This is another of Milly Johnson's stories about relationships. This book features the friendship amongst a group of pregnant women in various personal situations. It is warm & ultimately uplifting but have your tissues handy.

I love milly johnson books! And I love this one too. We meet some new people and recognise some who are familiar from the other books. This story is centred round a group of pregnant women who meet at the Christmas pudding club as their babies are all due around Christmas. Each character has her own story of how she became pregnant and what this pregnancy means to her. I will not reveal those stories as it will spoil your enjoyment. This book is written with millys Usual warmth, wit and wisdom. If I had a niggle it would be slightly too much detail about pregnancy. It’s milly johnson not Miriam Stoppard! But in no way did that spoil my enjoyment. Buy it. Read it love it

I was really excited to see that Milly Johnson was bringing out a new book for Christmas as I absolutely love festive stories!

This is a book that once you pick it up you will want to stay enconsconsed in it's lovely story until you reach the end. The characters are lovely and it is a book full of Christmas cheer from the offset with a bit of romance intermingled as you follow the journey of the head strong Annie, Eve and Palma.

I read this book in just a couple of sittings as this author has a way of just pulling you in so that you have to keep reading.

If you are looking for a story full of Christmas cheer and that will leave you feeling warm and fuzzy, I would definitely recommend adding this to your TBR pile.

A lovely, warm story about the entwined lives of a group of pregnant women. It is heartbreaking in parts , you will need tissues, but the solidarity and caring portrayed brings your smile back. I enjoyed the varied points of view and empathised with the characters. A hot chocolate with marshmallows book!

I wasn't sure if I would like this book at first. It was very light and I thought it might be very predictable, feel good froth. Well, how wrong I was! After the initial introduction to the women at the heart of the story you soon see how their lives are going to cross: so far, so predictable. But I stayed up all night because I needed to find out how it would end, and I wept buckets of tears at one point. I don't want to spoil any of it for you, but if you are emotionally vulnerable, this is not the book for you. If, on the other hand you loved JoJo Moyes' Me before You, then you will love this story.
There are several stories that overlap. Palma comes from a tough estate, growing up with nothing. She was in care after a miserable childhood, and only really knew what she had been missing when she went to live with a foster carer, who has now sadly died. Then there is a lovely couple who run a Christmas cracker company. They are in their forties and are unable to have children. Add to the mix a couple who run a Christmas-themed Theme Park, and the rush to get the rides up and working before the start of the season. It looks as if all the boxes are ticked for a predictable Romcom, but you will be pleasantly surprised to find that there's very little about this that is predictable. (I can't say that nothing is predictable: they do a good line in Christmas cracker jokes, but I think I needed that amid the drama!)
I would highly recommend this book. Don't let the start of the book put you off. It sets the scene for a very satisfying read.

3 women Eve, Annie and Palma meet through the Christmas Pudding Club started by their gp. The all have different stories. Also the articles in the daily newspaper where there are always mistakes made is hilarious.and the apologies after. Love Milly Johnson books

For most of this book I was wondering why it wasn’t called The Christmas Pudding Club, which seemed the obvious title, reflecting the story and calling back to the author’s previous The Yorkshire Pudding Club. Then in her acknowledgements, Milly Johnson said it had actually been initially called that, but she didn’t say why it had been changed... so I still don’t know!

Anyway, The Christmas Pudding Club (I’m going to call it that anyway, it’s a better title) is vintage Milly Johnson - set in her native Barnsley, brilliant characters and dialogue and some genuinely emotional moments - I was in floods of tears at one point and if you’ve read it, you’ll know when. Safe to say that, while it’s a typically warm and ultimately uplifting read, life does not go smoothly for all or indeed any of these characters.

The book revisits quite a few characters from previous books - though I’ve read most of them it was quite a long time ago in some cases and I couldn’t remember most of the characters, so I probably got less out of this than some, but it was still a nice touch. Of the new characters, I most loved pink-haired Palma and Tommy the boxer (what a lovely guy!).

