Planning for a low-key Christmas holiday, Julie Parker intends to spend the time at home with her new boyfriend, Heath (who is significantly younger than her). But her adult children convince her to scrap those plans and spend the holiday at their mountain cabin, as it's their fist Christmas after losing their dad. They feel strongly that they need to honor him and that this will give them closure.

Julie is the epitome of an "includer" and everyone is welcome to join them - she feels no one should be alone on Christmas, so this makes for quite the strange group! Julie is also a control freak and perfectionist, so when she's in a position to require assistance, it's more than troublesome for her.

The group brings the drama, and the love. It's a fun and quick read!

Thanks to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing | Canary Street Press and Susan Mallery for the eARC.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6477218392

I really wish I had read this book in December, because it was a great feel good story for the holiday season.

The main character, Julie, anticipated a quiet holiday at home with her new boyfriend. Her plans quickly change to a chaotic family filled holiday at her cabin. The story covers the inside (extremely tame) secrets and (very mild) drama of the entire family. I enjoyed the characters and the easy story.

The only aspect that I couldn't get behind was the HEA of Dana and Axel. It felt forced and too easy.

One Big Happy Family is a perfect name for this book. Julie, an independent woman running a vehicle towing business, plans a quiet Christmas this year. Plans are made to change though. After all is said and done there isn’t going to be a quiet holiday. About 12 people, including her two adult children, end up at their “cabin” for 10 days. There’s lots of drama, love, hard feelings, forgiveness and a few laughs. Julie tries to keep as many of the holiday traditions as she can, like cookie and tree decorating. This isn’t a typical Christmas story; it’s just set at Christmas time. I recommend this book if you like woman’s fiction. Susan Mallery writes such good books I received an arc of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed are my own.

Yet another novel by Ms. Mallery that I couldn't put down. Christmas, family drama, relationship issues are wrapped up for Christmas. Great character development. What was supposed to be a quiet Christmas for Julie and her much younger BF, Heath turns into a real family affair when Julie's cabin to celebrate her children's late father who loved the cabin. What starts out as an intimate family holiday, turn into a holiday with Heath's children and his ex-wife who was friends with Julie's daughter, Julie's ex boyfriend, Julie's daughter-in=law's mother who creates havoc and Julie's longtime employee.. I laughed, I cried. Definitely a fun read for the holidays. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I absolutely LOVE Susan Mallery and especially her Christmas novels. This book was definitely a winner-winner-chicken- dinner! Great read.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Susan Mallery for an early copy of One Big Happy Family. This book was a surprising 5 stars for me. I have never ready anything by Susan Mallery before so I was not sure what to expect. The description immediately caught my attention because I also come from a blended family so the potential drama seemed interesting. What I wasn't expecting was for the book to make me cry a few times and question part of my life as a parent differently. I usually read romance/beach reads/romantasy and this isn't what I would consider a typical romance book but rather part contemporary fiction, part beach read, part romance. If you are looking for a heart warming, cozy read with a Christmas setting, I'd highly recommend this book!

Susan Mallery has written another great novel that shows the complexities of families and relationships. Julie, her adult children, in-laws, friends, and ex's are all included in a huge holiday gathering at her cabin. She planned on a quiet holiday with Heath, her new boyfriend, and some how it snowballed into a crazy gathering. The family dynamics are very interesting and challenging at times. These challenges are caused by past misunderstandings and secrets that are being kept. Once the secrets are revealed, some of the issues can be resolved. This novel shows that it is best to be open and honest with everyone to avoid misunderstandings and hurt feelings. I could not put the book down and finished it in one day because I wanted to know if everything would work out for the characters. I highly recommend this novel. Susan's fans will not be disappointed and neither will anyone just discovering her.

Loved loved loved this book! I am a huge Susan Mallery fan and really appreciated being given the opportunity to read an advanced copy. The family dynamics were spot on, especially the mother and daughter relationships. I could personally relate to Blair and her relationship with her mom and all her conflicting emotions, the feelings were so well expressed. Highly recommend!!

