I loved the narrator for Pinning for You more than Dashing Through the Snow. Kayla Jackson’s did a fantastic job, her tone really brought the story together better.

~Dashing Through the Snow
A cute, simple Insta-love story Christmas story. This novella really gives off the Polar Express romance vibes! I really enjoyed it minus the narrator’s voice for some characters lol. The elf was creepy.


~Pining for You
I didn’t love this story. Theo just rubbed me the wrong way, I’m glad his character developed more at the end, but boy did it feel like it took forever. I really feel like this novella could have been better as a full book. It seems to have a lot of missing pieces and rushed.
Recommended to anyone that loves Christmas Hallmark movies!

I have enjoyed all of her books so I was excited for these three novellas. All of them were great holiday reads. I love a good romcom and during Christmas is perfect.

Dashing Through the Snow ⭐️⭐️
When Willow’s boyfriend of seven years dumps her on the eve of a romantic getaway, she decides to take the two-week train trip on The Christmas Express alone. Hurt as she feels, she can’t anticipate how the hilarious rebound ride with conductor Oliver, elf Ian, and aging world adventurer Clarence will heal her heart—and renew her sense of worth.
I have read a handful of Mellissa Ferguson books, and I find they are hit or miss. Some I enjoy, and others are pretty low star ratings for me. This Christmas novella was a miss for me. I couldn't connect with Willow. She felt desperate for a relationship and was not very likable. It was also too insta-love for me.

Pining for You ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Christmas tree farm owner Theo Watkins III has the opportunity to drop everything for one weekend to play farmer in a cozy Virginia mountain town and potentially win back the heart of his childhood best friend, Skye Fuller There’s just one problem: he’s the kind of man who drives a Tesla, not a tractor.
This novella was much better. I'm a sucker for second chance romance ♥️ I also loved the setting of this story. Something about a tree farm just puts you in the Christmas spirit. Although this was a short story, it was a cute one!

Narration: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The narrator did a fantastic job and was very enjoyable. I felt she did a great job at bringing the stories and characters to life.

Thank you, #NetGalley and Thomas Nelson, for the opportunity to listen and review this advanced copy.

Book Review❄️
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Tis the season for my mostly thriller horror content to switch to holiday romances 😂
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Summary: Dashing Through the Snow (also in On the Way to Christmas)

When Willow’s boyfriend of seven years dumps her on the eve of a romantic getaway, she decides to take the two-week train trip on The Christmas Express alone. Hurt as she feels, she can’t anticipate how the hilarious rebound ride with conductor Oliver, elf Ian, and aging world adventurer Clarence will heal her heart—and renew her sense of worth.

Pining for You (also in This Time Around)

Christmas tree farm owner Theo Watkins III has the opportunity to drop everything for one weekend to play farmer in a cozy Virginia mountain town and potentially win back the heart of his childhood best friend, Skye Fuller. There’s just one problem: he’s the kind of man who drives a Tesla, not a tractor.
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Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
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My thoughts: thank you so much @netgalley and @harpercollins for the advanced audio book copy of this sweet holiday romance. I absolutely loved the first story, dashing through the snow was a fun holiday train ride with a really lovable protagonist. Her love interest was swoony and the narrator was just fantastic. The second story Pining for You was good but not as heartwarming. I really found I couldn’t connect with Theo I thought he was just kind of awful and annoying. The female lead was really lovely. Overall a fun quick holiday read. Lots of fun romance and adventures!
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QOTD- how was your holiday weekend ?! Did you do anything fun?!
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Thank you Thomas Nelson and Zondervan Audio for the ARC. Snowy Serendipity was a little too cheesy and hallmarky for my taste in Holiday Romances.

Thank you for this book and exchange for my honest review.
I had high hopes for this book based on its cover. Unfortunately, I struggled to get into the plot of the story. It just did not capture my interest.

I absolutely loved the first book on this audio! It was such a cute, quirky, and fun Christmas romance! After finishing that one I had high hopes for the second book, but unfortunately that one fell flat for me. It seemed rushed and a bit unrealistic to me — not that the first book was realistic, but since the second one is set in a normal setting, the big gestures just seemed even more far fetched to me. The change in narrators could have also made a difference. My enjoyment level was so different from the first book I even checked to make sure it was by the same author.

Cozy Christmas romances that will surely put you in the mood if you’re looking for that warmth the season brings.

Two holiday romances in ONE!!! Yasssssss!!!! I really really enjoyed these books…. Book one, willow is newly single as after her boyfriend of 7 years breaks up with her before the holidays, she’s stuck having to take this 2 week train excursion and it’s really romantic. There was some Christmas magic going on when she meets the train conductor, and his dad 🥰🥰. And then the second book is a second chance romance novel, where Theo gets the opportunity to go back home live in a farm for a weekend and with hopes to win back his best friend Skye. Along the way she finds out that her family tree farm is going under and Theo is somehow involved, I loved how this time he didn’t give up, and made sure that Skye felt he was all in.

Love both books so very much. I loved both couples' cute stories. They are hallmark feels, and I wish that both couples had a longer story. These are also very short stories, so it's a quick read that is perfect for an in-between book.

