Book Review: The Christmas Sisters by Sarah Morgan

 The Christmas Sisters is written by Sarah Morgan, is set in Glensay in the Scottish Highlands and tells the tale of three sisters, Hannah, Beth and Posy Mcbride  preparing to spend Christmas with their family in Scotland. Suzanne adopted the three girls after their biological mother and father were killed in a tragic accident 25 years ago. The story, therefore focuses upon the daughters, their relationship with each other and her, how the loss of their parents has affected them and their own families/ boyfriends. 

Suzanne is trying to recreate the perfect family Christmas but it is threatening to fall apart as the past comes back to haunt the three girls and their current issues and failing relationships risk subsuming the whole Christmastime experience. 

As a consequence of the death of her parents Hannah has been left unable to trust or get emotionally close to anyone. Love is an anathema to her. She is also trying to hide certain secrets which in turn is pushing her to her limits  Beth has become the cliched over protective parent and her marriage is falling apart and Posy wants to travel the world and ice climb but does not do so as she is terrified this will upset her parents.

The girls’ fears, concerns and issues must be confronted and addressed so they can move on, not only to have a perfect Christmas but also move on in life and finally recover from the horrors of losing their parents at such young ages.  Suzanne is the lynch pin to the storyline, holding the other characters together. 

This book is traditional festive reading fare. Combining a smattering of rom-com with family

As a consequence of the death of her parents Hannah has been left unable to trust or get emotionally close to anyone. Love is an anathema to her. She is also trying to hide certain secrets which in turn is pushing her to her limits  Beth has become the cliched over protective parent and her marriage is falling apart and Posy wants to travel the world and ice climb but does not do so as she is terrified this will upset her parents. 

This book is traditional festive reading fare. Combining a smattering of rom-com wit and humour with family tragedy, sisters struggling to make and maintain family bonds and sisterly relationships  and placing them all in the snowy, wintry confines of Glensay in the Scottish highlands, Sarah Morgan crafted a well written, well thought out book that would not only appeal to her die hard romance readers but would also catch the attention of readers who enjoy familial relationship and interaction style novels. 

I received this book via Netgalley and HQ in exchange for a honest review. I am a #MillsAndBoonInsider #netgalley

Available from:
Amazon UK

Book Review: How to Keep a Secret by Sarah Morgan

How to Keep a Secret is written by Sarah Morgan and published by HQ.  Sarah Morgan is a prolific romance writer, nominated 4 times for the prestigious RITA Award and winning it twice.  This book is a departure from the traditional romance genre, instead this book focuses upon how and why her character keeps secrets from each other and what happens when they are found out..

How to Keep a Secret tells the story of three generations of Stewart women, all of whom have their own secrest to keep and hide.  The storyline is narrated by the four main characters: Nancy, Laura, Henna and Mackenzie.   They have all, for various reasons, moved back to Martha's Vineyard  Nancy, the matriarch grandmother knows she has not been the greatest mother to Lauren and Jenna, aloof and remained distant emotionally from them, more interested in her work as an artist than a mother, but can she ever tell the reason why she wasn't an A+ mum? Lauren and Jenna have their own secret to hide and made a pact years ago never to divulge it. Jenna feel that Lauren has always been the "golden child" and is concerned she will never have a baby, issues that add to already fractured relationships.   Lauren's daughter, Mackenzie, also has her own secret to keep whilst holding her mum at arms length in order  to hide her pain.

All their secrets come to ahead one summer as all the women are thrown together and their secrets start to unravel.

This book is well written and cohesive in structure, the stories naturally blend together and doesn't appear forced. A departure from Sarah's focus on romance, How to Keep a Secret is a book about family dynamics: emotions and relatives getting to know each other again, character flaws, fractured relationships being fixed as  individuals reconnect after secrets are exposed.


I received this book via Netgalley and HQ in exchange for a honest review