3.5 stars, rounding up to 4Astrid Amara herself says in her dedication that this book has a "ridiculous plot", and I more or less agree with her. Nonetheless, it's a fun way to waste an hour or two.I enjoyed both of the MCs, Seth and Lars, more in this book than in Carol of the Bellskis. It may just be that I have had more chance to get to know them now, but they seem more like real, rounded people in this book. Also, at this point the two have lived together for three years, so they are more stable in their relationship and they don't have to feel any serious insecurity towards each other -- now, they can save their worrying for their family members.Once again, the story starts at the beginning of the Hanukkah holiday. This happens to be a year in which Hanukkah and Christmas coincide, and Lars' parents have come to visit for Christmas. This will be the first time they have met Seth, and they are somewhat homophobic, so everyone is nervous. Seth's parents have also moved to town since the previous book, and of course they want to meet the Lars' parents as well. There is plenty of angst to go around while the MCs try to fulfill the expectations of both sets of parents, at the same time that Seth is also struggling through his first case as a newly-minted attorney. Once again we see some of Amara's fondness for these characters. All of them have human frailties; none are really evil, but all are far from perfect. There is not so much of the Jewish stereotyping here, though we still get plenty of the Jewish mother routine. As for high points, I really liked the scene in which both sets of parents finally met. I won't spoil the details, but I thought that the way Lars' parents were shown what they were missing was very nice.As with Amara's other Hanukkah stories, there's nothing terribly heavy or significant here. If you're looking for some light heartwarming fare, any of these books should do well. We might have switched holidays to Hanukkah, but I just realized we have a theme with a bit of a switch. While in the last book they didn't mind him being gay, they hated his partner, in this one they are freaked that he's gay, although not that freaked by his partner, if they knew him.This is the sequel to Carol of the Bellskis (wow, that was 2009) which I adored even if I wasn't certain Lars was the right guy for Seth. But it's been three years and things are going well. He's totally supportive of Seth's new career as a lawyer, he's out of the closet and not afraid to treat Seth as he deserves to be treated. However Lars' parents are coming to spend the holiday, and by chance Christmas overlaps with Hanukkah and now that Seth's parents have moved to Seattle, they expect him and Lars to spend the holiday with them.Lars parents are the ice king and queen, his father taking every chance to cut Lars down, while Seth tries to deal with his needy parents and by chance the two men end up on opposite sides of a very weird divorce case, which gets out of control ending up with Lars in jail for contempt. I love Seth, he is such a laid back guy, he loves to lay around and do nothing, whereas Lars is the opposite. I also loved that Seth stood up to Lars' Dad and didn't let him criticize him because he also was no longer on the corporate law fast track.I really enjoy Astrid Amara's holiday stories and this was no exception. Lots of humorous moments and some more serious and sweet ones. A nice holiday read that even though the holidays are over I still enjoyed.
What do You think about Miracle Of The Bellskis (2011)?
I'm sad that it's over. I want more Lars and Seth. And the Bellskis...so funny.
—jrksrstens
