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My Review:Title: Christmas with the Marine & Her Naughty Holiday
Author: Candace Havens, Tiffany Reisz
Published by: Harlequin Audio
Release Date: October 18, 2016
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Alexander Cendese, Gabrielle Cendese
Length: 9 hours and 51 minutes
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Holiday
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2018 12 Books of Christmas Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ iTunes
My rating:
Blurb:Christmas with the Marine
Subject: Major Ben Hawthorne.
Mission: to make one sexy civvy's Christmas wish come true.
Christmas is almost here, and guys are the last thing on personal shopper Ainsley Garrett's list. But her icy resolution melts when she sees an incredibly hot marine shopping for toys. A man in uniform with a hot bod and a heart of gold? Maybe a gal can believe in Santa after all.
Major Ben Hawthorne has his career to think about, but when it comes to Ainsley, he's willing to break his own rules, at least for one night - provided they can get this insanely wicked attraction out of their systems. Only, once isn't enough. Now Ainsley's checking her list twice before she falls for a marine who's naughty and nice.
Her Naughty Holiday
A feast she wasn't expecting!
Clover Greene would sooner crawl into her oven than host family for Thanksgiving dinner. Yet another annual ritual of too much food, served with a side of criticism over Clover's Bad Life Choices. This year she needs to distract them all - with a handsome fake boyfriend. And she has the perfect guy in mind.
Contractor Erick Fields is the poster boy for sexy single dads, and Clover has been secretly crushing on him for ages. She certainly wasn't expecting Erick to agree to her insane charade or to add lots of hot, wicked sex to the deal. If they can pull it off, the worst Thanksgiving ever might give them something to be really thankful for!
Christmas with the Marine by Candace Havens, narrated by Alexander Cendese
2 stars — Narrator was HORRIFIC. Like so bad that I honestly don’t know how I feel about the story, b/c I can’t think of the story without thinking of the narrator. Which is really unfair. I should have DNF’d it. I honestly don’t know why I didn’t. Probably b/c there are two books, and I wanted to give the other narrator a chance. But then I should have just skipped ahead, you know? So if we’re breaking this down, I’m giving the narrator 0.5 stars, and the book 3 stars, averaging out at 2.
So why did I dislike the narrator? There are a few reasons. His female voice narration was AWFUL. He made the women sound like airheads, and almost like caricatures of women. His narration of Ainsley’s British best friend was probably the most insulting. Honestly, you’d have to just give him a try to see if it would bother you too, just know that if it initially turns you off, it doesn’t get better. He also has a very forceful way of narrating in general, and it just wasn’t attractive to me… I noticed another reviewer (on another book he narrated) mention they thought it sounded like he was yelling, and that’s pretty close. The other strange affectation of his is that occasionally he would narrate lines in a tone that felt mocking of romance. Do I think he was mocking romance? No, definitely not…this is his job, it wouldn’t make sense for him to do that. But it sounded like if some douchey guys got a hold of a romance novel and over acted some of the lines, if that makes sense. It made me angry, even if I don’t think it was intentional. It felt insulting.
The book itself was okay…again, I don’t have a strong opinion on it. There was nothing objectionable, but the romance felt a bit superficial. Which is not completely accurate, b/c they did try to dive a bit deeper into both Ben’s past taking care of his Mom and sister and how that influenced his character…and similarly with Ainsley wanting to prove herself, and not feeling like she fits in with her family. So maybe the story is more 3.5 stars? I thought they were pretty cute together. But in the end the plot couldn’t overcome the narrator, so it’s not like it could have been outstanding.
Her Naughty Holiday by Tiffany Reisz, narrated by Gabrielle Cendese
5 stars — And this book was the absolute opposite of the previous. For one, I ADORED the narrator! I just discovered who she actually is, so it makes sense since she is a great comedian and actress. She had all these perfect, subtle inflections in her delivery, that just made it truly feel real. I LOVE it when listening to a narrator actually makes a book even more enjoyable. Like, I know I would have loved the book no matter what, but now I can’t imagine ever reading it instead of listening to it, b/c I would miss all the beautifully delivered snark.
And FUCK this book was good. Like immediately good too! Ruthie was absolutely hilarious, and I could just imagine her eccentric 17 year old self. She set up her boss and her Dad GOOD! And her conversation with Clover in that first chapter just sets up the tone for all my favourite interactions in this story. The way Erick interacts with Ruthie, the way Ruthie and Clover interact, and it all bleeds into the most amazing banter between Erick and Clover. I cannot even tell you how often I laughed out loud. I truly can’t, it was just delightful. I laugh silently quite often, but for a book to make me lose it out loud multiple times is just…perfection.
Clover was so sweet and unexpected. She was sassy, and strong, but vulnerable too. She grew so much over the course of the book, and OMG I fucking cheered when she came into her own over Thanksgiving supper! I think I developed a girl crush on her. I loved that she was so smart and driven, and knew what made her happy…and she just had to figure out how to get her family not to crush all of that for her.
And Erick…oh wow. BOOK BOY CRUSH!!! Book man crush? I don’t know. I just. OMG. The dry sarcasm. It was a thing of beauty. The way he interacted with Clover, the way he crushed on her, the way he appreciated her. The way he raised Ruthie, the way he was so sure of himself. Oh damn you guys, I can’t even. I really can’t. Obviously, since there are no complete sentences here. You know what else I loved? He was 38, he had some gray hairs, and Clover describes him as having a flat stomach, but NO 6 PACK!!! So the cover is completely misleading, and OMG it’s so relieving! I’m so tired of these cookie cutter guys! He was NORMAL!!!! Normally delicious.
And obviously their chemistry was off the fucking charts. I mean, holy crap, steam alert!! But fun steam!! With laughing and joking and candour and AHHHH!!!
I could listen to this one over again right now, that’s how much I enjoyed it.
So I would recommend giving the first one a brief try, but if you feel like me, just DNF and skip to chapter 18, and hopefully you’ll have the same great experience as I did.
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