Talk about family drama! I am such a sucker for a twisted story about a super wealthy family with an onslaught of secrets. There was so much going on in this story, but somehow it was easy to follow along and not get lost in the sauce.

One Big Happy Family" by Jamie Day offers a lighthearted take on the challenges and joys of modern family life. The story is filled with relatable moments and quirky characters that many readers will find endearing. Day's writing is accessible and infused with humor, though at times it can feel somewhat formulaic and predictable. While the narrative touches on important themes of acceptance and togetherness, it occasionally lacks depth, leaving some plot points feeling underexplored. Overall, this book provides an enjoyable, if not groundbreaking, read, making it a solid three stars for its charm and warmth.

If you like thriller mysteries this is one you will want to grab and check out.
Time jumps and the dual point of views will keep you guessing on the whodunit! I can honestly say I was totally wrong.

My thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After enjoying Jamie Day's The Block Party I knew I had to read this one. And I am happy I did! When 3 sisters and their families come together after the death of their father there will always be drama about who gets what... but then add in lots of secrets, a potential murder in their past and a storm that forces to keep everyone together without a way to escape..... oh yeah, the young woman working at a maid at the hotel is also secretly allowing a stranger to stay there after she escaped from her abusive boyfriend...

Lots of drama and lots of people that aren't telling the whole truth... a must read!

I didn’t love this book as much as the first one. The first book really grabbed my attention and had me guessing the whole time. While this book did that at certain parts, I thought it was boring for the others.

One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day

A hotel sits alone off the coast of Maine. The Precipice, a family legacy, which was being run by the father of Iris, Vicki and Faith and with help from the Chambermaid, Charley. The Bishop sister's get the call that their father has passed. They all head up to Maine to claim what is rightful theirs, so they think. Charley who has worked there day in and day out, thinks she deserves a piece too. But Charley is harboring some secrets, literally. A possible murder, the falling out and everybody's secrets comes tumbling down in this locked room mystery! 4 STARS - recommend

Special thanks to NetGalley, the author Jamie Day and St. Martin's Press for advanced copy for honest review.

I wanted to like this book more, but it just felt too convoluted. There wasn't much of a mystery and the characters, aside from Charley, are just not that interesting. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC #sponsored

The main plot revolves around Charley the maid, the heiress’s and a the family hotel, who gather there to have their late father’s will read. After the hearing, the family members started arguing about who manipulated their father and the will. A murder occurs, creepy messages are left, and it’s every person for themselves whilst a hurricane is blowing.

Thank you to St. Martin's for an advance listener copy of One Big Happy Family.

When the patriarch of the Bishop family passes, daughters Iris, Vicki, and Faith, meet at the family’s coastal Maine hotel for the weekend to claim what they all believe is rightfully theirs. When they arrive, a 19 year old ‘chambermaid’ named Charley makes her presence known. As a favorite of their father, she poses a threat to the sisters and their inheritance.

While the sisters each have their own secrets, so does Charley - in the form of a woman on the run hiding in a guest room harboring her own dark past. As a hurricane approaches, it’s hard to tell which is the bigger threat - the weather or the people trapped in the hotel together.

First and foremost, I want to give Jamie Day props for having two books with very similar covers that are also very different. I can only hope that in future books she continues to find ways to play with the “empty scene with chairs” vibe. It might be small and silly, but I appreciate it and think it’s something fun!

I think this book had a lot that intrigued me: the cover (as stated), the secluded location, the strained sister relationship, the storm, and the mysterious younger girl who is a stranger to the daughters. Unfortunately it didn’t quite come together for me. I never fully got invested in the sisters which left the story severely lacking for me. I wish I could explain why, but I can’t and so that fault may lie with me. I was super intrigued by Charley and enjoying her portion, but again when I was dragged into the sisters portions I’d find my attention waning.

Maybe it read more as a ‘contemporary mystery’ than a thriller and that’s what did it? I tend to struggle with books like that (think Apples Never Fall). I feel like I’d enjoy this much more as a movie than I did a book.

I will absolutely read Jamie Day again, The Block Party was just too much fun for me to give up on her. And like I said - it’s not that this was bad, per se, I just don’t think it was my kind of thriller.

I am a sucker for any novel that takes place somewhere in which the cast of characters are trapped. I always find that it adds to the suspense and gives you this claustrophobic feeling that just pushed you forward in the story. This book definitely has that in spades, and at times I almost couldn't breathe, wondering what was going to happen next.

The story is divided into 4 parts, with short chapters that made it easy to ready. However, I felt like this book dragged on. There were so many elements that I just felt maybe didn't need to be there, and maybe had it not been so long I would have found it more enjoyable.

I did very much enjoy the characters' backstories, which helped to shape the story and I found really interesting. And the twist at the end was decent, however a little out of control.

This was a decent read, especially for this time of year.

I was so excited to get the opportunity to read this. It was a fun read - some suspense and family drama. Throw in a storm and a deadline, and it makes for a fun whodunit. It was a quick read and kept me turning the pages to see what was going to happen next.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and to St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read One Big Happy Family.

Thank you for an early copy of this in exchange for an honest review. I love anything set in New England and at a hotel! Hotels have so much history and a lot energy in them from all the people who come to stay there,so they always seem kind of haunted and atmospheric!
I loved the premise of this book and she didn’t disappoint. I loved Charley as a MC!
I can’t wait to read the other books by Jamie Day!

