This was a really sweet, enjoyable read. It was witty and heartwarming, and a complete joy from start to finish. Ava and Moira's immediate sisterly bond was wonderful, and I'm glad that things turned out the way they did!

The Sister Surprise was a quirky and fun read, perfect if you are looking for something light and humorous. I thank the author for writing this during lockdown so that is readers could enjoy reading it to break up the droll restrictions.

Upon seeing at the beginning of the book description that a DNA test was involved, I could kind of guess what was going to happen. Nonetheless, there is a colorful story surrounding it, giving the lead up to what you can guess will happen more enjoyable. I am a sucker for the Scots; the country itself, the people, the dialect, the accent (oh, how I adore the accent!), and the slang and sayings. My husband and I went to Scotland on our honeymoon and I loved every single minute of it, even the unpredictable downpour of rain that occurred. All of this made the book more fun for me to read, and I could appreciate so much of it.

Publication date: March 25, 2021

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The Sister Surprise by Abigail Mann is a sweet and funny story, a lovely cosy read.
Ava is an online journalist who takes a DNA test for a story about how popular they are becoming, but her world is rocked when she discovers live on air that she has a half sister she has never met. Her boss thinks that sending her to Scotland to find this sister , Moira, will make for even higher ratings, and Ava is keen, not only to stay in his good graces, but also to find out more about this woman , and about the father she never met. So she boards a train and heads north, to a village so small that the only accommodation she can find is as a volunteer farmhand. Village life is definitely different than anything she has experienced before, and Ava is left feeling like an something of an outsider given the rather lukewarm reception she gets from some of the locals. However she soon gets stuck in on the farm with her host Kian , and eventually meets the elusive Moira in some rather unusual circumstances. When she learns some surprising things about her father and her half sister, she decides the time is not yet right to reveal the truth to Moira, but this is a decision that could turn round and bite her.

This sweet and often hilariously funny book was a real treat , the humour was so skilfully handled, and veered between the simply silly and the truly slapstick variety without ever feeling over done. I really appreciated the growing friendship between Ava and her host, Kian, it was really refreshing that the author kept them as friends . (Just in case you are worried, there is some romance in the story, and it is really sweet too, but this was just so nice to see that I really wanted to mention it in my review.) . The title of the book is the Sister Surprise, so it should come as no surprise that the relationship between Ava and Moira is the real heart of the book, and it is beautiful.
With all the stress and chaos in the world right now ,this is an ideal book to curl up with and escape for a few hours,
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

This book was equal parts sweet and funny. I loved the relationships between the characters and I kind of want a sheep now.

A cute little story about the lengths we will go to connect with family. I enjoyed this book. It was a quick read with likable characters, and a fun escape from today.

The Sister Surprise by Abigail Mann was a cute story about Ava finding a sister she never knew she had. While the characters were likeable and the story humorous in spots, I found that it dragged on a bit. If I were not reviewing the book, there were a few times I might have moved on to something else.

The Sister Surprise by Abigail Mann

Ava is shocked to find out she has a half sister, and she finds out while reporting on live tv. Her sister lives in a teeny tiny town in Scotland. So she is assigned to go investigate and meet her sister, preferably while live streaming.

This book was hilarious at times, heart warming at times, and altogether lovely. There was a chunk of the book after the initial drama that I found dragged quite a bit. But I did love the characters, and was very invested in their relationships! Plus the small town in Scotland was an amazing setting, and I could practically feel the breeze and hear the accents.

Thank you to @onemorechapterhc and @netgalley for my early copy! The Sister Surprise is out on March 25th!

What’s your favourite accent to listen to? I love Irish or Scottish! I spent a couple days in Scotland and I swear I didn’t stop smiling the whole time any local talked to me.

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I did not want this book to end and it left me wanting more in a really really good way!! I want to read everything this author has written!

This was a nice read! It was slightly disappointing as I loved The Lonely Fajita, and this one slightly missed the mark.

The story follows Ava who find out via livestream that she has a half sister living in a remote Scottish village. Under the agreement she writes about the reunion, her boss sends her to Kilroch to meet her new sister Moira. Ava stays with a young farmer who offers a free bed in exchange for help on the farm. When she eventually finds Moira, they get on like a house on fire, except Ava still hasn’t told Moira the truth about who she is.


I found the characters were really likeable, especially Moira. I did find the first half dragged quite a bit and I almost had to force myself to keep going but I’m glad I did. This is a really sweet story about family and I ended up really enjoying it.

Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

The Sister Surprise is a joy! A funny, uplifting read, with Scottish wilds, errant pigs and a sheep called Miranda, it left me with a wide smile on my face

This was such a cute story. And to be honest quite possible today, my family has has a few people show up didn't know about due to DNA testing. I loved that Ava went in search of Moriah. I loved how the girls met and how their friendship developed organically. I liked the rural setting of Scotland. This was a good story and it made you feel good. There were some parts that made you sad and hurt for the characters, but for the most part it was a feel good story. I loved the ending and can envision what happens for these characters in the future.

Thank you to Haper Colllins UK and NetGalley for the ARC of The Sister Surprise. All opinion expressed are my own.

