***This review, expressing my honest opinion, is voluntary, and I extend my gratitude to BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for providing the ARC of "Twelve Days: A Tale of Christmas.***

The "Christmas Collection" series comprises five books, The narrator, Steve Corona, added to the charm with a stellar performance, enhancing the overall experience of this captivating story. The characters came to life through his narration, elevating an already great narrative.

Despite the non-sequential nature of the stories, I felt compelled to explore Book #1. This installment introduces Barbara DiSanto, a 57-year-old ad agency owner, whose journey mirrors the familiar path of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." DiSanto, akin to Ebenezer Scrooge, has risen from humble beginnings but is now consumed by the pursuit of profits and business success. A mysterious voice forewarns her before Christmas, leading to a health scare and the arrival of an angel bearing twelve transformative lessons.

The narrative cleverly weaves in the twelve lessons, drawing parallels between the traditional twelve-day Christmas celebration and the glimpses into the past that the angel reveals to Barbara. However, the sheer number of lessons, while understood, makes the storyline somewhat predictable. The simplicity of the events contrasts with the occasionally convoluted links to overarching life lessons. Unlike Scrooge's personal redemption, Barbara grapples with lessons derived not only from her life but also from the experiences of unrelated individuals in the past.

Religious themes permeate the narrative, potentially deterring those averse to explicit biblical and Christian references in Christmas tales. The author's intention to impart a message of genuine Christmas spirit is evident but might come across as preachy to certain readers. This turned me off. I most likey will not read the other books.

Barbara's character, initially portrayed as dominating and rude, undergoes a sudden redemption that feels abrupt and fails to evoke a genuine sense of liking or forgiveness. The limited focus on supporting characters impedes deeper exploration and development.

The writing style, marked by repetition and exacerbated by recurrent journeys into the past, contributes to a monotonous reading experience. Despite the commendable message of "Keeping Christmas well," the narrative falls short of the timeless impact of "A Christmas Carol." While suitable for those seeking a contemporary interpretation of the classic, it is not recommended for a younger audience. Despite positive moments, the book emerges as an average, one-time read.

Thank you net galley for my arc.
Pleasant story of a self centered woman who comes to appreciate the people she knows through a Christmas centered event. Very Christmas Carol like story

Barbara DiSanto needed this mashup of Scrooge's experience and 12x around that block rather than just Scrooge's 3. She's a hard case.

Lucky for her there are a few powerful beings on her side, sorta. She's always stepping on her own toes, though, but isn't that all of us?

A fair-to-middlin' Christmas read, one that gets the Christmas juices flowing.

*A sincere thank you D. P. Conway, Danielle Gensler, BooksGoSocial Audio, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and independently review.* #TwelveDaysATaleofChristmas #NetGalley

A very enjoyable Christmas story that highlights how much of an impact can our actions make on somebody's life.
This audiobook was longer compared to the rest of the Christmas collection by D.P. Conway and at some points it felt a bit dragged to be honest. It's a more elaborate version of A Christmas Carol, the main character being a veritable Scrooge, but as per usual, the author gives us a heartwarming story with a great, but simple lesson about kindness.
Compared to another audiobook, the carols are not sung, and it would have made the story more magical

This was too religious to me. I liked two other books in the series but this one and another were just too Christian agenda. Thanks

Inspired by the Dickens classic 'A Christmas Carol.', Twelve Days will bring the 'bah humbug', twelve hauntings, and the all important epiphany of the Christmas spirit

Although I love the premise of this story, Barbara was just awful and the story was just too religious for this, almost-retelling of the classic.

