Succession meets The Family Stone in bestselling author Wade Rouse’s humorous and sharply observant look at a family teetering on the edge of merry mayhem.  

The Chapmans do Christmas the way they do impeccably, expensively, and with the unshakable belief that good lighting can conceal bad blood. Their annual Christmas card may look picture-perfect, but behind the polite smiles there’s a storm brewing. This year, at their grand lakefront cottage on Mackinac Island, a snowstorm traps generations of Chapmans—and their schemes—under one roof.

Chris Chapman is on the verge of losing his father’s trust, his role at the helm of the family business, and his wife’s respect. Kat Chapman is already fed up with hosting her critical, stuck-up in-laws and their impossibly inflexible holiday traditions. Her solution? Invite her working-class parents – born and bred Islanders – for Christmas, much to the horror of the Chapmans, whose rule that “We do not share Christmas with other people” is about to be broken.

As the snow piles up, so do the their teenagers—fiercely liberal Leah and conservative golden-boy Chip—are locked in a battle of wits, Chris’s vaguely corrupt brother Cormac and his calculating trophy wife are stirring the pot, and Kat’s mother is holding onto a secret that could upend the entire game.

Deliciously messy and surprisingly tender, The Bluff is a feisty festive family drama about money, marriage, power, and all the things we bring to the holiday table besides the turkey.

“A heartfelt dive into the complexities of family and tradition. The Bluff captures the perfect storm that occurs when two different worlds collide during the holidays. An evocative must-read for anyone who has ever attempted the delicate dance of a family Christmas.” –Susan Wiggs, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author

I received an advance copy of this book courtesy of the publisher. All thoughts are my own.

The Family Stone is one of my favorite holiday movies, and I really enjoyed the TV show Succession, so when I saw those two comparisons in the synopsis, I was excited to read this one. I know comparisons like that are usually marketing ploys that rarely live up to what readers expect, but in this case, they got it right.

The book focuses on the very wealthy Chapman family. This year the whole clan plans to gather at their lakefront cottage on Mackinac Island, and there’s plenty of underlying drama to make this a Christmas they’ll not soon forget. Chris Chapman is close to losing his father’s trust, his spot running the family business, and his wife’s respect. His wife, Kat, is fed up with her stuffy in-laws and their rigid holiday traditions, so she invites her working-class parents to join in the festivities. The elder Chapmans are horrified, since she has a firm rule about not sharing Christmas with outsiders. Meanwhile, the teenagers are battling it out, with fiercely liberal Leah on one side and conservative golden boy Chip on the other. And then there’s Chris’s shady brother Cormac and his calculating wife who are stirring up their own trouble, and to top it all off, Kat’s mother is sitting on a secret that could blow up the whole weekend.

I first read Wade Rouse earlier this year with That’s What Friends Are For, and I loved it. This was another hit for me. He has a knack for writing amazing characters. There’s plenty of drama here, along with unforgettable characters, laughs, tears, and all kinds of amazing dynamics. This entire cast is unforgettable. Every relationship is complex, and watching them scrabble and then figure out how to work things out kept me invested.

I loved that the story is told from multiple points of view, and believe me when I say there are a lot of them. Rouse handles it with precision, though, and I never felt lost. Each character has a very distinct voice, so I always knew who I was spending time with. That’s not easy to pull off with a cast this big, and it’s a big reason the book worked so well for me. It probably helped that I did a tandem read, and the full cast narration is perfection. Every narrator captures their character just right. If you like audiobooks, this is a great one to pick up. It’s the perfect listen while you’re putting up the tree or wrapping gifts.

If you’re looking for a dysfunctional family holiday book filled with drama, laughter, surprises, and lots of heart, definitely add this one to your list.

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