My choices for this post will be no surprise if you’ve read my recent audiobook reviews. Once again it’s been a little difficult to find really great festive audiobooks, however, my selection this year was nowhere near as bad as last year. Which I feel very thankful for.
The Christmas Star by Kate Forster
The Christmas Star is probably the first festive audiobook that I’ve not had anything massively negative to say about. The concept is great (fake dating but with a twist) and the story moves at a very good pace.
There is of course the classic miscommunication trope but it’s not incredibly annoying like it usually is. You can guess the twist from the very beginning but this just made the whole book more dramatic and actually a little funny.
I don’t recommend listening at a very high speed though, it makes some of the character voices extremely grating and annoying. Otherwise this is a great festive audiobook.
Synopsis: It’s nearly Christmas, Julia Devine’s favourite time of the year. She’s just programmed a wonderful lead into the holidays at Sunny Street Cinema, which leaves her plenty of time to worry about going home to Cumbria for Christmas. Her mum and stepdad are fine, but the thought of spending another holiday with her awful stepsister Becca is enough to make a Scrooge out of anyone.
When Becca calls to let her know about the dreamy pilot she’s bringing to Christmas lunch, Julia finally snaps and does something very silly. She tells Becca she’s dating heartthrob movie star Hugo Turner.
Of course, Julia isn’t dating Hugo Turner – she isn’t dating anyone – but Becca will never let her live it down if she discovers Julia’s lie. Enter Sam Hunter, ordinary guy on the street with a startling resemblance to a movie star. Without any holiday plans of his own, he’s the perfect stand-in for the real Hugo. Sam has his own reasons for agreeing to be Julia’s sham movie-star boyfriend. It’s just for one weekend, right? But will this Christmas charade flourish into real Christmas magic?
Snow Day by Julie Lipson
I did plan to read this last year but never got around to it despite its short length. This does mean my expectations were quite high, however, I wasn’t a huge fan of the one other Julie Lipson book I have read. Fortunately, Snow Day was a very cute festive audiobook that felt like listening to a Hallmark movie. Which may sound horrible to some of you, but if you’ve decided to read a post about festive books, I’d imagine you’re a fan of all things Christmas.
The acting in this is pretty good and the dramatised nature really helps set the scene. The one negative of this though is you don’t get to know what they characters are feeling unless they actually express their thoughts out loud.
Synopsis: What makes for a wonderful life? On a crowded Christmas train from Milan to Paris, Amy, an American headed to meet her fiancé, and Martjin, a Finn headed anywhere but home, meet cute. But when their train gets delayed in an Italian Alps hill town due to a snow storm, they, along with a passel of fellow stranded passengers, find comfort and joy in a cozy inn, run by a wise Italian man who forces them to look at the holiday and each other in a whole new light.
Check out Young Creative Press on all socials
You can also check out my StoryGraph here
Like this post? Why not read this one too: To Be Read: Winter 2025
[…] Like this post? Why not read this one too: The Best Of: Festive Audiobooks #2 […]