Once Upon a Christmas Carol

by Karen Schaler

Celebrate the magic and music of the season with this scripted holiday romance by Emmy Award-winning writer Karen Schaler!

Rachel Rinehart’s Christmas season is on the brink of disaster when her record label suddenly drops her, threatening to end her music career. Then she receives a mysterious Christmas card, and everything starts to change....

Inside the card are lyrics to a classic Christmas carol urging her to return home to Crystal Falls, the snowy mountain town she left behind 15 years ago.

Once she arrives in Crystal Falls, a stroke of fate brings her face-to-face with her first love, Matt Meyers, who’s now a devoted single dad. Rachel continues to receive mysterious cards filled with Christmas carol lyrics and clues she must follow—all leading her back to Matt. Is it the work of a hometown matchmaker, or could it be Christmas magic? And will the music and majesty of the season help Rachel discover where she truly belongs?

Genres: Christmas, Audiobook, Romance, Holiday, Novella, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance

Audible Audio

Published December 1, 2022

About the author

“Karen is one of the most masterful seasonal storytellers writing today with a gift for distilling warmth and magic into profoundly uplifting storylines.” –Rose Hilliard, Executive Editor, Audible Originals


KAREN SCHALER is a three-time Emmy Award-winning storyteller, author, screenwriter, journalist, and national TV host.

Karen writes Christmas movies for Netflix, Hallmark, and Lifetime, including the Netflix, hit A Christmas Prince, and has written seven beloved heartwarming holiday romance novels, including bestsellers Love Always, Christmas, and Christmas Camp where she also wrote the Hallmark movie.

Be sure to follow Karen on GOODREADS for her latest special deals and giveaways!

Karen has also turned her Christmas Camp novel and movie into real-life immersive Christmas Camp experiences for grownups, held worldwide where Karen carefully curates and hosts magical holiday activities from her movies and novels.

Karen also has a Top 10 Audible Bestseller, Once Upon A Christmas Carol featuring a full cast of award-winning actors and world-class musicians, where Karen also wrote the featured original song.

Traveling to more than sixty-eight countries, Karen is also the creator and host of Travel Therapy TV, which airs nationally on top TV and streaming outlets where she features the most inspiring and empowering trips to take based on what you're going through in life.

Karen believes in the power of paying it forward and giving back, and all of her stories are uplifting and filled with heart and hope.

KAREN'S FESTIVE FREEBIE! Be sure to download Karen’s free DIY Christmas Camp Guide at www.karenschaler.com, including delicious recipes and activities from all her stories.

Reviews

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars
Another Christmas short! Listening to “Once Upon A Christmas Carol” is akin to listening to a play. Narrators Brittany Pressley and Ryan Paevey work well together. This is a story that shows you the redemptive powers of Christmas Carols. Yes, there is music, Christmas Carols, and they tie into the story.

The story: A famous pop singer returns to her hometown when her record label drops her. She hasn’t spent Christmas in her hometown since her mother died 15 years prior. She keeps receiving mysterious Christmas cards that involve Christmas lyrics and clues which keep leading her to her old boyfriend.

Is this cheesey? It sure is!! But it’s Christmas and it’s the time for cheesey happiness!! This is categorized as contemporary romance. This is the romance I enjoy…a cozy romance with no overtly uncomfortable “romantic” scenes. It’s a sweet reminder of the spirit of Christmas.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Immersive 3D Christmas!

If you enjoy audiobooks with extra oomph, don't miss this Christmas story. It has wonderful sound effects and Christmas music that will guarantee to transport you into this sweet story!

Singer-songwriter, Rachel Rinehart is about to get axed from her record company. Her agent tries to find her a deal while Rachel follows a mysterious Christmas card clues back to her hometown of Crystal Falls, WA. Rachel and her father plan to spend Christmas in the Bahamas. They haven't celebrated Christmas since Rachel's mom passed away over a decade ago. But the mysterious cards she continues to find plus seeing her old first love may put her holiday plan at risk. Will Rachel realize what truly matters?

This is an endearing second-chance romance. A feel-good story with family, community, and beautiful carols. 🎶🎄💞

🎧 2H 17M with Brittany Pressley, Ryan Paevey, and many more.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Hallmark style Christmas read/listen. 🎄 Absolutely predictable. 😉 Still entertaining. 👍

[Kristina · Rating 2 out of 5]

If ChatGPT wrote a Hallmark movie.

