
Lovers at the Museum
A Short Story
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Narrated by:
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Nicholas Boulton
About this listen
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Wind Knows My Name comes a mesmerizing tale of two passionate souls who share one magical night that defies all rational explanation.
Love, be it wild or tender, often defies logic. In fact, at times, the only rationale behind the instant connection of two souls is plain magic.
Bibiña Aranda, runaway bride, wakes up in the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao still wearing her wedding dress, draped in the loving arms of a naked man whose name she doesn’t know. She and the man with no clothes, Indar Zubieta, attempt to explain to the authorities how they got there. It’s a story of love at first sight and experience beyond compare, one that involves a dreamlike journey through the museum.
But the lovers’ transcendent night bears no resemblance to the crude one Detective Larramendi attempts to reconstruct. And no amount of fantastical descriptions can convince the irritated inspector of the truth.
Allende’s dreamy short story has the power to transport readers in any language, leaving them to ponder the wonders of love long after the story’s over.
©2001, 2024 by Isabel Allende. (P)2024 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Translation © 2024 by Isabel Allende. Previously published as Los Amantes del Guggenheim by Círculo de Lectores in Spain in 2001. Translated from Spanish by Isabel Allende. First published in English by Amazon Original Stories in 2024.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“Nicholas Boulton delights in this story of passionate lovers.… Boulton speaks brusquely as Detective Larramendi separately interviews the couple, who both offer the same explanation. Boulton uses pacing to deliver Isabel Allende's wry humor. As the woman, Bibiña, Boulton gushes with earnestness; as her lover, Indar, he conveys similar honesty but with a matter-of-factness that belies the fantastic nature of the couple's excuse. Despite his crusty nature, Detective Larramendi cannot help being captivated by the magically implausible story that the lovers tell. Neither will listeners.”—AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award Winner
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- Narrated by: Andrew Eiden, Krystal Hammond
- Length: 7 hrs and 7 mins
- Original Recording
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Meet Randi Burnett—she’s brilliant, she’s beautiful, and she works for the bride. Missing groom? Intoxicated in-laws? Crying ring-bearer? You name it, she wrangles it. Too bad her personal life isn’t thriving like her side gig as a bridesmaid for hire. Recently dumped, Randi throws herself into her biggest challenge yet when she’s hired as a maid of honor and pretend best friend for an ice queen bride. There’s just one problem—the best man is infuriating, overprotective, and anti-marriage.
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Cutesy lil rom com
- By Kindle Customer on 02-13-25
By: Erin Clark, and others
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Nocticadia
- By: Keri Lake
- Narrated by: Aaron Shedlock, Stella Hunter
- Length: 18 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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After watching my mother succumb to a mysterious illness, I promised myself two things. I'd find the cure for what ravaged her and leave the godforsaken city where she abandoned me. Four years later, I received an acceptance letter from Dracadia University, one of the oldest most prestigious schools in the country. Nestled on a secluded island off the coast of Maine, it's rumored to be haunted by the souls of the mental patients exiled there centuries before, those whose bones are said to make up the island's white sandy shores. And restless ghosts aren't even its most daunting peculiarity.
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It was perfect
- By Amazon Customer on 11-16-24
By: Keri Lake
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The Japanese Lover
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In 1939, as Poland falls under the shadow of the Nazis, young Alma Belasco's parents send her away to live in safety with an aunt and uncle in their opulent mansion in San Francisco. There, as the rest of the world goes to war, she encounters Ichimei Fukuda, the quiet and gentle son of the family's Japanese gardener. Unnoticed by those around them, a tender love affair begins to blossom. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the two are cruelly pulled apart.
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My first negative review
- By Karen O'Byrne on 11-11-15
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Paula
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When her daughter, Paula, became gravely ill and fell into a coma, Isabel Allende began to write the story of her family for her unconscious child. Bizarre ancestors are introduced; delightful and bitter childhood memories are shared; amazing anecdotes of youthful years are relived, and the most intimate secrets are quietly passed along. Like Allende’s first novel, The House of the Spirits, this powerful memoir is infused with the real, the magical, and the spiritual, creating a haunting, sad, and beautiful tale.
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Words for the soul
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The Real Deal
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Belle Simon was just 12 years old when she was one of six girls plucked from obscurity to star in reality TV sensation The Real Deal. Under the wing of dazzling star Donna Mayfair, she and the other five girls were meant to become world-famous actresses, singers and dancers. But at 26, Belle is trying to live anonymously, away from being loved or loathed. The public eye has never fully shut, however, and when a producer offers Belle a big paycheck to join a reunion special for The Real Deal, she finds it hard to say no.