Christmas, family drama, age gap romance- who could ask for more? One Big Happy Family was so different than the typical holiday/Christmas trope. I loved this storyline & the characters are so lovable. Lot of humor in this - literally leaving me laughing out loud. I will definitely re-read this one closer to the holiday season- I absolutely loved it. I’ll be checking out more of Susan Mallery’s books & you should too.

Thank you NetGalley & Harlequin Trade Publishing | Canary Street Press for an ARC copy of this book.

Susan Mallery is a wonder! This is the second novel I have read this month with the same title. But this isn’t a mystery but a Christmas novel. The Parker family have decided to gather at the family’s “cabin” (you’ll find out) for the Christmas season. Add a bitchy mother-in-law, a younger boyfriend along with his ex-wife, their two kids and a dog, a family friend/co-worker and the ex-boyfriend no wants there. Mix in a fall down the stairs, a gunshot victim, cougar pee, pain meds on an empty stomach and more secrets and surprises and you get MERRY CHRISTMAS! I laughed out loud several times! I hope you enjoy it!

This is such a heartwarming book. It has humor and lots of family antics. Families can be complicated and I loved how this family dealt with their issues. The characters were wonderful. A simple quiet Christmas turned into a huge event with melodrama. It’s a fun book that I really enjoyed. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced free copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Christmas is certainly a time for families to come together and set aside their differences to celebrate with respect to the true holiday spirit. Yet this particular story embodies the fact that family can certainly be more than blood relations as a true hodgepodge of people gathered at the cabin to celebrate. A reader must admire the strength of Julie to not only welcome her boyfriend Heath but also his ex-wife and their kids. Dana and Nick wanted everyone to come together to celebrate their father and his passing. What happened as the book evolved was as they celebrated their father was what they truly celebrated was love. Gwen and Blair forgave each other and started over. There was much happy news by the end for both Dana and Nick and their choices personally and professionally were the right ones. This us truly a feel good book and how there are multiple ways to celebrate during the holidays.

Everything you want in a Christmas story, Family, Love, Forgiveness and stress. After Julie finds out that Christmas won't be with just Heath, she does everything in her power for everyone she loves to have a wonderful and loving Christmas. And it is in the doing that Christmas becomes something special for everyone involved.

I don't want to give to much away, but what starts out as just a Family gathering for Julie's adult children, Nick and Dana who miss their father, ends up being a gathering of all sorts of family members that no one expected. And it's the extra members that make the Christmas special and more important because forgiveness is very much about Christmas.

I loved all the typical Christmas events that made up this story, cutting down the Christmas tree, making Christmas cookies, playing in the snow and having a lovable dog to share the day with, but I especially liked the surprise events that made Christmas more special. Blair has an unexpected gift for everyone, Julie has to learn to accepted help from others, Dana and Blair have to learn to forgive other and finally there are those invited just so they aren't alone for Christmas and all of it made this Christmas story wonderful.

I want to thank Harlequin Trade Publishing | Canary Street Press and NetGalley for an advance copy of a story that is all about what makes Christmas special.

Julie is looking forward to a quiet Christmas with her new boyfriend Heath. However, her adult children recently lost their father, her ex, and want an old fashioned family Christmas at their cabin. Julie agrees to host a large Christmas like she has done every other year. Surprise guests, family drama and love make this story a fun holiday read!

4.5⭐️ This was very Family Stone-esq with multiple storylines with the members of the family. It is a cozy holiday read that is quick paced and very entertaining!

I love this author and I don't need to wait until Christmas to get into the spirit of this fun story.

Julie is a strong, independent woman who runs her own business and loves her adult children with fierceness. She also has a new love interest who is younger than she is. While she enjoys the excitement of the relationship, she has not shared this with her children. Julie and Heath are planning to spend Christmas together until her children, Nick and Dana, want to continue their holiday tradition of spending time together in her very large cabin. She is reluctant as it is a lot of work to create the "magic" of the holiday. Julie has been divorced for many years but shared the holiday with her late husband and family at the cabin. Nick and Dana are still feeling the loss and want "one more" holiday to honor their dad. She agrees, but soon learns that Nick's mother-in-law, who is a bit cantankerous, and his wife's uncle will be joining them. Julie also invites her employee so he won't be alone on Christmas, and soon learns that Heath's kids will be joining them, too, along with a few other surprises.