Jamie Day, author of the wonderful thriller The Block Party has another juicy, can't put down, dysfunctional family murder mystery. Filled with shocking surprises and secrets and a few dead bodies, it also includes a lovable protagonist whom everyone will root for because she is so deserving.

Charley works as a maid at the Precipice, a larger-than-life hotel in Maine. Her mother dead, her nana in a home for dementia which money wise is draining her dry, Charley has resorted to not so legal activities at the hotel to make ends meet.

Now, the owner of the resort, George Bishop has died, and his family are all invading her sanctuary to sort the will out. Charley is very nervous. She can't afford to be let go or for them to find out her secrets. Also, as the family travels to the Precipice, they are informed there is a hurricane approaching and with all the guests having to be cancelled, she must now be there alone, with her friend and manager Rodrigo. To say she is nervous is an understatement.

But, when the cast of characters make their grand, and I mean grand entrances, well Charley is a mess. Hopefully these high society snobs won't figure out what she has been doing.

The big family include: Iris, an ex-con, Vicki, married to Todd (who is kind of creepy), their young son Oliver who only speaks in rhymes, Faith who is married to Hope (you can't make this up!) but Jamie Day did! and Quinn, the very, very handsome college age son of Vicki. Also arriving is the attorney. Because don't all rich people travel with their attorney?

The chaos really begins when the will is read, and all the sisters realize they have been left barely anything and Todd who is a nobody seems to be left the bulk of everything! Needless to say, the sisters are in shock as is Charley.

Unfortunately for Todd, he dies that night, of what the police believe was a heart attack. Until the next morning, a discovery will not only change that idea, but pin sister against sister, greed against blackmail, and past secrets which seem to keep coming up and shocking everybody. All the while, this hurricane is in full force and nobody is able to leave, except through murder as it looks like another person bit the icy cold.

As the sisters turn on each other, Charley becomes the voice of reason, Oliver gives them creepy clues in rhymes and Quinn is stunned by the revelations of his mother and aunts. Needless to say, everyone is blaming everyone.

The big question for this big family is who is doing the killing? With so many reasons to dislike each other, it becomes hard to figure out who had the better motive. One Big Happy Family is one tumultuous murdering mystery. The story is very funny, yes even with murders happening, but also moving as more of their pasts are exposed, but don't let any of that fool you...this story is deliriously deadly!

Thank you #St.Martin'sPress #JamieDay #OneBigHappyFamily for the advanced copy.

This one was a good page turner, but definitely felt a little fantastical at times! The Bishop sisters are an interesting bunch, and the twists and turns in this one made me keep reading so I could find out what happened.
I did think it was a little predictable at times and the romance felt a little haphazardly thrown in, but overall it was a fun read.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed the premise of this book and the cast of characters. I did have a hard time differentiating all the sisters at times because they all were unlikable characters. I enjoyed the ending of this book and how everything played out in the end for Charlie.

A quick paced book that really sucks you in. While the family is a whole hot mess, the housekeeper is a redeeming character here.

I love the shut in vibes.

One Big Happy Family completely drew me in! I read the entire book in 24 hours. It's the story of a dysfunctional group of sisters coming together after the sudden death of their father to go over the will in the middle of a hurricane. One death and then another one happens and everyone has a motive which makes everyone a suspect. In the beginning I thought it was going to be a retelling of And Then There Were None however it turned out to only have similarities but not a complete retelling. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more by Jamie Day. Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for my ARC in exchange for my review.

I loved Jamie’s Day's debut novel, “The Block Party”. That book was an easy 5 stars for me, so I couldn’t wait to start “One Big Happy Family”. The novel opens with Charley, the maid at the Precipice Hotel. The owner recently died, so his third daughters are arriving at the hotel for his will reading all while a hurricane is on its way. Someone ends up dead, and everyone appears to have a secret.

This book is perfect if you are looking for a thriller/mystery where everyone has secrets, and the book goes into their backstories. The ending was really good and not rushed at all. The novel is broken up into short chapters and filled with twists and turns. The first half started off really strong. By the halfway point, I started to lose my interest. I think mostly it is due to reading other books where people are trapped in a remote location, someone dies, etc. While this wasn’t my favorite book, I will definitely read the next book Jamie Day hopefully publishes!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Jamie Day, and NetGalley for allowing me to read this novel in exchange for an honest review.

In One Big Happy Family, The Precipice - a family owned hotel, sets the scene in what should be a thrilling story as the owner’s passing brings his three daughters, the Bishop sisters, together to claim their inheritance. With a hurricane coming and a murder to solve, it sounds like it should be an exciting and intriguing read. However, the characters, mainly the sisters, are uninteresting and overly dramatic. The story is narrated by Charlie, a young hotel maid worried about losing her job, and while her perspective and story is somewhat interesting and relatable, it doesn’t really pull you in. The twist in the middle of the story was more shocking and interesting than the overall twist at the end of the book. I had high hopes but was left disappointed.

A huge thank you to NetGalley, Jamie Day, and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Wow, this book was mind boggling. So many points of view when talking about childhood at times I had to stop and think about who was talking, remembering. While I did get tired of hearing so many memories Iguess it was needed to tell this story. They are very few likable characters except for the main character Charlie,, her gramma and Rodrigo.
The hotel owners grown children that come to the hotel to have the will read as a hurricane is coming ashore we not nice people and very entitled. The hateful things they said and did to Charlie and each other were shocking. I found my mouth dropping multiples times and was glad they got some of what they deserved. The mystery of the story was not who I expected it to be , until it dawned on me. A very good book with twists and turns to make it fly by and keep you entertained.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.