This is a very funny second novel by the vlogger Mummy Banter! As a parent I can totally relate to to the main character and her experiences of the period before Christmas :)

Tara is a mum of three:  a teenage daughter and two smaller boys and is pregnant with baby number 4! Alongside the daily battle with toilet training 2 year old Jax and regular placating  of teacher Miss Rose  for 6 year old Nathan's inappropriate language (learned from 13 year old Gemma!), she now has to deal with elf on the shelf and preparing Nathan for his school play.  To make things worse Gemma has been suspended for two weeks for vaping at school, so Tara  is also now stuck in with a grumpy teenager. On top of this her estranged mother  Pamela has broken up with her toy boy in Spain and decided to move in and play granny (or "Pammy" as she prefers the children to call her) ....

I really enjoyed this book, Serena's writing style is frank and funny and a great cathartic release for parents trying to keep the festive spirit alive at Christmas, whilst dealing with the stresses surrounding it ! I hope there is another book in the series :)

Wow!!!!!! Absolutely adored this book. It came across so realistically. I could genuinely feel how the character was feeling.

It gave you the good and bad sides of parenting. Not only that but it also shows how we ourselves can turn back into children when faced with spending long periods with our own parents.

All the characters are so likeable. I have laughed out loud with the book and found myself looking forward to bedtime so I can start reading again!

I will definitely re-read this book again and be on the lookout for any other books by this author!

Get your christmas reads in order before the silly season sets in and make sure this one is added to your TBR!

Tara would happily kill someone for Christmas to be slightly less manic than usual. From a stroppy teenager testing boundarys to trying to potty train and everything in between, family life is full on for Tara and her hubby. But her wayward mother (who I couldn't help but see as Brenda's mum from DinnerLadies!) decides to foist herself on them for Christmas too - Tara's grip on her sanity might finally slip! Paul also seems to be less than his usual self and Tara's finds herself doubting her marriage too.

OML Gemma is the quintessential teenager - you never know what personality you're going to get! Jax and Nathan are the scene stealers yet again - the zingers these boys delivered - and the timing! The inner workings of Tara's mind are so realistic - we're a similar ago so there are way too many tabs open, music won't stop playing and everything crashes every so often.

I'm eager to see what calamities could befall Tara and the tribe next!

TW: There are some very realistic scenes of family tummy trouble shall we say - Don't be eating when you're reading LOL!

A tale with lots of laughs for me, Tara Gallagher is a thirty-five weeks pregnant mum. Christmas is less than one month away and she and her husband, Paul are having trouble with their teenage daughter, Gemma who has been vaping at school. The Gallaghers also have a six-year-old son, Nathan who's an ice cream lover, and little Jax is two. This book is the second in a series following the family. A gleeful lark of a read that will bring you smiles.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from HarperCollins via NetGalley and this review is my unbiased opinion.

This novel is the second in the series by this author.

Hilarious and full of laugh-out-loud moments. This novel has lived up to its expectations from the first novel in the series. You do not necessarily need to read the first one in order to read the second. However the only thing I can possibly fault is that usually when there’s a second in a series, authors usually explain all of the characters as their mentioned and things that happened in the previous book briefly however I felt those elements could have been stronger within this one.

Apart from that, we see a mother who is pregnant with her fourth child, tackling life and the daily struggles I mean tasks that has on a person who also works, juggling family life and so forth. I felt overwhelmed for her throughout as she is dealing with so much yet managed to keep her cool especially with her seemingly sexist boss.

With her husband, teenage daughter, friends all behaving out of character and being so close to give birth again, Tara is feeling very isolated and confused. I find that she deals with all of this so well. I admire how hard-working she is and her strength to keep her cool throughout each situation.

She manages to laugh or have a smart remark that makes the reader laugh out loud.
I really enjoyed the hilarious situations that later occur and help her relationships with people thrive. Some of these actually reminded myself of similar situations in Emmerdale the Soap show.

With it being the Christmas season this novel hits the spot on a cosy, relatable and hilarious laugh out loud read during this festive season.

I hope to be able to read more as I really do enjoy how Serena writes. Entertaining and captures my attention.

Thanks to the publishers for this novel in exchange for my honest review.

What an excellent follow up book this is, although it can be read as a standalone. While most of the characters appear in this one too, there are a few new ones what provide great entertainment. The book as great storylines that have you literally laughing out loud. I highly recommend this book!

OMG this had me laughing and nearly in tears. It made me cheer for the characters and just gotten me right into the Christmas mood.
It is brutally honest. There was lots of second hand embarrassment but it was so much fun to read.
I did really feel for the characters and just wanted to see where all this is going because the first half of this book was just absolute chaos for them yet it had this festive feeling all about it. Sometimes a bit too much information for my taste but that’s alright. Definitely recommend checking the glossary if you are not from the area it takes place in or English is not your first language other than that highly highly recommended if you need something that’s funny and festive and a wee bit emotional.

I loved this book! Who doesn't love a bit of Christmas family drama. The highs and lows of prepping for Christmas with 3 children and a baby on the way. Plus absent grandmother what could go wrong? Does make you question the lengths we go to have a perfect Christmas.

