2 hours, 38 minutes
Read by Lauren Ambrose
Published October 2024 by Random House Publishing Group
Publisher's Summary:
Molly Gray has always loved the holidays. When Molly was a child, her gran went to great lengths to make the season merry and bright, full of cherished traditions. The first few Christmases without Gran were hard on Molly, but this year, her beloved boyfriend and fellow festive spirit, Juan Manuel, is intent on making the season Molly's mofinst joyful yet.
But when a Secret Santa gift exchange at the Regency Grand Hotel raises questions about who Molly can and cannot trust, she dives headfirst into solving her most consequential-and personal-mystery yet. Molly has a bad feeling about things, and she starts to wonder: has she yet again mistaken a frog for a prince?
My Thoughts:
I've read and enjoyed the first two books in the A Maid series so when I was looking for a quick listen and saw this one available, I grabbed it, despite it being early spring. Which may have tainted my feelings about the book, not being in the least in the festive spirit because I was so looking forward to warm weather.
There's nothing much new here to be learned about the characters. Molly is as prone to misunderstand things as ever, Juan Manuel is as loving (and maybe a little clueless about how literally Molly takes everything), the former head maid is as cruel to Molly as ever. Unfortunately some of the lesser characters have backslid a bit in their understanding and appreciation of Molly, which seemed a little unlikely to me. And I never for a minute believed that Juan Manuel would be cheating on Molly; it's just not that kind of book.
In the end, this is an homage to O'Henry's The Gift of the Magi, which ends, as is to be expected, with everyone living happily ever after.
There is one more book in the A Maid series, which I'll pick up as soon as I can get it in audiobook, because Lauren Ambrose is terrific at reading these books.