Adorable! I swear if they don't make this into a Hallmark movie, someone needs fired. Sure, it's predictable but it was well written, made me chuckle and tear up and dude, I loved every single word.

Also, need another book about Iz & his wife.

Audio was perfect! Loved the narrator's humor.

Great holiday read.
Quick.
Highly recommend to all the hopeless romantics out there.

This novella continues in the backdrop of New York's Museum of Literature and we get small cameos from our previous protagonists but of the three novellas, I think this is my favorite. Maybe it's the Christmas Eve event or how the whole story unfolds but it's quite the entertaining listen. Claire, the director of the Museum, is about to get engaged to a man she doesn't have feelings for as her mother is no longer tolerating her singledom. In a last minute ditch and through the premise of the surprise proposal, Claire escapes on the horse-drawn sleigh that the Santa who is delivering her engagement ring shows up on. Santa manages to get on the sleigh with her and she then realizes that Santa is none other than Sam Carpenter, a reporter who writes about low-list celebrities. She usually finds herself as a subject of his articles because of her rich family and her position within the museum. Through hijinks that occur with their escape, Sam and Claire end up realizing that they have feelings for each other and though her would-be fiancé is insistent on proposing to Claire, Sam and Claire do end up together and their Christmas story ends happily for all but her mother. It's romance injected with comedy and the narrator does an excellent job of conveying this. I would highly recommend it.

Super cute audiobook for Christmas-time. Claire is about to get engaged at a holiday gala but in a panic she runs away, using “Santa’s” horse and carriage with Santa still on board! Santa is none other than Sam, a reporter looking to get an inside scoop on Claire’s father’s law firm. Along the way to a remote cottage in Maine, they run into all kinds of misadventures and end up falling for each other too. Thank you Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

The book will make you feel like dashing through the snow... As long as there is a sleigh that comes with an attractive Santa.

This holiday rom-com had me cheering for the main characters. Both were likable and brought charm and humour to the story.

Socialite meets nosey reporter, a broken engagement and a deadline to meet before Christmas. A tale as old as time.

This story was sweet as holiday cookies and will have you hearing jingle bells.

Very enjoyable!

This was a super cute story. It reminds me of those holiday movies on Lifetime. However, the "conflict" was the smallest thing and didn't seem fluid. Really no climax or anything too exciting hence the low rating. I did like it otherwise just expected it to be something else. Loved the quirkiness of the main characters though!

I received this book from NetGalley and the publishers to read and review. All statements above are my true opinions after fully reading this book.

It Happened One Christmas Eve by Jenn McKinley
A Museum of Literature Romance series #3. Can be read as a stand-alone.
Clare thought she was resigned to marry the man her mother has chosen but when the time comes for the proposal via Santa, Clare impulsively grabs the sleigh for a quick escape. Sam thought that he would get background for his story dressed as Santa at the engagement party. Instead he finds himself on the run with the escaping “no thank you” bride. An untimely mugger, adds to the evening’s upset as Sam and Clara work together to get to Maine.

A romp of fun and adorable romance. Unlikely events but that’s the humor and entertainment value with a holiday novella.

🎧 I listened to an audiobook narrated by Sara Young who also narrated the first two books in this series. Her performance is wonderful with a light and pleasant tone and with clear emotion. Her character voices are distinct. I think the humor and absurdity of the events comes through clearly in the audiobook with a lightheartedness you may not get from reading the story. I listened to this at 1.3 which I felt was the most comfortable for casual conversation.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley and Dreamscape Media.

I really enjoyed this short and sweet holiday novella. Claire and Sam have an adorable meet cute, and fun filled adventure from NYC to Main to spend Christmas Eve. Perfect for a cozy evening.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the audio version. A very nice light hearted Christmas read. The audiobook it only a few hours long. So if you are looking for a cute Hallmark type story plot that takes place during Christmas time you might want to check it out. The characters were interesting and the main love interests were cute together. Highly recommend

Things I liked:
The Christmas Eve book gift tradition and the gift-giving on Christmas Eve.
The older couple who runs the retirement home.

Things I didn’t like:
Any book with cheating is almost an immediate no for me. Yes, Mackenzie’s relationship with Trey was more formal than loving, but:
1. she ducked out on her own engagement,
2. pawned the ring that was her intended’s family heirloom (without his knowledge)
3. ran off with some guy she just met and
4. who she fell into insta-love with.
5. And he’s kind of a jerk, too.

And even though Trey is villainized, he has a lot of reasons to be a jerk. Unfortunately all of those things were a deal breaker for me on enjoying this story. I always feel bad giving unfavorable reviews, so I acknowledge that maybe this just wasn't the book for me.

However, I have to give a shout out to Sara Young who did an excellent job with the audiobook narration.

I enjoy reading Jenn McKinlay's A Cupcake Bakery cozy mystery series and this is the second book I have read in the A Museum of Literature Romance series. At just over three hours, this was a quick and fun audiobook.

