saguaros 's review for:

Christmas, Criminals, and Campers by Tonya Kappes

2.0

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Blaaaaah. I groaned out loud several times listening to this audiobook. Tbf to the author this is definitely a case where the audiobook did a disservice to the story itself—at least for me. I don’t if it’s an accurate Kentucky accent or not but it felt like listening to Anna Paquin in True Blood (this is not a good thing). And I also didn’t enjoy a lot of the voices the narrator used, especially for the male love interest. That said, even taking that into account, I don’t think I would have liked it much more if I had read it. The little mystery was fun but everything around it just wasn’t for me. I couldn’t stand the MC, the LI, the southern “charm” and all the clichés that come with that, and the kind of het romance that *pretends* it doesn’t want to fall too much into heteronormativity and gender roles but really it’s just one step sideways. Basically Hallmark. The writing was repetitive (even taking into account that it obviously has to repeat info from previous books so people don’t have to read the series in order), and often too simple and didactic. I just wanted a cute Christmas murder mystery dammit. Will have to try something else.