Merry Ever After was a fantastic novella. Tessa was able to bring heat, independence, found family and vulnerability in only a few chapters. Luke is a farmer who is a large man. His clothes don't fit, and while trying on clothes in their small town vintage shop he rips the pair. Embarrassed he tries to pay and leave but Evie sees him and figures she can do a kindness for him. As a single mother she knows how those little kindnesses mean the world. This is something she can do that doesn't cost her anything but a bit of time.

I adored how they came together. This one was heartwarming and fun. Grab your audiobook copy of Merry Ever After because narrators Summer Morton & Connor Crais were fantastic. I need more of them in my audiobooks. Where have they been. The voices perfectly matched the characters.

Grateful to Brilliance and Netgalley for the audiobook.

Tessa Bailey is an author that I have not read any books by yet but have constantly wanted to check out. Unfortunately Merry Ever After was not the best book to show off what makes her a bestseller.

Merry Ever After is part of the Under the Mistletoe series but except for the day being mentioned a couple of times I don’t know what’s Christmas about this story.

Evie is a single mom who works in a thrift store. A local farmer Luke continuously comes in trying to find jeans that fit him but he is just too large. Evie volunteers to make clothes for Luke and she then hand delivers them to him which starts the awkward romance scenes.

This book is a short story so I felt there were not enough pages to show how their relationship grew before it got to the intimate moments. The intimate moments came off very awkward. The actions and the dialogue felt forced and unnatural.

The narration was great and kept me engaged, the overall story was interesting but the interactions between Luke and Evie just didn’t feel right to me.

What a fun, short, and spicy holiday novella! I loved Merry Ever After! It was a great listen. I enjoyed it in one sitting.

Single mom Evie first meets Luke at her job in a second hand clothing store. Luke is a giant farmer (yay for size difference trope!), who has a hard time finding clothes that fit. Evie is a budding clothing designer and decides to make him a pair of pants that will fit. Sparks fly from there.

This story had humor, spice, and Luke was super swoony as he cared for Summer’s baby. Summer Morton and Connor Crais did a great job with the narration.

I loved this so much and wish it was longer!

A giant farmer who busts out of jeans AND he's a baby whisperer....
This felt more like a Jessa Kane novella than a Tessa Bailey. Which I enjoy a Jessa book but it just wasn't what I was expecting here as a Christmas novella. The audio was great though dual with Teddy. .
🎄 Holiday SHORT
🎄 Great audio
🎄 Single Mom (5 month old)
🎄 Very INSTA
🎄 Small Town
🎄 He falls first

5 ☆
-
Merry Ever After is a must-listen/read! This novella was great. I enjoyed how the single mom gets the hot guy, and the spicy scenes were amazing! Tessa Bailey did a good job writing this novella. This is my first book by her, and I will definitely read her catalog. 59 pages of pure greatness!
The audiobook is great, and the narrators did a great job. I truly enjoyed this audiobook!
-
Thank you, Netgellay and Brilliance Publishing Audio for the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Short and not so sweet! This was spicy from start to finish. A fun lil romp around the holidays in classic Tessa style! It was a fun lil escape and I look forward to reading the other novellas.

📖 ARC/ALC REVIEW 📖

Thank you @brillancepublishing and @amazonpublishing for an early copy of Merry Ever After by Tessa Bailey. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. 🤍

Rating: ⭐⭐/5
Release date: November 12th, 2024

Blurb: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/220389465-merry-ever-after?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=Td9tZ231sG&rank=2

🛑Read on with caution; review may contain spoilers🛑


I haven’t read a Tessa Bailey in a while, and I am reminded of why I stopped reading her works. While she does write the smut on this one quite okay, I feel like they’re a bit too much in this short story that the main characters’ emotional connection doesn’t shine through, it’s like they’re just lustful for each other and nothing else. The story is already too short for what it is so I was looking for substance and emotional depth and connection between Luke and Evie, but none of that was in this novel, just a lot of insta-love and emphasis of how big ang huge Luke is.

And goodness, if you tell me this is a Christmas romance, at least make it Christmas-y! A romance set during Christmas time isn’t a Christmas romance unless there’s an extra flair of Christmas about it!

Thankfully, this is the second book in the series and not the first; I would have been thrown off and not read the entire series altogether if this one came first.

Will continue steering clear of Tessa Bailey’s works; I think her writing is just pure smut at this point.

Giving two stars because I did enjoy the narrators’ voices here, especially Luke’s; his super deep voice actually translates to how much the book emphasizes on how “big” and “huge” his character is.

OMG... here for the giant farmer with the ripped jeans and the baby whispering softness and the immediately he falls first vibes. I'm in love with Luke. He's got a little blush and a big heart, and that's all it takes for Evie to question all of the walls she's built. She's trying to be a good single mom, but when she sees how well her son responds to being cocooned by the giant farmer man with the giving heart, she puts herself out there. It's a risk that's worth taking for a merrily ever after.

Adding that Connor Crais is SUCH A GOOD FARMER LUKE, this will be a fun one to revisit each holiday season! I'm not sure if I've ever listened to Summer Morton narrate before, but she was a solid narrator as well!

Whether you read or listen, if you love Tessa Bailey, this will be an instant yes please!

Thanks to Brilliance Publishing for the ALC and Amazon Originals for the eARC.