I enjoyed this book, Claire and Sam are great and I love Claire's Christmas Eve tradition (sounds like my kind of holiday). Sara Young did a great job of narrating this book and I am looking forward to listening to more books narrated by Sara in the future.

Highly recommend this fun, holiday read.

This was a very quick and sweet novella. Very Hallmarkesque. A woman in her 40s decides that it's too much to get married to the man her mother is demanding because she doesn't love him. Instead she gets swept away in a sleigh and goes on a romantic road trip with the reporter she knows tangentially, and they fall in love. With a quick wrap up of the lose ends and not a whole lot of conflict, I'm sure after the snow settles real life will hit them, but hey, maybe it will stay sweet and perfect.

I wish I would have known how short the story is. While it’s cute, it’s missing the meat. It felt like reading an outline vs. a fully developed story.

Now, that being said, I did enjoy it. Great idea and likable characters. The HEA is quite unrealistic and too sweet, even for me. But worth the time spent listening to it.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this short and sweet Christmas story. Claire and Sam set out on adventure to Maine after Claire runs away from her boyfriend who is planning to propose. They are faced with many setbacks along their journey, find themselves in peculiar circumstances, and help out strangers when they can. I highly recommend this book if you are looking for a short Christmas read.

This audiobook was super cute and super short. The narrators were great! I loved the way Claire and Sam started their relationship and how everything worked out in the end.

This book was full of different tropes and they all fit together nicely. It was a fantastic short listen!

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an advance copy. This is my honest voluntary review.

This one is a super cute Christmas, finding yourself type story. I will say it’s fairly short so the insta love in this book felt like incredibly quick (it happens over 2 days). For me, that’s not super realistic and the way it ended felt rushed to me because of that. Besides that, this story is fun, funny and the perfect amount of Christmas thrown in. I did really enjoy these characters, I just could have used a little more time with them before I fully bought in to the relationship!!

This review has been added to Goodreads, Literal and Storygraph, as well as Barnes & Noble and Amazon. This will be posted to my instagram (@busywithmybooks_) and hive within the week.

Thank you for allowing me to listen to this story!!

This had all the Hallmark Christmas Movie feels. Very lighthearted and typical holiday quick story of girl accidentally bumps into boy and runs away at her engagement party. Sam who is an investigative reporter doing a piece on her dad's law firm follows her while she makes her wait to Maine to escape from it all. They have a whirlwind romance and fall in love in two days. She later finds out about him writing an article on her dad and would have been fiancé and thinks he was using her.
Short quick and too the point. An enjoyable short Christmas read.

Author: Jennifer “Jenn” McKinlay
Narrator: Sara Young
Received From: Netgalley

I received an ARC (advanced reader copy) of this audiobook from Netgalley.

I’ll be honest - I nearly made this a DNF (do not finish) until the part where the fiancee-to-be stole a horse and carriage - from there I was 100% hooked!!

This is a new and improved runaway bride story that is full of charm, guts, kindness, and love.

It was at least 75% better than expected!

I highly recommend this book to lovers of romance, shedding of old skin, standing on your own two feet in the face of adversity (Think the movie Cocktail), and love that has all the hallmarks of meant-to-be and happily-ever-after. :)

Wonderful book!!

I’ve really enjoyed all of the novellas in the Museum of Literature series, but this one is definitely my favourite, by far! It was so much fun (they’ve all been, but this was even more so)!

Right from the very start we get into an exciting plot, when Claire hijacks the horse-drawn carriage that Santa has arrived in with the engagement ring, arranged by her future fiancé Trey … the guy she’s been dating forever but barely feels lukewarm about (but at 40, her mother is pushing her to marry).

Once she discovers who Santa really is and after they end up mugged, with no money, no phones, and only a decision to flee to her grandmother’s cabin in Maine, the two work together to make it out of town and away from the cameras and prying eyes of the elite - and hopefully don’t get on each other’s last nerve in the process.

Like all of McKinlay’s books and this novella series, it’s perfectly written, everything is fantastic, but the witty banter, chemistry and everything else is just that much better than usual! An absolute recommendation from me - no need to read any of the others in the series (no real overlap).

Great narrator pick as well - Sara Young did a fantastic job voicing Claire and differentiating the characters and I really enjoyed her performance!

I received an advance copy from NetGalley and Dreamscape Media, and this is my honest feedback.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I did not realize this was technically a novella when I requested this one. Once again this is a novella that could have really been something special and really fun it it was a full length novel. We got a decent amount of information about Claire and her family but we learned virtually nothing about Sam, who he is as a character, and his motivations since the story moved so quickly. This could have been a really fun roadtrip comedy.

This read just like a Hallmark Christmas movie. Main character Claire realizes right before her proposal that she doesn't want to go through with it. She escapes the event she was at only to get in a getaway sleigh with "Santa" aka reporter Sam to flee and the two go on an adventure to make it to Claire's family cottage in Maine. I did not realize this was part of a series so will credit that for some of the gaps I felt were there. Overall a light, festive and quick read.