3.5 Rounded Up.

I received an advanced copy of The Connellys of County Down by Tracey Lange from the publisher Celadon Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What It’s About: Tara Connelly has just been released from prison and she is trying to rebuild her life and never again go back to prison after serving eighteen months. With no money and no prospects, Tara has to return to live with her siblings. Her brother Eddie is a single dad who lives with the chronic impacts of a brain injury from years ago. While her older sister is struggling with maintaining the household and the difficulties of a promotion, leading to the burden of more and more secrets. To make matters more confusing, the cop who put her in jail keeps appearing.

What I Loved: If you love family dramas, this book will scratch that itch. I really felt like I was in familiar territory and was somewhere I knew. This vibe of an Irish community that is closely interconnected. I found this narrative compelling and I wanted to know what was going on. The book has enough plot and complex dynamics to satisfy a fan of the genre.

What I Didn’t Like: I found some of the plotlines challenging. I found the romance inappropriate and I found the way Tara’s sister treated her and behaved really terribly. I found that the growth of her siblings was underwhelming and that this ultimately deterred me buying into Tara’s growth.

Who Should Read It: People who are looking for a compelling family drama.

Summary: After being released from prison, Tara must get her life together in the midst of family dysfunction.

Would like to start off by saying Thank You so very much, Macmillan Audio, for allowing me the opportunty to listen to this audiobook. I have found a new Auto Buy Author who I will be adding to my list.

Barrie Kreinik did an amazing job with narration. Her voice pulled me in, head first, and created the ultimate experience. You can have the best story, but if you can't connect with the narrator, it just won't work, at least not for me. Can't tell you all, how much I enjoyed this book.

This family may seem to some, as if they have deep, heavy issues but when you dive in and peek behind the curtain, it all changes. I fell in love with them. I think each of us can relate to the family dynamic in some way. The chips are down and they come together. They are loyal, supportive and the way the story unfolded was captivating. Ended really well and made me want to get in the car and go home with them.

Tara is the main character and we travel thru the story with her, most of the time. We dive into the other siblings every so often and they are all an integral part of the story. You could feel their emotions, as if you were going thru each motion with them. It was so well written and I look forward to the next book by Tracey Lange!

Highly recommend this book. And, suggest you go with the audiobook.

4.25 stars. The Connellys of County Down is the perfect read for someone looking for some well developed characters and a little family drama. I so enjoyed following along with Tara Connelly's story after she is released from a year and a half in prison. She was an easy character to root for, although sometimes I just wanted everyone to talk and get their secrets out in the open! This book had a little romance, a little mystery, and lots of family secrets. I so enjoyed the love and loyalty the three Connelly siblings had for each other and how despite the adversity they each faced, they stuck together and supported each other. Highly recommend!

Another great novel by Tracey Lange, she tells such great family stories. I was rooting for Tara as she got back to normal life after serving her time in prison. I always love a story with strong sibling bonds.

I jumped into this book with high expectations and settled right in feeling totally fulfilled within the first few pages. The writing is exactly what I want in a book; succinct, raw & paced perfectly. The characters are flawed but fully developed and interesting. I felt equal parts stressed, compassionate, frustrated, sympathetic and fascinated throughout the entire book. This is a great follow up to her debut novel & I can’t wait to see what she does next.

This is a pretty interesting story about three siblings - The Connellys - and the adversities they had to face after losing their parents at a young age. It starts with Tara, one of the sisters, leaving prison, and from there it tells us everything that happened in the past that led up to her even going to prison in the first place. The story is very interesting and goes beyond a strong sibling bond.

I loved this book! I will definitely recommend it. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Thank you to Net Galley for this free advance copy of The Connellys of CountyDown in exchange for a honest review.This is such a well written family drama that centers around three adult siblings- Geraldine, Eddie and Tara Connelly.Tara Connelly has just been released from prison on Long Island for transporting drugs for drug dealer Roland Shea.Brian Nolan and his uncle Hank have been trying to catch him but he remains elusive and Tara is collateral damage. Eddie suffered a brain injury as a child when his car stealing father crashed a car and vanished leaving oldest sister Geraldine to pick up the pieces and keep the family together.Geraldine has problems of her own .When Tara went to jail Geraldine developed a hoarding program and now is behind in her work putting her job and Tara’s freedom in jeopardy..Throw in some romance and this book has it all.Read the book and find out what happens next.Lots of action and intrigue.

4.5 stars. I really loved the author's first book so was very excited to get a chance to read this book as ARC. The author excels at writing about families with secrets and troubles. I wasn't as compelled to keep reading this story as I was with the first but when I was reading it I was drawn in to the drama. It took me a lot longer to finish than I expected given how quickly I devoured her first book. I really enjoy her writing style and I look forward to future books.

When Tara Connelly is released from prison after serving 18 months, she returns home to her siblings, who are both dealing with struggles of their own. As Tara begins to rebuild her life, family secrets begin to unravel and threaten her future, along with her siblings'.

This book reminded me a lot of Tracey Lange’s previous book, We Are the Brennans, which was one of my favorite reads of May! Both are centred around families and siblings who have very complex relationships yet, at the end of the day, always support one another.

