One Family Christmas was a bit like my stir fry. Everything lying around is thrown in, stirred around and then a few more bits and pieces are added. It works out fine but it's a bit random. It seems to me that Bella Osborne has thrown every possible mishap, secret and strained relationship into her book. It was fun to read but there were just too many strands for me get emotionally involved. However, if you want a book to fall into for a few hours this Christmas this one wouldn't be a bad choice.

Yikes. I can't pretend I loved this book. The story behind it was great- broken family invited to spend one last Christmas together in their matriarchal home after the matriarch passes. Shenanigans ensue. Secrets, etc. The problem is that this book droned on and on and bored the heck out of me. I would have DNF'ed it had i not received it in exchange for my honest review from NetGalley. Don't get me wrong, there were some good parts. But the delivery on a great story was ruined with this author's rambling, semi-incoherent narrative.

A sweet, lively story. The characters are finely drawn, and I reckon most people can think of similar people in their own wider families.

Lottie has spent much of her life living with her grandmother, her real mother being far too busy looking for ‘the one’ to spend her life with, leaving Lottie and her brother Zach with her mother and only returning for a while when yet another relationship collapsed. Five weeks before Christmas she and her grandmother Rose are sorting things out ready for the normal family Christmas, writing cards and preparing the Christmas pudding. Sadly, three weeks later the family come together for Rose’s funeral. Lottie is shocked to find that her mother and her brother Daniel have already put the house up for sale - she and Uncle Bernard, who also lived in Rose’s large Manor House are about to be made homeless! After the service Lottie, having heard some of them talking about their Christmas plans, gets them all together and demands that they all come for a final family Christmas at the manor. They all agree, if somewhat grudgingly.

And so follows a loud, busy family Christmas, complete with unexpected guests, furious rows, accidents; Lottie feeling resentful because she has never produced a Christmas dinner before and almost nobody wants to help with any of it - preparation or clearing up afterwards. On Christmas Eve there is a knock on the door, and it is the estate agent to let them know that a company has bought the house at the full asking price, Lottie’s about to be homeless! Her mother and Uncle Daniel celebrate by drinking all the Prosecco that Lottie had hidden away to serve with Christmas dinner. There will only be ordinary wine now, and it is their own fault!

There are moments of high farce, laugh-out-loud humour, and a few sad moments, all well-written and imaginable. And anyone who has ever cooked a Christmas meal will be familiar with some of the disasters, and methods of recovering from them. And there are happy-ever-afters for most of the characters ... although the kitten that gets named right at the end of the book might well disagree!

Well worth reading.

Once I'd gotten over Lottie's obsession with keeping everything exactly as her Nana did following her death, I really enjoyed this book. I've read another of this author's books and it was good that this one was set in a similar area so some locations and characters were recognizable. I love a christmas book and this didn't disappoint. Of course there was a happy ending as there always is with these sorts of books but it was a nice story and an easy, comforting read in these difficult times

This was such an enjoyable read, and so easy to zip through. There were so many places where I laughed out loud, and it put a big smile on my face. The characters were interesting & the family drama was entertaining.

Thank you to NetGalley and AVON/HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. for a copy of "One Family Christmas" in exchange for an honest review.

Ms. Osborne has written the perfect holiday book. It had me laughing and crying but mostly not wanting to put it down. It was a truly heartwarming message about what is truly important during the holiday season and that is family.

The story starts 5 weeks before Christmas. Lottie Collins and Nana Rose are making Christmas pudding together and preparing for the annual gathering of the Collins clan at Henbourne Manor. The story then forwards to 2 weeks prior to Christmas and the Collins family is gathering for an unexpected wake. The family includes: Great Uncle Bernard (Lottie and Zach's late grandfather's brother); Lottie and her brother Zach, who has a 6 year old daughter from his previous marriage named Jessie and his current girlfriend Emily; Lottie and Zach's mother Angie and her current boyfriend Scott; Angie's brother Daniel, his wife Nicola and their 10 year old son Rhys. Also added to the family is Joe Broomfield, the new village vet who just so happens to be Lottie's ex-boyfriend.

Lottie promises to make this one last family Christmas at the manor special for everyone. And special it is!!

The stars of the book are without a doubt Dave a stray dog that has adopted the family and the Duchess, Nana's cat. The pair make an adorable "couple" throughout the book. The Duchess somehow ends up in the tomato soup and the mouse that she brings in as a gift ends up in the mulled wine.

