This one was so much fun to read. I thought loved the second chance romance with Nell and old boyfriend. It was fun to see how the whole O'Brien clan reacted and how Nell seemed to chastise each and everyone. Dylan and his family were interesting and it was fun to see how they interacted with Nell's family. There looks like there maybe more than one romance between these two families. The on and off again romance with Layla and Matthew was more meh... I wished that Layla would just get over herself and was glad to see that women in the O'Brien clan to take her to task. I did like how Layla finally stood up to her father and realized what was important at the end. A sweet addition to this series with lots going on and not just for the starring couple. Laila and Matthew's love story was very sweet and lovely, with Matthew going all guns to romance Laila with an old fashioned courtship. Her disgruntled reaction to his refusal to sleep with her was very funny.The only disappointments, for me, were the ridiculous reaction from Mick O'Brien, to his mother's romance and Laila's father's behaviour in general. Neither of these men offered sufficient apology to the relevant people for the awful things they said and did.Mick was outrageously disrespectful to his mother, not to mention very selfish. And Laila's father was just an awful and horrible man. He spent the whole of Laila's life making her feel less than worthy in his eyes, which everyone just seemed to think was ok because that's just how he was???There is a pattern in this series, where the men often behave unreasonably and say cruel things, then the women react in a very conciliatory way, forgive them and straighten every thing out. I have no problem with this, apart from the fact that the men are just allowed to get away with it, with no apology or acknowledgement of how hurtful they have been. Laila's father in particular said things to her that in my opinion were unforgivable.I wonder if the author, by this point in the series, was bored or lacking in inspiration for characters. Rather than creating people with reasons behind their behaviour that you can relate to or at least understand, the last couple of books have shown characters that are revolting with no reason why. It just feels contrived, causing conflict for the sake of needing more conflict within the book.
Do You like book An O'Brien Family Christmas (2011)?
Audiobook on iPodWhat isn't to love when it comes to the O'Brian's. Ready for the next book :)
—Trish
This was such a sweet holiday read. Full review soon!
—Jeandenys
