The Midnight Carousel
(A Forest Falls Frolic)
By Hanna Park
Belle Stanhope had plans. Good plans. Practical plans.
None of them involved Hudson Carver.
The florist with the crooked smile had become a distraction she neither wanted nor could avoid. Which was inconvenient, considering the Pretty River Inn and the upcoming bachelor auction left little room for distractions.
For years, Hudson had been content with the life he'd built beneath Christmas Mountain. His flower shop, his workshop, and the friends who had become family were more than he'd ever expected. Then he met Belle Stanhope.
As Christmas approaches, the carousel's calliope sings off-key, and the old magic he'd left behind stirs once more. The life he'd built and the life he wants are no longer the same.
In Forest Falls, wishes have a way of finding the people who need them most.
Review 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
What I wasn't expecting from The Midnight Carousel was to find myself thinking so much about the idea of home. I expected Christmas, romance and a little magic. I got all of those, but somewhere along the way Hanna Park had me thinking about why we stay in certain places and what finally makes somewhere ours.
Hudson was a big part of that for me. He has built himself a quiet life in Forest Falls, with his flower shop, his friends and all the little routines that come with belonging to a community. Then there is Belle, and suddenly the life he has been content with doesn't seem quite enough anymore. I loved that his feelings for her aren't just about wanting a relationship. She makes him think about what he actually wants from his future.
Belle has her own reasons for holding back. She likes plans, she likes knowing what she is doing, and Hudson has a habit of making a complete nonsense of both. Watching her slowly allow herself to want something simply because it makes her happy was one of my favourite parts of the book.
The Christmas setting could easily have made this all very sugary, but it doesn't. There is plenty of fun and festive chaos, but the magic brings another side to the story entirely. Some of the ideas behind Hudson's past were unlike anything I had expected when I first met the quiet florist delivering flowers to the inn.
By the end, the title meant more to me too. The carousel isn't just a pretty Christmas backdrop. It belongs right at the centre of what makes Forest Falls such an unusual place.
I came for a Christmas romance and ended up caring far more about these two finding their place in the world than I expected to.
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What a wonderful review! Thank you so much for taking the time to read The Midnight Carousel and for awarding it five stars. We really appreciate you being part of Hanna's tour! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐❤️
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