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Once Upon a December � Amy E Reichert
Digital audiobook narrated by Sharon Freedman.
3***

This is a delightful holiday rom-com set in a magical Julemarked in Milwaukee (my home town). The Julemarked appears in different cities, within that city’s Christmas Market. Time is different in the Julemarked. The only clock has 25 numbers and chimes only a minute before midnight on Christmas Eve, to let the residents of the magical place know that they are about to shut down for the next year. But it’s not really a year in their land. So, they don’t age as we regular humans do. And the Julemarked doesn’t necessarily come back to the same city every year.

Anyway � Jack Clausen and his family run Kringle All the Way, baking and selling the delicious yuletide pastry. Astra and her girlfriends stumble upon the shop one year and they marvel at the delicious treats. And Jack falls � HARD � for Astra. But she’s of the real world and he can’t have a relationship with her until (and if) she remembers him.

Is there a way for these two to be together? Can either of them leave all their friends and family behind to be with the one they love?

Besides the wonderful fairytale at the heart of this story, I really enjoyed all the references to my city. Reichert is something of a foodie and an unabashed Milwaukee booster, so it’s no surprise that she takes her readers on a little culinary tour of Milwaukee. I was listening to the audiobook while I was in Texas for a family event, and I kept wanting to “run out to XXX to get some YYY� but, of course, I couldn’t because I wasn’t at home. Well, that was better for my waistline, albeit frustrating!

Oh, and for those who search for that kind of thing, there’s a wonderful dog, Bernie, in the story, too.

Sharon Freedman does a fine job of narrating the audiobook. There are a lot of characters, and it can be challenging to keep Astra and her three girlfriends straight when they are together, but Freedman was up for the task.


LINK to my review