Christmas at the Island Hotel

A Novel

By: Jenny Colgan

Narrated by: Eilidh Beaton

Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

Another heartfelt and delightful Christmas tale from the beloved New York Times bestselling author of The Bookshop on the Corner and Christmas on the Island.

New York Times bestselling author Jenny Colgan returns to the setting of Christmas on the Island and Endless Beach for a heartwarming new novel celebrating the season, and Scotland.

On the tiny, beautiful, and remote island of Mure, halfway between Scotland and Norway, a new hotel opening is a big event. New mother Flora MacKenzie and her brother Fintan are working themselves half to death to get it ready in time for Christmas. 

The new hotel’s impressive kitchens throw together two unlikely new friends: Isla Gregor is the hardworking young girl who has been a waitress in the island's cafe, dreaming of a bigger, better life now that she’s at a proper fancy hotel. Konstantin Pederson is working his way up in the hotel's kitchens too…but he is also, secretly, the only son of the Duke of Utsire. Konstantin has been sent to learn what it is to work hard for a living, before receiving his inheritance. Although he’s initially resentful, the place grows on him; he has never met anyone quite like Isla and her fellow Murians before. 

As the island’s residents and special VIP guests gather for the hotel’s grand opening gala, Christmas is in the air. But so are more than a few small-town secrets…

©2020 Jenny Colgan (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers

Difficult to change narrators in a series

I enjoy this series with its wonderful local colour and many characters, but I had difficulty hearing them in a different “voice”. The narrator was fine, but it was disruptive to have familiar voices suddenly unrecognizable in a story that was clearly meant to be a pleasant holiday “easy read/listen”.

Narrator ruins it

I had to return, after enjoying so many of this authors books I had to return, the change in narrator made it impossible to enjoy. So sad.

Buyer beware

Buyer beware....the moderator is different than the moderator for the first 3 books. Major disappointment. This moderator is not nearly as connected to the characters..her voices are different, she is not as warm, so many problems . I just ordered the text version of the book so I can enjoy the end to these stories and imagine my own voices!

Disappointing Narration

The book was lovely. I read the series fairly back to back. I fell absolutely in love with the narrator of the first 3 books. Her voice was like poetry. I have no idea why she did not narrate this book. The narrator of this book would have been fine if it weren't for the glaring comparison to the first narrator. It was a big let down and hard to get over.

Missing the previous narrator

I returned this book after a couple of chapters. SO disappointed with the narrator. I’ll have to get a hard copy as she completely spoiled these much loved characters for me :(

narrator

I've so enjoyed all in this series, but this last one, which was spoiled by the change in narrator! For me it ruined the rapport I had with the characters, I only listened thru the book to see what happens to each character that we have traveled with thru the prior books. I was very disappointed with this change, at least if new narrator would have followed thru with same accents, but she did not!

Ok, but some issues

Apparently there was one or more previous books in this series, and not having read them, I missed a lot. Wait, Joel and Flora aren’t married? Who are the people in New York? It was also painful to listen to the descriptions of the abused dog. And puzzling that the dog’s owner ignored him for huge stretches of time, often taking walks around the island without the dog. What dog owner takes walks and leaves the dog in a hotel room? The stories of island life were the main redeeming feature.

Last of the series

I loved this series - but I was very distracted by the change in narrator on the final book in the series. The narrator was fine, but the different voices for each character was disappointing.

Very Fun Story!

I love this author and her fun characters. This story is heart warming and makes you feel so good and happy!

Wonderful Holiday Read

Definitely enjoyed this quick holiday read. Perfectly narrated and the story kept me engaged. It was a happy book that gave me all the holiday feels. A sweet read!