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My Review:Title: Once Upon a Winter's Eve
Author: Tessa Dare
Series: Spindle Cove #1.5
Published by: Indie
Release Date: April 10, 2020
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Mary Jane Wells
Length: 3 hours and 4 minutes
Genres: Historical Romance, Holiday
Source: Hoopla
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2020 Audiobook Challenge, Lenoreo's 2020 HoHoHo Readathon
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ iTunes ✩ Libro.FM
My rating:
Blurb:Some wallflowers bloom at night...
A Spindle Cove Novella
Violet Winterbottom is a quiet girl. She speaks six languages, but seldom raises her voice. She endured bitter heartbreak in perfect silence. The gentlemen aren't beating down her door.
Until the night of the Spindle Cove Christmas ball, when a mysterious stranger crashes into the ballroom and collapses at Violet's feet. His coarse attire and near-criminal good looks would put any sensible young lady on her guard. He's wet, chilled, bleeding, and speaking in an unfamiliar tongue.
Only Violet understands him. And she knows he's not what he seems.
She has one night to draw forth the secrets of this dangerously handsome rogue. Is he a smuggler? A fugitive? An enemy spy? She needs answers by sunrise, but her captive would rather seduce than confess. To learn his secrets, Violet must reveal hers—and open herself to adventure, passion, and the unthinkable... Love.
Warning: The heroine packs a pistol, the hero curses in multiple languages, and together they steam up a cold winter’s night.
4 stars — You know what I love? The combination of Mary Jane Wells narrating Tessa Dare words. I’m not sure I can even explain it, but Ms. Wells brings out the fun and sass in Ms. Dare’s characters.
Warning, in order for my review not to be slightly spoilery, I’m going to refer to the hero as “the stranger”. The mystery of who he was went on longer than I expected, and I just don’t know if people would be annoyed if I named him.
I was looking for another Christmas audiobook, and this little novella was perfect. Violet was strong, spirited, smart…my favourite s’s. I loved that she didn’t let the stranger get away with sloughing off an explanation. She held him to account, but she didn’t override her own feelings and emotions. It worked for me.
I got cranky with the stranger on more than one occasion, but I really ended up feeling for him in the end. While I don’t read a lot of historical romances, I do get that there are different romance rules and such. And I truly felt how much he loved Violet, and how much he had grown.
I’m not sure how much more I can say. It was fun, it was emotional, it was nicely wintery (if not Christmassy)…it hit what I was looking for.
I’ve wanted to try Tessa Dare. This audiobook novella sounds like it should be the one. Hopefully, my library has it!