Review of ‘Northern lights‘ by Lise Gold,

Audiobook narrated by Addison Barnes

This novella is book one of ‘The Compass Series’ that follows the story of Hannah Hudson, a restaurant owner in London, and Kristine Miller, a bank manager in a small town in Louisiana. In this book, both women meet on a trip to Norway during Christmas and get involved in a short but passionate romance while enjoying the holiday magic.

Hannah and Kristine are staying in a small hotel owned by a Norwegian couple with a few other tourists from different parts of the world. As they are the only single women in the group, they soon get acquainted with each other and discover that they have more in common than they previously thought. ‘Northern lights‘ describes the different tourist activities they share and the beautiful landscape of Norway, including the Aurora Borealis that give the name to the book. Ms. Gold’s descriptions are cinematographic and it’s easy for the listener to immerse themselves into the gorgeous scenery and the Christmas spirit.

The audiobook was read by Addison Barnes, along with the rest of the series. This is my first time listening to Ms. Barnes and I felt that she did a satisfactory job. The story presents a few challenges to the narrator, first, one main character is British and the other is American with a southern drawl. In my opinion, Ms. Barnes is more convincing with the British than the American accent. Secondly, the story features a few secondary characters both female and male with different nationalities. I think the narrator performed them well, especially the Scandinavians speaking with heavy accented English. Even though the story is overall light and not very challenging in the emotional department, the narrator did a good job in the few scenes that demanded the performance of different feelings.

Available for free to Audible Escape subscribers. Duration: just over 4 hours long.

Overall, a good but short lesbian Christmas story audiobook if you love winter landscapes and cold-season activities. 4 stars.