Tracey Lange has officially established herself as the queen of Irish family dramas.

A young woman just released from a 2 year prison sentence returns to live with her brother, sister, and nephew and attempts to fit back into her former life. The Connelllys are each dealing with their own demons, though and Tara seems to be the catalyst for change, both good and bad.

I adore how Tracey writes incredibly real characters with flaws we all recognize. These aren’t page-turning thrillers, but quietly captivating stories of families fighting yet supporting each other, love dealing with obstacles, and redemption in a variety of forms.

I could not get invested in this book. I thought the characters needed more development and more to them. I didn’t connect with them or the atmosphere.

Very surprised by how much I ended up loving this one!! I only requested this because it was a BOTM choice so I figured I’d give it a go without really knowing what it was about. I ended up loving it so so much! I really loved Tara and not only her relationship with Brian, but with her family as well. I do wish there was like one more chapter though so the whole Connelly family could reunite with their dad. I would’ve liked to see that.

Well this book just wrapped up everything I could want in a contemporary family drama and put a lovely (but understated) Irish bow on it. My great-great-great grandparents of County Carlow would be proud!

It’s been a while since I read We Are the Brennans, but I think I enjoyed this one even more. The story centers on Tara, just released from prison on a drug charge, and how she and her family struggle and adapt and protect each other as she rejoins them.

The sibling dynamics here were so interesting and multifaceted — seeing how Tara, Eddie, and Geraldine all push and pull on each other drew me in. Plus, there were so many other great relationships that built throughout — Tara and her little nephew Connor, the local police team (who are an uncle and nephew pair), Tara and new friends she makes along the way…some are brutal at times, but most are so uplifting ❤️ Add in the intrigue around the drug network that got Tara sent to jail in the first place? You’ve got a first-rate mix.

I’ve loved Tracey Lange’s books for the gentle but spot-on way they highlight the hallmarks of Irish American families and communities. Even generations removed from Ireland, the heavily Irish Catholic area I grew up in had many of the same personalities and values on display — a heavy emphasis on loyalty and fighting for your own, an emotional reservedness that later generations sometimes seek to overcome, and a dogged determination to do whatever needs to be done for your family to survive.

Very much enjoyed the Connellys’ story, and look forward to more from Tracey Lange!!

Thanks so much to Celadon, the author, and NetGalley for my gifted digital copy. The Connellys of County Down hits shelves on August 1 (and is available as a Book of the Month pick)!

Okay! Very pleasantly surprised by The Connellys of County Down. This definitely surpassed all of my expectations and I quite enjoyed it!

This is about the three Connelly siblings, each with their fair share of life’s difficulties. The story starts with one of the siblings, Tara, being released from prison. The reason why she was there, what happens upon her release, and her relationship with the cop that helped put her there are the heart of this plot.

Maybe I’m a literary snob, but I expected very little from this book. Instead, what I found inside was a really beautiful sibling story about the lengths we will go for those we grew up alongside. I found a sibling set I grew attached to almost instantly and I could not put this down until I knew their fates. This story of sacrifice and shame and secrets felt so relatable despite some of the not so relatable (for me) circumstances. I don’t have a whole lot else to say about this book. It’s a sibling story, that’s what you need to know. And it went down easily and was all consuming while reading.

The Connellys of County Down is officially my favorite book of the summer. It is a story of family, love, and forgiveness. Tracey Lange is such a phenomenal author. She writes with so much heart and emotion. I wasn’t able to put this book down and finished it in record time! I am such a fan of books that revolve around family and the chaos that surrounds them. It always has me hooked, and the Connellys immediately stole my heart and full attention. Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for this egalley in exchang for an honest review!

THE CONNELLYS OF COUNTY DOWN follows the three Connelly siblings -- Tara, who was recently released from prison after serving eighteen months on a drug charge, Eddie, a single dad struggling with the ongoing effects of a brain injury he sustained years ago, and Geraldine, the bossy older sister harboring secrets and obsessions that are reaching a breaking point . The story centers arounds the individual complexities of each character and how they affect each other.

