Once Upon a Christmas Eve

I liked the other novellas much better than this one. This one was centered mostly around sex and that just doesn’t do it for me. I liked D’Arque and Sarah but theirs was a story that was all about sex. I’ve read 15 of EH’s books and novellas and her sex scenes get worse and worse. She used to right romantic sex but anymore she tries to make it a little too dirty for me. I think I might be done with her. There were two sex scenes, with only one in a bed. And the F-bomb was used 1 time. I know a lot of you are all about sex but I need something more in my romance novels and novellas. The best part of this was the very end when he proposed to her. As to the narration: Ashford McNab is a great narrator, her male voices and her emotions BUT even she couldn’t help this novella.

It is a good short story. However I did find some of the direct to the point descriptions a little vulgar and somewhat distracting from the story as a whole. Some of the dialect of the characters was a little nasally but there\’s no fault of the reader just is what it is. And I believe it was also part of the description of the character in general.

If you like romance novels you will probably enjoy this. The story is is totally predictable but good for easy listening. Especially if you’re concentrating on something else and just listening to it

This was my second listen and I think I liked it even better than my first. This story brings together two nearly forgotten side characters in the Maiden Lane saga. D’Arque was a rakish foil for jealous in a number of the series books and now gets his own story. Sarah, an aging spinster, appears in one or two of the main books as well and can’t stand rakes in the least. This is due to some bad history that has given her major trust issues. And yet sparks fly when Adam Lord D’Arque (don’t you love the name!?!) and his granny (who doesn’t love a man who loves his granny!?!) get stranded at Sarah’s brother’s country estate for the holiday after his coach breaks down to allow granny to recover from her resulting illness. In spite of the shortness of the tale, forced proximity during this holiday story allow the lovers to get to know each other. Now, I thought this story was a good start but I wasn’t fully convinced by the declarations of love. It works for a short story but something seemed missing. Instead of Sarah’s old assailant getting his comeuppance, there is sort of a stand in when something similar happens to Sarah’s sister and the blackguard is tossed out in the cold. There were so great MeToo ally moments which I appreciated and managed not to be preachy but rather matter of fact. Adams’s attraction was palpable and I saw how that grew but to the extent of love and a marriage proposal? I wasn’t fully convinced. Same with Sarah’s I didn’t see how she could trust him so easily after over a decade of hating and distrusting rakes. These issues were sort of minor. It’s a short story so you know you’re getting and abridged story to some extent and I think EH did a great job within that framework. Ashford McNab’s phenomenal narration was on point and differentiated several male voices extremely well!

This story was like someone took all the ingredients of an Elizabeth Hoyt novel, but threw it all together real quick. The result felt like someone pulled a rug out from under my feet. At this point, the author has wrote several really successful books that I absolutely adore (Duke of Sin, Thief of Shadows, Darling Beast…. The Leopard Prince.) Maybe she\’s exhausted this genre and should try for a different series? thank you

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