TagRomance

Book Review: The Connellys of County Down by Tracey Lange

B

The Gist: In The Connellys of County Down, Tracey Lange skillfully delves into complex sibling dynamics and the aftermath of a criminal conviction, yet the novel falls short with its romantic subplot and fails to address critical systemic policing issues.

Series: Standalone

Release Date: August 1, 2023

Synopsis
When Tara Connelly is released from prison after serving eighteen months on a drug charge, she knows rebuilding her life at thirty years old won’t be easy. With no money and no prospects, she returns home to live with her siblings, who are both busy with their own problems. Her brother, a single dad, struggles with the ongoing effects of a brain injury he sustained years ago, and her sister’s fragile facade of calm and order is cracking under the burden of big secrets. Life becomes even more complicated when the cop who put her in prison keeps showing up unannounced, leaving Tara to wonder what he wants from her now.

While she works to build a new career and hold her family together, Tara finds a chance at love in a most unlikely place. But when the Connellys’ secrets start to unravel and threaten her future, they all must face their worst fears and come clean, or risk losing each other forever.

The Connellys of County Down is a moving novel about testing the bounds of love and loyalty. It explores the possibility of beginning our lives anew, and reveals the pitfalls of shielding each other from the bitter truth.

Ending
HEA
Representation
• Main character who suffers from a traumatic brain injury (leading to migraines, seizures, and compromised vision)
• Main character who exhibits hoarding behaviours
Possible Triggers: Yes
• Recounting of physical assault while in prison
• Main character who suffers from hoarding
• Recounting of incarceration
• Recounting of the murder of parents during a home invasion
• Police intimidation
• Recounting of car accident resulting in hospitalization of a main character
• Parental abandonment
• Recounting of the Connelly siblings’ mother dying from c@ncer when they were children
Mature Themes
• Sex (alluded to, not explicit)
• Alcohol consumption and abuse (by a side character)
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Format: Hardcover

Rating: 4-stars

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