The small town Christmas cliches, the cheesy dialogue, the sugary sweet romance and contrived non-conflict, the bad voice acting and fake laughter, the narrator breaking the fourth wall in between scenes. This was bad.

At least it was short and free with audible plus.

I need to go brush my teeth before I get cavities.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this charming story and endearing characters. Listening to this story was like stepping into a Christmas movie 🎄.

Blog: LucyKnowsThings.com.

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not realise this was a full cast audio! I've never listened to one before, and I really enjoyed it!

I love how naturally the voice actors spoke during conversations. There were a few moments where the dialogue had some obvious descriptions, but I enjoyed getting a fuller picture of the scene.

Something I really liked was that each character felt real. There are times when these contemporary romances can leave secondary characters by the wayside. It was great to hear each character getting their own voice and personality.

I have two main critiques; first, when did Matt get married, at 21?? To have a 12-year-old kid. Then we did not learn where Anna found those vintage Christmas cards. (Are we to assume her teacher helped her with that, too?)

Overall, I really enjoyed this story. It really is about being with those you love at Christmas.

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hallmark channel meets audible.

This audio is slightly different than what I'm used to and I would have loved this to be a bit longer, but aside from that this is very cutesy.

3-3.5ish ✨

[exploraDora · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short and cute story about what's truly important this time of the year, old flames rekindled, Christmas carols and a nice little mystery in the form of vintage postcards.

[Sabi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought I wouldn't like it, as second-chance romances are not my prefered genre but this one was nice! Definitely cute at parts.

[Lover of Romance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once Upon A Christmas Carol is a standalone and is part of the Audible Plus Catalog, and its super short and sweet. Now its only available in Audible. I will say that this one was so unique in that this is GRAPHIC AUDIO! Like yeah, you definitely need to grab this one up if you love Graphic Audio. I had no clue that it would have been in graphic audio. I just enjoyed the way that this story was developed and its super short. It was so different to the level of experience that there is when you are listening to Graphic Audio versus regular narration. It was almost like listening to a movie, because it had a full cast, sounds of the setting and felt so rich in detail.

Now was this story perfect? Nope it wasn't. The hero is much more devoted to the heroine than the hero even though this isn't the first time she has hurt him. So its all about the heroine really being in the dark about herself, learning about her past and learning to grow from past mistakes. I really don't like how some of the decisions that she makes that hurts the people that she loves. I do respect the hero and how much he was devoted to the hero and be honest with the heroine.

If you are looking for a super atmospheric holiday romance, to deliver all the feels and just had so much in the Christmas feelings and it had me in tears. The emotions were so heartfelt in this story that I least expected. I adored it all. So for a 2 hour listen, it was such a solid audiobook that is festive and endearing.

[Jo - •.★Reading Is My Bliss★.• · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rachel has had a successful recording career. Every year her and her father have a destination Christmas together. She prefers not to return to her hometown, it has too many memories that she would rather forget.

When she receives a Christmas card pretty much asking her to come home, she feels like she needs to go there. She will collect her dad and then head on to their planned holiday together. However, more Christmas cards keep appearing and when she runs into her first teenage love, Matt, she finds herself wanting to stay a bit longer.

Is this a cliched Christmas story, it is a bit… but isn’t that what we want to listen to or watch at this time of year? I love ‘switching off’ and forgetting about everything else – getting lost in a story.

An easy listening audio story that fits in perfectly with this time of year.

[Eileen DiGiacomo · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was like listening to a table read of a Hallmark movie.

[BernLuvsBooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was short & cute! Full cast narration w/music and sound effects. An adorable feel good Christmas story.

[⌜Linaraxx⌟ · Rating 3 out of 5]

not me listening to an xmas audiobook in April- CAUSY WHY NOT

[January · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once Upon a Christmas Carol by Karen Schaler
2h 17m narrated by Brittany Pressley, Ryan Paevey and full cast

Genre: Romance Holiday > Christmas; Novella, Adult Fiction, Contemporary Romance > Contemporary; Short Stories

Featuring: Audible Originals, Scenes, Singer, Homecoming Trope, Christmas Town, Scavenger Hunt

Rating as a movie: PG

Songs for the soundtrack: Jolly Old St. Nicholas, Carol of the Bells, Joy To The World, Deck The Halls, O Christmas Tree, Silent Night, Jingle Bells, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, We Three Kings

My rating: ⭐️⭐️¾🎄

My thoughts: I love Karen Schaler books, but this one was missing a lot of heart and the plot wasn't her best. This story was nice but a part of it never got fully off the ground for me. There are actually 12 minutes of music at the end of the book. It sounded like a movie even though it used a play format.

