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Reviewed by Miguel Angel Hernandez Jr. for Readers' Favorite
Holiday House Rules is a story about a family that is drawn together during the Christmas holiday. What makes their relationship unique is that the main characters have secrets and they have to interact with one another. There is a slice-of-life appeal in this book, allowing readers to relate to the characters as they communicate with each other. Where they draw the line is a matter of opinion, as Valerie Allen exposes the masks that people could wear. This tale also reveals the innermost feelings that children have regarding their parents. Valerie does a good job of revealing the mood that each character has, and what they truly feel for their mother.
It was fascinating to see how the characters in Holiday House Rules talk about things you normally wouldn't hear in public, such as smoking, birth control, and disobedience. Valerie Allen pulls no punches regarding how people feel, and how it is about them and no one else. For example, Cliff knows that he is being a bad influence on his sister Monique by smoking in front of her because of her previous problems with lung cancer, yet he does the wrong thing, anyway. It was great to see that Desiree was a pet lover, but it was intriguing to see that she would fight against her mother's wishes. It feels as if you're right there with them talking to each other and having Christmas as the setting makes the story realistic, enabling the characters to be straightforward with one another.
