Tracey Lange sophomore novel, The Connellys of County Down, focuses on family drama and secrets. Similar to her debut, We Are the Brennans, the main character is a 20 something woman with secrets and the weight of family issues on her shoulders.
Tara Connelly has just been released from prison after serving 18 months for a drug deal which is completely out of character for her. When her family (consisting of her brother and sister) become unable to pick her up from prison, the man who sent her to prison is there to pick her up. As the story progresses, we uncover long held secrets and the impacts of holding them in.

The Connellys of County Down by Tracey Lange. Pub Date: August 1, 2023. Rating: 4 stars. In this novel, the reader is taken on a journey through a family's current state of affairs. The main character, Tara, was just released from prison on a drug charge and at 30 years old is facing trying to rebuild her life as an ex-convict within her family space. She struggles with re-connecting with her family, finding a job and trying to make a better life for herself. Through all of these struggles, there is hope and love that blossoms as she perseveres through her trials and tribulations. This novel was a beautiful, moving journey about forgiveness, family, hope and love. I absolutely adore how this author writes and can't wait to read her next novel. Thanks to #netgalley and #celadonbooks for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

If you love good family dramas, you’ll enjoy this book! It was an engaging plot, likable characters, and I found myself breezing right through it. An enjoyable read!

I really enjoyed this one! I liked this author’s debut but I didn’t think that it was anything super spectacular. I debated on giving this book a chance but I am so glad that I did. This was everything that I wanted from We are the Brennans! I will be eagerly awaiting Tracy Lange’s upcoming books.

The Connellys of County Down is a character driven novel about a complicated family following three adult siblings. There are secrets and stress among them but they still have such strong love for each other. Each POV felt very distinct but sometimes a little flat unfortunately. I also was not a fan of the love story it had a strange power imbalance that I was not into. I do feel like this book was well written and a solid follow up to We Are the Brennans but it wasn’t the best book for me. Anyone who loves a family drama that’s very character driven with sometimes unlikeable characters might enjoy this though.

Tracey Lange so excellently brings family to life on the page! The Brennans captured my heart first, but the Connellys easily found a spot right next to them! I fell in love with Tara almost immediately, and I love how much she cared for her family and especially her nephew. The supporting cast was great and I really liked the added mystery element and I loved the addition of Tara's employers too! There was just the right amount of action for a family drama to make it exciting without overdoing it!

I didn’t finish this read.

I was bored and couldn’t find anything to capture my attention. I didn’t have anything pulling me in to keep going.

There was nothing bad about what I did read , it just wasn’t for me.

This isn't my usual kind of book, but I found I really enjoyed it! I was very captivated, and couldn't wait to find out next. I definitely recommend.

Unexpected in a lovely way. The family dynamics here were intense and very complex and interesting, not just with the Connellys, but also with Brian and his family as well. I had really enjoyed We Are the Brennans from Tracey Lange and this follow-up was great and did not disappoint at all. She has a great way of portraying families and their complex relationships, especially when there are secrets and drama involved. Tara is put in a situation that you can tell from the beginning is completely covered in complex layers that have been put there by the people around her and it was fascinating to watch all of that get peeled back.

I know I had put this one off for a bit and it is really a shame I haven't gotten to this sooner because it was not at all what I was expecting.

Many many thanks to Celadon Books and to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you Celadon for my advanced copy of the audio as well as the e-arc! All opinions are my own.

This story follows the life of three siblings battling their own struggles. Tara just finished an 18 month prison sentence and she tries to navigate the real life outside of prison. Geraldine has taken care of her siblings for as long as she can remember. The weight starts to get heavy and she struggles with an unhealthy obsession. Eddie learns to cope with life after a serious accident, all while being a single father.

This one was a quick, easy read. It is fairly short and didn’t take me any time at all to fly through it. Even though I read it quickly, I feel as if not much happened from beginning to end. It could have went a different direction, especially since a lot of situations were left unresolved.

The relationship aspect was odd to me. It progressed too quickly (although this could be due to the length of the book) and it seemed unrealistic due to their shared past. It was all pretty awkward. There were things that happened in the past that I felt deserved more explanation before hopping into a relationship.

I did enjoy the siblings’ struggles. They each had their own and I feel like all types of readers could relate to each of their struggles, regardless if they have experienced it exactly or not. Not everything is perfect, but you end up making do with what life throws at you, and you find your individual way in how to cope with it.

The narrator did a wonderful job in capturing each character’s unique personality. I look forward to listening to her more.