Although I liked reading about the Connelly family drama and seeing each sibling’s character growth, I didn’t feel as invested in these characters as I did with the Brennans. Despite not being my favorite of the two, I still enjoyed it.

Thank you to Celadon Books for sending a copy!

Tara Connelly is released from prison after completing her sentence for drug trafficking. Her sister is supposed to pick her up, but doesn't show. The cop who helped put her away shows up unexpected to drive her home.

Her brother is a single dad with a brain injury. And while her sister acts like she has it all together, she is a hoarder and is struggling at work.

To move forward, the family has to come clean about a lot of secrets.

I really loved this one. I became very invested in their story. Each character had their own unique voice.

An absorbing and moving novel with dysfunctional family relationships taking center stage. Tara is getting out of jail, and returning home to her sister, Geraldine, her brother, Eddie and nephew, Conor. When they were young, their mother died of cancer and their criminally minded father left them, leaving Geraldine in charge of Tara and Eddie. That early trauma shaped their relationship to each other, and contributed to why Tara did time. Now that she is out of jail, Tara has to rebuild her life, and the way she interacts with her family. There are some nail biting moments as mistakes are made and truths are told. I really enjoyed this one, and recommend highly. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This was one of my most anticipated reads this year, as I loved the Brennans so much, and it didn’t disappoint.

Lange is so good a weaving interesting family stories with unlikely hero’s.

Like the Brennans, the a Connelly’s follows a young female family member upon her release from prison but with a vastly different story line.

I really liked Tara and enjoyed her relationships with her brother and nephew so much. The dynamics with her hoarder sister kept the story interesting and felt true to their characters.

The romance sub-plot got to me a bit, and felt a little out of place, but ended up working in the end. I wish they had a bit more backstory to make it feel more real though.

Can’t wait to see what Lange comes out with next as I’m sure I’ll love it too.

This is such a moving story about a family trying to hold it together, each with their own problems, before they lose each other altogether. The story line is engaging and hooks the reader from the beginning. Its a family drama but its full of themes - loyalty, sacrifice, and forgiveness. Lange does a great job of giving the characters backstory and encouraging readers to empathize with the characters.

I really enjoyed Tracy Lange's first novel so I was looking forward to this one!

I enjoyed it but it felt a little slow to me and a bit too character driven for my taste maybe! I just felt like nothing actually happened and the characters were just okay! Maybe I was in a bit of a reading slump but this wasn't the one for me!

This is only TL's second book, but she has already proven that shorter stories can pack a big punch. This sophomore novel also shows just how well TL can articulate family dynamics.

Objectively, the writing is succinct, the ebb and flow between the family members is realistic, and each page feels purposeful - making the story feel full in its limited amount of pages.

Subjectively, the only thing keeping me from appreciating this more is my lack of connection to any of the characters. I didn't really like any of them. They were fine, but no one I seriously cared reading about.

So all in all, while this story has some really great selling points, I didn't quite enjoy this as much as ‘We Are The Brennans,’ which I thought had better characters.

This was a highly character driven family drama of a novel! Which I highly enjoyed. It's always nice reading about flawed characters because it makes it easier to connect with them and you're rooting for them. I was immersed in their lives the whole time and was really rooting for Tara. This would definitely make a good fall read.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!

I feel like I’m the minority here but I wasn’t a fan of this book.

It was a slow burn, character driven plot filled with family drama. The Connelly’s, Tara, Geraldine, and Eddie, are siblings and they are all going through their own struggles. I loved the strong bond the siblings had and the way they supported each other but that’s about it. I didn’t like any of the characters (especially Geraldine) and I thought that Tara’s love interest and their relationship was unrealistic. I also felt like the pacing was too slow and nothing was really happening. I enjoyed the authors first book “We Are the Brennan’s” but unfortunately this one wasn’t for me.

Tara Connelly is released from prison after serving eighteen months on a drug charge. Trying to rebuild her life, she moves in with her siblings who are struggling with their own issues. Her brother Eddie is a single dad raising his son while also dealing with the effects of a brain injury he acquired some time ago and her sister Geraldine who is hiding secrets of her own. Picking up the pieces, Tara re connects with her nephew, starts anew job and in a twist of fate, finds romance in with someone she never would have imagined. Things are starting to look up until the family’s secrets begin to emerge threating to ruin everything Tara has built.


I really enjoyed the author’s previous book “We are the Brennans” and really enjoyed this one as well. Similar to her previous book, the author shines a light on family as the strong theme in this story. Tara is our MC who struggles to get back on her feet after being released from prison. I enjoyed all the characters I this one despite growing extremely frustrated with Tara’s siblings particularly Geraldine. But I have such a great admiration and respect for Tara’s character as she fights to protect with her family even if that means sacrificing her own happiness. I also adored her nephew Conor and his cute little jokes that he tells to diffuse tension or just to give the adults a good laugh when they are feeling down. This was a heartwarming story about family and the lengths we go to in order to protect them. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this novel.

I knew Tracy Lange’s The Connellys of County Down would be a winner because she does family drama SO well. This is a quiet character study of the three Connelly children, who all end up living together as adults. The book starts with the youngest sister, Tara, being released from jail after serving 18 months for a drug sentence. I was literally on the edge of my seat with anticipation during the later part of the book. I loved Tara as a character and the depiction of a complicated sibling relationship.