Typically, literary fiction with a huge focus on character-develop instead of plot is my favorite -- but this one didn't quite hit the mark. I didn't really like any of the characters, so I didn't really feel the need to root for them along the way (other than Connor, loved him).

As a fan of WE ARE THE BRENNANS, I'll definitely read more from Lange in the future -- but probably won't be recommending this one as much as her first.

When Tara Connelly gets out of prison for drug running, she returns home to her brother, sister, and nephew. As she starts to get back into normal life, the cop who put her away reappears in her life. Her brother and sister have their own problems, and Tara finds herself just one step away from being sent back to prison.

This is the second book by the author of We Are the Brennans, which I loved. This book is similar in tone to that one but a completely different family. I really liked this one (although it was a bit weird reading a book where I share the same name as the main character). I liked the characters and thought they were well written, and the action of the book actually moves forward. It was not a perfect book- there were a few things that were repeated too often- her lack of a cell phone and the fairy tale that their mother told them as children about The Connellys of County Down. I found these things too repetitive, and they took me out of the story. However, I really enjoyed this family drama. It reminded me not only of her first book, but also of older Denis Lehane books.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy for review.

Equal parts cute and frustrating. The whole ex-con and the-cop-who-put-them-there dynamic is a little ick for me, though they do a good job of addressing the power dynamic. The main character’s sister does nothing but lie and keep secrets the whole time, which makes her super unlikeable, and her actions ultimately become the main conflict of the novel. An interesting commentary on keeping secrets and the damage that can do. Points for being self-aware and having cute, flawed, believable family relationships.

Tara Connelly returns home after serving time in prison. She moves back in with her brother, Eddie, and sister, Geraldine. As she settles in at home, she notices her siblings acting differently than she remembers. Eddie looks pretty nervous around her and Geraldine has become a "collector" of things. The only family member happy to see her is her nephew, Conor, Eddie's son. Tara knows she has to get a job, one of her parole criteria. It is not easy since she has to divulge her time in prison or it is discovered during the background check. To further complicate her life, she keeps running into one of the officers that put her in prison, to begin with! There is a spark between them. How can Tara step back into her life? What is going on with her siblings? The Connelly's dysfunctional family has descended to an entirely new level.

On the surface, this book is about a parolee trying to acclimate back into society. There are other layers to this story, however. Eddie and Geraldine are nervous around Tara, why? Tara needs to build a relationship of trust with her parole officer but Tara keeps finding herself in one kind of trouble or another. Will the interesting policeman help Tara? Is he using her to further his career? There are so many questions. Tracey Lange answers all of these questions in due time. The Connellys have truly hit a rough patch and need each other to regroup and repair all that has gone astray. Family dynamics, drugs, prison, revenge, and redemption are powerful themes that Tracey Lange combines into a vividly interesting story.

I really loved this wonderfully written, complex, and heartfelt family drama. It felt a little slow to start, we have to wait a little bit for the action to shake down, which I was anxious to find out about, but I think the purpose of that down time was to flesh out each character and get us truly invested in and rooting for Tara, Eddie, and even the rigid and often unlikeable Geraldine - which paid off. I was completely invested in the siblings and their secrets.

This is a story about family (with a little forbidden romance in the mix). The Connelly family is a complicated one, in which each member has made poor decisions and is flawed in his or her own way, but is doing the best they can with what they've got. The thing that binds them is their unwavering love and loyalty to one another... even if it's messy and dysfunctional. Relatable? Yep!

Sidenote: I 1,000% thought this was going to be a story that took place in Ireland, and I even imagined that the audiobook would be narrated in an Irish Brogue (no such luck, but Barrie Kreinik did a great job!). It actually takes place in the same town (in New York.. not Ireland) as Lange's debut novel, The Brennans, though the books stand alone.

Thank you to Tracy Lange and Celadon books for the advanced copy (and the audiobook! I loved switching off between kindle and audio for this, depending on what I was doing!). I would love to see these characters again in a sequel!

This will be out on August 1st! I hope you add it to your TBR!