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Don't Expect a Thriller
- By T on 03-18-25
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A Night at the Tropicana
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Havana, 1939: It’s opening night at the famed Tropicana nightclub. Cuban American college student Natalie Trainer, on vacation from Miami, is watching from the sidelines—as usual. Then comes an invitation to dance from a handsome stranger named Antonio. Normally cautious and reserved, Natalie somehow finds herself saying yes. A tiny thrill of rebellion, of taking a chance, and Natalie’s in heaven. Will her first step into this unfamiliar realm set a new course for her life, or only tonight?
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You can see Havana through the main character
- By Mom of 2 girls on 03-11-25
By: Chanel Cleeton
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The Lover
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Judith knows her sister, Alice, is the pretty one—but that doesn’t stop her from wishing for love. When a handsome and gentlemanly hunter appears in their village, seeking lodging from the cold, she believes her lover has finally arrived. He does, indeed, choose to stay—but as Alice’s husband, not her own. When another stranger comes out of the woods, looking every bit a vagrant, he offers Judith something mysterious and enticingly strange. Against reason and decency, she welcomes both men into her life, in different ways.
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Entrancing fable, mostly
- By 🔥 Phx17 🔥 on 11-28-23
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Cut and Thirst
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HILARIOUS
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In 1939, as Poland falls under the shadow of the Nazis, young Alma Belasco's parents send her away to live in safety with an aunt and uncle in their opulent mansion in San Francisco. There, as the rest of the world goes to war, she encounters Ichimei Fukuda, the quiet and gentle son of the family's Japanese gardener. Unnoticed by those around them, a tender love affair begins to blossom. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the two are cruelly pulled apart.
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My first negative review
- By Karen O'Byrne on 11-11-15
By: Isabel Allende
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Paula
- A Memoir
- By: Isabel Allende
- Narrated by: Isabel Allende, Cynthia Farrell
- Length: 14 hrs and 28 mins
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When her daughter, Paula, became gravely ill and fell into a coma, Isabel Allende began to write the story of her family for her unconscious child. Bizarre ancestors are introduced; delightful and bitter childhood memories are shared; amazing anecdotes of youthful years are relived, and the most intimate secrets are quietly passed along. Like Allende’s first novel, The House of the Spirits, this powerful memoir is infused with the real, the magical, and the spiritual, creating a haunting, sad, and beautiful tale.
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Words for the soul
- By Grethel Gait��n on 08-13-20
By: Isabel Allende
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The Real Deal
- By: Caitlin Devlin
- Narrated by: Eilidh Beaton
- Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins
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Belle Simon was just 12 years old when she was one of six girls plucked from obscurity to star in reality TV sensation The Real Deal. Under the wing of dazzling star Donna Mayfair, she and the other five girls were meant to become world-famous actresses, singers and dancers. But at 26, Belle is trying to live anonymously, away from being loved or loathed. The public eye has never fully shut, however, and when a producer offers Belle a big paycheck to join a reunion special for The Real Deal, she finds it hard to say no.
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Don't Expect a Thriller
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Havana, 1939: It’s opening night at the famed Tropicana nightclub. Cuban American college student Natalie Trainer, on vacation from Miami, is watching from the sidelines—as usual. Then comes an invitation to dance from a handsome stranger named Antonio. Normally cautious and reserved, Natalie somehow finds herself saying yes. A tiny thrill of rebellion, of taking a chance, and Natalie’s in heaven. Will her first step into this unfamiliar realm set a new course for her life, or only tonight?
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You can see Havana through the main character
- By Mom of 2 girls on 03-11-25
By: Chanel Cleeton
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The Sum of Our Days
- By: Isabel Allende
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Isabel Allende reconstructs the painful reality of her own life in the wake of the tragic death of her daughter, Paula. Narrated with warmth, humor, exceptional candor, and wisdom, this remarkable memoir is as exuberant and as full of life as its creator. Allende bares her soul while sharing her thoughts on love, marriage, motherhood, spirituality and religion, infidelity, addiction, and memory - and recounts stories of the wildly eccentric, strong-minded, and eclectic tribe she gathers around her and lovingly embraces as a new kind of family.
