For fans of Mary Kay Andrews, Jenny Bayliss, and Julie Murphy, #1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery's witty and heartfelt story of a mother who couldn't love her kids more but hopes that, just this once, they please don't come home for Christmas.
Don’t come home for Christmas. . .
Julie Parker’s kids are her greatest gift. Still, she’s low-key joyful that they want to skip a big Christmas this year. Her son Nick is romancing his bride Blair with a belated honeymoon, while her daughter Dana plans to purge every reminder of the guy who dumped her. Again. Julie’s excited to hole up for the holiday with Heath, the (much) younger man she’s secretly dating.
As the guest list grows in surprising ways, from Blair’s estranged mom to Heath’s beautiful young ex, Julie’s secret is one of many to be unwrapped. Over this 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 all let go of old hurts and open their hearts to love.
About the Author
SUSAN MALLERY is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of novels about the relationships that define women's lives—family, friendship and romance. Library Journal says, “Mallery is the master of blending emotionally believable characters in realistic situations," and readers seem to agree—forty million copies of her books have been sold worldwide. Her warm, humorous stories make the world a happier place to live.
Susan grew up in California and now lives in Seattle with her husband. She's passionate about animal welfare, especially that of the Ragdoll cat and adorable poodle who think of her as Mom.
Author Links
Author Website: https://www.susanmallery.com/
X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/susanmallery
Instagram: https://instagram.com/susanmallery
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/susanmallery
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SusanMallery
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@susanmallery
One Big Happy Family by Susan Mallery shows what happens when Christmas plans go awry. Julie Parker was looking forward to a quiet Christmas with her new beau, Heath, but her adult kids had other ideas. The story has multiple characters, storylines, and points-of-view. It can be confusing as it switches from one character to the next. There is a lot of drama (of course, it would not be a holiday without family drama). Blair’s critical mother, Gwen who criticizes everything, Julie having a hangup about the twelve-year age difference between her and Heath (I got tired of hearing about it and I wanted to yell at Julie to get over it), Julie’s son, Nick not wanting to take over the family business, Dana trying to get over Axel, and so much more (I have barely scratched the surface). The storyline about irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) brought attention to a sensitive topic, but I did not feel it was needed in this story. The details were a little too graphic at times.
All the drama got to be a bit much around
the two-thirds point (I found myself rolling my eyes). It seemed like one thing
after another happened (I would have run from that house screaming). The multiple POVs also leads to repetitive
details and the story dawdled in places (which had me skimming). I did not feel that every character needed to
have an issue which, of course, had to be resolved before the holidays (they
need to have a Merry Christmas). There
is some humor here and there. I do not feel that I was the right audience for
One Big Happy Family (I wanted to push Gwen off the mountain). The story seemed to go one forever (I was
beginning to wonder if Christmas day would ever arrive) and if one more issue
arose, I was going to shriek. One Big Happy Family is a chaotic holiday tale with a complaining mother, a clandestine
boyfriend, a commodious cabin, trimming the tree, unanticipated guests, a
trouble or two, and a cheerful Christmas.
Thirty minutes after that, she pulled into the tow yard, driving under the big Parker Towing sign her grandfather had installed nearly fifty years ago. She parked the small tow truck she’d used for the call, then ran through the pelting rain to the safety of the main office where Mariah Carey’s version of “Santa Baby” played over the speakers. She hung the keys on the pegboard in the locking cabinet and put the credit card reader on the docking station where it would automatically download and tally the transaction.
Huxley, the office manager slash driver whisperer slash mother hen, looked at her over his reading glasses.
“Why do you do that? Why do you take a call like that? I go to lunch and when I come back, you’ve taken one of the trucks and gone out to face God knows what in this kind of weather. I don’t like to worry. When I worry, I get hives, and then I have to go see the doctor and that costs our insurance company money. Do you want the premiums to go up? I don’t think so. But you do this. Every six months or so you think it’s twenty-five years ago and you’re still driving a damned tow truck. You’re the boss. You’ve been the boss for a long time. It’d be really nice if you remembered it.”
“I was delivering gas, not doing a repo. I was fine. Besides, it’s fun to take one of the trucks out every now and then. I want to keep my hand in. The men need to respect me, and for that I need to prove my skills.”
“A chicken could drag gas out to some fool who forgot to fill up his car. What skills are you going on about?”
She laughed. “I had a good time. I’m allowed. Leave me alone.”
“I can feel those hives popping out all over my body,” he said as she started for her office. “And Axel’s waiting to talk to you. He has today’s list.”
Julie’s good mood instantly faded. She walked purposefully toward her office, not breaking stride as she crossed the threshold and headed for her desk. She ignored the tall, fit man standing by the window, a folder in his hands. As she took her seat, she allowed her gaze to linger on the baseball bat leaning casually against the corner.
From the time she was eight until she was thirteen, her father had insisted on weekly batting practice at the cages up by the park. After all those sessions, she had a hell of a swing, and she wasn’t afraid to connect with a ball or anything else that needed hitting.
Not that she went around beating people with a baseball bat, but it had been a deterrence on more than one call and keeping it nearby in certain situations gave her a sense of security. The world was a better place, at least from her perspective, when she knew she could handle whatever came at her. She never asked for help—instead she took care of the problem herself.
She drew in a breath, then raised her head and looked at the man watching her. “Axel.”
He moved toward her desk and set down the folder. “I have five for tonight.”
“Five’s a lot.”
She glanced at the papers. Sure enough, there were five cars the bank wanted back. They were all high end, late models with appropriately high repo fees.
After taking 25 percent off the top to cover expenses, including the lookout car, the company and repo guy split the fee fifty-fifty. It was dangerous work for not much reward and a part of the business she’d never understood. But repo guys lived on adrenaline, and she supposed someone had to go out and take back that which had not been paid for.
She closed the folder and pushed it toward him. “Try not to get shot.”
Axel flashed her a smile. “Me getting shot would solve a lot of your problems.”
“Why would you say that? You’re my repo guy. I have no interest in finding another one.”
“You’re still mad at me. Any chance you could see your way past that?”
Mad didn’t come close to describing what she was feeling, she thought grimly, taking in his handsome face and dark eyes. He was the kind of man women noticed. A little dangerous, a little sexy, a lot of trouble.
“How long did you go out with my daughter?” His smile faded and he took a step back. “About two years.”
“How many times did she foolishly let you back in her life so you could break her heart yet again?”
His eyes became unreadable. “Three.”
“My count is four, but I’m not sure that matters. I’ll see my way past what you did to her when I’m good and ready. I’m thinking about thirty years, give or take.”
The
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