Audiobook Review: Once Upon a Christmas Carol by Karen Schaler

Author: Karen Schaler

Narrator: Brittany Pressley, Ryan Paevey,& full cast

Title: Once Upon A Christmas Carol

Genre: Short Stories, Holiday, Novella, Fiction, Romance

Format: Audiobook

Published:  December 1, 2022

Where I got It: Audible

Summary: 

Rachel Rinehart’s Christmas season is on the brink of disaster when her record label suddenly drops her, threatening to end her music career. Then she receives a mysterious Christmas card, and everything starts to change....

Inside the card are lyrics to a classic Christmas carol urging her to return home to Crystal Falls, the snowy mountain town she left behind 15 years ago.

Once she arrives in Crystal Falls, a stroke of fate brings her face-to-face with her first love, Matt Meyers, who’s now a devoted single dad. Rachel continues to receive mysterious cards filled with Christmas carol lyrics and clues she must follow—all leading her back to Matt. Is it the work of a hometown matchmaker, or could it be Christmas magic? And will the music and majesty of the season help Rachel discover where she truly belongs?

Review:

Yayy Xmas!

Here we follow Rachel who's life seems to be unfolding in front of her. Her career is falling apart when her record label drops her for being too old. She receives a mysterious Christmas card that sends her back to her childhood town of Crystal Falls. She doesn't plan to stay. Just long enough to figure out who sent the card, get her dad, and escape to some warm island. Hopefully with the help of her father, her old friend (and ex-flame) Matt, and Matt's daughter...maybe she will figure out the mystery and then get to leave. 

This was very, very cute. Gotta love these Hallmark-y type stories. They are SO predictable, but always a blast. One nice element was that romance wasn't the main focus. Literally, Rachel finding her voice and growing up are the main objectives. She had been 18 when she became famous and has been told what to do her whole life. Her being dropped was the best thing that ever happened to her. 

But don't get me wrong...there is a small romance. A second chance! And a good second chance. Long distance is hard and they were young with different life stuff, so there weren't really any fences that needed mending. It was very sweet. 

Now...I did struggle with the audiobook itself. Not sure if I had a dud of a copy, but there were chunks of time that it seemed to be just pausing for a second or two before moving forward? My last audio didn't have these issues, so I'm sure if the app was just having issues. We shall see. But it was SO annoying since it seemed to happen randomly and it sort of ruined the magic for me. 

The ending also bugged me a hair. I thought it was cute but I would've liked more of an epilogue or something. Just a touch longer. 

All-in-all, very sweet for the holidays. I'll give it 3 stars. 

Challenge(s):

- #58 for Audiobook Challenge