Both stories have different vibes and I really enjoyed both. I felt the Christmas feels while reading, which is something I was after from all my Christmas reads. Nothing awful about the two stories. It is just a great book to cleanse my reading palette.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me this opportunity!

I loved both stories in this book! Melissa does a great job in painting the pictures of the surroundings and the characters are so relatable. I especially love when she uses real places that I’ve been to in scenes.

I listened to the audio version of this book. The book is a collection of two sweet holiday novellas.

The first novella is about a woman who just got dumped by her boyfriend. He had booked a romantic and fun excursion on a train before the breakup. She decides to go on her own. It's a special train. There, she finds contentment, love, and a future.

The second novella is about a woman, an artist, who has moved back to the small town where she grew up. She sets up her studio, refurbishes a small house next to her parents' doublewide. She's found contentment there. Until the man who she gave her heart to when they were teenagers, shows up again. They struggle to get to know each other again. And she's discovered disturbing information about him. Can they reconcile and become friends, at least?

Wonderful, uplifting stories. The novellas each have a different narrator. Both narrators are wonderful.

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 4⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: Contemporary romance📚

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
Fun little Christmas romance novellas

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
Cozy holiday reads
Polar express vibes
Small town romance
Hallmark Christmas movies
Quick and lighthearted stories
Second chance romance
Charming MMC

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
All the cheesy Christmas vibes
I thought the narration was good

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:
The second one was a little too short and I didn’t really feel connected to the story
Miscommunication trope

2⭐️

They aren’t bad but they are so generic and standard, that I immediately forgot what I listened to the second it was over…like didn’t even remember a single name.

As I began to listen to this audiobook, I didn't realize there were two stories included. The first story was wonderful but I just couldn't get into the second story. This could simply be because I'm not a fan of the grumpy guy love trope, and story number two was pretty heavy on that.

Christmas romance short stories can be a fun way to enjoy a sweet story in a fraction of the time. Snowy Serendipity by Melissa Ferguson offers two such tales for someone in the mood for a little holiday happiness.

“Dashing Through the Snow” introduces Willow as she is about to board the Christmas Express for a cross-country adventure. The trip had been meant for two but her long-time boyfriend broke things off the night before so she decided to go on her own. Before the train even leaves she finds herself interested in a man she believes to be another passenger. It’s a sweet story with lots of fun Christmas activities and food.

“Pining for You” is less about Christmas and more about rekindling a lost romance from over a decade earlier. It is set on a Christmas tree farm, but it truly is about love, family and trust. There is something going on with Skye’s parents, and she believes Theo is to blame. Of course in a romance, things are never quite what the main characters believe.

Both stories offer hope and happy feelings to the reader, with a happily ever after guaranteed though it’s not completely obvious how it will all work out. I found myself wishing that the first story had been a full novel. I would have loved to hear more about the train ride and all of the stops along the way. Though I did not like the second story until about the third chapter, both of them gave me warm fuzzies.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrators did a nice job telling the stories. At just under five hours, the stories could be listened to in one sitting or broken up while you do your Christmas baking and decorating. Thank you to NetGalley, Thomas Nelson, and Zondervan audio for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Two Novellas That Have Been in Other Compilations (Audiobook Review)



• Dashing Through the Snow 
(also in This Time Around)
 Narrated by Talon David



Talon reads this in a way that draws you in further. The pace and how she reads it enhances the book and does not distract.



I realized as I listened that I knew this story! I then paused and figured out I read it last Christmas. I have never been able to read a story twice because I can remember everything I read. I decided to try to listen to it. It was fun to listen and just relax giving into such a cute story!

•~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• Pining for You 
(also in This Time Around)

Narrated by Kayla Jackson



Kayla was fun to listen to. She kept the story moving and allowed you to just sit back and enjoy the book. 



This was a new read for me. It was a good story and had some thoughtful points. Loved it! 

This is a perfect read that will have you ready for winter! Grab a mug of Hot Chocolate, cuddle under a blanket with a fire in the fireplace!

I love Melissa Ferguson’s books! I can’t wait to read her next one! Enjoy!

I received a complimentary copy of the audiobook through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This is a fun mini-collection of two holiday themed stories, which I'd call rom-com. They were easy to listen to during my commute!
Thank you for my audio!

3.75⭐, 0.5🌶️

This was an audiobook of two standalone Christmas Novella's. They definitely have me ready to launch fully into Christmas time, and loved that I got a 2-for-1 story out of this one "book" 

💖Dashing through the Snow -
Willow's boyfriend broke up with her right before their expected two week vacation on a Christmas themed train ride named The Christmas Express. Set to find her own adventure, Willow befriends an elderly man and the train conductor, his s Oliver. Throw in a couple hijinks that occur and this was an adorable clean romance/ story!

💖Pining for You - 
This is a second chance romance with childhood friends turned loves who are brought back together when Skye comes home to help her father after an injury, and is confronted with the relationship she used to have with Theo, who happens to employee her father and is jipping him in salary. I liked this novella, and gave me a lot of sweet Hallmark vibes!

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas Nelson & Zondervan Audio for an ALC of Snowy Serendipity by Melissa Ferguson! This is my honest review!