“The most honest words didn’t have to be loud or dramatic to cut deep.”

Is it presumptuous of me that I just assumed this would be a five star read because of how much I loved We Are The Brennans? Whatever the answer, I was not wrong.

Tracey Lange’s writing is just so engrossing. She writes family and family dynamics like almost no other author. So much so that sometimes, when I read her books, I feel like I’m peeking inside someone’s house and watching their lives unfold without their knowledge. I LOVED the Connelly family. I loved their rawness and their dysfunction, but also their overwhelming loyalty to each other and underneath that…the love. This is a family riddled with hardships but that always perseveres.

The audiobook was awesome and I am so glad I had it because I just couldn’t put this one down! So I listened when I couldn’t physically read and that just helped me to get even more lost in this family. The narrator did an amazing job of giving each character their own voice and really capturing their essence. I feel like I just watched a movie! I will thoroughly miss this family.

Going forward I will read anything this woman writes, knowing that as the book finishes I will be reading or listening thinking noooo I’m just not ready to say goodbye yet. Now THAT. That is the sign of a great book, and what I hope will happen every time I open a new one but, unfortunately, usually doesn’t.

Thank you SO much to Macmillan Audio, Netgalley, and Celadon Books for the ARC and ALC in exchange for an honest review.

The Connellys of County Down pulled me right out of a reading slump and kept me furiously flipping pages until the very last word. I tend to gravitate towards romance and thrillers...pretty much anything with grand romantic gestures or crazy plot twists. But a good book is a good book and this is a good book! More of a contemporary fiction, there are hints of romance, crime, mystery, and all the family dysfunction you can handle! These characters feel as honest and real as they do dysfunctional. At the end of the day family is family, no matter how many secrets they carry or quirks they have. I love Tracey Lange's writing style and find it similar to Ethan Joella, who I love!

Thank you to Celadon & Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. 4.5 stars

I absolutely loved this story! Once again, Tracey Lange hit it out of the park.

This book explores the depths we'd go to protect our families, the resilience of damaged families after trauma, and the ripple effects of our choices on our lives and our loved one’s lives. There’s also a captivating forbidden romance and thought-provoking questions about morality and ethics that were so well done.

Another aspect of this book I appreciated was how the author addressed the challenges faced by individuals with criminal backgrounds reintegrating into society. It shed light on society's unforgiving nature, even after someone has served their time. The story powerfully conveyed the ongoing punishment people endure long after their release.

Though somewhat predictable, the writing and characters truly tug at your heartstrings. Tara's connection with her nephew and the growth among her siblings are particularly endearing. I’d be remiss not to say how much I loved the love story, too. This is the kind of story that steals your heart and leaves a lasting imprint.

The New York setting also hits home with me and scores points since I’m a New Yorker. 🙃

In short, this was a fantastic read that combines themes of family, romance, morality, and resilience and I adored it!

Thank you so much NetGalley, Celadon Books, and Tracey Lange for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Read if you like:
🥈 Second Chances
🏡 Stories about Family
❤️ Romance
✨ Magical Stories
🥰 All the Feels

Tara Connelly knows all about the messiness of life and family. We first meet her as she is being released from prison after serving an 18 month drug sentence.

We see the mess of her family immediately as we learn all about the dynamics where her siblings didn’t really visit her in prison and her sister is clearly ashamed of her and her brother is just struggling to be a dad and live with a life altering disability from when his dad wrecked the car he was in leaving him with a TBI and then leaving the oldest Geraldine to finish raising her two younger siblings at only 19 years old.

We see the truths start to unfold of how Tara ended up in prison and why she wouldn’t flip on the drug dealer to save her own skin and truly learn the value that family holds for Tara and how much she is willing to sacrifice for her siblings.

This one while I wanted to slap characters at times, also felt so raw and real and loved every second of getting to read about the messy lives of The Connelly’s and how important family and protecting the people she loves is to Tara.

I also loved the subtle but nuanced discussion on the prejudice and biases against those that have been perceived to have broken the law and really hope that others come out of reading this book with another perspective on those with criminal records and how we treat those individuals in society.

