Thank you to the publisher for my eARC copy of this book. Unfortunately I didn’t love this book and therefore didn’t finish, I just didn’t connect with this one. Not for me, sorry.

It’s been ages since I put CNPID on a review, but I couldn’t put this down. Eyes properly propped open with matchsticks. My only regret is that it sat on my e-reader for so long before I started.

Beverley Wright is a busy mum to Felix and Emma, devoting all her time and energy to bringing her children up well, so that they have the kind of childhood she never experienced. Who can argue with that? However her life plans are disastrously thrown off course when husband Graeme leaves the family home to begin a new life with Felicity, his secretary, thereafter disparagingly referred to as The Secretary. Oh dear, what a cliche! Poor Beverley finds herself remaining in their home, plans to move thwarted and faced with the horrors of all horrors, sending her little poppets to the local state primary school, rather than some exclusive exorbitantly priced private establishment. Harper Hill primary has a reputation, not a good one, full of the likes of Melanie Hicks and her bullying brood of kids and definitely not the kind of school Beverley had in mind for Felix and Emma. With no choice but to make the best of a bad job, Beverley enters into the lions den, her proposal for a PTA with her as parent governor believed in her opinion to be the ideal way to improve the image of the school. What follows is absolutely hilarious, unexpected, a touch silly but immensely good fun.

The Busy Mums guide to getting away with it is a darkly comic, refreshingly naughty tale of playground politics and one woman’s crusade to turn around the fortunes of an ailing school, employing any means possible. If that requires deviousness, cunning and frankly out of character behaviour then so be it; Beverley is up for the challenge. Her attempts to rid the school of undesirable influences, poor teaching, ineffectual leadership are priceless and rib tickling funny. Once I started reading, I couldn’t stop, mesmerised by the force of nature that is Beverley Wright, lapping up all the sarcastic humour and silliness, the tongue in cheek tone that keeps you turning the pages. Death, accidents, a gerbil, kitten and a Hound of the Baskerville type dog all form part of this laugh out loud novel so I was entertained from start to finish.

There is such strength in the characterisation, the author bringing these fictional characters to life so I could easily picture Beverley striding through the playground, determined to keep Miss Peach in her place, bulldozing past gossipy gatekeeper/receptionist Mrs Snow to befriend the headteachers, Mr Dunn and his replacement Mr Jerome. She is like a whirlwind sweeping through every aspect of Harper Hill primary, desperate to singlehandedly pull the school up by its bootstraps and woebetide anyone who stands in her way, even her nemesis Melanie Hicks. I had visions of these two facing each other in their numerous stand offs, like gladiators in the Coliseum! Beverley (NOT Bev or Bee thank you very much!) may be middle class, snobby, controlling and manipulative with a bee in her bonnet about the use of apostrophes but she is utterly wonderful. Unafraid to speak her mind, she is probably the one woman at the school gates I’d want to befriend, because underneath all the prickliness she has a good heart. Plus who can fault her for having her children’s best interests at heart?? Unlikely companions to Beverley in her ongoing campaign are mums Jo and Grace, quickly forming a trio whose actions made me hoot with laughter.
Arch enemy Melanie Hicks is an equally well drawn character, with her vile brood of children and her shadows the Blondes, always by her side to bolster her ego, making her the perfect rival to oppose Beverley’s plans for Harper Hill. Who will be crowned the champion, Beverley, our caped crusader or Melanie, keen to preserve the status quo, unwilling to surrender her crown of playground queen.

I LOVED LOVED LOVED this book! It’s one that far exceeded my initial expectations, the kind of book you just want to devour in one sitting. I would like to hope this isn’t the end of the road for Beverley’s character as despite a softening of those prickly edges I’m sure she has enough naughtiness/skulduggery up her sleeve for another adventure. Thoroughly recommend, it’s a brilliant debut and if you’ve recently lost your reading mojo this is guaranteed to bring it back. My thanks as always to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read in exchange for an honest review.

