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Review: One More For Christmas, by Sarah Morgan



 

Thought I might add a mini book review to the blog every now and then, starting with a Christmassy read: One More For Christmas by Sarah Morgan. 


Synopsis

Gayle is a highly successful and motivated business woman, but her success has come at a price – she hasn’t spoken to her daughters, Ella and Samantha, for years. But when Gayle has an accident at work, she realises she needs to make amends with her family.

And so she invites herself to join Ella and Samantha for their Christmas in the beautiful Scottish Highlands. The sisters are none too pleased that their mother has inserted herself into their Christmas plans. They have each other – and don’t need their mother back in their lives. Or so they think…

As they embark on their first family Christmas together in years, will the three women learn that sometimes facing up to a few home truths is all you need to heal your heart?


What I Thought... 

This was more than just a fluffy festive read, dealing with family dynamics, the difficulties of grief and change, along with some deeply hidden secrets for good measure.

The characters are multi-generational, giving an insight into the challenges of different stages of life when it comes to family. It particularly focuses on the strained relationship between Gayle and her two daughters, a divide which is deftly handled by Sarah. The journey they go on does not feel rushed even though the story takes place over days rather than weeks. The intertwining of this storyline with that of their Scottish hosts is really effective - I particularly enjoyed the burgeoning friendship between Gayle and Mary.

This is all against the backdrop of a remote Highland country house, a snowy setting that makes you want to reach for the mince pies and Baileys and settle right in. Despite the tougher themes of the book, it has the thread of Christmas joy running through it, with reindeer, forests of Christmas trees and a very excited little girl having the most magical time of her life. 

This was my first Christmas read of the year and it has definitely done its job, I'm reaching for the mince pies as we speak! 


LJ

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