I have had this ARC sitting on my shelf for a lot of 2025. However, I wanted to wait till closer to Christmas to read and review it. I like everything in its season, and I balk at people who film holiday content in the summer, etc. I mean, they kinda have to, but I am avoiding this sort of situation for as long as possible. Therefore, I read Merry by Susan Breen on a car trip the day before Thanksgiving Day—the earliest I could emotionally manage.

From the beginning, the word that came to mind was “charming.” It is whimsical, and the voice (of Merry) is funny and, well, charming. I suppose there are times she comes across as overbearing and stressed, but don’t all of us mothers (despite our best intentions)? I related.

And yes, the cover is not great. Nor does it capture the spirit of the book. (Hint: it’s not a romance.)

Was it a perfect book? I’m not allowed to judge the typos or whatever because I have an ARC and some of that stuff might have been corrected before the publication. (It is available at a bookstore near you, now.) It does go on a bit long and the writing—and plot—aren’t evenly charming. I felt a bit distant from most of Breen’s characters and was occasionally disoriented. (It can be muddled and draggy.) But I did want to pick it back up every time I had to set it down. I wanted to know what would happen with Merry and her very imperfect family. I enjoyed all the inclusions, like London, antique books, bookstores, Charles Dickens (ghost), and a talking dog. And I have emphatically recommended it for my women’s book club for their 2026 holiday read. I think they will really like it, probably even more than I did. (They are less judgy.)

It is not just fluff, by the way. Merry’s doctor has found a nodule and Merry’s desperate to bring her family (with three adult children) together for Christmas while she waits on test results… since it may be her last. Thus, she sells her beloved family heirloom–a signed copy of a Dickens fourth edition–and takes them all to England (without telling them why). There are themes of grief, fear, and motherhood here, alongside the riotous Christmas spirit and the quirkiness. Each child has some sort of crisis they are simultaneously working through: guilt; self-centeredness; and lack of compassion (or something like that). And Merry has to question all of the decisions that got her here.

I enjoyed reading this book. Really, I have had a hard time finding a Christmastime read to recommend, and for a lot of people this festive family story will do nicely.