Review: O'Gallagher Nights: The Complete Series by Mignon Mykel

Note: This ARC was provided by the author via IndieSage PR in exchange for an honest review.

O'Gallagher Nights: The Complete Series is a compilation of the three original novellas that were released as part of the series--One Night Stand, About Last Night, and All Night Long--and includes new material, i.e. an epilogue that closes out the series and a holiday story. Just a heads up, especially if you've already read the book and may be wondering why my review is focused on just the three novellas: I read an advanced reader copy for this review and it didn't include the holiday story, Hot Holiday Nights, so that's why I won't be mentioning it here. The three stories as a whole gets an average of four stars.

The series is focused on the three O'Gallagher siblings--thirty-two-year-old Conor, twenty-nine-year-old Rory, and twenty-five-year-old Brenna. The two brothers decided to buy the bar that bore their family name from their parents after they decided to retire, re-opening the establishment less than two years after it closed. They work the bar along with their only sister. The two other members of the staff who play prominent parts in the series are Emily Winters, who is a barmaid and is trying to finish her nursing degree, and Greyson Stone, a bartender who has become a close friend of the siblings. 

The first story, One Night Stand, is about Conor and Mia Hampton, Brenna's childhood best friend who had a crush on Conor. Mia's a virgin who decides she wants Conor to be the one to take her V-card, knowing full well that the man doesn't sleep with virgins and only hook-ups with women, never entering into relationships. It was supposed to be nothing more than one night, but months pass and when Conor and Mia see each other again, Conor's in for a shock. 

I admit it, I didn't like Conor for half of this story. The guy was a jackass and his treatment of Mia was abhorrent, even after finding out her secrets on two separate occasions. I liked how Mia stood her ground both times, though I do wish she had held out a bit longer the second time. Conor did win me over much later on, so this first story got four stars from me.

The second story, About Last Night, is about Rory and Emily Winters. From the moment Emily applies for the job of barmaid at O'Gallaghers, she's treated Rory with obvious disdain. He isn't sure exactly why she dislikes him as much as she does, but when he rescues her after she falls asleep outside the establishment, he makes an effort to pursue her to get her to like him. But just when Emily thinks that she may have been wrong in her original assessment of Rory, he does something to make her realize that maybe she was right all along.

I didn't get these two. I didn't feel a connection between them and I honestly didn't get why Rory was so hung up on Emily after one failed attempt at sex and one disaster of a dinner. Maybe it was because she was the first woman to make him see that he wasn't all that and that he could make some necessary changes and improvements, but still... For him to have re-arranged his life to the point that he did what he did by the end of their story? Yeah, it didn't make sense to me. Speaking of the end, I felt like I was left hanging, and maybe that's why there's an extended epilogue at the end of the series and based on the excerpt I saw from the holiday story, it's about the two of them, so it's possible that everything that needed to be explained was done there. But I can't give this one anything more than three stars. Sorry.

The final O'Gallagher novella, All Night Long, is about Brenna and Greyson Stone. He may be Stone to everyone else but when it's just him and Brenna in private, he's Grey. For five years, they've kept their relationship under wraps, but Grey thinks it's time to let Brenna's brothers and everyone else know that they're together. He also wishes she would share with them her secret. Brenna, though, isn't ready to do either. 

This was, by far, my favorite. I really liked Brenna and Grey's story and felt that it had the most depth and it was the one that really captured my attention. Brenna's secret was a heartbreaking one but I loved how Grey just took it in and continued to love and accept Brenna for who she was. This one I gave five stars to.

The extended epilogue wraps up everyone's stories quite nicely, though I do admit that I was super curious about Caleb Prescott, his wife, and their family situation. After I was done reading this collection, I did a bit of poking around on Goodreads and realized that Caleb had his own story in the Prescott Family series, but I'm wondering if that'll be continued because it seems as if he and his wife are facing a new crisis. I've added that series to my to-be-read list and hopefully I'll get answers when I get around to reading the books. ♥

Date Read: 09 December 2016

Learn more about Mignon Mykel.

Purchase O'Gallagher Nights: The Complete Series on Amazon.