Whilst there were some lovely moments in the book, sadly for me the characters (despite being in their 50s) felt quite juvenile, as if I was reading a coming of age story. Katie (the FMC) especially was hard for me to relate to or like as a person, unfortunately.

Centering the book in "real world" 2021 meant there were a lot of mentions of COVID, and those parts felt over the top, like the obvious was being spelled out a bit re vaccines. It almost felt like the author was trying to foist an education about vaccines on the reader.

However a good part for me was that I found the descriptions in the book just enough that I could vividly imagine the scene, but not too much that I couldn't have a bit of creative licence in my head!

As I listened to this as an audiobook, I also wanted to comment on the narration, which I enjoyed and felt helped the descriptions come off the page and lodge in my mind.

Overall, I would give this book 3 stars. The writing and audio were good however the characters felt shallow and fell flat for me.

I was not able to finish listening to the audiobook. I tried but I can’t relate to the story and the narration. For that, I am not rating this book. Thank you for sharing me this audiobook.

⭐️: 3/5
🌶️: 0/5

Santa Overboard picks up right where Cicada Spring left off! I liked seeing the continuation of Katie and Deke’s story. You have all of your favorite characters from Cicada Spring, plus some new friends!

Short, sweet, and to the point, this novella still manages to fully capture the found family and coming-of-middle-age themes. However, there is a lot of rehashing of the plot of Cicada Spring. I think that the backstory was a little unnecessary and the story would have read the same without it.

Overall, a cute Christmas story with deeper themes!

p.s. Thank you Carolyn McBride and NetGalley for the audiobook!

If you’re looking for a kind of “coming of middle-age” story with heavy reference to modern times (read COVID pandemic), this will suit you. The writing was good and the narration for the audiobook was very engaging and easy to listen to. The pandemic and geographic location were both important to the plot, which means they were referenced very often. Personally, that didn’t suit me. I think this is probably just coming down to genre not matching my taste, but I’m glad that I tried it. Audio ARC provided by Make Waves Press and NetGalley. These thoughts and opinions are my own.

DNF
i hate to dnf books, especially when they are this short, but this audiobook wasn't working for me from the beginning. i hope it will be someone else cup of tea!

Overall: 4
Spice: 2
Narration: 4

Yay midlife women!

Katie Young is settling in to her new life in the small town of Occoquan on the Potomac River. Her friend group, the Bonfire Babes, have built a thriving gallery and she's expecting delivery of her own ferryboat to launch a new business in the spring. The holiday festival should be smooth sailing, but when her love interest Deke decides to avoid the holidays for a work trip and her boat delivery is delayed will the whole thing be a wreck?

I was thrilled to read a book with characters the same age as me and still fall into the Romance genre! I will definitely go back to read book one and follow this series as this one was very well done. I thought the trials of a single, yet empty-ish nest, mom was realistic and relatable and I LOVED the Bonfire Babes. I've been realizing in my own life how women need to gather with other women more and this proves that point. I'd really like to join their group! Highly recommend to any romance readers, but especially those with a couple gray hairs.

This was a cute story about finding yourself and figuring out life when you are older. I enjoy these types of stories because they are so relatable! I really liked all the characters in this story. The mother-daughter relationship was cute! Plus the friends! There is a lot of pandemic talk, as it seems to be set towards the end of “returning to normal” but it wasn’t anything too heavy. Overall, super fun story for the holiday season! I enjoyed the narrator as well.

Thanks to NetGalley and Make Waves Press for the ALC.

This was a really fun audiobook! The narration was great and the story was fun. There were a few points where I wanted The story to move along but I don’t think that was the books fault but more than I wasn’t in the mood for reading that day. It is a relatively short audiobook at only 5 and a half hours. But it you are like me and listen at 2x speed you can easily finish it in an afternoon!

If you’re in the mood for a cozy Chrismas-ie escape to help get you ready for the holidays, Santa Overboard by Carolyn McBride is just the one!

Normally, I gravitate toward stories about young love, so diving into a tale featuring the slightly more ‘mature’ single mom Katie, was a fun new twist!

Set in the charming town of Occoquan, this book feels like a warm hug with its holiday cheer and endearing characters. Katie’s journey of rediscovery, complete with a little festive mishap or two, is sprinkled with heart and humor, and Maria Marquis’s narration truly brings the story to life, making it a delightful listen that perfectly captures the spirit of the season.

It’s light, fun, and just what you need to get into the holiday mood—perfect for a cozy night in with a cup of cocoa! If you’re looking for something to warm your heart this winter, don’t miss out on this charming read.

A huge thank you to @netgalley and Make Waves Press for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook!

2.5-3

I think Covid was mentioned every over paragraph and I couldn’t handle it anymore by the end. I get mentioning once or twice since it clearly impacted the characters but time after time bringing it up and saying the same thing.

It was a novella so a short and quick read. The characters were ok and the main romance was cute. But not sure this was enough to bring it higher stars.

I wrote the same thing on the first book of this series but I have very strong feelings about the COVID time in our lives and books that drag it back up evoke a crappy response from me. This one was better and discussed it a bit less but it still just put a bad taste in my mouth and that dampened my feelings for the book and the plot. Cute ending, thankfully!

I utilised the audio copy of this book. This is a great story. Very different and captivating. Definitely overboard with Santa overboard.....
Faultlessly narrated and perfect to curl up to with a steaming mug of hot chocolate.

