It’s that time of year when you look around at your assembled family during your holiday party and decide they look Relatively Normal. At least they will, after you read this laugh-out-loud book.

Cat runs an event planning company in New York City. She meets and becomes engaged to Ethan, an actuary. Ethan is a planner. After Ethan and Cat are engaged and living together for two years, he insists on their two families celebrating Thanksgiving together at Cat’s family farm in rural Illinois.

Cat doesn’t know to explain her family to Ethan. Her mom collects obscure household goods like shortbread pans and various cozies. Cat’s dad is staunchly Scottish. He plays the bagpipes badly and dresses up stuffed mice as Scottish heroes. Her grandmother, Nan, says whatever she thinks. Unfortunately, she is usually thinking with a sailor’s vocabulary due to numerous small strokes. Cat’s brother, Travis, is a 29-year-old clown college dropout living in his parent’s basement.

When Cat, Ethan and his parents get to the farm all hell breaks loose. Cat’s dad has invited Cat’s high school boyfriend and former love of her life, Sam, and his parents. Unfortunately, Dad forgot to mention Cat’s engagement.

The absurdity of the Scottish Thanksgiving dinner is hilarious. Cat’s family never lie so they don’t hesitate to tell her Ethan isn’t her perfect match. When a medical emergency occurs, Cat contemplates her relationship with Ethan and her still fiery feelings for Sam, a feeling that Sam shares.

Relatively Normal starts as a superb farce. When the romance begins to heat up between Cat and Sam, Cat must decide what is important for her. The characters are so believable. You’re rooting for them to make the best decisions and live happily ever after. I recommend this book both to fans of zany humor and non-explicit romance. If you like the Stephanie Plum series, you will also like Relatively Normal. 4 stars!

Thanks to 33 Partners Publishing and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Catriona is from a wild and crazy family. Their idiosyncrasies make her terrified to bring her very orderly and regimented fiancé, Ethan, home to meet them. In fact, she's put it off as long as she possibly can. When Cat gets Ethan's family and hers in the same place, the hilarity begins. But when Cat comes face to face with Sam, the man who broke her heart 14 years ago, the madcap antics ratchet up another notch. The only question is who will be left in tears?

I love that Catriona has a conscience and a kindness about her. She is extremely likable, and earnestly tries to do the right thing. Her family is funny, warm, and over the top--in fact, I felt like one of them by the end. The entire story is wonderfully told. It takes Cat a little longer to make a major decision than I would have anticipated, but this story and the struggle are truly well explored.

This book was a lot of fun to read, well written and with a cast of quirky and lovely characters.
I loved plot and enjoyed the romance. The book is well written and characters are well developed.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC

The story begins with Cat bringing her boyfriend (fiance) home to meet her parents and grandmother. She is also bringing his family as well. A clash of differences abound, and her boyfriend Ethan is totally taken by surprise. On top of that, her parents invite Sam and his parents for the Thanksgiving meal, so there is a lot of tension, since Sam is her old high school sweetheart. I did enjoy this book, but thought it odd how quickly she went from being embarrassed by her family, and then to being embarrassed by her fiance. Seems she needed to come to terms with herself first, before worrying about others. Other than that, I enjoyed the quirkiness, and fun parts, and loved her grandmother. Would recommend this book.

I’m really torn. The story was cute and fun. Cat’s family is quirky and there were a lot of shenanigans going on. But there were some things that bothered me. It took me a minute to get into the story, I really didn’t find it funny at all and this book is strictly PG. I did find myself skimming the last 25% because I felt some things were going on and on. There’s no epilogue and I felt that the story ended rather abruptly. Now these are just “me” things. I like steamy stuff in my romance stories, maybe you’re cool without it. You do you. I’ve never read anything else by this author so I don’t know if this is how she rolls in her other books. Either way, it wasn’t horrible or anything like that, I just wasn’t in love with it.

Normal is relative. What is my normal isn't someone else's and vice versa. The book definitely shows this. Take Ethan for example. He's supposed to be the 'normal' one but he's the one that actually feels wierd to me. Everyone is a little strange in their own way and that's perfectly alright. Ethan, despite his title of normal, is strict and focused on lists, deadlines, and statistics. He's kinda a party pooper but he's steadfast. Then lets compare him to Cat's family, who are just plain crazy; they have spitoons in the living room and use them (and do a huge dred other things). Both are different but whose to say what is normal.

Despite how insightful the book is I have some issues. I never felt Ethan was right for Cat and really (can't stress this enough) disliked how Cat comes across as ashamed of her family;she never tells Ethan about their idiosyncrasies or lets them meet until a year into their relationship. She also is constantly apologizing for them. I love my family. Yes they have issues but I take them as they are. Nothing is wrong with her family. They are just different then most people. I wish she could admit that to herself and her fiance and move on.

***Beware spoilers*****( I do feel that Sam is the better fit for Cat but also feel like I wouldn't be able to forgive him. It would be different if he apologized sooner or differently. As such, he kinda walked back into her life expecting them to connect again. Almost like he was hoping she would run into his open arms. On the other hand he knows he made a mistake in letting her go all those years ago.)

Overall, I enjoyed the book. I honestly didn't laugh. Not even once during the entire book. I was told it was going g to be funny and there are some cute plot points, but nothing that actually made me laugh. I was a little disappointed in that but I will say other people may find the book hilarious. Despite this, I would definitely recommend the novel. It's a fun read and I really enjoyed it.

The people Cat associates with can be a little gun shy, “Catriona,” my fiancé begins, “I cannot announce to the whole house when I’ve just, you know, used the facilities.” I loved Cat's family they were an eccentric bunch, "my dad hauls me into his arms and shouts back, “This surprise is worth a new pair of drawers, trust me.” I liked this book, and Cat and her crazy family.

This is Sam, Ethan, and Cat book, Sam and Cat have known each other their entire lives but Sam dumps cat when they go to collage . Cat meets Ethan and they become engaged they go to cats small hometown so Ethan can meet the folks! Her family is definitely funny crazy! I loved Nan the grandma! She's a trip!! Well cats family invites her long ago love Sam! This book is not my normal read at all! But I really enjoyed reading it! It was funny, and had a great story line! I definitely recommend this book! Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for sharing this book with me!