Susan Mallery always strokes the heart strings, no exceptions here this newest Christmas story fits perfectly into the seasonal theme. There is a lot going on and the characters are interesting, fun and emotionally intense. “Cougar pee” lol…. Loved this one. Definitely add to your reading list. Do not miss this one.

This gives off This Christmas movie vibes. It was packed with humour, drama, tension and romance. What can go wrong at Christmas?

As with any Susan Mallery book, I enjoyed this and way too much. It had the right amount of everything to keep you vested in the book.

This follows the story of Julie who had planned a quiet Christmas with her younger lover but her adult kids have decided to spend the season with her bringing in a whole bunch of drama. Throw in an ex-wife, ex-boyfriend and even a dog and you have the perfect disastrous Christmas or so.

This is way different from your typical Christmas story. It explores deep issues and the close proximity forces the characters to examine some of their decisions and actions.

I love how relatable and human the characters were. There were no airs around any one of them. They were as flawed as the rest of us.

If you love stories about complex family dramas and love then you will enjoy this.

Susan Mallery always captures the essence of family dynamics and she did it again!!

The characters are relatable and well-developed, each bringing their own quirks and challenges to the story. The way Mallery intertwines their individual journeys with the overarching theme of love and togetherness is truly heartwarming.

The festive setting adds a layer of magic, making it a perfect read for the holiday season. The blend of romance, family drama, and the spirit of Christmas creates a cozy and uplifting atmosphere that leaves you feeling good.

Add this one to your Christmas tbr now, you will love it!!!!

⭐️4
Intimate and calm is what Julie wants this Christmas with her secret boyfriend at the family cabin. But that is definitely not what she’s getting.

Her grown children lost their dad-Julie’s ex-and they are hell bent on spending the holiday together-WITH Julie. The problem is, more and more family is added to the mix, which adds some serious drama.

If you like many POV’s and some craziness around the holidays, you’ll need to add this one to your list.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6861891771

Pub date: October 2, 2024

Thank you so much NetGalley for the advanced copy, my opinions are my own.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year in Susan Mallery’s new book, One Big Happy Family. Julie Parker can’t wait to spend a stress-free, quiet Christmas with her new younger boyfriend, Heath. Those plans quickly change though when her children, Nick and Dana, ask her to have Christmas at the family cabin, in memory of their father, who recently died. Julie can’t say no, making what was supposed to be a simple, quiet holiday into a messy, over-the-top, day filled with surprises, including the fact that Julie has a new boyfriend (and her children don’t know).

Susan Mallery is a prolific romance writer. She can take an everyday trope (ex. secret boyfriend, holiday, older woman-younger man) and make it fresh and fun again. Her dialogue is always snappy, and it powers the characters' attraction to each other. One Big Happy Family is no different. It’s a fast read that will put a smile on your face, even during the chaos of the holidays.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for sharing this advanced review copy with me in exchange for my honest feedback!

Family Christmas goes unexpected. From planning quiet Christmas to full blown family Christmas.
It was an amazing story to read, learn so much about characters in this book.
I always enjoy Susan Mallery books, this one is no exception. It pull you in, you want to know everything now, you don't want to put the book down.

Robin's Rave Reviews 2024 

You may be thinking pumpkin spice, but Christmas isn't as far off as you'd like to think, and I already have a recommendation for your holiday reading this year! Susan Mallery's One Big Happy Family comes out October 1, 2024. You can preorder now!

Summary

Julie's adult children made their own plans for Christmas this year. Heath, Julie's boyfriend, has young children, but they're spending the holiday on vacation with his ex and her boyfriend. That means Julie and Heath can have a quiet Christmas together. Until plans change.

Julie's children, Dana and Nick, drop their plans because they want to do their traditional family Christmas at the cabin. They hope it will help them get through their first Christmas since their dad's death. Although their parents have been divorced for many years, their father normally spent the holiday with the family at the cabin.

When Heath agrees to join them, Julie needs to figure out how to introduce her kids to her boyfriend, younger than her by 12 years, whom she's been keeping a secret. Then, just before Heath's ex takes the kids on the vacation, her boyfriend dumps her. Julie invites Heath's kids and his ex to join them for the holidays. Isn't that what most people would do? Oh, and they're bringing their dog.

Nick's mother-in-law has recently moved to the area. Even though his wife Blair and her mother have a strained relationship, she needs somewhere to be for the holidays. Why not include her? Meanwhile, Dana is getting over a breakup with her boyfriend Axel, again.

Suddenly Julie has a lot of planning to do to accommodate a house full of people. The "cabin" has plenty of room, but it's the mixture of personalities, secrets, and past hurts that bring the conflict and tension. And Julie, a woman with a big heart, is forced to deal with her control issues. Does ANY big family gathering turn out exactly how you want it?