A great read.

Amazing. Made me laugh made me cry made me read way past my bedtime! Brilliant writing again by milly. Unputdownable. Touching and well written, fantastic

The Mother of all Christmases is a delight to read and experience. Lovely characters infused with warmth and humor.

A great read, and can be enjoyed any time of the year, not just Christmas. I liked the chance to catch up with characters from the previous books - I just need to go back and re-read them all now!

What a gorgeous Christmassy book. I really enjoyed this book and it was lovely to meet old characters again and find out what they are up to! However it works well as a stand alone book too.
This story had me laughing and crying as we follow the story of three women going through their pregnancies. They are all at different stages of their lives and finding out they are pregnant means different things to each of them. I also really liked how the other characters stories are intertwined throughout the book too.
A lovely Christmas read.

Reading this novel is like curling up in a warm blanket in front of the fire hugging a cup of hot chocolate. Milly Johnson creates believable characters and plots and writes well, so is a cut above some chick lit books which can be disappointingly predictable. I've only read one other of her books, but will definitely seek out more.

A perfect Milly Johnson cosy Christmas read. It is well written and heartwarming with believable wonderful characters (some of whom are familiar through Milly's previous books, but can still be read as completely detached whole) and, as is the case with many Milly Johnson's books, one wants to know what happens next. It is the right mix of serious emotional roller coaster with a fair smattering of light hearted comedy to lift the spirits.

This is a book to curl up with in a quiet corner over the festive period and I shall certainly be adding it to my daughters' stocking together with a couple of friends who, I know, will need the perfect wind down after all the hectic activity over the festive period.

The Mother of all Christmases is yet another heartwarming wonderful book from Milly Johnson.
We meet characters old and new, this time we are with the lovely Eve and Jacques and staff of their Winter Wonderland Park, they join forces with Annie and Joe who own a cracker factory and meet their staff. Annie is 47 years old and suddenly finds herself pregnant, a wonderful gift after trying for many years and given up hope of ever having a child. Without giving too much away there are more pregnancies to be revealed. These ladies are brought together at a midwives 'pudding club' classes, run to teach them what to expect when you're expecting. Friendships are made, each has their own tale to tell some happy, some sad. As a midwife I found the accuracy and emotional aspects extremely well done.
Yet another winner, full of laughter and tears, but above all a brilliant lovely story, I didn't want it to end.
My thanks to net galley and publisher for opportunity to review this book.

Milly Johnson has a gift. There's no two ways about it. Her writing draws you in from the very beginning and just when you think that these characters are going to be happy finally - BAM! Something happens that turns their world upside down. This is the point where you do not want to put the book down and you take it absolutely everywhere with you. This book is no different to the others I've read by Milly. I absolutely loved it.

The cover is wonderfully festive, I love the colours, the cute little shop cabins and the beautifully lit Christmas trees. The title is extra special too. It's a novel that you can't wait to dive into. And dive into it I did! I really enjoyed reading about the three women, it was nice to read about women who were pregnant, as with most of Milly's novels they do not include children. Also with most of Milly's other novels, we get to know three main characters with a side bonus of visiting some other characters too. In this novel, we focused on Eve (from previous novel A Winter Flame), Annie and Palma. All three ladies are absolutely lovely and I couldn't wait to read their stories and about their pregnancies. We also touched in briefly with Effin (One of Eve's workers) and Caraid (Think that's how it's spelt!!! Effin's niece).

The story slowly builds up, and at about half way through - that's it - you're hooked. There's no going back and you feel as though you have to finish it - and soon! What I find with Milly's novels, is that every chapter is left with a big cliffhanger, so if you're reading before bed, that 'one more chapter' idea that you usually tell yourself never works and you end up reading 6 more before you finally convince yourself to put it down. Then, when you're eating breakfast you find yourself reading it again!

