I figured since the holiday season was upon us (yet again), this might not be a bad movie to watch; so I programmed my TV to the first (and only) showing. But then my Secret Santa gave me my present a little early this year. I got what I asked for: "Dating Mr. December" by Phillipa Ashley.
My plan was to read all my holiday books, which wasn't many BTW, before the year was up. Because what's the point of reading a holiday book if the holidays were over, right? So I got right down to it and began by reading "The Three Kings: A Christmas Dating Story" by Alisa Valdes Rodriguez. (I think somebody posted a review on Livin' la vida Latina)
Before I could even tackle "Dating Mr. December," I soon realized how similar the story was to "12 Men of Christmas." Both were stories of a woman who is trying to get an all-male calendar out by Christmas. Then I found out that "12 Men of Christmas" was based on a story by Phillipa Ashley, the author of "Dating Mr. December." But could that movie be based on this novel in particular? No, right? Because if it was, then I wouldn't be able to watch the movie yet until after I finished reading the book. I always hate watching the movie first because it absolutely spoils the book for me. It happened with "Queen of the Damned," "Must love Dogs," and "The Devil wears prada."
So I didn't watch that movie on Lifetime. Instead, I sad down and read the book for two days. And you know what? I think the movie might've been better.
And here's why: According to the TV guide, "12 Men of Christmas" was about a PR woman, who tries to raise funds for a town by issuing a male calendar. That's kind've the back summary of the book as well. But the thing was, the book really wasn't about the calendar. Right off as you start on page 1, BAM, they talk about the calendar for a few pages, and then it's never mentioned again throughout the entire book. It's really all about the main character, Emma, dating the guy posing as Mr. December, hence, the title, "Dating Mr. December."
The book is just a hard-core romance between Emma and Will (Mr. December). When I first heard about this book, I thought it was really going to be about the calendar and the 12 naked men. I thought we would see her at each of the photo shoots, and some of the guys may take a romantic or lustful interest in her, and she will have to choose in the end. I would've liked to have know how she got there in the first place--how she got fired, how she got that new job, how she came up with the whole calendar idea, how she and Will met, and how she found the other 11 guys. But, no, none of that happened. The whole story is all about Will and Emma and their fervent desires for each other. There was really no story.
I just have a feeling that I should've watched the movie first.
If you take a look in the first few pages of Dating Mr December, you'll see it was written in 2006 - a long while before the film! And it was called Decent Exposure, and was never really meant to be all about the calendar. Films are always choosy with which bits of a book they go with (The Secret Garden film from the 90s is SO different the book - and that 2006 version of Dracula the BBC did! Almost unrecognisable from the book...). Obviously the film-makers went for the hook that would draw in people who like Lifetime movies ;)
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