The Holiday Post by L.B. Dunbar | Audiobook Review • Ana's Attic Book Blog

The Holiday Post by LB Dunbar

Narrated by Erin Mallon and Oliver Highpoint

Standalone in a multi-author holiday series.

Thank you to Hambright PR for an ALC for review

The Hideaway Harbor Series features six original Christmas novels by six different authors, all set in the same cozy coastal town. The Holiday Post by LB Dunbar is the only one I’ve picked up so far, mostly because I like reading about couples closer to my age than my kids’ ages. LB Dunbar writes older couples so well, so I was excited to dive into this one.

The Holiday Post is billed as “Doc Hollywood meets It’s a Wonderful Life with a hint of The Santa Clause,” which is basically my catnip. It’s a Wonderful Life is my favorite movie of all time, Christmas or not, so this book sounded like it had been created just for me.

Lumi is 43 and facing her first Christmas without her adult son at home. She’s the town postmistress who has always dreamed of travel but has barely left Hideaway Harbor, and co-owning the local auto repair shop with her sister makes it even harder to get away. When a bearded, silver-haired hottie (who looks like a hot version of the big man in red) crashes his Aston Martin into a snowdrift and needs her to tow him out, Lumi’s quiet life takes a sharp turn.

The rare car needs specialty parts, which means Astan “Seint” Santos is stuck in town for a while. There’s no room at the inn, so Lumi offers her spare bedroom. He seems like a great guy, but he never mentions the name of the toy company he runs with his father, and he claims to live in a town called North that doesn’t show up on any map.

Once the couple gets together, the story shifts into one vanilla sex scene after another, and I found myself drifting. The mystery around who he might be, the instalove, and the sheer number of sex scenes made me lose interest. I’ve had the same issue with other LB Dunbar books. I adore her as a person and love that she writes older couples with full, sexy lives. I want to love her books, but for my taste there are too many sex scenes and not quite enough story to balance them. There’s also a slightly cheesy tone that doesn’t work for me the way I wish it did.

The Narration:

Erin Mallon is one of my favorite narrators, so I loved her chapters. Oliver Highpoint didn’t work for me at all. His voice didn’t come across as sexy, and I think that affected how I felt about the romance. If I revisit this one, I’d choose to read it instead of listen.

The Down & Dirty:

I enjoyed parts of the story and could see the potential for something great, but it didn’t land for me the way I hoped. There were fun moments and a few giggles, and I loved the over-40 representation. But overall, The Holiday Post ended up being a miss for me. The average rating is very high, so it seems I’m in the minority. If you like older couples, frequent sex scenes, and a fun, cheesy Christmas romance, this might be a better fit for you.