This was a real palate cleanser for me after some gritty crime. A lighthearted beautifully woven tale with plenty of belly laughs thrown in. It has the entertainment factor from me.

I really enjoyed this and can’t wait to read more from this author. Even though I’m not a mother myself I akways enjoy fictional books about the antics of motherhood. Kids are so funny, and you never know what’s around the corner when your with them.

Thanks goes to net galley and the publishers for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Incredibly funny and honest look at motherhood, especially at how the realities of it are nothing like what appears on social media or in magazines. It's not all glossy and wonderful, and there are times where parents really do struggle.

So Stevie is mother to 6 month old Cherry, a rather unfortunate infant who suffers badly from reflux, and is a real mummy's girl. After many sleepless nights Stevie starts writing a blog which she never expects anyone to read, venting about her true feelings on motherhood.

She is convinced she is failing at motherhood, and then she finally gets herself some new parenting friends, and her outlook on life starts to improve. I loved Nelle and Will, and their kids too, they provided such a refreshing perspective on things.

Whereas I really didn't take to Stevie's work-aholic husband. Easily my favourite parts are the blog posts that Stevie were righting, and I think a large amount of this book will ring true with mothers, whether they admit it or not.

From a personal point of view I could have done with a lot less bodily fluids in it, there were for me far too many descriptions of baby sick and poo. I know that's what little kids do, but it meant reading this while I was eating was a challenge at times!

This was just so very entertaining, probably my favourite book to date from this author. I found myself whizzing through the pages, not wanting to put it down, I was completely hooked to see just what would happen next.

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

The perfect book to read when you are up in the early hours feeding your baby. This book is funny and just what I needed to read in the first few weeks of having my second baby.

Another corker from Canelo Publishing; as the tagline says, this is ‘A heartwarming momcom that’s guaranteed to make you smile.’

Stevie’s life has changed beyond recognition since having her first baby. Stevie loves being a mum, but between the isolation and being vomited on five times a day, she really wishes she had someone to talk to.
With husband Ted working hard to keep the family afloat, Stevie really doesn’t want to burden him with her feelings. Turning to the internet, Stevie starts the anonymous First-Time Mum blog and blasts the rose-tinted glasses of parenthood right off her readers.
In the real world, Stevie meets the formidable Nelle and gorgeous Will, along with their own little treasures, and starts to realise that being a ‘perfect mum’ isn’t everything.

But when the secret blog goes viral, Stevie must make some tough choices about who she wants to be, and whether she’s ready for the world to know the truth…

A perfect laugh-out-loud read for fans of The Unmumsy Mum, Gill Sims and Emma
Robinson.

This was one of those ‘un-put-downable’ reads. You can’t help but instinctively feel for Stevie and the utter panic she feels in her new situation, constantly feeling that she is being judged for being a ‘bad mum’. When her new friends give her an injection of confidence and her blog suddenly goes viral, it’s clear that suddenly her life will never be quite the same again!

With a script many new mums will relate to, but equally appealing to those who don’t fall under that umbrella, author Poppy Dolan writes with wit and humour, whilst also addressing issues that will probably strike a cord with many. Highly recommended!

When I saw that Poppy Dolan was releasing a new book, I was delighted to hop onto the blog tour train, and get a chance to read and review.  I have read one of her books before - The Woolly Hat Knitting Club - and thoroughly enjoyed her writing style.

Confessions of a First-Time Mum was as delightfully brilliant to read as I was expecting it to be, if not more so.

I myself am not a mum, but I still thoroughly enjoyed this novel, and found myself nodding along in reaction to certain parts, which resonated with parenting trials and tribulations that I've witnessed... and in some way experienced when my sisters were little (temper tantrums...in public...oh joy).

As a blogger myself, I was able to easily connect with Stevie, using the internet as a platform to communicate, which obviously I do too! I found myself laughing at her responses to getting views/followers, because I'm exactly the same in that I don't expect a lot of people to visit my little tiny corner of the internet!

