Christmas in Marlow Center

By: Jordan Elizabeth

Narrated by: Amanda Muratoff

Nastassia loves visiting her grandmother’s farm, but when financial struggles strike, the family must face letting the land go. It looks as if this will be her last Christmas on the farm, memories made all the sweeter when she meets Jesse, a young man renting a house on the farm. He came to Marlow Center as a way to come to terms with his broken family. He didn’t expect to fall in love.

Their idyllic holiday crumbles when they find a body in the woods. Dark pasts are about to surface, and the secrets plan to drag them under.

©2018 Jordan Elizabeth Hallak (P)2019 Jordan Elizabeth Hallak

Great Read

Christmas in Marlow Center was a great read by Jordan Elizabeth. Natassia is visiting her grandmother's farm when the family faces letting the farm go due to financial struggles. She meets Jesse who is renting a house on the farm. He wants to come to terms with his broken family. They find a body in the woods that could ruin their future. I loved reading Nastassia and Jesse's story and can't wait to read more by Jordan Elizabeth.

Good story, but flat narration.

I listened to the audio version of this book. The story was decent. It had a little mystery, a little romance and family themes. Nastassia fighting to keep the family home intact was endearing. The romance was sweet. My issue with this audio book was the narrator. Her inflections when the characters were talking were fine, but the narration was flat and devoid of any emotion or change of pace. I found it very hard to listen to. I think I probably would have enjoyed it more if I had read the book.
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.

A Bittersweet Christmas Story

As this is a Christmas story, I had expected it to be more uplifting and festive. This isn't a light and fluffy Christmas story, rather one with actually a touch of mystery, old wounds and letting go. It is a somewhat sad and dramatic story.

The primary character, Stassia is rather naive. I had a hard time with her emotional and unrealistic behavior regarding the family homestead. The constant drama with the grandmother also got on my nerves. The romance between Jesse and Stascia was what I consider realistic since they took time to become a couple. I do like the ending and that this is a clean story, but it does need editing.

The narration was smooth and easy to understand. I do wish that there had been more animation and enthusiasm however.

4 Stars

I was given this free review copy of this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Recommended

Not at all what I was expecting. This is more of a family drama first with a side of romance. Natassia is at the farm to help her grandmother and assist in getting the farm ready for sale. As with most farms that fall on hard times, there is a lot of junk mixed in with a little treasure. The biggest and hardest are the family connections with the land.

Jessie is renting a cottage on the property and helping Natassia's grandmother (unbeknownst of th es rest of the family).

The story while confusing at first evolved and the characters started to make sense to me about 3/4 of the way through. It is a good story but not one I would have chosen as there is a lot of angst and subtle drama. I would have preferred more emphasis on the couple and their connections.

Amanda Muratoff has a clear even tone. I feel she could work on changing the pace, volume or tone when significant events play out. If people are yelling, then inflections that. When someone finds a bones from a body, there would be a reaction if some kind. More than just saying she screamed. I can hear the seeds of a really good narrator who just needs to continue to work on her craft.

I recieved a free Audible copy of this story, at my request, in exchange for a honest review.

A fun story that comes with a dark past

- Josh here

I am so glad that Jordan decided to pursue audiobooks so that now I, the person with no attention span for actual reading, am able to take part in her multiverse.

I think this is my fifth book by Jordan and I enjoyed it just as much as the others. Watching as Nastassia and Jesse's relationship developed, and was challenged with ghosts of the past, throughout the story was quite fun with none of the filler that is found in many other short stories.

While I enjoyed the story, the narrator sounded bored at times with little emotion being portrayed. For comparison, I imagine her narrating being similar to Winona Ryder's "My life is a darkroom" scene from Beetlejuice. A little more emotion would have added quite a bit to the story's presentation.

Overall though, the story warrants a 5/5 from me, someone who is generally into sci-fi, post-apocalyptic, space opera stories.