I have heard of Sarah Morgan, but had never read one of her books before, as they didn't look like my kind of books. I was definitely wrong about that. I expected it to be twee and fluffy, it was not at all like that.
This book is gritty, and the characters face some hard hitting truths. The book was also romantic, and heartwarming.
Suzanne is expecting her 3 adopted daughters home for Christmas. It is the only time of year that they get together usually, and Suzanne wants it to be perfect. All four of them have guilt and misconceptions about the accident 25 years ago which left the 3 girls orphaned, and of which Suzanne was the sole survivor.
The 3 sisters lead separate lives, unable to come to terms with the accident, but none of them want to talk about it. As each sister returns home for Christmas, they are thrown together and have to make peace with the past, in order to move forward with their futures.
This book was interesting to read, as it did not give too much away at the beginning. You have to keep on reading to find out about the accident, and why each character felt guilty. The book also shows that people can have flaws, and while everything might look perfect appearances can be deceptive.
The book was set in New York and the Scottish Highlands. The setting of the Highlands was perfect for a Christmas novel. It was good to see the characters evolve, and learn what makes the perfect Christmas, and what is really important. It is a very festive read, and one which I would highly recommend.

A feel good cosy Christmas read with plenty of snow and happy endings as one would expect from a book in this category. I did find the American connection rather unneccessary but this didn't detract. The characters were believeable, and were based around three sisters who had lost their parents in a climbing accident whilst they were still young and were adopted by their mother's best friend and husband. I couldn't quite understand why everyone had a problem with the eldest sibling calling the adoptive parents by their names and not Mom and Dad as after all she remembered very clearly her real parents. I also found a little annoying the overuse of the word 'sisters' but apart from that (and probably why I only give it 4 stars) a good winter holiday read.

There was nothing I disliked about this book, the characters were believeable and well written and the story was engaging and festive. I’ve loved all previous books by Sarah Morgan and this was no exception.
The book tells the story of Posy, Beth and Hannah who were tragically orphaned when their parents died in an avalanche. Adopted by a family friend they are now grown and living their own lives either in the US or Scotland. It’s Christmas time and as the sisters come together to celebrate they each have a problem, a quest or a secret! Will they be able to celebrate a magical Christmas this year??
I hope to see further titles featuring the McBride sisters as I loved this book!

Wonderfully festive and totally engaging. I loved every page. A beautifully written novel about 3 sisters who seem completely different but nearer the end of the book realise that they aren't so different after all. They all come together just in time for Christmas and it was a perfect ending.

A lovely lovely story and being set in the Highlands of Scotland it is very close to my heart.

This is the perfect book to read under a blackets with a nice cup of tea and some shortbread. The story flows nicely and well written. The charaters are interesting. A really good family festive read.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

What a delightful story! it feels very real, all the characters perfectly drawn and described. You laugh and cry, and panic, alongside them. The storyline begins with Suzanne trapped in a nightmare, the same dream she has suffered for twenty five years.. Her husband Stewart wakes her up, and comforts her. He suggests that it was the phone call from Hannah that maybe sparked the dream, she hadn't had the nightmare for more than a year. But it is close to Christmas, and she is looking forward to the whole family being together. She wants everything to be perfect.

Suzanne and Stewart have three daughters. Hannah, the oldest, and Beth, the middle daughter, live in New York, in Manhattan, and Posy the youngest, lives in the Highlands of Scotland, close to her parents. Hannah is a high-flyer in the business world, with a very well paid executive job, but apparently no social life, she is quite a prickly character,very reserved, and even when she does come home for Christmas she tends to cut herself off from her family. Beth is married to Jason. She is a stay-at-home mum to Melly and Ruby, Jason has the high paid job that allows her that luxury. But to Beth it is not a luxury, she feels overwhelmed by trying to keep everything perfect, by having no adult company to talk to day in-day out, and Jason working long hours. She gets a phone call inviting her to come for a job interview, and she sees it as a lifeline. Posy, back in Scotland, works with her mother in the cafe, she looks after a whole host of animals, works in the Search and Rescue team, and looks after a converted barn that the family rent out. She lives in the upstairs apartment, and Luke, an author and mountain climber has rented the apartment for several months while he completes a book. Posy really wants to travel, and see the world, but doesn't want to upset her parents. She likes Luke very much.