If you are looking for your next story about family dynamics I highly recommend checking this one out. Thanks so much to Celadon books for my ARC of this one!

Tracey Lange has such a great talent for developing very real, flawed, characters and sibling relationships that you just can't help but root for and love. I think I loved this one even more than the first. I can't wait to see what she does next!

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

4. 5 stars
As much as I loved Lange’s debut, 𝘔𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘴,
I love her sophomore book even more. She took everything that was likable in her first book (sibling relationships, building a business together, family tradition) and then dug even deeper, showcasing the writing chops this author owns.

The Connellys are your normal, dysfunctional family. No, really - if your family is perfect, yay. Mine was not, far from it, and I was always made to feel like that was abnormal, thanks to the television and movie families i watched. Thanks to Tracey Lange for acknowledging that screwed up families are the norm.

Tara Connelly just got out of a two year stint in prison for running drugs, Eddie is raising a son on his own after a traumatic brain injury has left with him with massive fall out, and Geraldine, the oldest, has some serious anxiety issues, manifesting in addictive collecting. And this is all on top of their car-stealing father running away following the early death of their mother, leaving the kids to basically raise themselves on their own. Yep, there’s some deep issues in this family.

But the one constant in their life is the sibling’s love and loyalty to one another. I was utterly engrossed with this family, staying up way too late to see where life takes them next. Love Love Love and Love!

⭐️⭐️ “I miss Sunday and Kale,” -Me, wishing I was still reading We are the Brennans.

🥂𝒫𝒶𝒾𝓇𝓈 𝓌𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽: Hofbräu from the German bar across the street from the Irish pub you just left.

✍️ Whenever my friends want to go to an Irish pub, a little leprechaun inside my head says, “but we can go somewhere more fun?” yet every now and then there’s a pot of gold at these dive bars and I’m glad someone nudged me out of my comfort zone. 🇮🇪 Before you know it, I’m taking a purposeful sip of Guinness in hopes that the liquid line will land in between the words and the symbol. (No small feat…)

Such is the story of me picking up We are the Brennans for a book club back in pandemic-four-book-clubs-a-month days. (RIP 💔) I loved that story so much and could not wait until Tracey Lange tried to convince me again that maybe an afternoon at Petey O’Doyle’s isn’t all that bad.

No such luck. 🍀 The leprechaun that led me to the pot of gold that was the Brennans decided to unleash his mischievous side and bring me the Connellys. Feeling pretty duped right now, and not in a good way like skincare for 1/10th of the price.

When it comes to The Connellys of County Down, I guess you could say the Guinness had been kicked.

⚠️May cause readers to look forward to Pi Day in March over St. Patrick’s Day.

Sometimes I think a book’s rating is entirely dependent on how it makes you feel, IF it makes you feel anything particularly strongly. And let me tell YOU, this one made me feel a MESS of emotions. Particularly frustration at their sheer lack of communication. But that’s what made it so good! It moved along specifically because of those frustrations.

Just wish the chapters weren’t so freaking long!

Thanks to Celadon for including me in the #celadonreadstogether campaign for this title in April to read this early with new-to-me bookstagrammers! It was awesome to be paired up with a small group of similar readers to read and discuss the title and get to know each other. I appreciated getting a NetGalley copy, too, so I could read it on my travels.
For me, this read started out really well - I was engaged in the story from the beginning and excited for the first quarter, but then I paused to meet the reading schedule. This unfortunately led to me losing momentum and setting the book aside, and I didn’t finish the book until well after we were supposed to discuss it.
Lange does a great job crafting a beautifully flawed family. Their struggles felt realistic and able to be identified with. I wasn’t as much of a fan of the romance that developed - it felt problematic and unstable. Overall, I liked this family drama, and I obviously loved that the main characters went to dinner at Brennan’s (from the author’s previous book) for a dinner date. I think fans of family dramas will enjoy this one, and I also recommend the author’s debut, We Are the Brennan’s.