Audiobook Review: Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie

Author: Agatha Christie

Narrator: Hugh Fraser
Title: Hercule Poirot's Christmas

Series: Hercule Poirot #20

Genre: Mystery, Classics, Thriller
Format: Audiobook
Published: December 19, 1938
Where I Got It: Borrowed from library

Summary: 

In Hercule Poirot's Christmas, the holidays are anything but merry when a family reunion is marred by murder — and the notoriously fastidious investigator is quickly on the case. The wealthy Simeon Lee has demanded that all four of his sons — one faithful, one prodigal, one impecunious, one sensitive — and their wives return home for Christmas. But a heartwarming family holiday is not exactly what he has in mind. He bedevils each of his sons with barbed insults and finally announces that he is cutting off their allowances and changing his will. Poirot is called in the aftermath of Simeon Lee's announcement.

Review:

What better to read during Xmas then a murder? Love me some Poirot!!!!

Hercule is on the case! For this family, the holidays are no longer holly and jolly. This family reunion is marred by a murder. Lots of suspects and lots of motives because the wealthy head of the family announced he was changing his will. 

I felt like I had read this because things seemed SO familiar. Which is okay. It was nice revisiting one I had read forever ago. I thought I remembered who the murdered was, but I pleasantly re-surprised. Gasp!

I did remember one big twist so that was nice ;) I still didn't like this particular twist. I won't spoil anything. 

This was a lovely listen. The narrator did a lovely job. 

What a way to end the year! Love this author and def recommend Hercule. 

4 stars for me. 

 Challenge(s):

- Audiobook #65

- Library Love #34

Book Review: The Charred Grape by Caroline Baccene

Author: Caroline Baccene

Title: The Charred Grape

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Short story

Format: ebook

Pages: 36

Published: March 5, 2025

Where I got It: My shelf (Amazon)

Summary: 

Rachael, a hardworking single mom, juggles the chaos of making ends meet as a waitress at the beloved restaurant The Charred Grape and always strives to be the best mother she can for her young son, Leo.

When the restaurant is bought out and taken over by a new owner, Rachael and the rest of the staff are understandably more than a little nervous. Will they lose their jobs? Will new management be so unbearable they'll be forced to quit? Will their loyal customers accept this change of hands?

Those nerves turn into something else entirely as the days pass and Rachael learns more about her new boss and also becomes friends with the new chef. What starts as an easy and carefree back-of-the-house and afterhours friendship quickly seems to be turning into something else, but can Rachael find space in her busy, high-stress life for romance?

Review:

A nice short story while decompressing after the Xmas chaos of joy.

Rachael is your atypical hardworking and single moms. She is juggling her job and her private life. When the restaurant she is working at is bought out and taken over by a new owner, Rachael and the staff are concerned for their jobs. However, things turn to hope when she is offered a promotion and she becomes close to the new chef. 

This was short and sweet. Lovely to read over a couple of coffee like me.

Rachael was a sweet pea. She deserves the best. 

The chef (I can't remember his name) was meh. I didn't like his reaction at the bar. He just jumped to the worst conclusions even though she had mentioned her son before. Like...what?

Rachael is a gem and deserved better. I hope he groveled at some point. We didn't really get to see that. It was a quick fix and next thing we know it was the epilogue. I would've liked to see him grovel JUST a teeny bit.

I'll give this 3 stars. 

Short and sweet to read over your coffee. 

 

Audiobook Review: Happy and Merry by Lisa Scottoline & Francesca Serritella

Author: Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella

Narrator: Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella
Title: Happy and Merry

Genre: Short Stories, Anthology, Humor, Essays, Nonfiction
Format: Audiobook
Published: October 26, 2012
Where I Got It: Borrowed from library

Summary: 

Just in time for Christmas comes a collection of the very best holiday essays from the bestselling Mother/Daughter writing duo. Whether their shopping for matching reindeer dog sweaters or having second helpings of egg nogg, Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella will keep you warm with their humor and heart. So give yourself some holiday cheer in the midst of all the shopping, cooking, wrapping, and baking madness…you deserve to get a little Happy and Merry!

Review:

Randomly saw this as a nice "short" for the holidays on my Libby app. So why not? I listened to this while doing some chores. 

We'll divide and conquer this review...

Thanksgiving

I really liked this one. It had a nice message. It was very sweet. 5 stars. Nice start!

