The Mother of All Christmases by Milly Johnson #BookReview

 

Length: 528 pages

Please note that the cover image leads to a universal Amazon buy link for the book

Eve Glace – co-owner of the theme park Winterworld – is having a baby and her due date is a perfectly timed 25th December. And she’s decided that she and her husband Jacques should renew their wedding vows with all the pomp that was missing the first time. But growing problems at Winterworld keep distracting them … 

Annie Pandoro and her husband Joe own a small Christmas cracker factory, and are well set up and happy together despite life never blessing them with a much-wanted child. But when Annie finds that the changes happening to her body aren’t typical of the menopause but pregnancy, her joy is uncontainable. 

Palma Collins has agreed to act as a surrogate, hoping the money will get her out of the gutter in which she finds herself. But when the couple she is helping split up, is she going to be left carrying a baby she never intended to keep?

Annie, Palma and Eve all meet at the ‘Christmas Pudding Club’, a new directive started by a forward-thinking young doctor to help mums-to-be mingle and share their pregnancy journeys. Will this group help each other to find love, contentment and peace as Christmas approaches?

The Review: So I have to admit I totally picked this up on the basis of the cover, very much in the mood for a real Christmassy read (I think I was thinking Carole Matthews and Sarah Morgen at the time!). I sat up on reading the story of Palma, who was acting as a surrogate to get the money to improve her life. It made for a slightly tougher read, as we saw the back door process she went through with a very unlikable couple who were trying to have a baby. At times you rooted for Palma, at times you kind of winced a little at the brashness of her. But then along came an old friend and I was smitten!

As you can see this is a book of many characters, I warmed to some but unfortunately at times struggled with the sheer volume of them and got a bit confused (in particular at all things Winterworld, but from some of the other reviews it would seem some of those characters were from another book so that could be it!). I loved the Christmas Pudding Club, in particular the enthusiasm of the doctor that formed it and in general I smiled at many moments throughout the book. All in all I enjoyed, but would advise this is slightly grittier than the cover suggests. Thanks to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for this book in return for an honest review.