Tara Connelly is being released from prison, having served 18 months on a drug related charge. She managed to get through her sentence by drawing and creating stories for her nephew and for other inmates' children. She is shocked when Det. Brian Nolan is there at her release, as he helped put her in prison. Brian wants to apologize to her, but he can't do it. He feels a connection to Tara, but knows it is a career danger to be involved with an ex-con. Tara is trying to put her life, and her family, back together. Her brother, Eddie, suffers from a brain injury, and her sister, Geraldine, is a bit neurotic and a hoarder. All of these things lead Tara to make some interesting choices.
This is ultimately a story of love, family, and trust. Tara does everything she can to protect her family, often to her detriment. I liked the relationship between Brian and Tara, and I loved the loyalty Tara had to her family, esp. her nephew, Conor. I enjoyed the parts about her art/drawings, and the partnership with Gordi and Lance, the teens that took a chance on Tara.
Enjoyable read.

Sadly I didn’t really like this one. I didn’t hate it. I’ve tried to read others by this author and it just fell flat.

Thank you to #NetGalley, the author and the publisher.

I read her first book and even though I liked it well enough, I liked this one even better. I liked the characters better and the plot.

I liked Tara, Eddie, especially 10 year old Conor but Geraldine was just so annoying. I really thought she was in her 60s but that didn't fit with their age differences and she was only in her 30s. She acted like an old woman.

I've always been a big reader of dysfunctional families, and this one sort of fits the description. It's not just about families but also the cop who has ties with Tara when he arrested her. It gets more complicated in a personal way too. I like how the ending tied up all the family and the problem.

I have her future book on my to read and hopefully I'll be reading that one too when it comes out in August 2024. I Googled it and this is the plot: “When Kyle McCray gets word his father has suffered a debilitating stroke, he returns to his hometown of Potsdam, New York, even though he doesn't expect a warm reception.”

Oh this was a heartbreaking novel. Tara is release from prison, and as her family tries to reconnect, secrets unravel. This book focused on family relationships, secrets, and the things we would do to save our family. Theres characters were not necessarily likeable, but that's family isn't it? They were real, with real flaws, and real problems. The characteristics of some family members may feel out of place, until their secrets unravel and you learn what they have been hiding. Overall a wonderful book that had real, honest characters. Mix of character development and plot driven.

I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this book. I loved how Geraldine, Tara, and Eddie rallied around each other when they struggled. They had no issues calling another one out kindly when they were wrong, which I appreciated. I love how Tara would protect her family no matter what happened to her. I liked the fairy tales their mother used to tell them. I thought they were really sweet. However, the detective sending money to Tara while she was an inmate, picking her up when she got out of jail, and then basically courting her was just too far-fetched for me. Maybe it is because of the field I work in, but I just couldn't do it.

I still recommend this book if you like all the other things that I mentioned that I loved. Also, Connor's jokes were my favorite part of the book. Seriously, they were great!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of The Connellys of County Down by Tracey Lange in exchange for my honest review and opinion. I love a good family drama and this has all the characters that keep you turning the pages as fast as you can.to see how it ends. I am so excited for all my friends to read this so we can talk about it as it's that darn good!

I found this book to be just ok. I didn't find any aspect of the story to be out of this world for me. It is essentially a family story about siblings and it is heartwarming in parts however just not enough to move me and consider it fantastic. Lange does a good job of showing the lengths that we will go to for the people we love.

After serving time for a drug charge, Tara returns to the home she shares with her brother, sister, and nephew. She tries to get her life back on track, but a combination of long-simmering family tensions, a budding romance, and a cop who won’t seem to leave her alone makes it difficult for her to find her footing. This is a family dysfunction story about siblings who each carry their own form of trauma from their shared history. And of course nobody talks to each other, which is really the crux of the story. This was well-written, but quiet - more focused on the relationships between people than the plot. There IS a plot, but it’s probably the least compelling aspect of the book.

This was a generally okay character driven novel. I enjoyed it but feel like it's easily forgettable. I appreciate the opportunity to give it a read.

This book begins with Tara being released from prison after she served time for transporting drugs. She goes home to her sister, brother and nephew and is trying to restart her life while juggling family issues, a budding romance with the person who put her in jail and a cop who is still out to get her.
I didn’t know what to expect when I started this book and I was pleasantly surprised. Tara’s post prison experiences felt real (aside from the love interest element), but seeing her trying to figure out how to navigate the world after prison time was an experience so many women have. As I read the parts of the story focused on her sister’s issues I could feel the anxiety building in my chest. She was written so well and you could feel her struggle. This is absolutely a book worth reading.