4.5 stars.

George Bailey Gets Saved in the End by Ken O'Neill is a humorous novel that is also poignant and surprisingly, uplifting.

After a series of life-altering events occur in fairly quick succession, George Bailey is forced out of complacency about his career and marriage. He works alongside his father, brother and to some extent, his own children, in the family owned Christmas business. George has grown increasingly unhappy with his job but inertia and family expectations have left him unable to decide whether or not to leave his position. Although not exactly happy in his 24 year marriage, he is content to stay with his childhood sweetheart, Tara. As events continue to snowball out of control, George has no choice but face his growing dissatisfaction with his life, but will he make better choices than he has in the past?

George is an endearing middle aged man who is content to maintain the status quo despite his increasing unhappiness. He ignores problems until he has no choice but to face them and even then, he is hard-pressed to make decisions about how to fix them. With his life completely upended, George makes a few questionable choices but overall, he is making progress as he tries to figure out what will make him happy. While he is definitely making progress in making positive changes in his life, he still has to force himself to explore his feelings and stop reacting passively to difficult situations. Habits of a lifetime are difficult to break, but George makes considerable progress in affecting positive changes in every aspect of his life.

George Bailey Gets Saved in the End by Ken O'Neill is a charming holiday novel that is fast-paced and engaging. The characters are multi-faceted with quirks that add to their overall appeal. An entertaining yet extremely heartwarming story of new beginnings that I greatly enjoyed and highly recommend.
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