I appreciate getting to listen to this audiobook. I really enjoyed the narrator. The story on the other hand was not great. I thought the Covid plotline feels too out of date with 2024. Maybe it won’t matter in a few years though. The couple was older in life so it was interesting but not relatable or good enough to keep my attention. I was able to stick with it since it’s short

Santa Overboard by Carolyn McBride is a lighthearted Holiday Rom-Com that occurs during/post Covid. Overall the characters were enjoyable and entertaining. This book was a quick easy listen. I felt like I was in/watching a TV soap opera! I did expect it to be alittle different based on the title, was hoping for alittle more “get me in the Christmas Spirit feel”. Overall it is a nice quick read if you need something for a travel day.

Thanks to NetGalley and Make Waves Press for the ARC of the audiobook SANTA OVERBOARD by Carolyn McBride, narrated by Maria Marquis.

I thought this book was a cute Rom-Com, set by the Potomac river at Christmas time. The characters are the residents of the small town of Occoquan and the main character, Kathy is supposed to deliver Santa on her new ferryboat.

This is a feel-good story with Christmas family traditions, humour and love.

I also enjoyed listening to the Narrator Maria Marquis for the first time.

I really enjoyed this book. Katie, is trying to start over after the pandemic and her friends are working through the fall out as well. Not a spicy romance but a very warm and fuzzy holiday story. Set around the Potomac river, during the holiday season. The only thing that was a little bit of a turn off was the constant mentioning of the lock down and covid. It was a little bit of over kill.

I was really looking forward to reading Santa Overboard to get into the holiday spirit, however this book was not quite what I was looking for. There are some elements in this book that I appreciate, one being an older female main character, it can get a bit old in the romance genre of every fmc being in their late teens/early twenties. In Santa Overboard, the female lead is in her 50's and has been married 3 times, I can appreciate this. One thing that this book is lacking is the connection between the female lead and the male lead, I honestly did not feel it. There wasn't a lot of depth and character development in my personal opinion. I would have liked to have see a little more depth into the male main character and his story.

When I had a little glimmer at the reviews prior to reading this I saw a lot of people saying there were so many Covid references. I figured that maybe some people are just over it or don't want to hear about it and it's not a big deal to me, it won't take away from the story, however I was wrong. There was a Pandemic, shutdown, COVID, death reference when it didn't need to be there. I felt like it was a little too much, which took away from the book's overall atmosphere. I know we should not judge a book by the cover but when I picked this book it was all based on the cover. I thought it would be a cute, funny, feel-good romance, but the constant reference to the Pandemic left me with a sinking feeling that I was not fond of. Covid was a rough few years and very stressful, as the reader when I picked up this book I was expecting something more light-hearted and fun not serious and slightly depressing.

Overall this book may appeal to the reader who is looking for a short, romance that has some cozy Christmas vibes with some more serious elements. This book has a fun small-town atmosphere, but the plot and development were not for me.

Thank you to Net gallery and the author for this arc copy of the book. This is my own honest opinion on the book. I really enjoyed listening to this audio books it was a quick fast read. I managed to read it in one day. But the only thing that really bugged me though out the whole book was that the author kept mentioning the Covid pandemic though out and I am not been nasty I don’t need to read about Covid 19 in books after the world lived though it. I liked the strong female bond between the women in this book as I was lovely to read about and see women work well together. The love interest was done really well and am glad they both got their happy ending with each other but i would have liked to read more about the romance if I am being honest. This audio book was read so well by the narrator and I would listen to this narrator again. I would really like to give this author another go in the future xxx

Santa Overboard by Carolyn McBride

Santa Overboard is a contemporary fiction book about a group of friends and the area they live in. This is a cute fast story with no real conflict or action, other than minor occurrences.
Pros. Fast story. Some cute points. Liked the prayer sessions at the end of their beach gatherings. I liked the way the women are coming together to create businesses that can support each other and the town they live in. I enjoyed the group of friends. I like that it centers on a different age bracket than twenty something’s and brings in some of the issues that are associated with that age. I liked the mention of traditions and the family cookbook. I liked Deke again in this book.

Cons The Covid storyline. I understood the last book because it was the reason her mom passed away, but continuing it in this one was too much. The timeline also didn’t match with the last book. In this book she is talking to her brother and he says he can’t come for Thanksgiving because he was just there in the spring when their mother died. The book also mentions the trial from the previous book. If she died in the spring, and everything was closed until June and later with Covid, how was the court case heard so quickly, maybe my timing is off but I felt like the timeline was much longer in the Cicada Spring.. I didn’t pay attention to the blurb of the book and thought it was a cozy mystery, that aside I would have liked it had it centered more around the holidays. Instead it fell flat. Had I not read the previous book, I would have no connection to the characters in this book at all as no development is made here. The Santa Overboard was minor compared to the continuous mention of Covid. It pulled away from the story and was just unnecessary.

Overall I’m not sure if I’ll continue the series, especially if Covid remains a central theme. If that had be.en left out, the book would have been better.
I enjoyed the narrator, which kept me listening.

This book was really quick to get through. Mildly entertaining, but not too exciting.

I appreciated the strength of the female friendships and the normalcy of their entrepreneurial activities.

Most of the romantic books I read are about younger ladies, so this story about a middle aged group was a nice change of pace for me.

I felt like the resolution of the conflict with the boyfriend was too rushed. It didn’t feel realistic that all would be resolved with one gesture.