A Christmas Carroll: A Strangely Beautiful Series Novella

Written by Leanna Renee Hieber

Narrated by Leanna Renee Hieber

The year is 1888 and an ancient Prophecy has just been fulfilled, leaving Rebecca Thompson, Headmistress of the mysterious Athens Academy in London, utterly ‎heartbroken. Having long served as second in command of The Guard, keeping balance between the mortal and spirit world, she has lived a lonely life in love with the leader of the Guard. But now that he is married to another woman, Rebecca fears her bleak, isolated future. The Heart of The Guard, Vicar Michael Carroll has valiantly mitigated the emotional toils ghostly work takes on his fellows, working magic with his unique brand of empathy and contagious joy. But secretly he has always harbored a passionate love for the Headmistress, who has never noticed him as anything other than a friend. As he gathers his courage to tell her the truth, he finds the whole of the spirit world is there to help him. Three ghosts set the Headmistress and the Vicar on a dizzying course of change. Wrenching journeys through the past, present and future collide with unexpected dangers from the spirit world. True love, teamwork, scheming ghosts and guardian angels conspire to save the hearts, minds and souls of two deserving mortals at the mercy of immortal powers…just in time for the holidays.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bryant Street Publishing
• Release date: Oct 26, 2021
• ISBN: 9781094416885

Leanna Renee Hieber

LEANNA RENEE HIEBER is the author of the Strangely Beautiful saga, The Eterna Files trilogy, and the Spectral City series. Rarely seen out of Victorian garb, Hieber has won four Prism Awards for her Gothic and gaslamp fantasy novels, and has lectured on Gothic fiction and paranormal themes for NYU and at conferences around the US. She is a licensed ghost tour guide in New York City and prides herself on her knowledge of the city's haunts.

Reviews for A Christmas Carroll

[Sam Ashish · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Narrator is not good, the american accent on a story based in london does not do it for me. 1 chapter and I had enough

[gaby dickson · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Difficult to know who's who and what's what without some back story. Looked for and couldn't find an earlier book. Quite schmalzy and over romantic if you like that sort of thing and the accents were a bit weird. Nice idea though.

[Haleigh · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of my favorites by this author. It was such a joy to revisit it in an audio format. The perfect seasonal read.

[Michael · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Just a delightful and heart-warming story, narrated in such a loving and equally delightful manner. Perfect pace and use of accents to help make this a very engaging listen.

As fans of the Strangely Beautiful series, this was a welcome addition to this fascinating story with a rich coterie of characters.