The Reluctant Elf

By: Michele Gorman

Narrated by: Gemma Dawson

Length: 2 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's Summary

Meet Britain's worst innkeeper. Single mother and extremely undomestic goddess Lottie has five days to become the ultimate B&B hostess to save her beloved Aunt Kate’s livelihood. When Aunt Kate ends up in the hospital, Lottie and her seven-year-old daughter are called to rural Wales to stand in at the B&B. Without the faintest idea how to run a hotel (she can barely run her own life), Lottie must impress the picky hotel reviewer and his dysfunctional family who are coming to stay over Christmas. Without the rating only he can bestow, Aunt Kate will lose her livelihood. But will Danny, the local taxi driver she hires to help her, really be Santa’s little helper, or is he the Grinch who stole Christmas?

©2014 Michele Gorman (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

The Reluctant Elves

This was such a pleasant book to listen to. The characters were nice, there was no sex, swearing, fighting, and no one died. My son was able to come in the room and I didn’t have to quickly pause the book. It was just a fun book to listen to and I would highly recommend it, especially if you were looking for a book to listen to in one or two days.

Gross.

It would have been better without the sexual harassment by one of the characters. It’s disgusting how he gets away scott free with his wife. Why put that in a book without giving the protagonist the last word??

Great Christmas Short

When this one started off with the single mom dreaming of going to bed with a man, I was thinking, oh, no, this one is going to be trashy . . . but I hung on . . . and I'm so glad that I did! I still am not crazy about the beginning, but the rest of it more than makes up for it. Lottie (single mom) and her seven-year-old, Mable head off from London to Wales to Aunt Kate's B & B to save the day. Aunt Kate is in hospital from a car accident, and she is depending on a good rating from the hotel reviewer in order to keep her B & B going. Lottie and Mable, along with the cab driver (Danny) who Lottie has snagged at the last minute to be her cook and handyman at the B & B have five days to get ready for the hotel reviewer and his family. This short audio book is an endearing tale of family and love and a little Christmas magic. I really wish that it was the first of a series, because it would make for a GREAT ONE!

Horrible

I couldn’t finish. It became all about descriptions of bad food because neither of the inn hosts know how to cook. Also, it was about the guests horrid behavior including a scene where one of them traps the woman and forcibly kisses her. When another man walks in during this her reaction is to lie so she can cover up for the man attacking her. Why?!!! She even says in her thoughts that she was sexually assaulted. Then when her friend asks what is wrong she says nothing and hopes that her “secret” won’t be exposed.

fun Christmas romance

I do enjoy a romantic story that doesn't contain graphic sex. it is a fun story without a heavy villain, just a lot of chuckles and smiles.

This is how you do a short story

This was a cute Christmas story. A great complete tail with beginning, middle and end. So many here seem to almost be teasers for the author. This makes me want to read more from them but I’m so happy with this listen on its own.

Cute

Cute, and I know it’s meant to be short, but I felt like we needed an epilogue to round it out.

It was lame.

All of it was really a "if you need to burn two hours and 44 mins because you have nothing else to do" kinda book. The story was lame. The romance was lame. The narration was lame. I'm glad it was a plus option and I didn't pay for this book.

Fluffy story

This story was short and fluffy. There isn’t much depth or focus in this book. The characters are alright but nothing to get attached to or anyone to really connect with. I wanted Aunt Kate to be alright, and for the B and B to succeed, but the rest was quickly paced and didn’t make a lot of sense. If you can get passed those details you might enjoy. As I said, if you take it as a fast fluffy read or listen, it is fine.

Adorable & Uplifting

This book was an absolute joy to read. And predictable in the best way. It warmed my heart and lifted my spirits. The only way it could’ve been better is if I had decided to read it during the month of December! As it is, I am happy to have found it & read it - even in October. I will definitely be looking out for more releases from this author!
For those with sensory sensitivities - there is a little bit of breakthrough mouth noise from the narrator but it’s not bad at all. Overall, the narration was really good.

lovely easy listening

listened to it twice in quick succession!! loved its easy flow and very English humour

book review

nice little book to listen to, even if it was a bit predictable. but enjoyed anyway

Too far fetched for words. I presume this is classed as comedy.

When they first see the boarding house it sounds as if it’s falling down, with holes in the roof etc. The rooms have crumbling plaster and mould on walls and floors. The girl meets a taxi driver and the two of them miraculously fix the house in 2 days. I particularly enjoyed the idea of fixing holes in plaster with toothpaste.
Gemma Dawson the narrator was very good.

This was hilarious

Faulty Towers in Waleswhat can go wrong. This was so refreshingly tongue in cheek and still enough romance. All the little titbits of humour to lighten the mood of the story which still hit the mark of a real Christmas feeling. It was so easy to picture the house and the scenarios of what was happening and it was not impossible to smile and laugh listening to it.

Don't bother

Awful please don't bother, not sure how for such a short story they managed to make it so far fetched to be honest. And if I was welsh I'd be insulted by the accents 🤦‍♀️

Such a lovely wee short story

Excellent .. just loved it … lots of good characters .. a must wee read/listen !
Even better it was included!

Sweet story, didn’t like the reading

It’s a nice Christmas story. What I didn’t like, was that the reader made Danny sound like he was 70 years old. It was really disturbing.

fun story but not kind to the characters

Story: Author is unkind to some of the characters.
Voice: Excellent. Gemma Dawson reads beautifully.

Relaxing a and Enjoyable

Narrator was good.
Nice story.
Will look out for Gamma Dawson in the future.
Loved the characters.

Such a lush short story

I loved this festive short story, it was so nice and refreshing to hear something different. The narrator was very good 👍

From Mrs Cole
Bristol