It's honestly impossible to dislike this book. It has everything and you find yourself relating to the characters quickly. I think Palma was my favourite in this novel, I really felt for her and all that she had been through - I found myself thinking on more than one occasion 'Can't this woman catch a break?!', although having said that Annie was really cute too and I was so pleased that her and Joe finally got what they've always dreamed of! Overall, it was an utterly brilliant novel and I am so pleased I managed to read this before it was released. It's definitely put me in a festive mood and it's not even November yet!

Thank you to the publisher for a chance to read this novel, which I have reviewed honestly.

I love Milly Johnson books and I loved this one, a heartwarming and feel good Christmas tale.
The book is well written and the characters are interesting as usual.
The plot hooked me since the beginning and I was sad when the book was ended.
A very good, entertaining and enjoyable novel.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for this ARC

Thank you Milly Johnson for yet another fantastic book. I'm a huge fan and was delighted to get copy from Netgalley to review. Once I started reading I couldn't put it down, the housework could wait this book was just so good. But, as always the end came too soon and I wished I could know more about the lives of the main characters.

Life hadn't been good to Palma and she desperately wanted to move home and make a better life for herself but to do this she needed money. To get the money she became a surrogate for a couple unable to have a baby themselves but the couple split up and Palma had some decisions to make.

Eve and her husband ran Winter Wonderland theme park and when Eve began to feel unwell they were both overjoyed to find she wasn't I'll but pregnant. Annie and her Italian husband had always wanted children but failed IVF and a failed adoprion left them facing a childless future. Annie went to the doctors thinking she was going through the menopause only to find she was expecting a Christmas baby.

The GP had decided to run a club where pregnant women could meet and support each other. The club was called the Christmas Pudding Club. Here, together with other women, the three main characters met and for Palma it changed her life.

Milly Johnson is so good at bringing the characters to life. There are lots of laughs along the way and some tears. We meet nice and not so nice characters and we mustn't forget the typo errors of the Daily Trumpet. i will be buying more copies of this book to give as Christmas presents.

I always say I am going to savour the latest Milly Johnson and read a few chapters at a time but then I get a copy of the book and it’s like being reunited with old friends and I can’t bear to put it down!!! Hence why it’s almost 1am, I have just finished reading this book and I am writing my review.

In this book we get to meet Annie and Palma as well as being reunited with Eve, Cheryl and Violet. Not only do we get to meet them but, in that way Milly Johnson has, as you read the book and learn more about these ladies you feel that you are there and one of their friends.

As with all her books, I loved this book and am now at a loss since I finished it - I want to get back into the story and hear more about these lovely characters!!! A Milly Johnson book is like coming home and getting a great big warm hug.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced read copy of the book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Milly Johnson has always been one of my favourite authors so I was thrilled when I was approved to receive an advance copy of The Mother of All Christmases. I read it over the weekend as I just couldn’t put it down.

Milly takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions following the lives of Eve, Annie and Palma as they all discover they’re pregnant at the same time. This book will make you laugh, take stock, possibly shed a tear but ultimately take you on a festive feel-good adventure as you join in with the friendships these women make.

A wonderfully heartwarming five star read that I can highly recommend. Thank you to NetGalley, Simon and Schuster UK fiction and the author for the chance to review.

The Mother of All Christmases is the perfect, cosy festive read! As with all Milly Johnson books, there is heart, humour, romance and drama.

The cast of characters is wonderful and rich. They are diverse but all have connections  kind of like 6 degrees of separation. It's great fun to untangle the threads and see who knows who and how!

The Cracker Yard factory is amazing and I want to work there! They seem such a lovely lot, especially Joe and Annie! And Winterworld sounds like a dream! I'd love to visit a place like that!

Whilst I struggle with books about pregnant women and motherhood, I can't resist a Milly book. This was beautifully written and touches on some difficult subjects with sensitivity. I didn't feel overwhelmed by it at all.

Oh  Milly, how I adore you! My first festive book of the year and definitely going on my Book of the Year list!