Recommend to others?: Not really, but it's a short story so you'll either enjoy it or you won't.

[Lindsay (pawsomereads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute, second-chance holiday romance. The audiobook was done really well, from the narrators to the production. It felt like watching a movie instead of listening to a book. With the book being so short, it was hard to feel super connected to the characters or the story itself but I still liked it overall. It was really sweet and felt just like a Hallmark Christmas movie.

[rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was so adorable! Loved the Christmas songs they included in the story. Super quick adorable read.

4.5/5 stars

[Debra Jo Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really cute and fun holiday listen to get you in the Spirit.

[Jess Brady · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay... I didn't love this one. I didn't dislike it...

Once Upon A Christmas Carol is available in the Audible Plus Catalog if you have an active Audible membership. I thought this would be a fun short listen because Ryan Paevey is one of the narrators. If you are not familiar with him, he used to be on General Hospital and he has done probably a dozen or so Hallmark movies. The man is charming AF and I kind of swooned without reading the blurb or reviews.

It was a Christmas novella with the feel of a Hallmark movie so of course it was cheesy but there was just something here that didn't quite hit the mark for me. The narration really was fabulous because it was done with a full cast. I just felt like it was a bit lacking. If you have a few hours to spare and are wanting something sweet to get you through to Christmas. Give it a listen, you might love it!

[Angelic · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 if you love Hallmark Christmas movies this book is for you! It has a full cast and amazing audio. Plus Christmas music??? If your favorite holiday is Christmas and you love romance books then this is for you!!

This second chance romance for this singer is absolutely cute and it sucks you in with the storyline! I’m an absolute sucker for the cliche Christmas miracle trope so this was right up my lane. 😂 I thought the way this story wrapped together was beautiful, I loved the full cast and the music. 🥹🎄

[Ginny Muse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute short Christmas romcom. Not a new favorite, but it was sweet. Famous singer (with career challenges) returns to her small town at Christmas. She always has quality time with her dad at Christmas, but usually on a trip away from their quaint town full of memories. This year there’s a mystery about who is sending cards to Rachel. She thinks it might be her ex boyfriend Matt. It’s not him, but there are cute interactions with him as well as with his daughter. Kind of cheesy. But cute.

[Holmes Girl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very quick, light hearted listen. Has that "Hallmark" Christmas themed--good will feel to it. With topping out at a little over two hours, it's easily listened to on a trip, a couple walks outside or while decorating the tree.

The premise of the story is quite solid for the genre. Rachel is a a music superstar that gets let go from her record label to make room for younger, social media stars that are the 'current thing". She receives a Christmas card that encourages her to go home to her hometown in Washington state. After getting there she continues to recieve the cards that promise a Christmas surprise & take her on a scavenger hunt of sorts. Throughout her time in Crystal Falls, she reconnects with an old boyfriend, transitions into a more mature relationship with her dad & rediscovers the passion she used to have when creating music.

I thought the pacing was a little choppy; but not detrimental. The story had a little mystery, romance & Christmas cheer to make it one of the more enjoyable entries is this genre. It didn't drag on; but the mystery aspect could have been played up more to make it longer. I especially liked the use of a multiple cast! I hope there are more of these.

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fast-moving cheerful romp through a lot of Christmas Carols loosely tied together by a “come home for the holidays” storyline. There’s little meat her, it’s all sweet Christmas candy that will make you smile. At the heart of the story is a woman losing her job because 1) she can’t write good songs anymore, and 2) the public thinks that the famous writer of Christmas songs actually hates Christmas. As she tries to work through this crisis, she starts receiving Christmas cards from a mysterious person which lead her around her hometown and make her fall in love with it and the holiday again. As I said, a fully dramatized, very sweet tale with no surprises and a lot of Christmas music from the cast.

[Liv · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5 ⭐

[Star Forbis · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Always remember what truly matters most at Christmas; Family, Friends, Community, Hope, and most of all Love!"

[Amanda Brady · Rating 4 out of 5]

Felt like I was watching a Christmas movie! Cute and cheesy in the best way.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet holiday story performed with a full cast.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story. Perfect for the holidays.

[Cat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Predictable but cute.

[Alex LaBat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this. Freaking adorable. And no of course the heartfelt ending didn’t have me burst into tears. I’m not crying. You’re crying!!!