One Big Happy Family by Susan Mallery – a Review

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Description:
Please don’t come home for Christmas…

Julie Parker’s kids are her greatest gift. Still, she’s not exactly heartbroken when they ask to skip a big Christmas. Her son, Nick, is taking a belated honeymoon with his bride, Blair, while her daughter, Dana, will purge every reminder of the guy who dumped her. Again. Julie feels practically giddy for one-on-one holiday time with Heath, the (much) younger man she’s secretly dating.

But her plans go from cozy to chaotic when Nick and Dana plead for Christmas at the family cabin in memory of their late father, Julie’s ex. She can’t refuse, even though she dreads their reactions to her new man when they realize she’s been hiding him for months.

As the guest list grows in surprising ways, from Blair’s estranged mom to Heath’s precocious children, Julie’s secret is one of many to be unwrapped. Over this delightfully complicated and very funny Christmas, she’ll discover that more really is merrier, and that a big, happy family can become bigger and happier, if they let go of old hurts and open their hearts to love.

Review:

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 Happy 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.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher