Absolutely loved this!

The only thing that could have made this better would have been an epilogue! Brilliant plot and characters!

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Gorgeously romantic

Beautiful, moving and suspenseful. One of my favourites by Karen Swan, so perfectly performed too. I loved this.

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Fabulous read

From beginning to end I enjoyed every minute of listening .love all of the characters

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Best book in years

From start to finish this story held me captivated. The narrator(s) were brilliant and just brought everything to life. The twists and turns were great and not always as I imagined. Definitely an audiobook to immerse yourself in. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

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Emotional rollercoaster!

Not quite the fluffy Christmas story I expected, but wow, what a emotional journey. Fantastic narration.

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Karen Swan is in a league of her own - always a treat

I’ve listened to all (bar one) of Swan’s books and, whilst naturally, there are favourites* I’m never disappointed, and once I’d really ‘clocked her’ as one of my best-loved authors** I now pre-order knowing I’ll be in for an absorbing, thoroughly enjoyable, evocative and compelling listen.

She deserves many more superlatives, and I’d adore to see her more recognised for her unique brand of entertaining, engaging stories with love - romantic yes - but always with so many other facets to this uncontainable force that drives and compels us to behave, act, cope and wend our way through life in innumerably unique and varied ways.

I’m so thankful for the prolific talent, energy and dedication Swan has been gifted to give us two books a year. But she stands head and shoulders above the surfeit of authors I listen to who are ring-fenced by the publishing world’s obsession with Christmas and summer themed reads.

As someone bedridden with a severe, often excruciatingly painful illness, I don’t have the bandwidth for more ‘literary’ tomes and the gritty, graphic suffering I used to engage with.

Where, as a callow literature student, I scorned a ‘happy ending,’ I now actively need this. But some of the saccharine fare I lean on to get me through is, to put it generously, weak, and requires otherwise intelligent, rounded enough characters to be positively dim in the arena of romance.

With the aforementioned requirements, one enters into the storyteller-listener contract that necessitates a certain amount of suspended disbelief. But Swan writes with such élan, and even, as with this book, where the premise is somewhat zany, one is drawn in and appreciative of emotionally layered characters, charged situations against a backdrop that evidently required impressive research.

Like another reviewer, I found myself looking up the Annapurna range, just as I found myself looking up St Kilda, the setting of The Last Summer - a sublimely rich, pacey and potent start to her new series of books to be released each summer. This alone, is testament to work that transcends titles in an often derided category of ‘genre-fiction.’

And whilst there were a few somewhat slower passages and this isn’t in my sizeable handful of personal Swan-über-hits**, it still had me gripped, both savouring and whipping through the listen only to be left, as always, wishing cloning were possible so I could indulge in more Swan treats.




[* The Spanish Promise, The Last Summer, The Christmas Secret, The Paris Secret, The Christmas Party and more.
**Swan plus the tragically late Lucinda Riley and Santa Montefiore]

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Another great book by Karen Swan

Loved it. It was well read with a super storyline. I always enjoy Karen Swan’s books.

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Loved it !!! Great read / listen

I really enjoyed this book. The story was beautifully written and presented. All the characters were strong and wholly engaging.

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A great book to read I enjoyed this book very much I highly recommend reading this.

This has been a great book to read. I highly recommend reading this once started, you can’t put it down.

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Excellent

Such a good story, will listen again soon.
Karen Swan is such a good wordsmith and Kristine Atherton reads so well.

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