Thank you to NetGalley for the audiobook version of these 2 novellas!

4/5 ⭐️
Another win by Melissa Ferguson! Cute stories. Great characters. Sweet. Clean. Easy to read (listen to).

I think I will always keep Melissa Ferguson as one of my favorite authors and these books just helped to confirm that!

Thank you to NetGalley and Melissa Ferguson for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

Rating: 4/5 Stars

This was a really fun listen! Got me so excited for the holiday season. Feels like a hallmark movie in my ears! Narrators were great also.

Perfect reads to bring on the holiday season!

I am someone that can listen to holiday music year-round, certain Christmas movies can be watched anytime throughout the year, Hallmark Christmas movies are my guilty pleasure, and I like my holiday reads for Christmas in July, and/or starting in October. Snowy Serendipity gave me 2 different heart-warming stories to kick my Christmas reads off for the season. Both were cute and light-hearted and gave off all the feels that a comfort & joy season brings.

The first story, Dashing Through the Snow, takes place on a Christmas Train that I want to be on; and the second Pining for You had everything I love about a Hallmark Christmas movie--second chance romance, small town setting, comes back to the family farm and finds themselves after moving away--perfection in mini form.

Narration was pleasant to listen to and both narrators did a great job of binging the characters to life.

This is a short and sweet collection of two Christmas novellas. The first is a forced proximity story set on a cross country train ride. The second is about a girl returning home only to reunite unexpectedly with an old flame and now they have a second chance at romance. These two stories are sweet and focus on cultivating meaningful moments with family and friends who are like family. The audiobook narration was great and made for a very pleasant backdrop to my afternoon of errands in the car and cleaning up around the house. This book is a great way to get a head start on the holiday season and find a lighthearted romance to enjoy.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced audiobook copy of this story. All opinions are my own.

Two sweet stories to get into the holiday mood! I thoroughly enjoyed both of these but I would have loved if they were even a bit longer. I don’t think it’s going to be a new favorite but I will definitely be recommending!

Melissa Ferguson brings two previously printed holiday themed novellas:
Dashing Through the Snow
Willow's long-time boyfriend dumps her on the eve of a planned romantic getaway. Despite this, Willow takes a two-week train trip called The Christmas Express. She meets an elf named Ian, Oliver-the hunky conductor, and a sweet world traveler named Clarence. This is a sweet story of love and new beginnings.

Pining for You.
A sweet story of lost love won over again. Theo has a chance to win his old love back years later, by trying to prove himself as a farmer. Can he shed his city boy ways and prove himself?

Narrated by Talon David and Kayla Jackson. Both narrators bring these stories to life, creating an enjoyably entertaining experience just in time for the holidays.

I was hoping to feel a bit of Christmas magic listening to this audio book of both short stories. The first book gave me a flicker as I liked the idea of a Christmas trip on a type of Polar Express train trip. The second book was harder for me to connect having a plot of a second chance. They’re cute, but cheesy like Hallmark, not touching like say Santa Claus or other staple Christmas movies/books. Cute for a quick read, but not very memorable either.

This audio book included two adorable winter/Christmas themed short stories/novellas.
Dashing Through the Snow is the Polar Express for adults and so adorable. This was my favorite of the two.
Pining for You - This one feels less overtly Christmas even though it takes place on a Christmas tree far. It's a sweet story about a second chance and gets you into the winter spirit.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

<i>Snowy Serendipity</i> features two novellas. In <i>Dashing Through the Snow</i>, Willow’s boyfriend of seven years dumps her right before they are supposed to take a romantic Christmas-themed train ride from New York City to Seattle. On the train, conductor Oliver, elf Ian, and Clarence will help her heal and find herself. In <i>Pining for You</i>, Christmas tree farm owner Theo has the chance to win back the heart of his childhood best friend Skye, if only he can help around the farm during her dad’s injury.

Both stories have the feeling of a cozy Hallmark Christmas movie. Personally, I liked the first story more than the second, but you may feel differently. I did appreciate that the second story talked about gambling addiction, something you don’t see represented often in literature. Talon David and Kayla Jackson both did a marvelous job setting the mood as the narrators of each story. This book will get you in the holiday mood!

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this book.

Two great books in one! I enjoy reading/listening holiday books and these two were great. Although they were short stories they were full of laughs, sweet moments, fun adventures, love and fantastic characters.

Talon David and Kayla Jackson are new to me narrators and they gave fantastic performances. They gave the perfect voice, emotion and personality to each character.

SO CUTE
i love that this included two short stories l. i did prefer the first one but i really enjoyed both, i think they are both so sweet and super easy to get into.

Going into this audiobook, I was pulled in by the premise of both novellas. The idea of a romance taking place over the holidays on a long train trip and with such an interesting group of characters seemed promising. But, the first story seemed to meander and didn't give me the warm and fuzzy I was hoping for. The second story had promise as well but the connection between the two main characters didn't connect on the page for me and I didn't get the feeling of rooting for them as a couple.