Holiday Guilt

Interesting look at the holiday guilt. Interesting way to think. I did chuckle a bit. 4 stars. 

Thank You

*scratches head* I can't fully remember this one. Did I zone out? Errrrrr. 1 star.

Busy Signal

This one had me chuckling a bit. It does make you try to appreciate the life we have now and not be so impatient. Nice messaging for sure. I'll stamp it with 5 stars. 

Twas the Night Before

This was okay. I liked it. I think it needed...more. It felt like it was the beginning of a nice piece. 3 stars. 

Lisa Hits the Eggnog

Some humor. Some nice messaging. 4 stars. 

And Many Happy Returns

Not memorable for me. I barely remember this one, and it was the finale. I remember the ending! The beginning and middle? Maybe it needed more or something. It just didn't stick with me. But I'll give it a 3. 

Overall

Some holiday humor and some important messages that we need to remember. Like being patient and taking it day by day, and being kind to others. Also, thank your local soldier. There was a lot of "life could be worse! You could be away from your family member who is a soldier for this country, far, far away." Oof. Thanks for that. Yes, nice to be thankful to be home, and yes, thank your servicepeople. 

After some complicated math...I'll stamp this with 3 stars. 

 Challenge(s):

- Audiobook #64

- Library Love #33

Audiobook Review: Unmask Me If You Can by Shana Galen

Author: Shana Galen

Narrator: Victoria Aston
Title: Unmask Me if You Can

Series: The Survivors #4

Genre: Historical Romance
Format: Audiobook
Published: November 6, 2018
Where I Got It: My shelf (Audible)

Summary: 

This masked lord...

Lord Jasper, younger son of a marquess, suffered horrible burns fighting in the Napoleonic Wars. He wears a mask to hide his face from the stares and screams and finds comfort in the shadows. Jasper is an exceptional bounty hunter, so when a woman summons him to her deathbed and asks him to find her runaway daughter before she passes away, he doesn't refuse. Jasper is close to his quarry when he's knifed by an assailant. Imagine his surprise when he regains consciousness in the arms of the woman he seeks. Except she's not at all what he expected.

Is not the only one with scars.

On a remote cliff on the sea, Olivia Carlisle calls her five-year-old son in from an approaching storm. But the little boy is more interested in the man he's found on the trail to their hidden cottage. Olivia fears men and wants nothing more than to leave the injured man where she found him. But his knife wound is severe, and with the approaching storm, she knows leaving him will condemn him to death. As Jasper begins to heal, Olivia acknowledges her attraction to him, even though such emotions terrify her almost as much as returning to London. Jasper must convince her that her only chance at safety is to challenge the man who pursues her. They must travel into the lion's den—he to face his vulnerability and she to face her worst fears.

Review:

Had some issues with the last book, so I was hesitant to keep on going. However, the cover drew me in and I was super curious and hopeful for Jasper. He really deserves love!

Here we have Jasper who one of the survivors. He was mentally scarred and physically. He hides behind a mask because of the scars. He accepts jobs to find people and he is hired to find Olivia who ran away 5 years ago. Easy peasey. Right? As he finds her, he is attacked and left for dead. Olivia drags him to her cottage on a remote cliff near a small village. She fears men, but she can't leave him to die. As she heals him, she starts to like him and that terrifies her. After some time they grow to trust each other and they realize that her time of hiding is over. 

This one was really sad, but happy all at the same time. These two people are so damaged and so hurt. Through friendship and love, they start healing together. I really loved this slowburn. Yes, the lust is there, but they both need the time to trust the other and themselves. 

Jasper was a heartthrob. I loved him so much. I liked him in the other books, but we got to see the man behind the mask and I ended up loving him. Olivia was perfect for him. Sweet girl. And her son? What an angel of a boy. 

The author did a wonderful job with this story of healing. It didn't happen over night. But it didn't ruin the "romance". It was very sweet and still a sprinkle of spicy to make it fun. 

The conclusion of a baddie was lovely. I did want more. Maybe we'll more of his downfall later in another book. It surely can't be the last we see of that monster. 

The narrator was pure perfection for these characters. All the voices felt different. 

All-in-all, this renewed my spirits with the series. I was let down a bit with the last one, but this one has me excited for more. I hope we see Jasper and Olivia make some cameos. They were so sweet. 5 stars from me. 

 Challenge(s):

- Audiobook #62