Book Review: Family Blessings

In looking for a Christmas audio book to enjoy, I stumbled upon Family Blessings by Fern Michaels (an author of over seventy novels, yet I don't think I've ever read anything else by her). It certainly didn't rank as high as the inspirational Christmas novellas by Karen Kingsbury (in my book). It is merely an average, quick holiday read. The action of the novel takes place primarily over the Thanksgiving holiday and merely ends with a Christmas wedding (so if you are looking for a Christmas read, you'd probably be more satisfied with another book).

It is not only a tornado stirring up trouble in the small town of Larkspur, Pennsylvania. Loretta Cisco and her three triplet grandchildren (annoyingly labeled "the trips") enter a whirlwind of difficulty on the heels of mother nature's shattering blow. Cisco's beloved house is lost. Sam's wife is leaving him. Hannah and Sara are convinced that their doctor husbands are both having affairs. The back cover proclaims "As the citizens of Larkspur help to rebuild Cisco's home in time for Christmas, she vows to work a holiday miracle that will hold her family together."

I guess I didn't really see any work done on the part of Cisco in healing the situations her grandchildren are dealing with. In the end, most of it came down to miscommunication and a whole lot of bluster over nothing. The characters were not terribly endearing and acted in a quite juvenile manner. The best I can say is that the book managed to hold my attention and was a quick and easy listen. If I had a choice, though, I'd choose Kingsbury's Red Glove series over this one any day of the year.