This book had a cast of characters, but each one brought something to the story. The family drama and the holiday traditions were so relatable. Overall this book was great and I enjoyed it!

Susan Mallery is my favorite go-to for relationships and family drama. She writes masterfully evoking all the feelings. This story is set at a family Christmas at the family "cabin" - not really a cabin in my book, but that's what they call it. This is the first Christmas without the father who passed away nearly a year ago. It starts as a vacation for Julie and her new boyfriend to get away, but the kids, Nick and Dana throw a wrench in their plans when they say they want to go to the cabin as a way of remembering their Dad. Julie owns a towing company and her son works there. It's a profitable business. Dana chose to pursue a career in accounting. The family is very close.

Overall a sweet Christmas family drama. The dialogue was a bit cringey at times. There were a couple storylines that I couldn't decide if I liked the resolution or not. Still a happy ending book but I feel just a little unsure of just how happy I am.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARc of this book for my honest review.

This was such a cute Christmas book. Julie Parker thought this year she was going to have a low key Christmas with her new boyfriend until her adult children decided they wanted to spend Christmas with her up at the cabin like they always did growing up. Julie did not want to disappoint her children who lost their father (her ex husband) the previous year. So Julie went from having a low key Christmas to Christmas with her kids, her boyfriend, the boyfriends children, her daughter-in-law's mother and uncle, a coworker and a couple unexpected guests....One Big Happy Family.

I absolutely adore everything about this story. Characters, settings, and all of the ugly and beautiful interactions that come with a blended family of people (new boyfriend, his ex-wife, in-laws, you get the idea). The story blends into a whirlwind of challenges that are met with love and understanding, if not always joy.

Perfect imperfection from the first page to the ending. I hope there is a sequel. I need to know what happens to all of the characters after Christmas.

One Big Happy Family is a novel full of family and relationship drama, emotions, and a bit of holiday chaos & magic. We meet Julie, and her two adult children Nick and Dana. All have their own emotional trauma and issues that they are either working through (or ignoring) and we learn different things about each of them through chapters told in different perspectives. Overall, this is a sweet holiday novel perfect for the upcoming holiday season.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.

I felt so lost reading this book that I ended up DNFing it. So many characters all at once that I couldn’t figure out who was who and their relationship to each other. Maybe I’ll give this book another try another day.

This novel was like watching a cozy holiday movie at Christmas time. What started out as a completely quiet and uneventful holiday season, intended for some needed couple time, turned into an all-out family affair at the cabin. This book was a nice exploration of family themes and how much they people that fit into those boxes can easily stretch beyond our immediate blood relations. It also talks bout how the strong ones in our family can forget that they can also depend on others to pick up the slack , and it's okay to not be totally okay. There was a lot of kindness and consideration throughout the interactions of the characters in this novel, even when hard conversations were occurring. If you're looking for a book to give you all the feels of a classic holiday movie, then I recommend giving this one a go.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the gifted e-arc.

Title: One Big Happy Family
By: Susan Mallery
Pub. Date: October 1, 2024

Genre:
Fiction, Women’s, Contemporary, Chick-Lit, Holiday

Summary/Review:
Julie Parker is fine having Christmas by herself, with her secret, younger boyfriend, Heath. That is until Julie’s children, Dana and Nick request Christmas at the cabin in memory of their dad who recently passed away. Feeling the need to appease and respect her children’s wishes, Julie agrees to Christmas together. As the drama of family ensues, so does the chaos of adding other relations to the Christmas family mix, and this holiday quickly becomes one for the memory books! The author creatively weaves the ebb and flow of chaotic family drama into the plotline, using very empathetic characters, and themes of forgiveness, love, loss, and hope.

Similar books to:
The Christmas Inn by Pamela Kelley
Santa Cruise by Fern Michaels

Thank you Susan Mallery, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy for free. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

#SusanMallery
#OneBigHappyFamily
#HarlequinTradePublishing
#reluctantreaderreads
#advancedreadercopies
#NetGalley

Hooray! A holiday novel I can get behind this year. I worried this was just going to be a powder keg of drama - several people with complicated dynamics in a cabin for a week leading to Christmas. But I loved the stories that developed and the sense of redemption through several of the family lines!

QUICK GLANCE-
My format- Ebook
Other formats- 📖Physical (331 pages)🎧Audio (9 hrs 9min)
Spice: 🌶️ (off-page, or closed-door, cracked door Chapter 2)
Language: mild🤐

MY THOUGHTS-
I have always been a fan of Susan Mallery and when I saw a new Christmas book coming out I knew I had to read it. If you are a family drama fan and looking for some Christmas cheer, look no further! The characters in this book and their relationships are so well described and laid out that it’s like I’m standing in the cabin with them watching the drama unfold. I enjoyed the chaos and how all the characters’ stories ended up. However, I wanted a little more from this book. Maybe a twist or two, more humor/banter, or more developed chemistry between the characters. It was an entertaining plot but I did find myself just trying to get to the end of it.