Snowy Serendipity consists of 2 novellas. They are both sweet holiday rom coms reminiscent of hallmark movies.

I absolutely adored the first story Dashing Through the Snow! It follows a young woman that had gotten dumped days before the couple was to go in a 2 week train journey across the country. Thankfully, our FMC still went on the journey as the tickets were non-refundable. Prior to boarding she met a man dressed up as an elf. He ended up maybe not being very truthful about himself and not being the one for her. However, while on the train, she gave up her luxurious suite for a couple with a baby and met an older gentleman. This man ended up being the owner (no longer operator) of the train! She bonded with him and met his son (the operator of said train). Over the 2 weeks she got to know the men and was offered a job looking after the elderly father. Of course there’s a happy ending and she falls in love with the son!

The second story was not really my favorite, but still very enjoyable! The FMC has moved back home to be closer to her parents. They live on and take care of a pine tree farm. Her childhood best friend/high school sweetheart is the owner of said farm. Her dad gets hurt right at the beginning of the story so of course MMC must come back to help on the farm. They continually get pushed into situations where they are alone together. She’s angry with him for an incident that happened 15ish years ago and because of the low wages he’s paying her father. Short story even shorter, her mom explains that her dad is a gambling addict and he cannot be paid proper wages or the money would be gone. Instead she is receiving the rest of his salary as well as being paid as an employee of the farm! MMM moves back to the farm from the big city and they live happily ever after.

I would definitely recommend these stories to anyone that enjoys sweet rom coms or hallmark movies!

Snowy Serendipity by Melissa Ferguson
⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

This was a sweet holiday themed collection of two short stories.

I enjoyed the first story, Dashing Through the Snow and I loved the magical feel of the story. It reminded me of The Polar Express but with adults. Even though it was short I felt like it was a light, fun and magical holiday story.

The second story, Pining for You just lost me completely. I didn’t feel a connection to the story or the characters at all and the story had many parts where it just stopped and picked up without a transition or in places it didn’t make sense. For example at the end of the book when the main character speaks with her mom to discuss her fathers salary it isn’t until 3 weeks later that she confronts the love interest Theo to make things right. Considering they lived right near each other and liked each other enough why would it take that long to run into each other or talk it out?

I religiously do NOT read book synopsis. I love being completely surprised by a book, especially when it's written by a favorite author....like Melissa Ferguson, for example. When I saw her Snowy Serendipity audiobook on net galley, I got super excited, hit request, and crossed my fingers.
When I got approved, I started listening without even looking at what the short stories were about.
It took me about 30 seconds to realize the first story sounded super familiar....and maybe 60 seconds to realize the same about the second story. lol
So, SURPRISE, these are stories I've already read.
I did not re-listen to them (though the audio recordings are great), but can without hesitation, say these are both absolutely adorable, cozy, yet unconventional wintery tales.
I love her stories, long or short, and these are no different.
Please write a full length Christmas novel and make my holiday dreams come true!!!!

Two heart-warming stories where you can get in the Christmas spirit - full of love, family, magic, and joy.

Dashing through the Snow - the first story - happens mostly inside The Christmas Express, which made me enjoy it even more. Who doesn’t like trains?
My favorite aspect of this story was the magical feeling of it, and I loved Clarence.

Pining for You - the second story - is a second-chance romance. I usually enjoy this type of plot, and this one wasn’t an exception. Cute and indeed a feel-good story. It ended up being my favorite of the two.

The narration of these stories is of good quality. Before you know it, the time has passed and you enjoyed two entertaining tales.

3.75*

These were such cute fun holiday reads. Really got me in the spirit.
I am unfortunately not much of a short story lady as I just don't connect as well but this was still enjoyable.

Really liked the Dashing Through the Snow. Willow on the train with the new found family was so heartfelt! Was my favorite of the two.

This is two super cute winter stories. My favorite was the first story with Oliver. I absolutely fell in love with him. Such a cute story with a Christmas Train! Loved it so much

This book was exactly what I needed during a hot spell. It made me think cool, wintery thoughts. What a fun little Christmas themed book! Albeit predictable, it was everything that a romantic holiday book should be.

I loved the first story in this pairing — I absolutely love the characters and the setting — I’m a big fan of trains and would love to take the Christmas train ! The love story was endearing and sweet.

The second story had a friends / old romance to enemies to lovers again feel— and a Cinderella feel as well— as Sky’s family is working for a rich man Theo who is keeping his family farm running — but Sky wants Theo to see her family is worth more then he thinks both as people and monetary value. A love story to come together after 14 years apart . This had a great moral to the story about misunderstandings and learning the truth about others — don’t judge a book by its cover . The moral of the story is what really made me like the story . The narrator was really good in both stories — but I had an easier time connecting to the characters in the first story — the writing was really good and I would definitely try more by this author !


Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas Nelson and Zondervan Audio, Thomas Nelson Fiction for this ARC . This is my honest review .