People, love and family are not perfect. All three take effort to make them work. People make mistakes and stumble but how you handle the mistakes are what counts. This story is about three sisters who fight a lifetime of misunderstandings and regret to be able to become true sisters.

I enjoyed this book! Enjoyed the story line and loved seeing the characters unfold and how their relationships evolve. My first book by Susan Mallery, but won't be my last!

Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to HARLEQUIN – Trade Publishing (U.S. & Canada) and Netgalley, I was chosen as an early reviewer!


⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Susan Mallery is spot on when writing about how complicated family relationships can be and how they can affect kids. This time she writes about the ins and out of stepsisters and divorce.

Daisy’s life is turned upside down, newly separated with two kids, when her step sister, Sage steps back into her life. Just when she thought Daisy couldn’t handle anything more, her father calls to ask her to take care of Cassidy, her other stepsister because of an accident she was in. Can life get any more complicated for Daisy? Will this accident bring the step sisters closer together and mend their relationship or will it further divide them? This book will have you turning the pages to find out.

I loved the recipes this author included with the book club discussion guide. Perfect book to read with your book club while enjoying the Bel Air Cobb Salad and Berry Bellinis as suggested.

This was an amazing and very engaging story about three sisters; I would call it a familial love story.

Daisy and Sage become stepsisters when their parents marry, and their half-sister Cassidy is born a few years later. Differences in personality, unaddressed trauma, and parental interference cause them to not have the best relationship; Daisy vs. Sage and Cassidy. After their parents’ divorce and after Daisy marries Sage’s ex-boyfriend, the relationship between the sisters falls apart. The sisters reconnect many years later, but a reckless act threatens to end their shaky truce.

I didn’t expect the level of drama that we got from this story, and I loved it! Daisy and Sage were complex, while Cassidy was a brat for far too much of the story. She ended up changing for the better thankfully, but I found her really immature. Daisy’s husband, Jordan, was a whiny loser and had no redeeming qualities.

The dynamic between Daisy and Sage was really interesting and difficult. I couldn’t believe Sage could be so reckless after wanting so badly to be a real sister to Daisy, and wanting to make up from the past. It’s a given that Jordan was 100% wrong, but Sage’s actions were shocking. I’m glad she felt true remorse and made things right with the people in her life. Overall a great read!

This is a story of family and working through adversity. Three women, Daisy, Cassidy, and Sage have strained relationship with each other. When they each face hardships, will they pull together or drift farther apart? This was a story of courage, love, and hope. I enjoyed watching how the women handled the circumstances that came their way.

I have read most of what Susan Mallery has written and this book was not her usual feel-good romance. It is the story of three women who are loosely related trying to find a relationship again after not liking each other for years. There were lots of misunderstandings, mostly fueled by the step-mother/mother to the three girls. All of the girls have relationship issues and find that things don't always work out in the end. The plot comes together when each of the girls finds her way through heartbreak, stubbornness, and mistakes and they all realize life is better together than apart. This book is a nice break from happily ever after romances, showing the reader that things can work out for the best in the end. Readers of Susan Mallery will be pleasantly surprised.

This book was sent to me by Netgalley on Kindle for review. The sisters have problems with each other and in their other relationships. There are so many I likeable people in this book and the use of bad language is not necessary for the story at all. One must wonder why these sisters are together anyway; They don’t like each other and except for the possibility of reconciliation, their visits with one another seem useless. Families...problems...money...this book has all of this and sometimes more.

I really enjoyed this book. It was full of laughter and love. It makes me wish I had a closer relationship with my sisters. I think this will be the best book that Susan Mallery has written this year. I am grateful that netgalley let me read this in exchange for an honest review.

Read this in one sitting. The evolution of the three women was lovely. My main problem was I’d like to read more about Cassidy and I was disappointed to see Sage’s brief stumble. Her redemption was much more enjoyable than the stumble as she was still flawed without it.

A great story about family and relationships.. I enjoyed the complexity of the storyline, and the uniqueness of the characters. Once I started it, I couldn't put it down. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC copy.

The Stepsisters
A Novel
by Susan Mallery
HARLEQUIN – Trade Publishing (U.S. & Canada)
MIRA
Romance | Women's Fiction
Pub Date 25 May 2021 | Archive Date 25 Jun 2021

I try to read all of Susan Mallery's books because they are in big demand at our library. This one does not disappoint. I loved the story and it was a quick and entertaining read for me. I personally felt drawn to the characters and the mistakes they make throughout the book. I will recommend it to our readers.
Thanks to Harlequin Trade, Mira and NetGalley for the ARC. Great Book!
5 star

A story of stepsisters who haven't been in contact in a very long time. The story was good but I found the characters very hard to like. I prefer more relatable characters in my beach reads and someone living in a giant mansion in Bel Air is a bit much for me.

A story of relationships between three estranged step sisters and how they were finally able to become sisters.
Likable characters and plot.

This book was unlike most of Ms Mallory’s other novels - she doesn’t often do a reverse romance (where the MC and their spouse end up divorcing and falling out of love) and where the true romance is not only between the MC and her siblings but also in the Mc themselves where they determine in their heart to not allow themself to be diminished or silenced in order for them to be loved by the opposite sex. It was unexpected but not unwelcome. I would have liked more fleshing out of Cassidy’s character as she felt more like a prop than a fully fleshed character.

I absolutely love Susan Mallery and I was excited about this one! What a great novel and I think it's up there with my favorite book of hers, "California Girls". Thankful to NetGalley for allowing me a copy of this title.

This story drew me in from almost the beginning. It's a study of relationships, between step-sisters, half-sisters, and love interests. It's uplifting in that the 3 women can put the past behind them and become sisters and friends, even though they are bound to mess up, and do. It doesn't give off any warm fuzzies as some pretty awful stuff happens, but there is a lot of food for thought and satisfaction when they see their way through to a future.

An interesting study on modern families with the twists and turns that come with half-sisters and stepsisters.
Completely disconnected at the start of this story Daisy, Cassidy her half sister and Sage her stepsister come together as adults through some circumstances that are unexpected. Their stories are complex and intertwined.
I enjoyed this book tremendously, I wish it were ongoing. I recommend it.

This is a typical Susan Mallery romance story with lots of drama and family relationships. This is a feel good beach read