Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Grumble Monkey and the Department Store Elf
AUTHOR: B.G. Thomas
NARRATOR: Donald Tursman
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
RELEASE DATE: August 26, 2019
LENGTH: 2 hours, 19 minutes
BLURB:
Kit Jefferies, a part-time department store Christmas elf, is an artist who loves life and his family. Unfortunately, his car dies at a rest stop in the middle of nowhere as he is heading home for Christmas. Enter Nick St. George.
Nick is a very unhappy man – he’s achieved his professional goals only to find the rest of his life bleak and empty. Deciding there was only one way to make everything right, he is on his way to San Francisco on a dark mission, and even the horrible sleet storm that blocked his path won’t deter him. That’s when he found Kit.
At first, Nick is pretty sure rescuing Kit was a big mistake. Kit’s personality is just too, well, effervescent. But as the miles go by, Kit begins to bring light to his dark heart. It might even be bright enough to illuminate a Christmas miracle.
REVIEW:
The main, okay only, reason I picked this book up was because of the title. It was just so wonderfully different and fun. I didn’t even read the blurb.
Nick is on his way to San Francisco on a mission. He’s anything but happy, and Christmas spirit does not exist in his world. He’s jaded, a bit bitter and very stand-off-ish. And the horrid weather conditions aren’t helping any. So when he comes across a stranded man in the middle of nowhere he reluctantly offers him a ride and shelter from the storm. Kit was everything that Nick wasn’t. Happy, outgoing, and embracing the world. After some initial friction, mostly on Nick’s part, they start to find some common ground.
Nick was a hard person to like, especially at first. He was judgmental and unkind. But the more time he spends with Kit the more he opens up, he doesn’t get a total personality change, but his edges are softened. I loved how Kit spread happiness around him, made others want to make him happy. He had this aura that drew others to him and made them want to stay there – Nick included. The two fit really nice together.
The production of this book had two main issues that made it a bit difficult to listen to. It sounded like Tursman was sitting in a tin can while narrating. There was a harshness to the sound that wasn’t always easy on my ears. At times there was also background noises, tapping and clicking that were a bit distracting. Donald Tursman falls under the reader rather than performer category, and a fast paced one too. As a reader Tursman did a decent job bringing the characters and story to life. He captured the gruff Nick and the exuberant Kit, and also their shared love for art.
We didn’t get a true happily ever after, but we did get a solid start of something new and exciting and with a lot of promise for the future.
RATING: 
Story: 4
Audio: 2,5
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