How the Grump Saved Christmas

By: Claire Kingsley

Narrated by: Stephen Dexter, Samantha Brentmoor

Hardworking Isabelle Cook has a serious problem. Her family farm, site of Tilikum’s Christmas Village, is in trouble. Big trouble. And worst of all? The man trying to buy it is none other than the grumpiest, grinchiest man of them all—Elias Stoneheart.

That’s a big nope. She’s not letting him get involved. Not with his heart made of coal.

Elias Stoneheart is in the business of making money, not friends. Especially when his boss is promising a long-awaited promotion. All he has to do is convince one struggling family to sell their farm.

The problem? It’s Cook Family Farm. And Isabelle Cook is his ex.

He might have history with Isabelle, but this is just business. A Christmas-loving farm girl is not going to come between him and his ambition. And Christmas? He hates it. Christmas Village needs to go. But as Elias spends time in the small town, holiday spirit—and Isabelle—get under his skin. And she might be the only one who can melt the ice around his heart.

Author’s note: A sassy farm girl takes on a grumpy businessman in this stand-alone snowy small-town Christmas romance. Includes saucy banter, a guard donkey, plenty of holiday cheer, and a heartwarming happily ever after that will make you believe in the magic of Christmas.

©2022 Claire Kingsley (P)2022 Claire Kingsley

How the grump saved Christmas

This was my first Claire Kingsley book and def not my last!!!! Sweet story ! Great read!

Absolutely loved it

My first holiday romance this season and Claire brought us a heartwarming grumpy sunshine story that will also hit you in the feels and I loved every part of it. Elias Stoneheart (name fitting) is the biggest grinch/scrooge and heads back to Tilikum to try and get his high school girlfriend, Isabelle to sell her family farm. I loved watching Elias and Isabelle rekindle their romance and seeing his heart thaw the more time he spent on the farm.

Stephen Dexter and Samantha Brentmoor were the perfect duo to bring this grumpy/sunshine romance to life. Samantha was the perfect voice of the strong and determine Isabelle and I loved how the Stephen changed the tone throughout the book as the story progressed. Both narrators did an incredible job bringing this story to life. This is a standalone romance and it was fun heading back to Tilikum (home of the Bailey brothers) for the holiday season.

You will melt like Marshmallows in Hot Chocolate!

Brentmoor where have you been all my life?! She killed it....I mean at times did it sound like she had a D in her pants cause her male voice is so strong....maybe. And OG Stephen Dexter aka Voice P@rn solid choice for the grumpy hero.

Like Hot Chocolate Kingsley has made this story hot, rich, smooth and satisfying. Back to Tilikum for some Christmas cheer or is it? This story is around the same time of Annika and Levi which you see them pop in. Elias Stoneheart or Icecoldheart more like it comes back and runs into his high school love Isabelle while trying to take her family farm which includes Christmas Village. Will the ice around his heart melt or will he succeed in his plan?

One of my new favorite holiday reads!

Nice Christmas Story by narrators mis cast

A nice modern day telling of a Dickens Classic Christmas Carol but I had trouble getting past the narrators. The male lead was just too nice a light Mr Rodgers voice is not what was needed. Grumpy and Sunshine are my favorite tropes but they mossed the mark. There was nothing grumpy or rough about the male lead. The female leads voice was not conveying anything resembling sunshine. Perfect voice for a nosy neighbor but not a badass, hard working daughter trying to save her family’s farm. The story was good not as rich as some of Claire Kingsleys others - complete missed opportunity for a funny guard donkey encounter. It is a pleasant enough story but unlike Lucy Score’s The Mistletoe Kisser which is a delicious Christmas story this was is just less rich.

Grumpy Fun

A wonderfully grumpy romantic Christmas story. The narrators were great telling this story and enjoyable to listen to.

Sweet Holiday a romance

If you’re looking for a clean sweet & cute Christmas Romance then this is up your alley. Usually I like darker reads but sometimes sweetness is needed.

Scrooge Reimagined

One of the best retellings of A Christmas Carol with subtle, and not so subtle, nods to the original. I like that the MMCs character didn’t immediately change and love Christmas. For the most part the story is well written except for the addition of the kids getting lost (main story and epilogue) there is no point either time. Definitely didn’t move the story forward or reveal anything about characters or provide interest/suspense. That section could easily have been left out and the story wouldn’t change.
The performances were

A sweet Christmas tale

If you’re like me and you wanted to continue the magic of the Tilikum saga, then this book is just what you’re looking for. It’s a sweet little story that will fill you with Christmas joy even in May, which is when I happened to be listening!

Cute story

If you’re looking for a light read this is the book for you. The narrators did a great job and the story itself was quite interesting.

The perfect little holiday treat

Elias Stoneheart is a man on a mission to prove to everyone he has what it takes to be successful. When he has an opportunity at work for a promotion he dives into the project head first. The only thing that stands between him and the promotion is his home towns local Christmas Tree farm owned and operated by his Ex High school Sweetheart, Isabelle. Isabelle loves her family property and has dreamt of running it on her own since she was a kid, Christmas is her life year round not just in December. The farm isn't only important to her, but it's a staple in the Tilikum (Yup, I said Tilikum) community. This season has to be their best (and most profitable) season to date, make a killer profit and be saved from going under and being bought by Elias and his company. With their rocky past being brought to light in little bits in flashback chapters, you get to see why they seem to hate each other, but also cant seem to stay away from each other either.

Claire really made a story perfect for Hallmark. The banter between the two is the exact right amount you would expect in a RomCom. The drive that Isabelle has to save her family farms, and in a lot of way her values, is so touching and makes me with I had a family farm to save. "Watching" Elias grow from mr Grumpy and have his 'realization' moment that he ALSO wants to save the farm and be with Isabelle would make the coldest of hearts melt. We always saw that there was good in Elias, from the way he treated his assistant, Alice, and her daughter Maddie. We just needed to see him come fill circle. I very much enjoyed that Claire had a little representation of Cerebral Palsy in Maddie, I think she wrote it in such a brilliant and respectful way.

This story does take place in Tilikum, as I said earlier, and if you are a fan of Claire and read her Bailey Brothers series, part of this story and some of its characters might seem familiar. This story takes place around the same time frame as the last book in that series, Rewrite the Stars, and overlaps during pivotal scene in that book. We see both Elias and Isabelle in that story too. It was a very nice way to have a little spin-off of that series.

This story was narrated by a CK vet in Stephen Dexter who plays grumpy SO WELL you would think he is an actual grump (when he's actually one of the nicest people). He cant go from Grumpy, to sweet, to a dirty talker in the span of one sentence. This was the first for Samantha Brentmoor, who is a personal favorite of mine. She really embodied (envoiced??) Isabelle so well and brought her character to life. I hope to hear this pair again soon.

overall this was a very cute, well written and well done story. A perfect little semi retelling of A Christmas Carol. While this was no where near as spicy as some of her other books have been, this still had plenty to love for family, friends and the one true loves.