My Thoughts

If you like fun Christmas novels about dysfunctional families, this is a wonderful read. This family's holiday is a lovely, chaotic mess full of wonderful traditions, fun, love, personal growth, and acceptance. I enjoyed getting to know each of the guests and watching them squirm through situations often out of their control. It's a fun, easy read for your holiday season!

Pick up Susan Mallery's new book, One Big Happy Family! Give yourself a gift for the holidays.

Thank you Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing | Canary Street Press for the ARC of this book. This is my honest review of the book.

Susan Mallery has written another beautiful Christmas stor.y. This one is about a mother Julie, she owns and operates a towing company, Parker Towing, that has been past down through her family. Julie is hoping that her son Nick will help her by taking some of the work load over when he finally decides to join her at the towing company. She has Axel that is her daughters on again off again boyfriend, that works for her, but he can't stop breaking her daughter Dana's heart.
Julie has plans for her Christmas this year, a very low key relaxed Christmas spent with her forty two year old boyfriend. Heath and her were both planning on staying at her house for the two weeks and not having to make dinners or decorate or any of the family things.

Unfortunately when you make plans like this other people make different ones for you. Her children met her for dinner and they asked her if they could have Christmas at the cabin? Their reason why was because their father had past away not even a year ago and it would be their final good bye to him from them. What could Julie say other then yes! So, there went her plans and there goes all of the two weeks with her quiet time with Heath. So, at this time she decided to ask how many people would be coming and that is the time she decided to tell them about Heath as well!

Heath introduces his kids to Julie as he will be getting them for Christmas after all. His ex-wife is going away for the holidays with her boyfriend. Wyatt and Madeline are eight and ten. Tiffany is the ex and seems to be very nice.

The family gets to the cabin and things are a true family holiday. I will not give away anything more! Highly anticipate this to be on the top seller list! Great Christmas book! Loved it!

Happy Reading

Readers cannot go wrong when they pick up a title by Susan Mallery. She writes the sorts of stories that her readers (and those who enjoy women's fiction) consistently look forward to reading.

In this holiday themed novel, readers get to spend time with the family and extended family of Julie Parker. There will be the unexpected, lots of folks gathered together, relationships and celebration. What could be better than spending time with this One Big Happy Family!

Many thanks to NetGalley and HTP for this title. All opinions are my own. Additionally, thanks to HTP for the opportunity to be part of this blog tour.

Who even am I reading (and enjoying) my second holiday book of the year?!

The title of this one tells you everything - this is the story of one big happy family celebrating Christmas with all of the drama and chaos that comes with a big family. One thing after another goes wrong but it’s paired with joy and feel good family fun. Unlikely friendships form, love stories develop, and it all ends with a white Christmas.

This Christmas family drama was riveting and poignant, evoking a whole range of feelings from anger and heartbreak to forgiveness, happiness, and love.

There were parts that I loved and others not so much. Dana and her relationship woes felt a bit neglected. I was happy that she found her own happy ending, but between all the other things going on there wasn’t enough time to explore this plotline properly. And there certainly was a lot of drama.

Nick came across as very charmed. Everything seemed to fall in line just right for him. Even with the conflict with his mother, you just knew it would work out for him because Julie would never begrudge him any of it.

As for Julie and Heath, Susan Mallery has done this before and she does it really well – create conflict and consequently strengthen bonds in an existing relationship. Julie represented a generosity of spirit that should be everyone’s goal. She held no real resentment, even with Nick’s revelations and Gwen’s unpleasantness. Heath embodied the image of an ideal partner. One who sees all your faults and still loves you unconditionally. Yet, these two characters showed enough flaws to be realistic at the same time.

I was captivated by this family dynamic. The ending may have been predictable, but it was a pleasure getting there. I can highly recommend this if you like big family drama and romance.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

For me, this was a pass. While the book was *fine*, there wasn't really anything that stands out; that makes me want to recommend this book to others.

I am not a fan of books written from the perspective/viewpoint of 'older' women - in this case, Julie -when the writer doesn't give them the strength or wisdom that comes with this age. While I understand that it's integral to the plot (worrying about telling her family about her younger boyfriend), it just came across as childish.

The multiple POVs really were unnecessary; or at least, there should have been fewer. A few times I had to stop and re-read the passage to remember who this character was and their storyline.

This could have been much better, but also it could have been so much worse. If you are looking for a quick holiday read this just might work for you.

I read this as an ARC for NetGalley. Susan is one of my favorite authors and this book did not disappoint. Family secrets, difficult family relationships, a couple of exes , kids, and Christmas? What could go wrong? Everything, or everything could work out just the way it is supposed to.

Good read. This was a fun book! I enjoyed the older heroine (not old, but not in her twenties or thirties either). It felt a bit more real because of this.

This book was really hard for me to get into at first. Then as it picked up I really enjoyed it. It is definitely a feel good warm fuzzy Christmas book we all love to read at this time of the year to get us into the spirit and remind us how important family can be. I really like how this book had so many elements dating a younger man, blended family, IBS & unhealthy relationship with a parent. All of these things are common but not always written about. Now I wish my family had a cabin we could all go to each Christmas.

