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    The Noel Stranger
    The Noel Stranger
    The Noel Stranger
    Audiobook6 hours

    The Noel Stranger

    Written by Richard Paul Evans

    Narrated by Erin Mallon

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    From “The King of Christmas,” Richard Paul Evans, comes the next exciting holiday novel perfect for “fans of Debbie Macomber” (Booklist) in his New York Times bestselling Noel Collection.

    Maggie Walther feels like her world is imploding. Publicly humiliated after her husband, a local councilman, is arrested for bigamy, and her subsequent divorce, she has isolated herself from the world. When her only friend insists that Maggie climb out of her hole, and embrace the season to get her out of her funk, Maggie decides to put up a Christmas tree and heads off to buy one—albeit reluctantly. She is immediately taken by Andrew, the kind, handsome man who owns the Christmas tree lot and delivers her tree. She soon learns that Andrew is single and new to her city and, like her, is also starting his life anew.

    As their friendship develops, Maggie slowly begins to trust again—something she never thought possible. Then, just when she thinks she has finally found happiness, she discovers a dark secret from Andrew’s past. Is there more to this stranger’s truth than meets the eye? This powerful new holiday novel from Richard Paul Evans, the “King of Christmas fiction” (The New York Times), explores the true power of the season, redemption, and the freedom that comes from forgiveness.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateNov 6, 2018
    ISBN9781508252498
    Author

    Richard Paul Evans

    Richard Paul Evans is the #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of more than forty novels. There are currently more than thirty-five million copies of his books in print worldwide, translated into more than twenty-four languages. Richard is the recipient of numerous awards, including two first place Storytelling World Awards, the Romantic Times Best Women’s Novel of the Year Award, and five Religion Communicators Council’s Wilbur Awards. Seven of Richard’s books have been produced as television movies. His first feature film, The Noel Diary, starring Justin Hartley (This Is Us) and acclaimed film director, Charles Shyer (Private Benjamin, Father of the Bride), premiered in 2022. In 2011 Richard began writing Michael Vey, a #1 New York Times bestselling young adult series which has won more than a dozen awards. Richard is the founder of The Christmas Box International, an organization devoted to maintaining emergency children’s shelters and providing services and resources for abused, neglected, or homeless children and young adults. To date, more than 125,000 youths have been helped by the charity. For his humanitarian work, Richard has received the Washington Times Humanitarian of the Century Award and the Volunteers of America National Empathy Award. Richard lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with his wife, Keri, and their five children and two grandchildren. You can learn more about Richard on his website RichardPaulEvans.com.

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    Reviews for The Noel Stranger

    4/5

    98 ratings8 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Love this author…. plan to read all of his books. Interesting read for Christmas.
    • 5/5
      Exactly what I needed! I’ve read several of Richard Paul Evans’ novels, and this one was exactly what i hoped it would be for this busy season. Noel Stranger has a well written plot, which is light hearted and enjoyable. Enjoyed the narration, as well, and I plan to find more audio books recorded by her.
    • 3/5
      The prose was good, the travel log of Cabo was great, you pick up some great info for trivia games. The plot was sketchy and we need a new story line.
    • 5/5
      A great read with crazy twists at the end! Highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      Lovely Christmas books. Great love story to listen to during the holiday season
    • 4/5
      The Noel sranger by Richard Paul EvansMaggie's diary starts us off and she wonders how her life got to be what it is...Clyde is up and coming in the political field and she gets a phone call from the paper.Her husband was arrested, for bigamy-he has more than one wife?During November the snow storm and she met her girl friend at the coffee shop...We learn how she left her hometown after high school and ended up in the catering business and how that went...She really likes the man at the tree farm and he helps her with decorating and they go to dinner or lunch. On the spree of the momentshe goes with him out of the country...she knows her ex wants her to stand by him but there's no way she can...I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
    • 3/5
      The Noel Stranger by Richard Paul Evans takes readers to Salt Lake City, Utah. Agnetha “Maggie” Walther is shocked when she learns that her husband, Clive is a bigamist. Maggie hides in her home for the next six months to avoid the people’s looks and reporters. Her friend, Carina convinces Maggie that she needs to get out and suggests she purchase a Christmas tree. Maggie goes to the local tree lot where she meets the owner, Andrew. Andrew delivers the tree later that evening and they chat over coffee. Maggie is taken with him and cannot stop thinking about the handsome Andrew. A few days later Maggie goes back to the lot to obtain Christmas lights, and he offers to help her decorate the tree. Their friendship begins and quickly blossoms into romance. Maggie’s heart is opening as she falls in love with Andrew. But then Maggie discovers that Andrew has been not been forthcoming on his past and doubts begin to surface. Can Maggie listen to Andrew with an open mind and heart?The Noel Stranger is the second book in The Noel Collection, but each book in the series is meant to stand on its own. While I have enjoyed other stories by Richard Paul Evans (The Christmas Box being my favorite), The Noel Stranger was a letdown. Maggie is supposed to have trust issues, but she meets Andrew and seems to instantly fall in love. Within two weeks, they are jetting off to Mexico for a vacation. I would have expected the romance to progress at a slower pace as she slowly gets to know Andrew. The Noel Stranger felt unrealistic and predictable. The story lacked depth and I was not able to connect with the characters. Maggie is a contradiction as well as selfish. Maggie has been neglecting her business for the last six months while she has been wallowing at home in self-pity (I would have been angry). She has been relying on her business assistant to run the business and she has little training (I am shocked she still has a business). The story felt contrived and flat. I rolled my eyes so often they hurt the next day. The Noel Stranger features forgiveness, love, redemption, hope, compassion, important of communication and second changes. I am giving The Noel Stranger 3 out of 5 stars. The Noel Stranger is a light, clean romance novel that is an easy and quick story to read (just not the right fit for me).
    • 4/5
      Ahh, it wouldn't be Christmas without a new book from Richard Paul Evans! This latest is entitled The Noel Stranger.Maggie Walther is stunned when her husband is arrested - for bigamy. She retreats from the world, hurt and embarrassed. With Christmas around the corner, her friend encourages her to embrace the season and start to live again. A chance encounter at a Christmas tree farm with a man named Andrew gives her hope that maybe, just maybe, she can find happiness again.But the road to happiness is often bumpy....Evans sets his novels around the Christmas season - a time of reflection, connection, forgiveness, joy - and yes, love.The Noel Stranger is told as excerpts from Maggie's diary. I liked Maggie and wanted her to find happiness again. Her initial hesitation was understandable, given what has happened to her. But, I was somewhat surprised at the speed at which things progressed - a trip to Cabo seemed a wee bit rash on Maggie's part. I thought she would be a bit more cautious, given some of the enigmatic answers he provides. But of course, that's part of the plot! Without providing a spoiler, I did find the reason for Andrew's enigmatic answers needs to be taken with a few grains of salt.I chose to listen to The Noel Stranger. The reader was a favorite of mine - Erin Mallon. She provides the perfect voice for Maggie - warm, appealing, engaging and easy to listen to. Her interpretation is expressive - rising and falling, accentuating the emotion etc. And....she also does the male voice. And it's totally believable. Mallon uses a deeper voice, one with a rich gravelly tone. There was never any question as to who was speaking or whose narrative we were listening to. I often think about the logistics of narrating a book. The reader is often flipping back and forth between characters. Quite the job - and Mallon does it very well.The Noel Stranger was an entertaining, easy listen, perfect for the back and forth drive to work at this time of the year.