Review: The Christmas Sisters by Sarah Morgan

The Christmas Sisters
Sarah Morgan
Publication date: September 25, 2018
Genres: Women's Fiction, Contemporary, Romance, Holiday
In the snowy Highlands of Scotland, Suzanne McBride is dreaming of the perfect cozy Christmas. Her three adopted daughters are coming home for the holidays and she can’t wait to see them. But tensions are running high…

Workaholic Hannah knows she can’t avoid spending the holidays with her family two years in a row. But it’s not the weight of their expectations that’s panicking her—it’s the life-changing secret she’s hiding. Stay-at-home mom Beth is having a personal crisis. All she wants for Christmas is time to decide if she’s ready to return to work—seeing everyone was supposed to help her stress levels, not increase them! Posy isn’t sure she’s living her best life, but with her parents depending on her, making a change seems risky. But not as risky as falling for gorgeous new neighbor Luke…

As Suzanne’s dreams of the perfect McBride Christmas unravel, she must rely on the magic of the season to bring her daughters together. But will this new togetherness teach the sisters that their close-knit bond is strong enough to withstand anything—including a family Christmas?
 


This isn’t my usual kind of read but my mother loaned it to me (something she rarely does so I felt obligated to give it a try) and since it focuses on three sisters (and I’m one of three sisters) I figured that alone would be enough to draw me. And while this was a pleasant enough read, I was a bit disappointed that I rarely felt any connection with the McBride sisters or even between the sisters themselves.

Matriarch Suzanne is determined to host the perfect Christmas for her three adult daughters, despite Christmases past proving that her efforts never provide the desired results. Oldest Hannah is standoffish and makes excuses to not return home, middle daughter Beth is a frazzled, overprotective mother to her own daughters, and youngest Posy has never strayed from home but harbors feelings of wanderlust. What ensues is the story of each sister and frankly Posy was the only one who was particularly likable. Hannah was single-mindedly focused on her career and kept everyone at arm’s length. I honestly couldn’t figure out what love-interest Adam saw in her. While I sympathized with Beth and her need to have something more for herself beyond raising two children, her dogged insistence on returning to work for an absolute shrew (who had made her miserable in the past) made no sense and grew tiresome fast.

On the plus side, Posy was down to earth and likable and the way she wavered between loyalty to her parents and her desire to take off and have adventures felt honest and understandable. Interestingly enough, it was the male secondary characters who were the standouts for me. Hannah’s flame Adam was open about his feelings and in his pursuit of her; Beth’s husband Jason was quick to apologize and was incredibly supportive of Beth. Posy’s love interest, Luke, was the perfect match for her and patriarch Stewart was the steady presence in the background who loved and supported them all.

Morgan created a Scottish Highlands setting that was practically another character in the story. The small town with its close-knit residents, the pub where everyone gathered for a drink, a meal, and togetherness, and even the bitter cold, the swirling snow and the holiday season helped to create a cozy atmosphere.

The Christmas Sisters was an entertaining tale of the importance of family, making peace with the past, and having the courage to create a new (and better) future. 

3/5 STARS



20 comments

  1. This sounds mildly interesting (I'm also one of three sisters), but from how you're describing the sisters, I also feel like I wouldn't have much of a connection with them. At least there were some good parts to enjoy! Great review!

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    1. Thanks Alyssa! Yeah, I thought the sister aspect would be an instant draw, but it just didn’t happen that way. On to the next book... :)

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  2. I'm glad I didn't request this, because while I've enjoyed Sarah Morgan in the past I think I'd be frustrated by Hannah and Beth. Beth sounds like she had a wonderful husband and the privilege of staying at home to raise her children, a luxury, IMO and still wanted to go to work instead for a miserable woman? No thank you. I'm not sure what Hannah's deal is but if she was being difficult to a nice guy that would annoy me. Wonderful review, Tanya! :)

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    1. Thanks Rachel! This was actually my first by Sarah Morgan and while I didn’t *love* this one I would still read more from her. I enjoyed the writing, it’s just too bad I didn’t connect with the main characters more.

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  3. Thanks for sharing. I'm sorry to hear you couldn't really connect to most of the characters, apart from Posy though. That's good the male secondary characters were at least better! :)

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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    1. Eh, it was still an okay read. And the secondary characters made it worthwhile :)

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  4. It's very sweet that your mom gave you this book to read. I had seen this one around, and it looked like it would be cozy. I am sad that you didn't really connect or feel the warmth between the sisters.

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    1. Same! I was seeing the cover everywhere and when my mom brought it over I figured why not. I would consider it more of a cozy read, and it wasn't bad by any means. It just would have been nice to connect more with the main characters.

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  5. I've tried reading a book from this author before and couldn't get into it. Sorry you didn't enjoy this one much. Great review.

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    1. Sounds like maybe Sarah Morgan just isn't for either of us. :)

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  6. Well Tanya you gave it a try and ...it's difficult to say no to your mom! Now not connecting with the characters is a problem but something you mentioned that I love is indeed when an author creates a setting so vivid and detailed that the place (village or town or country) indeed becomes like a character of the story!

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    1. Yep, definitely hard to say no to mom. LOL Especially when she recommends/shares a book so infrequently. The setting really was done so well. I felt like I could just see the whole little village. :)

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  7. Sorry to hear this wasn't a better read for you. I enjoyed it and connected with the characters more than you did, but I do agree that the secondary male characters really stood out and were each compelling in their own right. I hope your next read is a better one. :)

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    1. Thanks Suzanne. It wasn't a bad read by any means (3/5 is pretty decent to me) but I do wish I would have connected more with the sisters.

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  8. Moms! The things we do for them -- haha! My mom isn't a reader, and she has no desire to start (believe me, I've tried). I can understand wanting to read something that someone else recommends though. My mother-in-law and husband are always trying to get me to read things that are WAY outside of my preferences. However, I try. It's rarely enjoyable, but what can you do? ;)

    Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear? 💬

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    1. Also, I tried reading her Moonlight over Manhattan and ended up DNFing it. Like you, I couldn't really relate to the characters, and something just felt off about the entire story. It bugged me when the guy was a jerk and then basically forced her to move into his house. Her friends were like, "Yay! Doctor!" but dude could have still been a serial killer. Sorry this one wasn't a better fit!

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    2. LOL So true... even spending our precious reading time reading things that we really don't care about. :) I imagine my love of reading started with my mom (and my dad) - both of whom were readers. My mom really fostered it, though, by reading to us as kids, taking us to the library, helping us choose our books. Even now we talk about the books we read, even though we almost never read the same sorts of books.

      Moonlight Over Manhattan sounds like another I'll be avoiding. I'm guessing maybe Sarah Morgan just isn't for me.

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  9. I haven't read anything by this author. I am sorry this wasn't as good as you would have liked. It sounds like a great book tho so it's disappointing that it wasn't that great.

    Mary

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    1. This was an okay read - just nothing great/memorable. I’d still be willing to give the author another shot. :)

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