A fun story about families and Christmas. Normal families are not normal and truly normal families are a bit complicated! A cute and fun Christmas read

This book was one rollicking big time family Christmas story. The action centers around Julie (driver and owner of a tow truck company - so cool!) and her family. Add to this her significant other Heath, the partners of her adult children, and various other folks (and a dog!), and there is quite a crowd at the family cabin for Christmas. This reminded me of trying to organize my adult children and partners for any kind of event; it's a major undertaking! Fortunately it's a really large cabin, with lots of open space (a certain amount of eavesdropping ensues...). Along with the requisite ton of luggage, winter gear, and everything else needed by a large family party, there is an equal or greater amount of emotional baggage carted in and revealed as the story develops. I felt like I was included in the crowd, and appreciated learning about the various characters' issues and seeing how they eventually worked out. I never felt like anyone's eventual HEA was a sure thing, and the story kept my interest until the end. I hope to revisit the novel in audiobook form, since I imagine it will be even more sensational!

Thank you to NetGalley for sharing this ARC, which I was happy to review.

Julie is looking forward to spending Christmas with her new boyfriend. Her grown children have other plans and she can't say no. So the family decides to spend Christmas at the cabin, which is really a large mountain home. Several other people who are alone join in the Christmas festivities.
Her daughter-in-laws mother, her daughter's boyfriend who won't commit, her boyfriend's children and ex-wife and her daughter-in-laws uncle are all there. This makes for interesting family dynamics. Accidents, misunderstandings, arguments and all the family drama you can think of. This is definitely a family Christmas story.
I love Christmas stories and read some every year. This one is definitely a roller coaster ride of emotions. Having Christmas with this group of characters would be challenging. Julie seems to take everything in stride. This story is both realistic and idealistic at the same time. If you like Christmas stories give this one a try.

Thank you to #NetGalley, #SusanMallery, and #CanaryStreetPress for a copy of this book
#OneBigHappyFamily

A book by Susan Mallery is guaranteed to be fantastic. One Big Happy Family does not disappoint. And what a family! Whether you relate to traditional families, combined families, or families that include what some might poetically call "misfits", all of these are here. All have life experiences that impact their reactions to situations and one another, and not always happily. For the matriarch of this family, Christmas is planned to be very quiet. Then, one by one, others change their plans so the gathering moves away from the quiet to the chaotic. Fortunately, the dining room table is built to accommodate one and all. Everyone of these family members is interesting, understandable, and someone I want to share Christmas with. Won't you join us?

ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY – Susan Mallery
Canary Street Press
ISBN:‎ 978-1-335-00630-1
October 1, 2024
Contemporary Romance

Mountains outside Seattle, Washington – Present Day

ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY has several characters, with the head of the family being Julie Parker. She is looking forward to spending Christmas alone with her younger (and secret) boyfriend instead of having her two adult children around after they decided to take off on trips of their own. But to Julie’s consternation, Nick (plus his wife, Blair) and Dana decide that since it’s the first Christmas without their father, they want to spend it with Julie up at the family cabin in the mountains. It snowballs from there as more people are added to the guest list. Unfortunately, Julie will now have to reveal that she’s dating Heath.

Nick and Blair are newly married and are adjusting to married life as she experiences some medical issues. Her mother recently moved to Seattle and has been nothing but a headache after a lifetime of ignoring her only child. Gwen is a pain in the rear, constantly complaining but there is no way they cannot tell her she can’t join them at the cabin.

Dana’s heart is still aching after being dumped by Axl, her mother’s employee, once again. Dana feels fat and unloved, though her family’s love is unconditional. When an unexpected accident happens to Axl and he ends up at the cabin also, how will Dana react? He is hard to ignore, especially since she is still attracted to him.

Heath is a divorced dad and his ex-wife, Tiffany, was scheduled to have their children for the holidays. Alas, some changes result in first the children coming to join them all at the cabin. Then Tiffany ends up being dumped by her boyfriend and no way will Julie let her spend Christmas alone. Add in a couple of older men, one who is Blair’s uncle and another who is another employee of Julie’s, then you can understand why there is a lot of action going on.

Amidst all the holiday preparations in ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY, there is a bit of family drama going on. Julie expects Nick to take over the family business once she retires but he has other ideas. The tension between Blair and Gwen heats up and spills over to other people as Gwen proves she isn’t the accommodating type. Julie’s kids weren’t sure about having all the extra people around, but it soon became (almost) one big happy family. There are a few bumps and flaring tempers along the way but by the end of this tale, everyone ends up happy. Readers will enjoy this fast-paced and emotional tale, as well as wanting to possibly pick sides when an argument arises. At the center is the fast-approaching day of Christmas. If you love a feel-good tale filled with families and romance, then you don’t want to miss ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY.

Patti Fischer
Romance Reviews Today