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Once upon a Wish-Mas

By: Laura Barnard
Narrated by: Charlie Emmeline Albers
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Summary

Ruby Campbell isn't daunted at the prospect of working as a nanny for the notorious Barclay Rothchester. She’s warned he’s a strict control freak, but she’s sure she can soften him up.

Barclay Rothchester lost his wife three years ago. Of course he’s never going to find someone to replace her role, the one she did so perfectly. He’s sure its not going to be hippy-dippy Ruby with her sass and rebellious ways.

Ruby is determined to give his daughters the Christmas they deserve. Now if only she can tolerate their father long enough to make that happen.

Are they both willing to put their stubborn pride aside, or will they risk losing the one gift that can't be wrapped: each other?

©2019 Laura Barnard (P)2020 Laura Barnard
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What listeners say about Once upon a Wish-Mas

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  • Overall
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    4 out of 5 stars

Channel your inner Mary Poppins!

Such a fun story. Loved this - my only slight issue was I found the jumps to Barclay’s narration a bit jarring, as the narrator was so well fitted to the nanny. I think it wouldn’t be an issue in the book as you’d “hear” different voices. But it didn’t spoil the book

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  • Overall
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Wonderful Christmas story

Ruby has just been hired to look after two adorable little girls. Their father Barclay is a bit of a grump, they have very different personalities and rub each the wrong way from the start. This story has plenty of humor. romance and Christmas spirit. A great listen and the narrator does a wonderful job. I look forward to enjoying more stories by Laura Barnard.

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  • Overall
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Great Christmassy listen

I loved listening to the audio version of this book. It the tells the story of a lady called Ruby who is employed as a nanny of two girls. It is a lovely Christmas tale, with relatable characters and is very easy to listen to. The narrator was great. I have listened to a few other stories by this author and they have all been good.

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  • Overall
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A Christmas Romance

This is a humourous Christmas story which I did enjoy., full of all the traditional Christmas events you would expect.
Ruby, the nanny, is hilarious and her inner monologues made me smile. She takes absolutely no nonsense from the adults in the story either. Mr Rochester, (yes there is a slight touch of Jane Eyre here) is the moody, work obsessed widower.
Although I enjoyed the story I found the narrator really annoyed me with her silly character voices, especially her whinny children's voices. it unfortunately spoilt it for me.
Having said that, if you can get over the narrator this is a good Christmas tale.

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Fun and entertaining

I'm not a big fan of tearjerkers, but this one made me cry in a good way. Overall it was an entertaining, funny, feel good story and I liked the characters. It's a little like Mary Poppins meets the Sound of Music. The relationship developed fast in some ways and slow in others. I'm looking forward to listening to/reading more from this author. I'm actually starting Road Trip tonight.

I listened to the Audible version. Charlie Emmeline Albers' performance was amazing. She voices two distinct children's voices and brings a lot of energy and feeling to the whole story. At times that energy made it difficult to tell what was spoken aloud vs. what was in someone's thoughts, and Barclay's voice wasn't always consistent, but the energy is also a big part of what made the story fun to listen to. I would recommend the audio version.

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Absolutely hilariously fantastic!

This book. This book had me crying with laughter pretty much all the way through. Charlie is an absolute perfect fit for these characters absolutely brilliant performance. The book is written so very well I did not stop once while listening to it as it was so addictive. I highly recommend it if you are looking for a light feelgood emotional read/listen.

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  • Overall
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A fun, Christmassy read

This was such a fun book to listen to and can I just say the narrator was the most expressive narrator I have ever listened to on an audiobook, it was amazing! The story idea is one that has been done in that it comprises a young nanny looking after the children of a rich widower and then going from enemies to lovers. However, it was done in a fab way, with Ruby, the nanny being a brilliant character, just like all the main characters in Laura Barnard’s books. She had so much sass and it rubs off positively on the girls she is looking after and ultimately has a positive effect on Berkley, the widower. This is a great read set at Christmas to get you feeling all Christmassy and snuggly, I really enjoyed it!

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  • Overall
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Laugh out loud Christmas read

Oh I do love a Christmas book, especially one as funny as this! Barclay is a grumpy widower with 2 gorgeous young daughters, so he hires Ruby to be his Nanny. I loved Ruby and all her sassy and hilarious remarks. She is such a lovely, kind person who adores those little girls and I feel like we would have got along very well!! This book gave me all the feels from romance to humour to full on tears and it literally had everything you could want for a perfect Christmas read.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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A magical Christmas romance!

I received an audio copy of this book to listen to in exchange for an honest review from Laura Barnard.

Once upon a wish-mas is a heartwarming novella about lost love and new beginnings.

Ruby is an amazingly likeable character full of joy and who slowly begins to thaw the frozen heart of Barclay!
This book has all the feels of Christmas and has got me into the festive spirit already!

The children in this story are utterly adorable and I loved the narrators voice when reading their script.

This is a truly magical read that brought tears to my eyes and made my heart race with anticipation.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Predictable

Ruby Campbell meets Barclay Rochester a widower with 2 small children one 3yrs the other 8yrs, and no one can replace his wife so he becomes a workaholic but does make the time for his children now and then so along comes Ruby the nanny, she is bold and can be rebellious at times but good at her job. She finds Mr. Rochester without heart of so she thought but his thinking is taking everything that shows his wife out of sight out of mind so who will win as Xmas is drawing close. A sweet story really can be a bit sickly in places but an easy listen, the narrator Charlie Emmeline Albers was good in most parts but can also be grating in others. The story is predictable so no chewing the nails etc. more of a romance.

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