as a “delightfully fun, festive romantic comedy.” Given all the angst that Poppy experiences, this would not be my choice of adjectives for this book. It definitely imparts a positive message at the end of this heroine’s journey and for that I was grateful, but it was an emotionally bumpy trek for the majority of the book.

My thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This review is being posted immediately to my GoodReads account and will be posted on Amazon upon publication.

"Twelve Days to Save Christmas", by Elizabeth Neep, is centered around Poppy and her devastation when she is unexpectedly dumped by her long-time boyfriend. Reeling from his claim that she has nothing going on and her whole life centers around him, Poppy decides to discover new hobbies in order to gain his attention and love once more. Poppy jumps into all sorts of activities, such as singing in a choir and volunteering at the local homeless shelter. However, Poppy finds that she enjoys helping people and has been living a very sheltered and privileged existence. She can win her boyfriend back, but at what cost?

I enjoyed the storyline of this book, but wish Poppy was a bit more likable. I was very happy with the ending though! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.