Never Too Late

One More For Christmas by Sarah Morgan is a most delightful contemporary festive offering that will have you longing for snow covered hills and log fires.

The novel is about families. They come in all sorts of sizes and shapes – some are loving, others are fractured. We parent the best we can but we always have areas of guilt where we wish we had parented differently. We do our best for our children passing on the life skills that we think they need but our children do not always thank us for it.

We witness the power of compromise when motivated by love as a family tries to repair the broken relationships.

We must not criticise others. If we have not walked in their shoes, we have no idea what they have gone through. To pass judgements without knowing the full story is wrong. Secrets hide past hurts. In order to fully understand what has motivated another, secrets must be revealed.

All the characters were delightfully drawn. They were realistically flawed and easy to empathise with. The dialogue was extremely funny at times as the reader witnessed some classic verbal volleys. I particularly loved the young four year old with her wonderful mannerisms. The story was written from several alternating points of view, enabling the reader to fully know the characters.

There are losses to recover from. Things must be done in new ways.

I loved the setting of the Scottish highlands with snow covered mountains. It evoked warm thoughts of log fires and snowmen, snow topped fir trees and footprints. Sarah Morgan perfectly captured the scene with her words.

It is never too late to have a new beginning. While we have breath in our bodies, we can always find a new way of doing the familiar, giving our lives a fresh, new direction.

One More For Christmas is such a delightful read focussing on families. I adored it. I always love Sarah Morgan’s novels.

A word of caution: there are a couple of bedroom scenes with rather more detail than I am comfortable with but I just skipped over them. It did not detract from the story.

I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

JULIA WILSON