The story is so well written that you feel you are standing in the room with the family, sharing their Christmas fun. You feel for Lottie and Great Uncle Bernard when you learn that the manor is being sold out from under them. However, Great Uncle Bernard has a secret and it may involve his carer. Dave may or may not have eaten a very important Christmas present. Why exactly did someone give Great Uncle Bernard 5 cans of tuna? Who thought that the Duchess would appreciate an Alfie Boe CD? Someone in the family may be pregnant according to the test found in the rubbish. Someone had an affair and their surprise daughter has shown up at the manor. Someone is dating a porn star who is young enough to be their son. Someone has a heart attack on Christmas Day. There are a couple of infernos spread throughout the book - a turkey catches fire, a tablecloth goes up in a blaze - however the Christmas pudding that was supposed to catch fire - well it doesn't.

I absolutely loved this book and would happily spend the holidays with this cast of characters. I will certainly be on the lookout for more books from Ms. Osborne and I highly recommend this one as a perfect way to kick off the upcoming holiday season. Worth more than the allotted 5 stars!!

Everyone's idea of Christmas is different; some like the hustle and bustle, others like the peace and quiet. But for Lottie all she wants is to have that one last family Christmas that her Nana held every year since she can remember. Then everyone can move on with their lives and the only home that Lottie knows can be sold. 

What can possibly go wrong?

Lottie's cooking is not known to be great and the manor house is perhaps feeling unloved and needs some attention but the family descend and endeavour to honour Nana Rose memory. 

Lottie's widowed brother Zak arrives with his young daughter, Jessie and his new girlfriend, Emily. Their mother, Angie arrives with her latest young squeeze who looks oddly familiar to some. 

Then there is Uncle Daniel and Auntie Nicola, tense and completely unaware of their teenage son Ryan's new plans for his life. 

Great Uncle Bernard resident already in the house with his carer Dayea has surprises of his own to share on the big day. 

Add to this the return of Lottie's old flame, Joe and it seems this Christmas is going to go off with the bang and that won't be the crackers round the table. 

With affairs, a frozen turkey, pregnancy, secret children, proposals, births, porn stars, scary dolls, snow and a dog called Dave this is one Christmas none of the characters are going to forget in a hurry. 

This book has much love in it, but there is a great amount of humour as you see how all the characters interact when they are thrown together at such a stressful time and it was a book I could picture being brought to life on the big screen, it has so much visual potential. It works well as a book because it let's your imagination run wild and it suddenly reminds you of all those 'strange' family traditions that we all have at Christmas. 

As someone who comes from a very small family and has not experienced a Christmas such as Lottie's (and I don't want to) this was a fascinating humours insight which is worth reading to perhaps remind you that perhaps not all families are than unique! Especially at Christmas.

This book was such a fun Christmas read. It had some elements of mystery and also had a few different plot lines. I loved it!

Thanks to Avon Books UK & NetGalley for a copy to honestly review.

Thanks to Netgalley and Avon books for a copy of this book in exchange for a review.

Lottie wants a final family Christmas at the Manor to remember. She wants it to be just the way Nana Rose would have wanted but what a family they are. They are all nuts, Lottie can't cook and just to add another bit of interest - Joe who she hasn't seen for 9 years since he vanished to America reappears on the scene. It will certainly be a Christmas to remember!

This is a wonderfully festive book from Bella Osborne, to make you laugh, to make you cry and probably to make you realise that your family aren't quite so bad after all.......

This is a wonderfully entertaining book about a delightfully scatty young lady who is trying to prepare a perfect Christmas as her recently deceased nana would have done. There is the expected quota of greedy relatives all with many issues. Along comes an amazing vet with a crazy dog and after a range of funny events, all works out happily. A fun book which I would recommend to anyone.

One Family Christmas is a book full of romance humorous dialogue and a cast of interesting characters humans and animals.
Lottie is hosting Christmas at the Manor house she lived in with her now deceased Nana, determined to have a final family Christmas before the Manor is sold she invites all her rather resistant close relatives.
So starts the mayhem, romance, arguments, humour, misunderstandings of this lovely story.
My only downside is that I loathed Lottie’s mother a self centred vacuous creature with a boyfriend half her age and acting completely inappropriately, whilst humorous I would of liked Lottie to of had more backbone and put her firmly in her place, she did at times but not to great effect.
A happy ending, so feel a good satisfying read.
My thanks to net galley and publisher for the opportunity to review this book honestly.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. Although it is autumn and too early (for me) to read books about Xmas but love this author her books always make me smile and feel good, this was a fantastic read - even though its September..

I really loved this book, it was set over a very chaotic Christmas with lots of mishaps along the way, very funny!