Which mum doesn't dream of the perfect Christmas for her family. Unfortunately, chaos reigns for Tara in her household. She is going to have to turn things around on her own as her children and husband prove to be less than useful. A totally relatable read with a lot of laughs along the way.

The Sh!te before Christmas by Serena Terry is a 5 ⭐️ read.
This is the second book from this author and I loved it, it’s hooks you right from the first page. The book is written by the extremely funny Mammy Banter (if you don’t know who she is then check tik tok, Instagram and Facebook she will have you laughing so hard you will cry.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced copy of this book.

A bit of a slow starter but once I got into it this was a hilarious, heart warming read while touching on a few serious issues along the way.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

An enjoyable and light hearted view of family life leading up to the festive season. Yes there is a degree of swearing but this the author setting the narrative for the main protagonist, expressing her cynicism with life as a mother as she juggles the many things thrown her way at Christmas. Try not to take it to seriously.

There's nothing wrong with this, it's a very realistic piece of family fiction, it's funny, it's heartwarming. I just didn't connect with it, and that probably says more about me than about it. The right reader is going to love it; that just wasn't me, and I'm really sorry for that.

First Christmas read of the year and safe to say I loved it. The banter and sense of humour in this book was really up my street. Mix in a crazy family of 5 and the return of an estranged mammy at Christmas you’ve got an action filled booked. The comedic stuff the two little boys say throughout the book really made me chuckle. Kids say the best things

Light hearted, abit fluffy festive treat - sums up this book

Very funny, a bit sweary and reminiscent of child juggling everywhere!
Reading this will make you feel better about how you are managing your child wrangling as it approaches Christmas!

This book is definitely not for the faint-hearted! Whilst there are undoubtedly humorous parts to this - and let's face it, you have to approach parenthood with huge amounts of humour to survive - I did find parts over the top, especially the level of swearing and the 'sickness' chapter. If you like watching Derry girls, then you'll definitely enjoy this; however it wasn't really my thing.
I did enjoy the playing out of the relationships between Tara and her teen daughter and her mother however. There were some touching elements to this and I liked how Gemma was shown to be on the cusp of adulthood through her actions such as stepping in with the Wee Donkey! A very funny, honest look at motherhood and it's challenges - just less swearing for me personally!

**Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read an advanced e-copy of this book. All opinions are my own **

What a wonderful follow up to Mammy Banter.

Set throughout Christmas, this was fast paced, manic and so much fun, while also had me exhausted thinking about trying to Tara and dealing with everything she is.

This is a warts and all look at motherhood in the run up to Christmas, complete with Tara's own mother paying a visit and to say she has been an absent mother / grandmother is an understatement. Paul also seems rather distant and I'm incredibly glad the conclusion I jumped to, was completely wrong.

I loved seeing Gemma's dfiffernet sides to this teenagers personality, and how she grew over the course of the book was really lovely. And then there are Jax and Nathan who come out with easily all of the best lines.

Then there is Tara's catastrophizing, her inner monologues which once you are used to them, are a wonder to behold.

My only issue with this book was one specific chapter which I had the misfortune of hitting at the point my dinner arrived in the restaurant I was at while reading, and I basically had to skim the chapter because the level of details involved were making me feel ill and severely putting me off my food - far too much expulsion of things from a body at all ends from multiple family members. I'm squeamish anyway but this painted a disgusting picture - but fairly sure one a lot of parents would fear.

I especially loved the various ideas Tara and her family had for Wee Donkey and just what mischief he could get up to each day!

Other than that I adored this book and couldn't get enough of it. It's a joy to read and I really loved the ending which was just perfect! I can't wait to see what Serena Terry writes next.

Thank you to HarperCollins and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

One of my favourite reads this year. It is set in Derry/Londonderry so it is very much Northern Irish humour which if you are not familiar with will be strange at first. Being a native I got it straightaway. It tells the story of Tara who whilst heavily pregnant sets about giving her family the best Christmas ever. With moody husbands, boisterous toddlers and an angry teenager she certainly has her hands full. Add to that her errant mother and you just wonder how she will cope. The humour is great and a real feel good story of a mother who tells it like it is.
I received a copy of this book through net galley

So full of humour.

Tara is 8mths pregnant with a teenager and two toddlers to look after and it`s the run up to Christmas and she`s on maternity leave from a very busy job and is finding it very difficult to cope and her estranged mother turns up to help.

It took me awhile to get into and some of the swearing was a bit OTT but the humour got me in the end.
Any mother can understand what Tara is going through. and the story of how difficult Tara is coping is told very sympathetically, and is balanced with lots of laugh out loud humour.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC
Posted to Goodreads

i loved Serena's previous book and couldn't wait to read this. I wasn't let down! It was a fun read and is well written . It also touches on serious topics in genuine and thought provoking way, and raises awareness of some serious issues. Tara is so relatable as a character I want her to be my friend! I can't recommend this book enough and can't wait for more