One Big Happy Family is definitely suspenseful with a capital "S"! With a fast moving plot that unfolds surprise after surprise, you will find yourself unable to tear away from the book. Put everything on hold-you will be glued to One Big Happy Family until you reach the final chapter! Thank you to NetGalley.

One Big Happy Family is a tense story about what how family secrets can be deadly. When the owner of the Precipice, a family owned hotel, dies suddenly his three daughters come home to hear the will reading. Charley, the woman who cleans the rooms at the hotel, is worried that they will fire her and she won't be able to take care of her grandmother anymore. However, as the book progresses, she realizes that Bishop sisters are hiding secrets about the past that they will do anything to hide. The story takes place during a hurricane, which traps the characters in the hotel and adds to the intensity of the situation. Jamie Day does a good job with a twist near the end which makes the climax more exciting. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

The story flowed well and the characters were well developed. I recommend this book and look forward to more from this author.


****Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review****

Aside from a few formatting issues in the Kindle version, this was a nearly flawless book, editorially speaking. I had not read a book by this author before, but I will seek others by her. The plot was multifaceted; the characters were interesting and fully fleshed out; and the vocabulary was specific and precise. The latter facilitated understanding and avoided confusion for the reader.

A hurricane, a dysfunctional family arriving for a will reading and a young hotel maid stuck with them. Add in a hidden "guest" and let the secrets and lies start to unfold. Excellent book to curl up with and stay up reading until 3 a.m. The flashbacks added important information. Totally surprised by who did it. I loved Oliver and his rhymes. It will be a great book club selection. Thank you NetGalley, Jamie Day, and St. Martin's for this ARC.

This was a suspenseful read, though I can’t say the title “One Big Happy Family” was anything close to accurate. Then again, what type thriller/ mystery would this be if that were the case?? Our protagonist is the young & all seeing maid of the Precipice Hotel, Charley. And, boy, does she see some crazy $h!+!! This is a cliffhanger of a book, but one with a wonderful ending….(the last few books I’ve read have ended so ambiguously & unfulfilling, though their plot was💯. Still annoying). Take a trip to stormy Maine & immerse yourself in anything but a big, happy family….it’s immensely entertaining & what would be interesting about a happy family, after all??🤔

Jamie Day's Block Party was one of my favorite thrillers of 2023. I was so excited when I saw she had another book coming out for 2024. Unfortunately, One Big Happy Family did not work for me. I think there are two main reasons why. The first is the singular POV from the main character Charley. She's 19 in the book, so reading from her POV annoyed me and seemed immature. Part II had multi POVs on the family's history which worked better for me. I think the book would've kept my attention more if the entire think was written in multi POV.

The second was that almost none if the characters were likeable. We spend the majority of the book trying to figure out who killed Todd (who cares? Not even the characters in the book liked him) and who's framing Vicki. It was so hard to stay focused when I didn't care about the mystery. If the character who was killed was likeable, it would've kept me more invested.

Charley lives and works at the Precipice Hotel. The owner has died and his family is arriving for the reading of the will. There is also a severe storm approaching. The three sisters of the owners have secrets they are trying to desperately to keep hidden. As the storm grows worse people start dying. Are the sisters responsible? What are their secrets?

This book gets off to a slow start but then gets going. Everyone has something to hide. The book has many twists and turns that will surprise the reader. The book includes murder, sibling rivalry, secrets and more. It is a great read.

Thank you to #NetGalley, #JamieDay, and #StMartinsPress.
#OneBigHappyFamily

I was so excited to see that Jamie Day has another book about to come out. A huge thank you to St. Martin Press and Netgalley for the ARC copy. This is my own opinion and as always is an honest one. I loved The Block Party (book one in this series) and I can honestly say I enjoyed this book as well. Jamie Day has a unique way of setting up and writing the characters that I love. She seems to start off slow and I am interested but maybe not fully engaged in the storyline. Then out of the blue, she reels you in and you just have to see how and where she will take you next. I love the kind of quirky characters. These are people I would not normally get to meet. Which means I am not coming into the story with ideas as to how I think they should act. This allows my mind to just let Jamie lead me where she wants me to go and it is always a great ride. I hope we see more in this series.

It's hurricane season and the weather forecasters can't decide how much damage
the storm will do to the Precipice Inn, a little hotel in a small seaside town in Maine. Hurricane Larry might just turn out to be the least of Charley's (chambermaid) and Rodrigo's (front desk manager) worries.

The owner of the Precipice has just died and his three eccentric (I'm being kind here) daughters and their families will soon be descending on the hotel. Will Charley and Rodrigo keep their jobs? Will the daughters even keep the hotel open?