The title says it all. It was one big happy family that oozed with humor and joy. I read this book in one sitting and wished for more. The characters were so entertaining, and the different storylines intertwined seamlessly.

This is a story about one big happy family dealing with various struggles over their Christmas holiday. Julie's adult children, Nick & Dana, are dealing with the loss of their father and eager to keep their unconventional family Christmas tradition in place for one more year. That throws a kink in Julie's plans to spend a quiet holiday with her new boyfriend Heath, Nick needs to postpone his honeymoon with his new wife Blair, and Dana will be distracted from her latest failed relationship.

The closer to the holiday, more events happen which cause the cast of characters invited to Christmas at the cabin to grow. The group dynamics continually shift, but ultimately everyone is happy to be together for the holidays - despite what crazy events may happen.

I read this book as an ARC. The story follows the perspective of three women.

Julie (54, divorced, mother of two adult children) is dating a man twelve years her junior(with two much younger children of his own) and has complicated feelings on the matter.

Dana, Julie’s younger child, is recovering from repeated heartbreak by one of Julie’s best employees.

Blair, Julie’s daughter-in-law is struggling with her mother moving to be closer to her, despite them never having had a relationship.

Despite the original Christmas plan being that Julie and her new beau would spend the holidays together, her kids decide they want to have a big family Christmas in memory of their father who died earlier that year. With the whole family and a few surprise guests, the holidays turn to chaos.

The story itself is decent and I wanted to know what was going to happen. That said, I knew what was going to happen; this book was incredibly predictable. The dialogue was painfully robotic, almost as though it was written by AI.

I’m not sure I was the correct audience for this book, despite loving the cover and the blurb. I was expecting a little spice from other reviews, but that wasn’t delivered. A lot of talk about sex having happened, but nothing really open door.

You might like this book if you’re a white woman in your 40s-60s; not looking for anything complicated, and you enjoy realism in your romance.

📚 2/5
🌶️.5/5

“One Big Happy Family” by Susan Mallory is aptly named. Julie, the main character, had decided to scale back this Christmas season, yet her children wish to honor their recently dead father’s memory and celebrate at the cabin they’d spent numerous Christmases. I lost count of how many characters end up in the cabin by the end of the book - but it’s a lot! While every character does have some part in this book, the main focus is on Julie and her children. If you know the Enneagram, Julie is a two - so she’s busy making lists ranging from Christmas decorations, to food plans, to meal prep, to where to put people in the cabin, to trying to be helpful, kind, and have things run smoothly. Once everyone’s under the same roof, the story really gets rolling. I’d really call this book more a family drama-comedy because there were some amusing bits, but there’s also a lot of family bits needing to be hashed out, though often in a constructive way (thank you Ms. Mallery!). I give a shout out to the artist who created the adorable cover for this book - right up my alley and it conveys the craziness of the story inside this book. I cannot say that I liked everyone in this book, even after some secrets were exposed, but overall this is a feel good family book. 3.75 stars rounded up to 4.

I’ve read several Susan Mallery books over the years and have always enjoyed her writing style. This book was no different and was such a heartwarming read with multiple storylines. Loved how everything wrapped up at the end. Highly recommend!

This book was another first for me. I have never read any of Susan Mallory’s books and this one was so enjoyable. I loved all the different personalities in the books. And Julie was my hero! As a mother of two adult children, running her own business, and having a younger boyfriend, Julie liked to always be in control of everything. What was supposed to be an intimate week together with Heath, her boyfriend, at her cabin, turned out to be a huge family gathering. Julie had such a big heart and it showed when her boyfriend’s children ended up staying with them at the cabin. Not to mention, her two children changed their plans and wanted to spend Christmas at the cabin since that had been the place they always stayed before their father died. Then, along came the ex-wife, whom Julie welcomed with open arms since she believed no one should be alone on Christmas. But that wasn’t enough, along comes her employee and daughter’s (Dana) ex-boyfriend who worked for Julie and had been shot on the job, to throw in the mix. But, in the end, everything worked out the best for everyone and they all had a great Christmas. This was a really fun book to read and, I will definitely, look for more books by Susan Mallory to read.

Thank you so much NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book, in advance, and find a new author to follow.