Complex Family Relationships
Christmas at the Cabin
Age Gap
Romance

Thank you to @netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book from Susan Mallery. The characters are well developed and interesting. There are several love stories included in the story line as well as an overall theme of the importance of family and friends. I was sad when I finished the book as I had come to think of the characters as friends that I enjoyed reading about. I highly recommend this lovely book.

I absolutely LOVED and ADORED this book! For me, I felt it captured the true spirit of Christmas which is about family and coming together. In my opinion, it also gave a very realistic portrayal of relationships within families - the good and the bad.

I would HIGHLY recommend this for all those readers who enjoy a holiday story, a book with romance both new and old, and for those who are hoping (or open) to healing past wounds and moving forward. I can’t wait to read more from the author!

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Very easy and heartwarming holiday read! Not something I would normally pick up, but enjoyed the depiction of realistic family dynamics and holiday functions. Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

One Big Happy Family is a heartwarming Christmas drama. Throughout the story, different things go wrong with the family which leaves you turning the pages wanting to know what will happen next. I enjoyed this Christmas story.

A decent holiday novel with a lot of family disfunction to go around. Not too much disfunction to be uncomfortable but definitely enough to be interesting and relatable. If I had to pick any of the holiday novels to read, it would be this one!

One Big Happy Family was a lot of fun to read/listen to! Christmas for Julie was supposed to be a quiet time with her new and younger boyfriend, but it quickly turns into chaos when her two adult children request that they go to the family cabin for Christmas in honor of their dad who passed earlier that year. One by one more people and children are added into the mix plus an adorable dog. There's humor and sadness and every emotion in between...kinda like what "real" families go through. I loved every minute of Susan Mallery's latest Christmas romance and am a looking forward to reading more by her.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Publication date: 1 October 2024

I absolutely adored this book. Sometimes Christmas books can be too “cheesy” but not this one. Reading this book I felt like I was one of the occupants of the cabin. It felt like the perfect Christmas!

Family drama and romance at Christmas.

I really enjoyed the characters in the Christmas story. You want to keep reading just to find out what happens next to each character. Every good Christmas story has children, dogs, snow, decorating, making cookies and lots of family drama - this one has it all. The only thing missing from this story is grudges between friends and family. There are twists and turns in the story but everyone comes to terms and it all comes together for a happy ending. Which is also required for Christmas books, if you ask me.

One Big Happy Family by Susan Mallery is another one of her wonderful Christmas stories. We meet Julie Parker, who owns a towing company and has two adult children; as well as a boyfriend, who happens to be 12 years younger than her. With Christmas coming, Julie is looking forward to spending time with Heath, with her grown up kids making their own plans; but everything is about to change.

Julie’s ex-husband passed away a year ago, and both Nick and Dana have decided to cancel their plans, and instead get the entire family together, to honor their decease father. Nick, who is married to Blair, were planning on going on their belated honeymoon, but Blair is willing to cancel till the spring. Nick has another secret, which he isn’t planning on telling his mom, just yet; he does not want to take over the towing business. Dana, Nick’s sister, is unhappy, because her ex-boyfriend, Axel, whom she is in love with, constantly dumps her, and has done it again. Both Nick and Dana tell their mom they prefer to spend the Christmas holiday at the family’s huge cabin, in memory of their late father, which Julie agrees. Julie is concerned, as she dreads the reaction from Dana and Nick, when they meet Heath, but when they arrive, they were perfectly fine getting to know Heath.

The family meets at the cabin, where they will gather for 10 days; as the guest list continues to grow. Nick and Blair, Dana, Heath and his two young kids, Blair’s mother Gwen (who was a terrible mother to her over the years), Blair’s uncle Peter, Huxley, co-worker friend, Heath’s ex-wife Tiffany, comes a bit later, when her boyfriend dumped her, and Axel, makes a later visit when he was hurt. I actually enjoyed meeting all the family/friends/coworkers, who were all so wonderful.

One Big Happy Family was a wonderful delightful story that made for a fun merry Christmas, even with some complications along the way. The story was so much fun, with a lot of humor, a bit wild and crazy, some drama, and even chaos. I loved everything about this enjoyable holiday story line. One Big Family was so very well written by Susan Mallery. I suggest you read, One Big Happy Family, as you can never go wrong reading anything by Susan Mallery.