Little did anyone know that a murder will soon occur. The storm ensures that the hotel is inaccessible to outside assistance. Since no one is able to enter or leave, all the hotel guests and employees know that someone among them is a murderer.

This is a twisty mystery and I found it very hard to put the book down. Charley is an appealing character: 19-years-old, orphaned, and only working in the hotel so that she can pay for her grandmother's dementia care. Charley's beloved Nana took care of her when she needed it and Charley intends to do the same.

I recommend "One Big Happy Family" by Jamie Day. It has murder, bad weather, greed, self-centeredness, romance, and no end of scheming. I hope there's a sequel.

Thank you to NetGalley for an Advance Review Copy.

Very fast and fun summer read. Good characters that keep you involved and interested. Liked that the story was not predictable. Recommend

Family drama, murders, treacherous weather, jealousy and other bitterness that often brews in close quarters. What more can I ask for in a cozy book? Charley, the housemaid (who seems to possess insane knowledge of the hotel), of the Precipice Hotel (how's that for foreshadowing?) is stuck with the potential heiresses of the hotel after its malicious owner dies. What should be a clear-cut case of 'here's what the will says, it's not contestable, let's move on' turns into uncovered secrets and decades-old rivalries that surface at an inopportune time.

I hadn't read the Block Party by Jamie Day before this book, so I wasn't too familiar with their writing, but I was quickly hooked. The characters were distinct and vivid and somehow familiar. The dialogue was fast-paced and quippy. Was the ending the most shocking or twisty? Nope, but that didn't stop me from enjoying this in one evening. I quickly sought out the Block Party after this!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the digital ARC to read and review.

I struggled with this one, unfortunately…It got off to a slow start and never really recovered. I didn’t care for any of the characters and the narrative was pretty monologue-heavy.

Definitely one I could see others enjoying, but wasn’t quite for me.

Jaimie Day creates such realistic settings and very interesting characters in her books. This is another fantastic story Jamie has written about a family that has lots of drama surrounding them. As her book unfolds we learn secret after secret within the family, and there are some twists as well. The writing was very good and I felt that the impending hurricane added an extra dark layer to the book. Domestic dysfunction is always one of my favorite tropes, and there is no lack of it here with this family. This was a fun and interesting book. I was not able to guess the ending so that’s always a plus!

I definitely recommend this book to other readers.

Thanks to netgalley, Jamie Day, and St. Martins Press for the electronic arc.

Unfortunately, I could not get into this book. I felt like the writing style was weird. it was too long, and there was nothing that grabbed my attention. I gave it a few tries, even skipping ahead for something exciting to jump out, and it fell flat. I felt her last book was long and ok as well. Just not the author for me.

The Bishop sisters, one big, happy family prior to their father’s death, gather at The Precipice, a quirky hotel near the coast of Maine owned by their father, for the reading of his will. Living on the premises is the housekeeper, whose lodgings are literally a closet. Also supporting the hotel are Olga the cook and Rodrigo the jack of all trades.

Prior to the arrival of the sisters, a mysterious young woman claiming to be fleeing her abusive boyfriend appears at the door seeking shelter from him and the weather. The housekeeper perceives this woman as a harmless person of her own age and takes her in, on the condition that she remain hidden once the family arrives. As the sisters and their unusual offspring arrive, a hurricane is brewing and the winds are already howling; windows have been boarded up on the outside and kind of waterproofed on the inside. The final person to arrive is Attorney Black, who will read the will.

The sisters share a terrible secret that, while apparently whitewashed in their youth, still haunts them and the hotel itself.

When the will is read, it is full of unexpected bequests which leave none of the sisters happy at all. And then it’s off to the races as mysterious rhymes appear, tarot card readings foretell the future, and each sister tries to outwit the other, ultimately leading to a revelation of secrets, most of which I never saw coming. While the suspense and intrigue increase with almost every page, to the reader, the hilarity of it all increases as well.

This was a great read and I recommend it highly. I look forward to reading more from this author.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher.

The Precipice Hotel dominates the landscape of Gull Hill on the isolated Maine Coast. Front desk manager Rodrigo and Charley the maid are preparing for Hurricane Larry, a powerful hurricane. Most reservations have been canceled but the Bishop sisters, Vicki, Faith and Iris , daughters of the late owner George, bring their lawyer for the reading of his will. Bree, a woman Charley had befriended on a trip to town, arrives asking to stay to avoid her abusive boyfriend. Other Bishop relatives are also present, expecting an inheritance. Things do not go as planned. Larry changes course and bears down on Gull Hill. The reading of the will is full of surprises. Bree keeps changes rooms to avoid the Bishops. There are deaths. Can Charley discover who the killer is before she becomes the next victim?

