The Christmas Sisters by Sarah Morgan

The Christmas Sisters by Sarah Morgan

Pub. Date: September 25, 2018 – HQN

Review copy courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley

Description: 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? (publisher)

My take:  Three sisters, adopted at a young age when their parents perished in a climbing accident, reunite to celebrate Christmas in the Scottish Highlands – and no one is more excited than their adoptive parents, Suzanne and Stewart.

Hannah hasn’t been around for a family Christmas in a few years. Her fast-paced job has kept her occupied. That’s still the case but she also has a secret. Beth is mother to two young children. She wants to return to work and try to recapture some of the person she’d been before kids. Her husband is less than thrilled with the idea. Posy, the sister who stayed in Scotland to work in the family business, has met someone who makes her yearn for a bigger life – one that would take her away from home.

As the three sisters work through their challenges will their parents get the family Christmas they hoped for? I enjoyed finding out and recommend to fans of Sarah Morgan and women’s fiction. Who can resist a Scottish setting at Christmas time? Not this reader!

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Brief take: How To Keep A Secret by Sarah Morgan

How To Keep A Secret by Sarah Morgan

Narrator:  Laurel Lefkow

Length:  11 hrs. 16 min.

Published: July 10, 2017 Harlequin Audio

Borrowed from my library via Hoopla

My brief take:  I like novels about secrets and this one had plenty. The characters all seem to have secrets and their lives are in a state of flux. There’s Nancy, mother of two grown daughters and grandmother of a 17-year-old.  One daughter is a recent widow and the other wants nothing more than to have a child. Granddaughter Mac finds out the most important people in her life deceived her in a big way. Nancy is on the cusp of finally living the life she craves – but first she’ll have to make some tough decisions. Juicy secrets and the lovely Martha’s Vineyard setting all combined for a novel that made a long solo car trip surprisingly quick.

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Maybe This Christmas by Sarah Morgan

• Title:  Maybe This Christmas
• Series:  O’Neil Brothers #3
• Author: Sarah Morgan
• Genre:  Contemporary Romance; Christmas
• Published:  October 2014 – Harlequin HQN
• Source:  Publisher

Synopsis:  This winter, ex-skiing champion, reformed heartbreaker and single dad Tyler O’Neil has only one mission—making sure his daughter, Jess, has the best Christmas ever. The fact that his best friend, Brenna, is also temporarily moving into his chalet at the overbooked Snow Crystal resort is a delicious distraction he’s simply going to have to ignore. Theirs is the one relationship he’s never ruined, and he’s not about to start now. 

Ski pro Brenna Daniels knows all about the perils of unrequited love—she’s been in love with Tyler for years. But living with him is absolute torture… How can she concentrate on being his friend when he’s sleeping in the room next door? Then when Tyler kisses Brenna, suddenly the relationship she’s always dreamed of feels so close she could almost touch it. Could this be the Christmas her dreams of a happy-ever-after finally come true? (Publisher)

My take: Sarah Morgan did a great job with the friends to lovers theme. That’s not always the case and usually I’m left wanting more from the story. She pulled it off though and I was sorry to turn the last page. I didn’t want to say goodbye to these people! I loved the give and take between Brenna and Tyler which was filled with so much familiarity, love and wit. It seemed everyone around them wanted to see the pair together but still they had to be thrown together under the pretense of a full house at the resort. Brenna had been living in one of the resort homes but it was needed for paying guests. The story took off from there and it’s an emotional story. It was fun to see characters from the two previous books – Kayla and Jackson, Elise and Sean. I didn’t expect the ending but I loved it. If you like contemporary romance with a Christmas theme you’ll want to read Maybe This Christmas.

Suddenly Last Summer by Sarah Morgan

• Title:  Suddenly Last Summer
• Series:  O’Neil Brothers #2
• Author:  Sarah Morgan
• Genre:  Contemporary Romance; series
• Published:  June 2014 – Harlequin HQN
• Source:  Publisher

Synopsis:  Fiery French chef Élise Philippe is having a seriously bad day. Not only have the grand opening plans for her beloved café fallen apart, but Sean O’Neil is back in town and looking more delectable than ever. Memories of the electrifying night they shared last summer leave Élise very tempted, but she knows all too well that eventually Sean will be leaving…again. 
Being back in Vermont—even temporarily—is surgeon Sean O’Neil’s worst nightmare. Returning home to the Snow Crystal Resort means confronting the guilt he feels about rejecting his family’s lifestyle years ago. But discovering that Élise is still in Vermont and still sets his blood racing is a very welcome distraction! Remembering last summer and how good they were together is going to make walking away more difficult than he could imagine….  (publisher)

My take:  Sarah Morgan introduced us to Elise and Sean in the first book of the series, Sleigh Bells in the Snow, so I had the sense that they were both passionate about their work and a bit on the stubborn side. In Suddenly Last Summer we find out just how passionate and stubborn these two can be. At times I wanted to say “enough, already!” But that would have made for a very short book.

A family emergency brings the two together and, over the course of several weeks, they learn more and more about each other. More importantly they learn the motivation behind their reluctance to let a connection become a relationship.

By the last page I was pleased with how Morgan tied things together and look forward to seeing these two continue in the third book due out this fall, Maybe This Christmas. Recommended to fans of Sarah Morgan, the O’Neil Brothers series, and fun contemporary romance.

Sleigh Bells in the Snow by Sarah Morgan

• Title:  Sleigh Bells in the Snow
• Series:  O’Neil Brothers, #1
• Author:  Sarah Morgan
• Genre:  Contemporary Romance; Christmas
• Published:  November 2013 – Harlequin
• Source:  Publisher

Synopsis:  Once upon a time, Christmas was Kayla Green’s favorite time of year. Now all the workaholic wants for Christmas is for it to be over—as fast as possible! So when duty calls her to snowy Vermont to close a deal with a new client, Kayla is grateful for an excuse to avoid the holidays for another year. 
Jackson O’Neil left a thriving business behind to return home and salvage his family’s resort—it’s in his blood, and he can’t let it fail. Now that he’s got marketing whiz Kayla Green working with him to put Snow Crystal on the map, success is on the horizon. The fact they strike enough sparks off each other to power all the Christmas lights in Vermont is just an added bonus. 
Kayla might be an expert at her job, but she’s out of her depth with Jackson—he makes her crave the happy-ever-after she once dreamed of, and it’s terrifying. As the snowflakes continue to swirl, will the woman who doesn’t believe in the magic of Christmas finally fall under its spell?  (publisher)

My take:  Kayla and Jackson are perfect for each other and the fact that their story didn’t feel cliched to me (when it very well could have!) is all due to Sarah Morgan’s writing. It was easy to understand where they were coming from and I was curious as to how Morgan would give them their HEA given all their emotional baggage.

I loved Jackson’s family – from his cantankerous  grandfather to his loving mother to his equally magnetic brothers (this is the O’Neil brothers series after all) – they all added to the complete picture of Snow Crystal. It will be fun to return to the characters as well as the beautiful setting in the next book of the series.

If you like Contemporary Romance with a Christmas theme you’ll want to read Sleigh Bells in the Snow. I liked everything about it: the attractive characters; the Christmas card setting; and the happy-ever-after ending. Don’t miss this engaging Christmas Romance!