Childhood sweethearts get a second chance in this bittersweet holiday romance. Serious, closed-off violinist Charlotte is devoted to her successful classical quartet, and narrator Kristen DiMercurio gives her an unemotional, lower-register voice. Singer-songwriter Brighton is reeling from being kicked out of her own band. Five years earlier, Brighton left Charlotte at the altar; now, they're both unexpectedly guests of the same Colorado family over Christmas. DiMercurio makes Brighton sound meek and clingy when she interacts with Charlotte, whom she calls Lola. Both women have a lot of complicated feelings to work through before they can move forward, and much of the audiobook is a less than jolly listening experience as they endure the forced proximity and reluctantly attend holiday-themed matchmaking events with their friends.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
Duration: 10 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9780593942819
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
After her divorce, Roberta Jewett, with her three daughters, returns to Camden, Maine, to start a new life. Such an independent move in 1916 brings difficulties with her mother, her in-laws and the townspeople. Dukes's performance, while skillful, sometimes suffer in scenes of emotional content. His pace slows, and his reading acquires the peculiar emphasis of someone trying to get instructions across to a non-English-speaking person. The effect is disturbingly laughable. When he resumes his normal pace, the story revives and personalities emerge again, but the awkwardness remains as an odd interruption to Spencer's drama of pain and love, dispelling Dukes's carefully constructed characterizations.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: Dove
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
A young Southern woman marries into an aristocratic Boston family and spends her summers at a vacation community on the Maine coast. Heavy-handed abridgment reduces this novel to an outline which denies the listener any character development. Judith Ivey offers stereotypical dialects which are discordant to a New Englander's ear. In her interpretation the Down East Mainers speak like thugs in raspy voices. Her presentation of a Boston accent is phonetically erratic and also spoken in gruff tones. The color and flavor of Maine are missing from this tasteless rendition.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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