Clara’s Verdict
The British romantic comedy has a proud tradition of putting its heroines through the wringer before delivering them, battered but triumphant, to the love they deserve. Sharon Booth understands this tradition completely, and There Must Be an Angel — the first Kearton Bay novel — is a warm-hearted, funny, genuinely moving entry into it. It is not trying to be literary fiction, and that honesty is part of its charm. It knows what it is, executes it with considerable craft, and leaves you rather desperately wanting to visit a fictional village on the North Yorkshire coast.
Larner Wallace-Taylor’s narration is a perfectly judged match for the material — bright, invested, and unafraid of comic timing. At eleven and a half hours, this is a proper autumn listen: the kind of audiobook that makes commuting or housework feel like a genuine pleasure.
About the Audiobook
There Must Be an Angel is the first book in A Kearton Bay Novel series, running to 11 hours and 30 minutes and published by QUEST from W. F. Howes Ltd. When Eliza Jarvis discovers that her property-presenting husband has been expanding his portfolio with tabloid celebrity Melody Bird, she handles the discovery in the most practical manner available: she steals a car (it’s more complicated than it sounds), packs up her three-year-old daughter Amy, grabs a family-size bag of Maltesers, and heads to the North Yorkshire coast to find the father she never knew.
All she has is a name — Raphael — and the geography of a small coastal village, Kearton Bay, which ought to narrow things down. What she finds instead is a cast of characters including a beautiful Wiccan landlady, a pink-haired café owner, and Gabriel Bailey — who has the name of an angel, none of the temperament, and absolutely no interest in Eliza’s questions or her designer wardrobe. The romance builds slowly and believably, and Booth peoples the village with secondary characters who feel genuinely inhabited rather than plotted.
What lifts the novel above its genre conventions is the handling of the father storyline, which turns out to be rather more complex and morally interesting than the premise suggests. Booth earns her resolution.
The Narration
Larner Wallace-Taylor is excellent company for eleven hours. She navigates the large cast with precision — Eliza’s exasperated dignity, Gabriel’s stubborn guardedness, the Yiayia-esque Wiccan landlady — without ever blurring into generic performance. Her comic timing for the novel’s funnier moments is particularly effective, and she handles the emotional climaxes without over-playing them.
This is the kind of narration that makes you forget you’re listening to a performance. Wallace-Taylor simply tells the story, and you trust her entirely.
What Readers Say
Listener response has been consistently enthusiastic. PurpleJulieBear gave it five stars and described it as « unputdownable, » praising the heroine’s wit and the ensemble cast: « Sharon Booth has created a wonderful cast of characters who feel like friends and family. » Anna maria connected to the North Yorkshire setting and called the opening « absolutely brilliant. » AlisonW appreciated the realism of Eliza’s insecurities — « despite her money, she has all the same insecurities as other women. » Booklover BEV described it simply as « heartwarming… with every chapter gripping you into that final moment sharing love, friendship and family. »
The occasional mild note: a small number of readers found the opening slightly slow. They are wrong. Booth is building something.
Who Should Listen?
Fans of Milly Johnson, Katie Fforde, or Jessica Redland — warm, funny, emotionally honest British romantic fiction with a real sense of place. Anyone who has ever driven somewhere entirely impractical in response to a life crisis. Anyone who regards Maltesers as a valid coping strategy.
Listen to There Must Be an Angel on Audible UK and spend eleven hours in the very best company Kearton Bay has to offer.