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She does not disappoint
- By ChiChi's Rule on 06-01-22
By: Isabel Allende
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Olivia Strauss Is Running Out of Time
- A Novel
- By: Angela Brown
- Narrated by: Stefanie Kay
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
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Olivia Strauss is turning thirty-nine. No major milestone. She still considers herself young. At least young enough to assume she has decades (emphasis on the plural) to check the unchecked boxes of her life’s to-do list. Ballerina? Too late. But not too late for poet. Or for reigniting the romantic spark in her marriage, spending more quality time with her son, switching careers, learning to cook, or even dyeing her hair a bright bohemian pink. She’ll get to that one. There’s time—until Olivia’s best friend, Marian, gives her a birthday present she could have lived without.
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Interesting story! Fun novel!
- By J. Conner on 06-12-24
By: Angela Brown
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The Anti-Heroes
- A Novel
- By: Jen Lancaster
- Narrated by: Soneela Nankani, Amanda Leigh Cobb
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
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Once upon a time, Dr. Emily Nichols—the academic kind, not the physician kind—was an eco-crusader who was shot with water cannons, hunted by poachers, and chased by a bulldozer. Now? Action Emily lives in a bland condo with gray walls and teaches disengaged students at a university alongside a risk-allergic boyfriend, asking herself every day: How did I get here?
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So fun!
- By late night Oakland reader on 01-07-25
By: Jen Lancaster
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Hypnotized by Love
- By: Sariah Wilson
- Narrated by: Stevi Incremona
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
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Hypnotist Savannah Sinclair is known for helping clients overcome their deep-rooted issues, from anxiety to addiction. But her nontraditional approach also attracts plenty of skeptics—including her high school nemesis and rival, Mason Beckett, who just so happens to be the boy who broke her heart.
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Narrator is fab, main character is an idiot for 3 too many chapters.
- By Kindle Customer on 03-11-24
By: Sariah Wilson
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Evidence of the Affair
- By: Taylor Jenkins Reid
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The correspondence between Carrie Allsop and David Mayer reveals, piece by piece, the painful details of a devastating affair between their spouses. With each commiserating scratch of the pen, they confess their fears and bare their souls. They share the bewilderment over how things went so wrong and come to wonder where to go from here. Told entirely through the letters of two comforting strangers and those of two illicit lovers, Evidence of the Affair explores the complex nature of the heart. And ultimately, for one woman, how liberating it can be when it’s broken.
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AN INCREDIBLE EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE!
- By Kindle Customer on 01-16-19
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The Promise of Tomorrow
- By: Mary Ellen Taylor
- Narrated by: Cortney Wright
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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When Olympia leaves her small Virginia town, she doesn’t expect to look back, much less ever come home. But after a year on the road, her sister’s engagement pulls Olympia into everything she left behind: her family, her husband, and the grief she’s been trying to forget. She’s determined to stay a few days, maybe a week—just enough time to visit gravestones and sign off on the divorce her husband, Spencer, asked for. But he’s reeling from their shared loss, as well as complications with his aging parents, leaving his heart just as fragile as Olympia’s.
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Disappointed
- By Teacher on 02-16-25
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The Infinite Plan
- A Novel
- By: Isabel Allende
- Narrated by: Isabel Allende, Luis Moreno
- Length: 16 hrs and 32 mins
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Performance
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Story
Born in the Hispanic barrio of Los Angeles, Gregory Reeves grew up in poverty, survived the killing fields of Vietnam, and is now a lawyer in San Francisco. Though he has successfully survived this hard journey, Gregory’s life has suddenly gone off the rails thanks to an illusory and wrongheaded quest that has left him feeling lost and listless. To find what he is missing and what his heart truly wants, he must return to his roots. Only by excavating the past can he see the way to his future.
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...it is so current, how is it possible?!
- By Sra. Dominguez on 07-28-22
By: Isabel Allende
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Ines of My Soul
- A Novel
- By: Isabel Allende
- Narrated by: Isabel Allende, Alma Cuervo
- Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Though she was born into poverty, Inés Suárez, a seamstress in 16th-century Spain, embodies the same restless hope and opportunism that fuels her nation’s conquest of the Americas. Learning that her shiftless husband has vanished, Inés uses his disappearance to embark on her own adventure. It is a journey will lead her to Pedro de Valdivia - a conquistador who becomes the first royal governor of Chile - and to a love that not only changes her life but the course of history.
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Disappointed
- By Elva Pulido on 04-01-21
By: Isabel Allende
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Everywhere You Look
- Never Tell Collection
- By: Liv Constantine
- Narrated by: Ellen Quay
- Length: 1 hr and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Story
It’s been ten years since Jade lost her father in a tragic accident, and the lingering guilt and grief have dragged her down to rock bottom. Then one night, she’s out at a restaurant and sees the impossible through the window: her father, alive. By the time she reaches the crowded sidewalk, he has disappeared. After so much despair, Jade isn’t going to lose him again—no matter what sinister truths may come from following him.