This is such a funny book
Beverley was a great character and was very relatable to. The descriptions of the mums at the school gates was so accurate and we have all met people like them.
A great read

Beverley And Best Laid Plans.....
Featuring protagonist Beverley whose best laid plans invariably fail. When Beverley takes matters in hand chaos follows. Far fetched and outlandish, dark but amusing and enjoyable with characters that may ring a few bells. An entertaining read.

Beverley has two lovely children and a husband and ambitious plans for their children's education. But then her husband leaves her for his secretary and the Emma and Felix, instead of a much better school, have to go to just the usual, not too good educational establishment, Harper Hill Primary.
But Beverley doesn't give up. If she can't send the children to better school, then the school must change and so Beverley takes matters in her hands. From starting a PTA and being its head, to becoming a Governor, in the meantime getting rid of a very un - cooperative teacher and school head. Literally.
However, there is someone observing her. Trying to stop her. Will Melanie Hicks, mother of 4 little horrors, be able to hold Beverley off?

I'll be honest, for a long time I wasn't sure what to do with this book and with Beverley. It all just seemed a bit too thick, and I felt a bit confused, I really didn't know what to think. However, the more I read, the more Beverley and the story grew on me, until the point that I thought oh hell, woman, you really are the iron woman. I mean, Beverley was not a likeable character. Oh no. She was uptight, snooty, serious and focused on only one thing, with a superiority complex but really, I eventually started to warm to her and in the end I simply wanted to give her a standing ovation. She was taking no prisoners and when she really got something into her head, there was nothing stopping her - not even a corpse.

I was literally glued to the pages, wanting to know how far Beverley will go and what's going to happen next/who's going to die next. I loved the unpredictability of this book, of the fact that I have never known what's going to happen when I turned the page. The writing style was easy to follow and pleasant to read, the plot complex and full of twists and turns and what is so clever is that you can easily associate some of the characters with some of the people from your own school gate, ha, they were all so brilliantly sharp described! Even though Beverley's actions sometimes seemed unrealistic, I could easily identify with her urges.

So after the initial reservation, I really started to adore this book. It was full of dark humour and you need to take it with a pinch of salt as the plot IS a bit too far fetched but believe me, you're quickly going to gulp everything the author puts on the pages. It was original, refreshing and hilarious. Truly recommended!

When I started this book I didn't think I was going to enjoy it. I thought Beverly had a superiority complex and that she was heading for a fall. Gradually I started to warm to her with the result that by halfway through the book I was cheering her on. Ok so the plot is a bit far fetched but we all need a bit of escapism every once in a while.

This was a really entertaining book. I liked the characters, the plot and humour. I like to read about school mums and the drama of them :) So, it worked quite well for me. Recommended.

Thanks a lot to Netgalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the humour and the character development but I found the plot a too distant from my experience and had some issues in connecting to the characters.
Beverley is well written but not likeable at all.
It was an entertaining read, recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this Arc, all opinions are mine.

Wanted to love this book but struggled slightly to get to the end. Beverly is a hard character to like but the storyline intrigued me so I persevered, the ending was a bit disappointing- all a bit too neatly concluded!

Barbara is the perfect wife to Graeme and mother to Felix and Emma. Until Graeme leaves her so she has to fight for her sanity, her kids and their education. When she takes on the PTA and becoming a school governor to ensure the best for her kids god help anyone who gets in her way!
This was such a dark funny read. Barbara was such a brilliant character and I’m sure many mums will identify with her urges, I sure recognised them! The descriptions of the other mums was spot on with the mix of mums at any school gate.
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Absolutely loved this book. I could associate the characters with a number of people from my children’s local primary school.
Beverley is a mum of two. She had high hopes of a new start in a good catchment area for her family. Then her husband ups and goes off with his secretary.
Leaving Emma and Felix to go to Harper Hill Primary. Not the best educational establishment. Beverley sets about changing things. From forming a PTA to becoming a Governor. Getting shot of an ineffective teacher. Killing of the head.
However, there’s someone out to step in her way Melanie Hicks. The mum of 4 little horrors and as rough as they come.
You’ll love this book and I would certainly love to see further books with Beverley and Harper Hill Primary.