Back in Manhattan two seemingly perfect lives are beginning to unravel. Beth has a terrible row with Jason and walks out, leaving him to take care of the girls. Hannah feels overwhelmed by events in her life. Both of them run away, back home to Scotland. The family suffered a terrible catastrophe when the girl's were very young, but they have never spoken about it. But with all the anxiety this is the year to bring it out in the open. When the sisters really talk they find things out about each other that they had never realised. The issues that overwhelmed in Manhattan get solved in a lovely, and realistic way, and Posy is at last able to tell her mother that she does not really want to take over the cafe, and live in the village for ever.

It is a heartwarming story, with delightful little touches that make it feel very real. The two children are wonderfully written, their little comments absolutely spot-on, and their actions just perfect. When mum leaves all her make-up on the table, and the girls are left to their own devices - they do just what you would expect, and the results are very, very funny! A perfect Christmas story, well worth reading.

I loved everything about this book, the characters, the snowy setting and the way Sarah Morgan wove the scenery and mountains into the book. There are three sisters who lost their parents in an accident when they were young. Their mother's friend and her husband bring up the girls as their own moving them from America to the highlands of Scotkand. The girls never talk to each other about the memories they have of the day their parents died until a couple of problems in their personal lives see them going back to the highlands for a family Chrostmas. Suzanne is the person who took them in and who all, except the eldest Hannah, call mother. She has her own nightmares about that day. It's a beautiful story about family life, love and learning to live with the past. Weave in a little romance, a lot of laughs and sisterly competition and you have the perfect Christmas book to curl up by the fire and enjoy.

I went through every emotion possible with this book, it's a great read with a fab Christmassy feel. Scotland is the perfect setting for the story. Grab a cuppa and curl up and enjoy!

Sarah has written a heartwarming book about how siblings and their families function. Just as many real-life families experience tensions, so do they.

It's Christmas in the McBride household and the sisters come together again.

Emotions run high and each member of the family find their own way of dealing with them which in turn allows them to be able to move on in life.
Sarah has found a way of weaving crises, secrets, loved homeliness and the magic of the Christmas season together.

I loved this book, it was easy reading right from page 1 and I would highly recommend anyone to read it.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I found the characters interesting and the overiding subject of mountain climbing was a nice twist which made it even more enjoyable.

I would say the title doesnt really reflect the story for me and perhaps this book could be bypassed by people chosing as its not your average chic lit that the cover implies it is (in my opinion)

I would definitely read for this author again.

4.5*

I'm not going to lie - when I heard that Sarah Morgan was branching into "Women's Fiction" (ugh whoever thought of the name of this genre should be shot) and away from contemporary romance I was really disappointed as I love her romance novels. However, the description of this one centred around three sisters reuniting for the festive season intrigued me enough to give this genre a try and I am pleased to say I greatly enjoyed <i>The Christmas Sisters</i>.

The four things that made it so good:

1. Sarah Morgan's wonderful immersive style of writing is still ever present along with the humour. The scene with the three sisters in the car near the end (you'll know which scene I mean when you hit it) had me chuckling out loud.
2. It's Christmas in the Highlands with lots of snow and the blending of American and British cultures.
3. The backstory of the family and why each sister is the way they are was intriguing and held my interest
4. Whilst definitely not the focus of the book there are two cute romances. Whilst I love seeing two characters get together and fall in love and these two relationships are already in progress at the start of the book, I still loved seeing each half of the couple interact with each other.

I was disappointed when I came to the end and there was no more of the McBride sisters story to read, even though the ending was satisfyingly perfect.

As good as I would expect from Sarah Morgan, Christmas being the main theme along with the trials and tribulations of the three sisters and their parents.

