This was a really charming and sweet read. It was light-hearted, fun, entertaining and comedic. Highly recommend.

Charming and hilarious, these are the two words I will forever associate with books by Abigail Mann and this is no exception.

Tried reading this one and it just was not meant for me. This does not mean that it is not a good book, I just was not in the right place to be reading it and have decided to not try picking it up anytime in the near future.

3.75⭐

I was fortunate to receive a copy of this ARC from One More Chapter.

I absolutely loved the author's first book - The Lonely Fajita - but unfortunately this book just didn't do it for me. It's a nice story about sisters being reunited but I didn't find myself rooting for Ava in the same way that I did for Elissa in the Lonely Fajita.

My favourite quote:
"He told me he hates cats because 'they have no concept of the alpha male', which is really disturbing."

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for a review copy.

This book was pitched as the perfect, funny heartwarming read and I think it’s safe to say that it delivered.

It was so fun to read and absolutely perfect to break up your more heavy reading. So I think it’s safe to say it came to me at the ideal time.

I would say that I found some charters to be a little waffly and so the hook was longer than necessary. But that didn’t impact my enjoyment of this book very much.

Whilst I don’t see myself revisiting this book in the future it was a solid read.

Journalist Ava takes a DNA test hoping to discover her roots.
Instead, she finds out she has a half-sister … whilst on a live stream watched by 100,000 people. Her boss thinks it’s the perfect click-bait story. Ava just wants to go to Moira’s tiny Scottish village and meet her.

But when Ava arrives undercover as a volunteer farmhand, she realises Moira – who’s her pig-wrestling, chatterbox polar opposite – might not be delighted by the news.

This was a light read but although I read it without any real difficulty - as in, I never had to force myself to pick the book up to continue reading - I didn't really enjoy it and the only reason that it wasn't a DNF for me was because it was so easy to read although I felt that it could have easily been a much shorter book. There was an awful lot of information in there that I felt was not needed.

It just didn't hit the mark for me.

Lighthearted, funny and full of heart! I loved this adult version perfect for fans of Emma Lord's You have a match. In this story Ava takes a DNA test and finds out she has a sister living in Scotland. Taking a chance, she flies there undercover to try to get to know this new relative. I laughed a lot and loved the Scottish small town vibes! Definitely recommended for anyone who likes Beth O'Leary or Mhairi McFarlane. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my review copy!

This book was like going on my favourite kind of countryside holiday; full of rampaging farm animals, mud, suspicious locals and a hot priest! This was witty, lovely, brilliant bit of escapism and was much needed during the pandemic blues!

A great fun lighthearted book. I loved Ava who sets off to Scotland to find her unknown half sister but then finds it difficult to tell her. Full of humour and great quirky characters this book will definitely brighten your day

I LOVED The Lonely Fajita so I knew I’d love this too, and I was not wrong!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this book in exchange for my feedback.

The Sister Surprise is a fun and uplifting book about family, love, and the perils of social media.
I really enjoyed this novel - Abigail Mann is a very comedic writer and I found myself laughing along with the story as I read it. I enjoyed the small Scottish village feel of the place, the quirky and hilarious village occupants and the run ins Ava had with them, and even the personality of a very pesky sheep! A really enjoyable read and I really look forward to checking out Abigail Mann's other books.

This was such a fun, feel good read. The characters are lovely and the story is sweet. The only thing that stopped it being a 5 star read for me was I felt not everything was finished up satisfactory for me, it felt a bit rushed. But overall a really enjoyable story.

I must say I am not much of a Chic Lit/Romance reader but I did find this book to be quite entertaining, easy to read, light-heartened and funny. It is a book to read between more intense style books that are long and historical or full of murder and mystery. This is just a book of fun.

Ava is a great character, a bit awkward, a bit crazy, a bit humourous. She gets up to mischief, her plans don't go according to plan and the little rural town is just so country-townish which makes the story even more charming. There is a little bit of romance but I wouldn't call this a romance story as it is more a story of finding, family, friendship and life in general.

A fun and enjoyable read and a great book to relax with.

The Sister Surprise is a heart-warming and humorous story of love, friendship, family, and finding oneself. I really enjoyed this charming story, and though it is the first book I’ve read by Abigail Mann, it won’t be the last.

This book was so boring... Oh, God. I am so proud that I finished it cause I have so many moments when I was considering quitting without any regrets. I finished and hopefully, I will never come back to it. Never ever again.

The idea was not so bad. Ava is a journalist and found out that she has a sister, in Scotland. She does not have an idea what is she like, who is she so decided to go to Scotland, find her (knowing only the name), get to know and them tell her about the genetic results which lead her to find a new family member. Dumb idea? Of course! But it is not the end. Her TV station decided to create a story based on her experience and published her diary written in Scotland and planned to film the reconciliation between sisters.

There are so many things that could go wrong. And did.

I don't like Ava. I don't like how she decided to be someone else just because she was too scared and ashamed to be herself. She hid, she lied, she was two-faced.

The story itself - nothing what I would like re-read. Like I said, the idea would be nice if the way the story is told would be different. I was much more interested in the Scotland itself than in the relations between lost sisters.

This was a DNF for me unfortunately. I didn’t love this story it was a bit too slow in my opinion. Maybe I’ll give it another read in the future

This was a DNF unfortunately. I didn’t love this story it was a bit slow for my taste. Maybe in the future but right now I didn’t love it.

I sadly wasn't able to get into The Sister Surprise as much as I had anticipated. The plot and pacing ended up being difficult for me to get into. This ended up not working for me but will be other people's cup of tea.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for chance to read..this was a two star rating because it was just ok.

OMG!

Is this book going to become a Netflix movie? Because I am here for it!

I laughed so hard when the reveal happened. I would looove to see that on TV.
Really enjoyed reading this one. Fast-paced, don't know when the time passed, and I've found myself more and more curious about the main character's past, her childhood days and how will things wrap after all of this messiness and craziness.

I didn't like the mother, though....


Random quotes that keep me up at night:

<<‘Be honest. Did you want to throw in a cheeky Bible quote?’
‘Eh, I could have chucked in Luke 6:31,’ he says, pondering. ‘But you’re not ready for the Psalms. The language is a bit more … fire and fury.’
‘Isn’t that a Game of Thrones book?’
Ross grins. ‘An unfortunate coincidence. Shall we crack that whiskey open now?’>>

<<He might get the wrong idea if he reads. “Just wait until you eat this” followed by a string of peach emojis and water droplets.’
‘But … they’re juicy.’
‘Oh, your innocent mind,’ I say, deleting them for her and handing the phone back. ‘Keep it simple. “Hey, would be cool to hang out soon”, you know?’>>

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for this ARC <3

A truly heartwarming novel that I didn't want to put down. When I did finish it I just felt so happy, and it was a wonderful experience to read!