A Touch of Sugar (Christian Historical Romance Novella)

A Teacup Courtship Novella, Book 1

By: Cynthia Hickey

Narrated by: Anna Wheeler

Maureen O'Shea arrives in Devil Falls, Montana, to marry a man she's never met. When she finds out her intended had died before her arrival she is met with an uncertain future. She decides to spend the last of her funds by bringing culture to the western town in the form of a tea shop. It never occurred to her that the town preferred coffee. Not until the handsome blacksmith, Micah Webster so rudely points it out.

Stagecoaches enroute to the town are being robbed and Micah is deputized to help. When Maureen's life is in danger, he realizes the fashionable Irish lass has gripped his heart in her lace-gloved hand and things will never be the same.

Can these two make their uncertain futures become one?

©2015 Cynthia Hickey (P)2020 Cynthia Hickey

Sweet With a Bit of Sass

A Touch of Sugar is a sweet, clean historical romance with a bit of intrigue and a bit of bite. Set in Montana in the days of stagecoaches and mail order brides, the story is very well written and features clearly drawn characters with depth. I loved Maureen, a strong, sassy heroine and Micah, a handsome honorable hero. The narration is a joy to the ear. I could “see” the story as I listened. This short story is a perfect movie length and a wonderful addition to a cold winter evening.

love in the old west

Chivalry is not dead in the old wild west and Micah more than proves it in spades. He's half dead and still attempts rescuing his love. Maureen is far from shy, but she doesn't do well with blood. I laughed so hard when the doc slapped her with a bloody hand, I thought I'd be incontinent!! Entertaining and enjoyable. I voluntarily listened to a free copy of this and am giving an honest review. The narrator did a good job bringing it to life.

Too predictable

This was an okay story. I know stories like this are predictable. Historical Romance = female finds male, male plays hard to get or vice versa, they end up married with fifty children, the end. But is there such a thing as it being too predictable?

The ending was questionable. I’m guessing the author wanted to add in a twist to surprise the reader. Maybe? I wasn’t a fan of it. The robbers were smart enough to realize Maureen was the town’s sweetheart, yet weren’t smart enough to realize having a fire going at night would lead the sheriff and whoever else that was after them to their location? Right. Or just the idea of kidnapping Maureen, to begin with. Why? Again, the robbers knew people were after them from that town, but chose to hang out in town, kill a person and rob the family, then kidnap Maureen and what…? Hope for the best?

The narrator. Let me state for the record, I didn’t want to continue the story because of her. But I chose to get through it because it was a short story.

Narrator Pros:
Nil.

Narrator Cons:
*She has a nasally sounding voice.
*She couldn’t hide her New York accent, even when reading for a character who was supposedly Irish, with an Irish brogue. That was a big thing for me. As a narrator, I personally think he or she should be able to talk without an obvious natural accent unless the story calls for it.
*She didn’t change her voice for the different characters. There were a few times when the tone of the character changed (got lower) and the narrator did likewise. Otherwise, it was pretty straightforward/monotone, no matter if there was a tense sense, she read as though nothing were happening.
*I could hear her swallowing her spit!
*It was obvious she was reading because there were all these random pauses between words.

When it comes to narrators, I feel like I say this next part a lot! A narrator can make or break a story. Had this been a regular length audiobook, say, plus-five hours, I wouldn’t have continued. I’m always left wondering how certain people determine they’d made a good narrator. Does a family member or friend give them the idea? Either way, this narrator doesn’t have a “narrating voice,” in my opinion.

Questions/Comments:

Maureen helps the doctor out so he can rest. “I’ll be back in seventy-two hours.” What? He needed that much rest? He expected her to just stay there all that time when she had a business of her own to run?

There was a mistake after Mica goes to rescue Maureen. His arm is supposed to be strapped to his body to prevent him from moving it, but “Mica rested his head on his folded armS.” That’s not just a mistake in that an ‘s’ was added.


I requested a free audiobook code in exchange for an honest review.