This book was simply brilliant from the first page and didn't want to put ot down the story was so like real life and the characters are brilliant and the story plot is so believable. Perfect Christmas read to curl up in front of a fire and enjoy Christmas. It's all about family life and how all a mother wants is for her children to be happy and in love and enjoy being with each other. Plenty of romance and sisterly love but also heartbreaking and how they have to deal with the past in order to move forward. You are really able to laugh at times when reading it but also heartwarming and you believe you are in the setting as all amazing secenery and plenty of snow. Well worth more than e five stars I have given it and live how each chapter is about a different sister but how they all pull together in the end.
Suzanne moved to Scotland years ago and has her own cafe and her husband steward works in the mountains rescuing people from danger but she is never happy at him doing this due to the upset of years ago. She took on bringing up her best friends three children when they were young as the parents died while up on the mountains. Problem is the heartbreaking time has different memories for all three children and non of them are close at all. Two moved back to America but one stayed living in the highlands of Scotland but can Christmas bring them together.
You have Hannah who lives in amaerica and has a high powered job but has surprised herself by having a boyfriend for a length of time but she's kept him secret from her family she really doesn't want to go home for Christmas but one day she feels she is pregnant and really doesn't know what to do so she tells Luke her boyfriend she has to go home early as her sister is poorly and she leaves the next day. Heads back to Scotland and can she decide what she wants and if she can be happy with her boyfriend and a baby as well or is it to much. There is also Beth who has two children and her husband is always working and she feels she isn't a good mum at all and hasn't got her own life so when her old boss rings up offering her a job she jumps at the chance but her husband wants her to have another baby so poor Beth decides to leave both her husband and children and heads home to Scotland to see what she wants. Then there is Posy who has taken after her birth parents and rescues popele on the mountains but also works in her mothers cafe but when a handsome man rents out a barn is he who he says he is and can they be happy or not. Can all three girls support each other through their hard times and tech each other to be happy again and build bridges with their partners and does Suzanna get her Christmas wish of having the perfect Christmas where all her girls are happy and in love agin and moving forward at last from the horrible past so she can also be happy and move forward.
A simply fantastic read highly recommend it packed with so much happiness in the end of hard times.

A good and enjoyable read. Three sisters and their adoptive parents, all damaged by an accident twenty-five years before, come together for Christmas. Each of the sisters is going through a major happening in their life and these become the catalyst for them retracing the accident and talking about the taboo it brought.

Heartwarming Christmassy novel based in the snowy Scottish highlands.

My secret crush is The People's Friend (a Scottish story magazine that my Gran subscribed to, and which I grew up reading too!) and this reminded me at times of their big family sagas.

Likeable characters, baking, knitting and international settings add to the mix. All in all a good read for an autumn or winter's day.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this in return for my honest review.

This is a lovely light read to settle down with under a blanket, hot chocolate & a slice of cake during the cold winter months. I enjoyed the writing style and it was easy to follow the lives of the four women who are family and still suffer from an event that occurred 25 years ago. The ending was good and Christmassy.

This is a delightful book, set in the mountains of Scotland..with much emphasis on mountains and climbing. It's a story about three sisters and their complex emotional lives. How well they are portrayed.
Their adoptive parents come to life, with their nurturing spirits, caring, coping, dealing with disappointments and sadnesses.
It's so good to see how each one of the sisters grows and develops emotionally.
The descriptions af the landscapes and the terrors found within such harsh places some across vividly.
I think the only thing I raised an eyebrow about was the fact that the three men 'belonging' to the sisters, were all just that bit too good looking, GQ, and generally perfect specimens of malehood! What about nice ordinary men?!

I have just finished this book. If I could have read quicker, this would have been finished in one sitting. I really felt as though I was in Scotland with the characters. Each person was well-written and wanted to delve inside their heads to figure out their motives and totally rooting for a happy ending.

This was a soppy book perfect for reading in front of the fire, and as encouraged by Suzanne with a slab of cake or a brownie.

Would recommend to anyone for a Christmas present

Absolutely loved it. Three very young children are orphaned when their parents are killed in an avalanche. A family friend promised their mother previously that she would care from them if anything happened. Roll on several years and the girls are coming home for Christmas. The back stories evolve and every one has been affected by the accident in different ways and nobody talks about it. A wonderful story exploring the dynamics of the family, exploring their feelings. Very well written and an emotional and funny read

A great Christmas read about family and love. The main characters are a mum and her three daughters, set mostly in Scotland. Even though it's only September, this book made me feel all Christmassy and excited for the holidays!