A Proper Family Christmas By Chrissie Manby

[amazon_link id=”034099276X” target=”_blank” ]'A Proper Family Christmas[/amazon_link]’A Proper Family Christmas’ is the latest book by Chrissie Manby.

Take one Queen Bee: Annabel Buchanan, with a perfect house in the country, a rich husband and a beautiful daughter, Izzy and one large, loud family: the Bensons. What happens when their worlds collide?
When Izzy suddenly falls dangerously ill, adoptee Annabel has to track down her biological family to see if they can help her daughter. But can she see past the Bensons’ brash exteriors to the warm, loving people they are at heart? With December just around the corner, is it too much to hope that the Bensons and the Buchanans can have a proper family Christmas?

‘A Proper Family Christmas’ sees Chrissie return to the Benson family and carry on where her summer novel ‘A Proper Family Holiday’ left off when the mother of the family Jacqui tells her two daughters Ronnie and Chelsea, that she had another daughter long before they were born and she had adopted.

When they get home, Jacqui receives a letter from her long lost daughter wanting to get in touch and so ensues, the reunion that Jacqui has dreamt of but it causes a flurry of emotions between them all varying from anger, jealousy and sadness.

The story is seen from the perspective of the ladies of the Benson family all giving a different insight to the newcomers to the family. Ronnie is still as loud as ever and her nose is out of joint with no longer being the older sister and is suspicious as to why Annabel has got in touch and Chelsea is a quiet observer as she tentatively starts a new relationship with Adam, a man she met on the holiday.

Annabel, is completely different to her biological family, after leading a privileged life, she is quite snobby and finds their brash and loud behaviour unsightly but with Izzy being seriously help, Annabel needs to see past this, if she wants them to help. I loved the scenes where the two families gather, as there usually drama and chaos highlighting the class difference between the Bensons and Buchanan’s.

The scenes with Annabel were great, she was an interesting character, as she battled with the emotions of meeting her new family and dealing with the trauma of Izzy’s illness all whilst putting on a brave face. Also the chapters with Izzy and Sophie who is Ronnie’s daughter, were good as they started a fledging friendship though they were from different worlds.

I loved this book, I’ve been a fan of Chrissie’s books for years and the new Benson book series have been tremendous reading. But if you haven’t read the first book, Chrissie gives the background of the characters so it’s not necessary but I would recommend reading ‘A Proper Family Holiday’ purely for the entertainment value and the introduction to the characters.

Like her previous book, this book is filled with Chrissie’s wit and charm but there is also a serious element to it with the sensitive issues as adoption and organ donation. Packed with a cleverly written storyline and characters that we have grown to love, ‘A Proper Family Christmas’ is a poignant and heartwarming story that is perfect for the Christmas season, wrapped up with a pretty bow, this book is an ideal Christmas treat.

You can buy [amazon_link id=”034099276X” target=”_blank” ]A Proper Family Christmas from Amazon[/amazon_link] and is available to buy from good bookshops.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*