D.P. Conway gives a new take on the meaning of Christmas. Barbara DiSanto would live at work if she could. She’s disconnected from her family, her husband, and her staff. After a tiring Christmas, Barbara finds her health in question. With her guardian Angel in tow, Barbara needs to realize she’s gone off course and has been treating everyone around her terribly. Barbara sees twelve reasons as to why she should change her ways although she’s afraid it might be too late to change. I enjoyed reading this book, because I didn’t only see Barbara’s friends and family.the story does a great job of combining those close to Barbara with people she’s never met to try and spark a change in Barbara. I could easily follow along with this book. And although this kind of Christmas story has been told time and time again, I feel as though Conway has made this into their own. Originality mixed with a traditional Christmas story makes for a great holiday read.

This was a quick, easy, cute retelling of The Christmas Carol. The story was predictable, but it being a retelling and being told that from the beginning made it more Christmasy to me. It definitely gave Scrooge vibes with Barbaras character.
Who doesnt like Christmas themed books around Christmas time? This one is well worth the read if you're looking for quick, cute or a retelling. I listened to the audio version and the narrator was great.

A simple Christmas Carol-esque tale. Nasty, selfish woman meets guardian angel and is warned that she has been so bad she is unlikely to make it to Heaven unless she learns her lesson from the unwrapping of 12 Christmas gifts and the visions that they lead to.
Not much to dislike but not a memorable tale either. Nice for getting into that Christmas mood

I have mixed feelings about this one. On one hand I think every one would agree that the main character is definitely not a nice person, but I had a hard time buying into the premise and it felt like a remaking of the Scrooge story.

This story started off really well and was intriguing... but then it kind of lost its way, made me bored and not at all connected with the characters. It was such a shame.

Barbara is too busy for Christmas. It's another thing to have to deal with and just get through. Everything a chore, everything dished out to her staff to deal with... but then her guardian angel visits her and shows her what Christmas is all about...

It was all going so well until the angel arrived. We then have TWELVE lessons of Christmas! Twelve! Far too many. They're all disjointed, random stories with meaning, but all that it does is show us 12 different types of Christmas that others are having and Barbara learns from them... but it's so disjointed, you can't really get into the individual stories because they're short and you are also taken out of Barbara's story as it focuses solely on the new story. Really made me lose interest and wonder after the first five, HOW CAN WE NOT BE HALF WAY YET??

I get that the character changed over time, but it could have been done in a better, more involved way. Such a shame.

Twelve Days: A Tale of Christmas
D.P. Conway
I adore this book! It reminded me of A Christmas Carol.
Barbara DiSanto is a successful and talented businesswoman if you judge success by dollar signs. She is driven and expects everyone else to keep up with her. She is a tyrant at work and home. An employee makes a mistake, she fires him on Christmas Eve. Everyone is expected to work on Christmas Eve. Health insurance has gone up and Barbara is determined not to pay the cost for her employees. If her accountant can’t find cheaper insurance there will be no bonuses. Christmas at her house is on schedule. Her children HAVE to be on time. Dinner is on the best China. Her servants must stay until the kitchen and dinning room are clean. After dinner everyone moves to the living room where a dazzling tree is on display. Lots of gifts are under the tree, adorned with shiny paper and bows, all courtesy of Barbara’s assistant who purchased and wrapped them all. One of Barbara’s grandchildren asked her to attend church with the family, but Barbara didn’t have time for such nonsense.
A phrase is beginning to haunt Barbara, she hears it and knows it has meaning for her and yet what, “before its too late.” Before what is too late? Before whom is too late? Barbara has a dream about her grandmother what was the meaning of such a dream?
Barbara lives in a stress-driven world until it catches up with her. Her guardian angel Seraphin attempts to show Barbara the true meaning of the twelve days of Christmas. Will Barbara finally understand.
This book put me in the Christmas spirit. I may not be wealthy, nor a businesswoman but I am one of those people have a picture of Christmas in their head and the day never lives up to their/my expectations. Christmas isn’t about gifts, it isn’t about the fancy dinner, it isn’t about dressing up in fancy clothes. Christmas is about love that came down from heaven, humbled, born in a manger so that we would experience and understand true love. This tale showed me my expectations must change. It doesn’t matter where we have dinner as long as we are all together. It doesn’t matter where or when. We should cherish each moment before it is too late.
Thank you, D.P, Conway and Netgalley for sharing this tale with me. My reviews are my unbiased opinions.

