Goose Reads 2023! (Closed)

Week 49 - Before The Snow Falls

Week Forty-Nine - December 3rd - December 9th

Title: Before The Snow Falls

Author: amelierhys

Genre: Romance

Number of Chapters: 23

Completed? Yes

Link (Added as an in-line comment):

Blurb:

Two centuries. Two love stories. One holiday season.

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Every summer since she was eight years old, Nora leaves her home in New York to spend a few months at her aunt and uncle's English country manor in Hertford. She grows up playing in the fields of alfalfa with her childhood friend, Felix. But when she returns to England the summer after she turns twenty-one, Nora realizes that Felix is no longer the boy he used to be. He's a grown man, and the undeniable attraction between them grows as the heat of the summer months increases. But much to Nora's dismay, she knows nothing can ever come of it. 

After all, Felix Graham is destined to marry a wealthy, highly ranked, debutante from London society, being that his aunt is none other than the Queen of England. And Nora... well, Nora is just an American girl from a family of modest business owners. Knowing she can never have him, Nora flees back to New York. But as summer is left far behind and the weather begins to turn cold, Nora receives a package from Felix that will change her life forever. 

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When Lana Graham opens up an old box of Christmas decorations to find a collection of love letters dating back to the 19th century, she calls upon her history major friend, Hale, to help her decipher the story surrounding the mysterious notes. But as the two of them search for the truth of what happened between Felix and Nora, they find there are undeniable parallels to their own relationship. On a cozy, winter afternoon, Lana and Hale uncover more than just truths of the past.

Goose's Thoughts:

It's Week 49, the festive season is officially upon us, and we are going back in time with our first Christmas story of this year!

I loved the dual narrative Amelie uses throughout the story and the way we move from a contemporary timeline to a historical one. Our two timelines mirror each other in spectacular fashion and I loved see the characters grow alongside each other. What I loved most was how Lana and Hale's story was pushed forward because of Felix and Nora and what they uncover through the letters. It was such an interesting way to tell the story and Amelie does a masterful job at weaving the two storylines together. 

Our main characters throughout this story - Lana, Hale, Nora and Felix - really help to propel the story and, again, I loved how they mirrored each other. Their relationships really grow and flourish throughout the story and watching them grow together as couples was really the icing on the cake. I'm not usually a romance person, but this was such a sweet story and our two couples really deserved to be together. What I really loved was how they started out as friends and the romantic elements came later. It really added to the realism of the story.

The secondary characters also add a lot to the relationships, but they're also just a lot of fun. Leo and Oliver from the Historical timeline add such a fun, humous element to the story an get even better once they meet each other. I loved how they were the ones to push Nora and Felix together, even going as far as to credit themselves for the end of the story. They were such good comic relief but Oliver especially had a lot of depth to him which was great to see. It was nice that he could be both a comedic part of the story, but also have that additional depth to him.

If you're looking for a cosy Christmas story to read as we head into the festive season, then this is definitely one I would recommend. The love story between our four protagonists was done so well and I loved seeing them come to life. It was such a comforting story to read and the historical elements just made it so much more interesting to me.

Thank you for writing such an amazing story, Amelie!

-Goose