The Plight Before Christmas

By: Kate Stewart

Narrated by: Joe Arden, Maxine Mitchell

Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

Clark Griswold was onto something...at least with his annual holiday meltdown. And since the last three weeks of my life have been riddled with humbug—another breakup, a broken toe, an office promotion I deserved and didn’t get—I’m not at all in the mood to celebrate nor have the happ, happ, happiest Christmas EVER.

When Mom insisted that we all gather at my Grandparent’s ancient cabin for an old school family Christmas, I fully intended to get into the holiday spirit with the help of the three wise men, Johnnie Walker, Jack Daniels, and Jim Beam. But those boys did absolutely nothing to offset the shock or temper the sting of seeing my EX on our doorstep the first day of our holiday soiree.

Apparently, Santa missed the memo, and this elf is pissed.

Stuck for a week with the man who obliterated my heart nearly two decades ago, I did the only thing I could do and put on my game face, thankful for the home advantage.

I knew better than to drink that last cup of eggnog. I knew better than to get tongue tangled beneath the mistletoe with the only man to ever break my heart. I knew better than to sleep with Satan’s wingman on the eve of the Lord’s birthday.

I could blame the nog. I could blame the deceitful light blue eyes, thick, angelic hair, and panty evaporating smirk…but mostly, I blame Eli because he always knew exactly which of my buttons to push.

I foolishly thought a family Christmas filled with nostalgia was going to turn my inner Scrooge around, but this year’s festivities went up in flames. Leave it to the ghost of my Christmas past to be the one to light the match.

Fa la la la la, la FML.

The Plight Before Christmas is a full-length, second-chance Christmas-themed romance and that's most definitely on Santa's NAUGHTY LIST!

©2021 Kate Stewart (P)2022 Podium Audio

perfect holiday book

I enjoyed this book very much. I wasn't sure what to expect and was looking for a holiday book. this was the perfect book to relax to during the holidays. well read, I love joe arden and Maxine Mitchell did a great job. I will listen to more of Kate Stewart's books!

ABSOLUTE MUST READ!!

This Is My First Book By This Author, And I Absolutely Loved It Will Definitely Read More Of Her Work!! This Book Had All The Feels! Eli Is Swoony And A Dream. Whitney Was Amazing And A Strong And Determined Wonderful Woman. Narration Is Spot On Perfection!

The Best Book Ever

Please dear god,turn this book into a Christmas Movie. This is the best book of the year.
Narration was spot on.

Perfect holiday romance!

𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆, 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍.

This book encompassed everything that I look for in a holiday romance. Kate gave us a real depiction of a family Christmas filled with utter chaos, humor, growth, understanding and love. The Collins family were so relatable and a total mess but what family isn’t when everyone gets together under one roof for the holidays?!?

I HIGHLY recommend listening to this because O.M.G. it definitely is one of my all-time favorites and will definitely be listened to every single year around the holidays because the narration is immaculate! Joe Arden and Maxine Mitchell NEVER disappoint when narrating together!

The talent and range Joe has is utterly astounding. They way he is able to truly voice the character’s emotions, and how he can make you feel those same exact emotions along with them, is absolutely remarkable. I could not get over his voice for the absolutely adorable, quirky baby of the family, Peyton. Did he have me laughing…MEP! Did those scenes have my heart melting…MEP! Could I keep listening to the love and connection these characters formed over a short period of time…MEP!

We are also rewarded with a special guest appearance in Chapter 25 that will have you giddy and screaming with excitement to hear from him again! Be prepared to have your heart be swooned. I could not stop laughing during the entire scene where Eli was drunk. Joe really brought his A-game and left me in stitches and holding my stomach and wiping my eyes with that entire performance! Don’t even get me started on that entire Pledge scene!

Now everyone loves the broody, dirty talking, smexy character’s Joe plays, but honestly my favorite is emotional Joe. These are the moments where I literally sit and just listen to the character and stew in my feelings. My heart breaks, the tears begin to flow, and I don’t know what adulting means at that point. Chapter 39 left me in tears and pulled at my heartstrings. The realness and rawness of hearing of Eli’s past left me in shambles and took forever to break out of.

Maxine was the perfect person to play Whitney. She brought out her quick-witted, cynical, and oftentimes hilarious banter that kept me laughing not only with her interactions with Eli, but her siblings as well. Maxine’s ability to bounce between several female characters at once is impeccable. The listener is able to differentiate between who is speaking at which time without being confused or lost. I was stunningly surprised with her kid’s voice, since I have yet to be embraced with it from other audiobooks. She really gave the perfect interpretation of a whiny, self-centered, pre-pubescent teen full of angst and attitude to make you relate with the adults in their feelings of wanting to pull their hair out.

The scenes where Maxine had to portray the anger and hurt Whitney felt in those chapters from their past to the present made me connect with the character on a deep, emotional level. It gave me a better understanding of her resistance of letting Eli back in her life once more. Maxine did a phenomenal job with this performance and I can’t wait to hear more from her soon!

My favorite holiday read!

This book is so well written!
Kate Stewart, did a phenomenal job crafting this heartwarming tale of second chance romance.

Her words drew me in from the very start. Sometimes it takes a few chapters for me to get invested in a book.

The characters are so real, charming, and relatable. The story truly captivated me! The Christmas magic and family dynamic kept me listening long past my bedtime. I loved all the siblings love stories within the main story. The author took such care to build up each characters personality and add depth to their individual journey. The pull between Whitney and Eli was palpable. When Eli's truths unfolded, I was taken by surprise and endeared him to me even more. I love this story!!!

as for the narration...
As always Joe and Maxine did not disappoint! Their narration is always amazing. Their chemistry shines through and the fact that they love what they do, makes listening to them thoroughly enjoyable!

Love, love, love!!!

Kate, keep 'em coming. This is the first of your books I have listened to. If your other work is as wonderful as this book, you'll have a fan for life!

Amazing!

I loved this so much. Such a great holiday story. Kate Stewart, you did it again. Here's to another book slump.

Heartfelt audio performance⭐️

Kate Stewart knows how to write an emotional family story with a feel good ending. Likable characters, but I could of done without the excessive children parts; those were boring, but understandably part of the story plot. The narrators made this book a five star listen.

Love these narrators

Every year I look for a Christmas book to listen to while I run my half marathon. This year, The Plight Before Christmas made the list and it definitely made the run more enjoyable. This book is an interesting twist on a friends to enemies to lovers troupe, and I would highly recommend it.

Great narration!

I love the dual narration in this book. It is truly a performance rather than a reading of words. I will be listening for more like this!

soooo good!

I'm so happy I saved this for Christmas time. I typically hate Christmas and anything related to it but I absolutely loved this book.