A Christmas Cracker

By: Trisha Ashley

Narrated by: Julia Barrie, Scot Williams

Length: 12 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's Summary

Get into the festive spirit with this heartwarming, funny and simply gorgeous Christmas read. The eagerly awaited new novel from the Sunday Times best-selling author. This Christmas is about to go off with a bang!

Things can't possibly get worse for Tabby. Framed for a crime she didn't commit, she suddenly finds herself without a job. Then, to make matters worse, Tabby's boyfriend dumps her and gives her cat away to a shelter. But rescue comes in the form of kindly Mercy.

A master of saving waifs and strays, Mercy wants Tabby to breathe new flair into her ailing cracker business. Together they'll save Marwood's magical Christmas crackers. But someone has other ideas. Mercy's nephew, Randal, thinks Tabby's a fraudster.

Stubborn, difficult and very attractive, her future depends upon winning him round. But it's that time of the year when miracles really can happen. Standing under the mistletoe, Tabby's Christmas is set to be one that she will never forget....

©2015 Trisha Ashley (P)2015 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic Reviews

"One of the best writers around!" (Katie Fforde)
"Full of down-to-earth humour." (Sophie Kinsella)
"A warm-hearted and comforting read. Trisha at her best." (Carole Matthews)

Another Great Book

A lovely Christmas story. Perfect ending although the audible lady made Tabby sound a bit silly.... I enjoyed the story though

Feel-good & entertaining

Once you get past the beginning, and the heroine's initial monumental misjudgement, this turns into an excellent and engrossing story. I wasn't entirely keen on the narrator's voice, but I guess that's just a subjective thing. It certainly wasn't enough to spoil my enjoyment of this definitely feel-good book.

You can be just too nice

Would you listen to A Christmas Cracker again? Why?

Oh most defiantly yes. Its a lovely story. Full of interesting characters.

What did you like best about this story?

The worm turning

Have you listened to any of Julia Barrie and Scot Williams ’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Yes I have and they are excellent.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

yes Trisha Ashley always manages to deliver joy and sadness.

Any additional comments?

More from Trisha Ashley please and Julia Barrie is a star narrator

Charming. Delightful. Quaint

A warming Christmas tale to get me in the Christmas spirit. It reminds me how soul destroying it would be to be accused of something you did not do. It also reminds me that purely sweet spirits will find if they are true to kindness & to others, & act with integrity, good can come of it for oneself in the end. Narrator OK on the female voices, but made the males sound like halfwits with a speech impediment. That didNOT detract too much from the story. I enjoyed the story's originality, & the pet cat's personality.

Charming, heart warming story

So enjoyed the narration, which brought the characters to life with realism and individuality. Wonderful conversational prose which lead you into the story and resonated with real life, evoking many and varied emotions. Throughly enjoyed....

Not a big fan

The four most annoying things about this book:
1. The jokes at the start of every chapter
2. The bloody cat
3. The narrator trying to sound like a cat
4. The fat brachycephalic freak of nature pug

Dreadful and confusing narration!!!

Dreadful narration to the story, the main characters were not spoken by the same person all the time so very disjointed and confusing. Female voices wimpy and boring, don't waste your time.

Disappointing

The story was very hard to get into and I found the female narrators voice irritating and a little monotone which made it hard to listen to. I expected a Christmas themed story and for it to be fun and uplifting but I found it to be the opposite. I also thought the ending was predictable from early on in the story

Lovely and Christmassy

I struggled with the narrator initially. However, I stuck with it and I'm very glad I did. An excellent book, as always, from a fantastic author.

Romantic read

Lovely story easy listen the only problem was the female narrator, the main female lead voice was more older middle aged than mid 30's but getting past that it's an enjoyable story of love, relationships and New beginnings