Both Maggie Chase and Ethan Wyatt have been invited to spend Christmas with an unknown reclusive fan in the English countryside. Neither knows what to expect, & Maggie definitely didn’t expect to have to spend Christmas with her worst enemy. Even finding out said reclusive fan, is world renown and her favorite author Eleanor Ashley, won’t make putting up with Ethan bearable. Even worse, Eleanor Ashley ends up vanishing from her locked office, and both Ethan and Maggie are prime suspects in her disappearance. Will Maggie be able to put aside their differences and team up with Ethan to find out what happened to Eleanor, or will they kill each other first?

When I saw the audio for this book was available on Scribd – I knew it would be the perfect post-Thanksgiving read to get me into the Christmas spirit, and I was not disappointed. When I was putting my review together, I realized where I had read Ally Carter’s work before. I devoured the early books in the Gallagher Girls series back when I was in middle school so it’s no wonder that I adored this locked room holiday romantic mystery!

This was such a fun fast paced story. The mystery aspect is decent and does a good job of moving the story along. It didn’t feel too ‘cozy mystery’ and instead felt more of a romance with a side of mystery.

I absolutely loved the banter between Ethan and Maggie. Individually I loved both our main characters and while I didn’t initially feel the chemistry between Ethan and Maggie, nor understood their rivalry, I grew to love them together. My biggest negative and why I took half a star away was that I felt like their relationship was abrupt to start especially from Ethan’s POV. As the story goes on though, I realized why it felt that way and then I was completely on board with their relationship. I won’t go into more detail to avoid any spoilers but know that we do get an explanation.

Part locked room mystery, part holiday romance – this book is the perfect read to get into the holiday spirit. Highly recommend listening to the audio of this feel- good Christmas read while putting up your tree or wrapping presents.

AMAZON | GOODREADS |★★★★.5

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