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Everywhere You Look. Story was great. Plot very interesting but kind of sad at the end finding out the truth.
- By M. Welch on 04-21-24
By: Liv Constantine
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The House of the Spirits
- A Novel
- By: Isabel Allende
- Narrated by: Thom Rivera, Marisol Ramirez
- Length: 18 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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The House of the Spirits brings to life the triumphs and tragedies of three generations of the Trueba family. The patriarch Esteban is a volatile, proud man whose voracious pursuit of political power is tempered only by his love for his delicate wife, Clara, a woman with a mystical connection to the spirit world. When their daughter, Blanca, embarks on a forbidden love affair in defiance of her implacable father, the result is an unexpected gift to Esteban.
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Narrators spoil it
- By Cookie on 09-27-16
By: Isabel Allende
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Everything My Mother Taught Me
- Inheritance collection
- By: Alice Hoffman
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 50 mins
- Unabridged
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In this haunting short story of loyalty and betrayal, a young woman in early 1900s Massachusetts discovers that in navigating her treacherous coming-of-age, she must find her voice first. For fatefully observant Adeline, growing up carries an ominous warning from her adulterous mother: don’t say a word. Adeline vows to never speak again. But that’s not her only secret. After her mother takes a housekeeping job at a lighthouse off the tip of Cape Ann, a local woman vanishes. The key to the mystery lies with Adeline, the silent witness.
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This story is incredible
- By Shumpie on 02-01-20
By: Alice Hoffman
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The Boy in the Iron Box
- The Complete Serialized Novel
- By: Guillermo del Toro, Chuck Hogan
- Narrated by: Ralph Ineson, Nina Yndis
- Length: 3 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Flying dark, a plane carrying a team of mercenaries crash-lands on a remote snowy summit. When they come across a mazelike stone fortress, it’s no refuge from the wolves and the freezing wind. It’s more like a trap. What they discover can stop the heart—or worse. As terror takes a new shape, the real battle for survival begins in this unrelenting serialized novel from Academy Award–winning filmmaker and writer Guillermo del Toro.
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Absolutely Amazing!
- By Omari Matlock on 07-08-24
By: Guillermo del Toro, and others
What listeners say about Lovers at the Museum
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- CoolGhoulsBookClub
- 04-10-24
Meh
Beautiful narration of an unremarkable story. Maybe I am just not the audience for this type of story.
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- Linda
- 09-04-24
A delightful short story
Amusing fantasy tale, with a few good laughs too, best thing though was that it was performed by my very favourite narrator.
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- Laney Wax
- 04-08-24
Loved this
Delightful and charming as only the beautiful amazing Isabel Allende could present❤️’ I’ve been a fan from the beginning.
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- Kadri
- 04-26-24
hilarious
don't read anything about it; just jump in and enjoy. excellent narration makes the characters come alive.
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- Bailey Rose
- 08-13-24
Just okay
A short story telling of two lovers who don’t know each other but on another level they do.
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- Andrea
- 05-18-24
Strange..,
The narration was beautiful. The story line was odd but it was short enough I did finish it.
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- Kayla Gomez
- 04-10-24
Not My Cup of Tea
It wasn’t a bad story it just isn’t what I usually read and I probably wouldn’t reread or recommend this to others with my same reading taste :(
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- Buzy_reading
- 04-13-24
Passing time
The story was a bit strange. Strangers meet. Fall in love. Consummate love in a museum.
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- AJ Holmes
- 04-16-24
A love that could only ever be found in a book!
Talk about a whirlwind romance. This was such a beautiful story to read about. Two strangers meeting, and falling in love so deeply with one another that the very existence of everything around them ceases to exist as it becomes something else entirely. A love so strong and binding that it makes sense to no one but the lovers themselves.
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- AlohaD
- 04-15-24
Needed more of these fated mates
As I was scrolling through my instagram, this book kept coming up and I knew I had to give it a listen, especially since it was available for free on audible. But my real question after giving this very short read a listen is, how can Ms Allende evoke the emotions she does in such a short period of time?
I loved the story of fated mates and how they came across one another when they needed to, yet they found themselves in an unusual predicament and not sure how they got there.
A short story of love, magic, and fantasy, all within the museum.
AND I cannot forget about the audio. Terrific narration by both the female and male narrators that gave life to the story.
My one negative....it just sort of ended. I get that it was a short story and I honestly wish we got more from both the characters, but the ending was too brief for me. Still liked the beauty the story encompassed.
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1 person found this helpful