One Big Happy Family is a perfect locked room thriller. Jamie Day creates an eerie atmosphere as the storm shrieks outside and lights flicker. The One Big Happy Family Bishop sisters, partners and children are unlikeable but well described. Charley, who is locked into her dead end job to support her beloved grandmother’s nursing home expenses, is the star. You want her to learn all the secrets of the sisters are hiding and you want her to survive. Jamie Day slowly builds suspense inside the hotel as the hurricane grows in strength outside. You wont be able to put this one down! 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Jamie Day for this ARC.

ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY…
NOT!

This classic who done it takes place while folks are trapped in a creepy Inn as hurricane Larry bears down. It’s set in Jonesport, Maine and is based on a real inn called Land’s End in Provincetown, Maine. It’s a cool place and looks as described in the novel.
Nineteen -year-old Charley Kelley works as a chambermaid at the quirky Precipice Hotel. The Precipice, named for its perilous location on the edge of Gull Hill, overlooking the Atlantic ocean. Gull Hill is real also. Read the afterward.,

Charley, hired by the hotel’s owner, George Bishop, is the only maid. Charley has worked and lived in a tiny closet of a room, here for two years. Her small salary goes for the fees for her Nana’s care at Guiding Way, a senior living home. Nana has dementia.

The price at the home rises often making it a financial burden on Charley. She dearly loves her Nana who raised her and will do everything to keep her comfortable.

But everything is about to change. George had passed away and the family is coming to stay for the reading of the will. Changes are about to abound and Charley wonders if she will still have a job, and a free place to live. Anyway, the three grown and completely different Bishop sisters are on their way with families in tow. She and cook Olga are frantically preparing for the tense arrival.

When they do arrive, the drama begins immediately as the situation has been complicated by Bree. Bree is a young woman fleeing from an abusive boyfriend she knows is determined to kill her adding further risk to the whole situation, especially Charley’s job and income. Yet, Charley opens her heart and agrees to hide Bree from the husband and all these guests. She hides her in the smallest and cheapest room called The Library thinking no one will want that room. Of course this room has fond memories and that’s exactly where the sisters want to stay. Charley and groundskeeper do some fast talking to keep them away from that room until they can sneak Bree out.

This nail biting thriller grabs readers from the very beginning. Day’s writing is Complex, intriguing, and suspenseful. I was surprised by the who done what until the very end.

This is a story of family, friendship, and family interactions, some good but most tense and at times dangerous. I bet you can relate. The characters are believable and most pretty unlikeable. Batten down the hatches as you follow the very dysfunctional behavior between sisters, Vicki, Iris, and Faith.

Told from Charley’s point of view, the unfolding story gains tension from the threatening storm as well as from Charley’s anxiousness. Hurricane Larry is relentless, and of course the power is spotty and cell and internet service nonexistent. The vehicles are useless due to trees blocking roads and the wind factor.

Highly recommended.

I read this during a North Carolina wide winter storm… snow, sleet, ice, thunder lightning. widespread flooding and… my husband and I couldn’t get off our no outlet road on the side of our mountain due downed trees across the iced road, then a UPS truck stuck on the ice blocking the road till rescue arrived much later. I read the book in 24 hours.

Wow! What a read! I was definitely impressed with this story and I absolutely loved the cover. Very mysterious.
I think, though, that in my opinion, this should be classified as women's fiction. Just simply because of the family dynamics and how it all played out.
My favorite part was the coming hurricane, which made it that much more fun and exciting!
Since I've experienced one myself I got caught up in the storm and then the events came spiraling downward at fast passed adventure.
I really enjoyed the mystery of guessing who done it. To me, this was a toughie so I thought the author did well.with this one.
Now, mind you this isn't my normal type of reading but I seen a lot about it in my group and wanted to check it out so I did. For the most part I really loved it. It was different.
My heart went out to Charley Kelly though since she's the one who got caught up in the middle.
It was Vicki the eldest whom I didn't like. Well, I didn't really like none of those Bishop sisters. I thought they were rather selfish. All of them.
I couldn't put this book down because I wanted to see what would happen to Charley. She made me keep reading until I finished the book. I wasn't disappointed at all.
This book does have some twists and turns that weren't expected but yet was.
It was overall a good story, and I enjoyed it very much. I hope I see more by this author because she made her characters very realistic in just about every way imagined.
5 stars for a well written novel. I highly recommend.
My thanks for a copy of this book. I was NOT required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I like the setting of Coastal Maine with an impending hurricane. It just felt like there was a lot thrown into this book, and the twists were predictable.

Thanks to netgalley and publisher for an e-arc.