Thank you NetGalley, author Abigail Mann, and One More Chapter for giving me an Arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and feelings are my own.
4 stars
This book had wonderful balance of humor, romance, family, and self discovery. I am a huge fan of small town/village life settings! This book was lighthearted and full of laugh-out-loud moments. The characters were well developed and a very realistic feel to them.
Ava, after taking an DNA test, finds out she has a half-sister in rural Scotland. After deciding to find her long lost half-sister, Ava makes the decision to go undercover as a farm hand in the village she thinks her sister might live in in exchange for a room. Ava was so charming! I loved her different sides of her personality come out throughout the story. She had a great friendship with Kian, the farmer Ava worked for. (It was exciting to read a book where there was a platonic relationship between a single man and a single woman.) Moria was hilarious! She had a no nonsense woman! I enjoyed how much Ava and Moria were able to become true sisters at the end! Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to those who love a book that feels like wrapping up with a warm blanket!

I really enjoyed this book, possibly for the references to the highlands which has my heart but also because the story was just that little bit of light relief we all need just now!
Ava has spent her life with just her and her mum counting as her family, obviously though she has wondered who her dad was, what he was like and even where he came from! When she gets the opportunity to take a DNA test as part of her reporting job she is excited to hopefully get the answers that she hasn't been able to get from her mum. However when the answers lead her to the fact she has a half sister who lives in the highlands of Scotland Ava is left with a pull in her heart that goes against everything she knows. She's never even been out of London, never gone 'off grid' and even calls her mum if she's on a night out to say where she is going!
On a whole I enjoyed the book, possibly more than the Lonely Fajita, and I really loved the characters, however there were some parts that left me wanting more and some parts that jumped about leaving me a little confused with the timelines.

**TW death of a loved one, family illness, alcoholism, gambling

I loved this book! Such a cute, fun read with just the right amount of family issues! I laughed hard multiple times. Definitely a cheer up book! Ava is an absolute wonderful disaster can't help but love her!

The Sister Surprise by Abigail Mann is a cheerful family novel, if you can imagine Bridget Jones stepping into Cold Comfort Farm or something like that, you wouldn’t be too far off. This is definitely a feel good book for people looking to relax with light reading.

We follow Ava, a bit of a neat freak who at almost 30 still lives with her mum and in fact has a bit of trouble standing on her own with that activist symbole’s shadow over her. She gets bullied about at work too, ending up discovering she has a sister live on second rate reality internet the benefit of her employer. Obviously Ava rushes to know more, who wouldn’t want to know more?

The book is full of good intentions and little funny touches, I think many will enjoy it. It feels genuine and people will relate with the awkward hero. But I admit this is not quite what I expected. The pace was a little strange to me. Maybe I expected more humour, maybe it just was not my humour, things slowed down when I expected them to speed up, the strings were a little too thick for me, the reflections of Ava were too obviously flawed to have me rooting for her. I did not like her choices and that made it hard.

But I think my opinion is not really reflexive of the majority. There is a lot of good intentions in this feel good novel and I’m sure many will find plenty of “aw” moments to warm their hearts.

A charming story. Witty and humorous. A fast,easy read that will appeal to fans of chik lit. The author executes a familiar trope well and infuses the plot with drama and tension without overshadowing the light hearted feel of the book.

Surprisingly delightful!!

This is one of those books that toes the line between women's fiction and romance. I think it takes the best elements from both and makes this book an enjoyable read. Romance is definitely not the main part of the book and it is quite unexpected( I couldn't guess love interest). My favorite part is Ava's journey as she goes to Scotland to meet her half-sister who she suddenly learned existed. Moira doesn't know she has a sister. As the sisters get to know each other, there are some side things happening; Ava's job, her mother's secrets, interesting residents of the small Scottish village...

I would recommend this book to all readers who enjoy British women's fiction/ chick-lit books.

I was so excited to pick up this book. It seemed to have all the makings of a great story for me. I loved the idea of the main character finding out on a live stream that she has a sister, via DNA test, and then having to go find her as an assignment for work. However, this book just didn't hit the mark for me. There were times I wanted to stop reading, but I pushed through hoping that it would get better. It didn't. I wasn't a fan of the humor or the writing style of the author, unfortunately. For those main reasons, this book was a miss for me. However, I could tell that this book would be liked by many people - and based on the reviews I have read, it is well liked...it just isn't the book for me!

Ava has never known much about her father so, when the online magazine she works for gets her to do a heritage DNA test, she is surprised to learn that she has a sister living in a remote little village in Scotland. Keen to develop the story further, her boss sends her off to find out more whilst keeping up a video diary. But Ava has no idea how much her visit is about to change her life!

I really enjoyed the Sister Surprise - especially once the setting moved to Scotland and all the great village characters were introduced. There are some hilarious and heart-warming moments in equal measures as Ava adapts to life on a working farm, makes friends, and finds new skills she didn't know about. The characters and their relationships were fantastic and I was quite sad when the story came to an end! A lovely read to cosy up with on the sofa with a glass of wine!

One of the things I loved most about this book was that the romance wasn't the central relationship here. In fact, it doesn't make too much impact on the story. Instead, we focus much more on the fledgling relationship between Ava and her sister Moira.

I love found family, long lost sibling stories so this book was always going to be up my street. I loved watching their relationship build from the moment they first meet.

Of course, there are other aspects to this tale. I really enjoyed the farm narrative and seeing Ava come out of her comfort zone. Naturally, travelling to Scotland through this book was a wonderful escapism throughout a pandemic.

Some aspects of the book are a little predictable, but that didn't much dampen my enjoyment.