This was a quick, enjoyable, modern retelling of A Christmas Carol. The narrator did a fantastic job on this audiobook! Thank you for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It was a slow listen and I ended up DNF the book. It did have a great potential, but the audio made it difficult to stay attuned to the reading.

🎧Audio Book Review🎧

Twelve Days - A Tale Of Christmas
DP Conway

🌟🌟🌟🌟

Oh I loved this story as it was definitely giving me Scrooge vibes!

Barbara is a really unlikable character - just like Scrooge - always demanding the best, the most work, hates Christmas time and is really rather horrible to her employees, even sacking one on Christmas Eve.
I really like morally grey characters or unlikable ones as I feel that the journey is then really worthwhile.
Sadly, even after her 12 gifts - or lessons of Christmas - she still doesn't understand and is still rather rude!
I was about to despair (given there wasn't much book left) and thought, what an odd twist to this story!
But Barbara does actually emerge eventually and make things good - so it was a lovely happy ending after all.

This got quite spiritual and with some degree of religion - not 100% my kind of thing, but it actually fitted beautifully with the true Christmas story, which we all know and love.

I loved that the 12 lessons were spread over a huge timeline.
Each story portrayed one part of the true meaning of Christmas.
Some were set in the near past and others further back to wartime. There was even one right back at the beginning, the nativity.
All the stories were well written and quite thought-provoking.

My only real complaint about this (audio)book was that throughout, there were some lovely mentions of carols being sung. But the narrator just read the lyrics as part of the story. I'd have loved to have heard them sung.
Let's be fair though, I'd have hated to sing them on an audio book myself, but would definitely have been singing them out loud and proud in the seclusion of my own home, had I been reading the physical book.
So only a teeny minor grumble.

Otherwise, a really festive read. A great take on A Christmas Carol and if you love the original.Christmas Story, this one will make a nice change to many of the festive reads out this year.


💕Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my ARC copy - this is my honest review 💕

This was an easy, quick listen. The narration was great. The story wasn't bad, but it was very predictable, as it was basically a retelling of The Christmas Carol with religious aspects. Although the story was enjoyable, I did feel like 12 lessons were a bit much to endure. Out of the three stories I have listened to out of this Christmas collection by D.P. Conway, this was by far my favorite.
Thank you, NetGalley and BooksGoSocial, for the opportunity to listen and review this advanced copy.

I wanted to get into the holiday spirit and I needed an audiobook to listen to on my drive to work so I grabbed Twelve Days. I really only based picking this book off of the Christmas cover I didn’t read the synopsis. I liked the first bit but I was confused about the Christmas aspect. But as we move farther into the book I realized this is a retelling of a Christmas Carol just with a female main character. I didn’t mind but it’s not at all what I was expecting. I didn’t really ever like any of the characters, I don’t believe the author wanted us to, so we as the reader don’t form that connection. I did enjoy the narrators voice, it’s easier to listen to and she changed it with character changes. That’s my favourite part of audiobooks. If they don’t do that or don’t have separate narrators comparators re easily confused. Overall, this was a okay read. I’m not too sure if I would recommend it only because it has a pretty specific audience.

Barbara is a monster of a boss and dictator of her family. The outward image of success in all things trumps over love and compassion. Read this “Christmas Carolish” story in the hopes of redemption.

I loved this cover. It has all the Christmas vibes. The narration was so good. I am such a fan of the Christmas Carol. I loved this retelling of it. I wanted to shake Barbara a couple of times. The feel of family in this story was so warm and welcoming. I teared up a bit while reading this one. Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial Audio for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

A different take on a Christmas carol but with the 12 days of Christmas and 1 angel. Interesting story following a business woman who’s lost the feeling of Xmas as she’s always working and a control freak.