Lottie had fairly recently moved back in to Henbourne Manor with her Gran, who unfortunately has just died quite suddenly. Her Gran always hosted the family Christmas and made sure everyone attended and, as the house is now being sold, Lottie feels it is her responsibility to make sure everyone attends their last Christmas together at the Manor.

So attending the big family gathering is Zach (Lottie's brother) and his girlfriend Emily (who hasn't met any of the family yet), along with Zach's daughter Jessie. Then there's Angie and her boyfriend Scott (Lottie & Zach's mother), their Uncle David and his wife Nicola and their 19 year old son Rhys, and Great Uncle Bernard who currently lives in the house, and his carer Dayea. Then thrown into the mix is Lottie's old love, vet Joe, who has just moved back home to start up his vet practice.

It is absolute mayhem, but in a really nice way! There are secrets and events galore that come out during the course of their stay - engagements, pregnancy, old affairs, a heart attack (sort of), and a surprise birth. How Lottie managed to keep them all together and still stay relatively sane I have no idea!

Very, very enjoyable and definitely a 5-star Christmas feeling read as it's set right over Christmas and the New Year and even has some snow! Very entertaining.

Bella is fast becoming one of my favourite authors. Love the writing style and always well written characters.

Festive Cheer.....
Relatives descend for a big family Christmas. Eccentric, dysfunctional, individual family members, stray dog included, turn up at the Manor House for a Christmas to remember, bravely hosted by Lottie who has absolutely no idea just how many secrets these people are harbouring. A fun, escapist read and certainly adds some festive cheer.

If you are going to read anything Christmas themed this year then let it be this book.

Filled with love and laughter this is just perfect for the festive season.

Lottie and her family are celebrating one last family Christmas at her Nana's manor after her sad passing earlier that month.

Between bad cooking, wild pets, bickering family members oh and not forgetting long lost boyfriends, this is shaping up to be a Christmas that they will never forget.

I was in fits of laughter over the dynamics of this bunch, their conversations and the situations that they kept finding themselves in ... even better than an episode of Eastenders.

Highly entertaining from start to finish, a real feel good novel. Just what was needed during these not so happy times.

I dare you to read this and try not to smile!

One Family Christmas makes for a wonderful holiday read! This book has lots of laughs, family drama, great characters (including some of the animal kind), and a little romance. Lottie is determined to make this Christmas one that her beloved Nana would be proud of. Unfortunately, not much is going according to plan.

A few weeks ago I started thinking ahead to Christmas. This year I might actually have both my kids home for Christmas and I want to make it special. I thought a Christmas novel might put me in the mood.
Then I found One Family Christmas. It did not disappoint! It gave me that home-spun Christmas feel that I wanted.

I honestly don’t think there are any characters in this book that I don’t like. They were all made into actual people in my opinion. The book grabbed my interest with the prologue and the baking scene with Lottie and Nana. I was only sorry to remember at that point that we wouldn’t have Nana with us for the whole book.

I loved the Christmas that Lottie (in her Nana’s memory) put together for the family! So many traditions followed. I love traditional Christmases! The English countryside setting was lovely as well. Oh how I’d like to spend a few weeks in the English countryside! There was plenty of action going on as well - both pre-planned events and spur of the moment.

If you like immersing yourself in Christmas tradition, hot chocolate, discussions over tea and coffee, and a few surprises, you should definitely pick this book up!

Thank you to NetGalley and and Avon Books UK for providing me with the book. Opinions expressed are my own.

Nana always has Christmas at her house and the whole family comes for it. Nana and Lottie are preparing for the dinner weeks before Christmas and Nana goes upstairs to write her Christmas cards for the family. Lottie has come home to heal her wounds from a bad relationship and helps Nana with preparations.

Nana passes away and at the funeral Lottie tells the family that she wants them all to get together for Christmas because it was Nana's last wish. Lottie has decided that she is going to prepare the meal for the family and Lottie isn't much of a cook.

This was a really good book about family coming together. I enjoyed it and you will too.

I love a Christmas book and books by Bella Osborne! This did not disappoint. Although Lottie is grieving for her Nana she is determined to have one final big family Christmas at the Henbourne Manor before it is sold, even though she's not a very good cook! She persuades everyone to come together one last time and then the fun begins with a stray dog, an old boyfriend who comes back to the village and her brother who is trying to propose. Along with uncles and aunts and a mum who hasn't grown up herself all of whom have secrets, Lottie has her hands full. I felt this truly described so many family christmases that it will resonate with lots of people who will be able to identify their own family members!! It certainly made me chuckle and I will be stealing the stocking game idea. Curl up with a box of matchmakers, tea and forget your turkey is cooking. Thank you Netgalley and Avon Books and of course to Bella Osborne for another smash hit.