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