Family Blessings: A Novel

A New Holiday Classic!

Right before Thanksgiving, a freak tornado drops down into the town of Larkspur in Pennsylvania's Allegheny Mountains and destroys the house where matriarch and candy magnate Loretta Cisco has lived for fifty years. Thanks for nothing, Mother Nature! As if that's not enough, Cisco sees that her beloved triplet grandchildren, Hannah, Sara, and Sam — all newlyweds — are having marital problems and yet they refuse to tell her what's going on. So as Cisco's neighbors help to rebuild her home in time for the holidays, she vows to work a miracle that will get her family back on track. Can she do it? Even without a roof over her head?

Join the rambunctious Cisco clan, where passions, tempers, and humor run high — and the warm-hearted citizens of Larkspur — for a holiday celebration full of surprises, reunions, good old-fashioned family therapy, and maybe even a wedding!

Publishers Weekly

Fanciful premises and implausible turns of events are the stuff Christmas fiction is made of, but Michaels takes matters too far in this contrived sequel to her 2002 Christmas novella, No Place Like Home, basing her story on a misunderstanding that could be cleared up in a 10-second conversation. Sara and Hannah, two of the three Cisco triplets, are perturbed that their hubbies are coming home later and later, and immediately become convinced that they're having affairs. The truth? Hapless Zack and Joel have bought an expensive boat to sail around the world and are afraid to tell their wives. Sonia, wife of third triplet Sam, has just left her husband-why? He's not ready to start a family, and she's accidentally pregnant. Does she simply tell him? Of course not. The six lovebirds bumble around misunderstanding each other against the backdrop of cozy, homey Larkspur, Pa., where neighbors help the triplets' grandmother rebuild her tornado-destroyed home. The flimsy premise and artificial drama suck all the charm out of the story, and while Michaels's devoted fans might pick it up out of habit, this soggy tale will frustrate most. Agent, Robert Gottlieb at Trident Media Group. (Oct. 19) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.