The array of fantastically witty and lovable characters, brilliant plot, and humour that had me chuckling throughout, truly make an all round amazing read, and they - to little old me - capture exactly what I think Poppy Dolan is aiming for, in that this book is real. Now, I know you are probably looking at your screen thinking "what on earth are you on about?", but let me explain.

Everything, and I really do mean everything that occurs throughout the entirety of this novel, happens in real life.  Those temper tantrums that happen in the middle of a public place when it feels like everyone is looking at you, yup, those happen.  The instant warm fuzzy feeling you get when someone connects with something you've written on your blog or on social media, yep, that too.  Not to mention the friendships that you create an inexplicable bond from over life's little triumphs and disasters.  All of these things that feature in this book and are part of the bigger picture in life for the characters, happen to us all. That (to me), is the true beauty of this latest release from Poppy Dolan.  It's easy to relate to no matter who you are, all whilst drawing us into the plot itself.

Perfect escapist reality, and something that I truly enjoyed reading.

***** stars from me!

Poppy Dolan how I can relate. You nailed all those emotions so well. I was so involved in this, I forgot to take the dinner out of the Aga.

A fantastically funny and authentic read for any audience.

I adore the fact that you don't need to have had children to be able to sink into this well written read.

Poppy Dolan does an amazing job at creating such relatable and down to earth characters that you can't help falling in love with. I adored Stevie, Nelle and Will as characters, they had me wishing they were my friends in real life.

Poppy does an excellent job of immersing the reader on this hysterical journey that has you laughing out loud,

I would thoroughly recommend this feel good read!

picked this book up this morning and have just put it down finished. Verdict? You, Poppy Dolan have the ability to read minds! I’m a first time mum and I struck so many chords with the themes in this book. If you didn’t or don’t I’m glad you never had too. I loved this book! Thank you for not writing the ‘rose tinted’ version of motherhood. I loved the characters and I hope every mum finds their own Will and Nelle. Laugh out loud and Enjoy! Enjoy! Enjoy!

Loved this book and thoroughly recommend it for a light hearted read that is pretty funny in places. It's all about Stevie, who is a first time Mum to Cherry and struggling with the fact that her life has been turned completely upside down as a result. She pours out her thoughts and emotions into a blog called First Time Mum, which is an anoymous insight into how it feels to become a mum and the trials and tribulations that go along with that. It's a very amusing interlude between chapters to read the blogs. I really enjoyed the character of Stevie and I think most mums will see a lot of themselves in her. The supporting characters are great too. All in all, it's a great, light read that rides really well off the back of the mummy blogging trend.

In Poppy Dolan's book, "Confessions of a First - Time Mum", our main character Stevie is ... yes, you guessed! A first - time mum! And let's be honest - she doesn't cope so well, which, of course, is totally understandable. Her husband Ted works hard to provide them a comfortable life, all her friends are working, her parents are on another continent... So Stevie starts to write about her feelings on her First Time Mum blog that quickly turns into incredible success. But, as it usually, where you find success you also often finds defeat and troubles... Will Stevie, with the help of new friends Will and Nelle, a) realise that there is no such thing as perfect parenting, b) save her marriage?

This book tells it how it really is to have a baby. I mean, you can attend all kinds of antenatal classes but the reality is in any case going to slap you very, very hard and nothing can prepare you for the shock. Thanks god my baby was not as extreme and demanding as Cherry was, even though then I thought it couldn't be worse but now, in perspective, I can see that she really was uncomplicated, and we didn't have such adventures as Stevie and her daughter. But I can imagine that there are babies like Cherry, and I so really well understood Stevie and her frustrations, desperations and problems - Cherry was not a child I'd call cute, to be honest.

Every mum can recognise herself, more or less, in Stevie, our main character. Stevie, with her brand new daughter and her feelings of happiness and love mixed with confusion, uncertainty, failure, loneliness. I really felt for her, for her struggles, for the fact that she was so authentic. Also, Nelle and Will were brilliant addition to this story and did well as Stevie's new friends - I'm still friends with the girls I got to know when I was pregnant and it's almost seven years now, although I think that none of them is as sharp and honest as Nelle and Will, sadly - every new mum needs such friends as those two.

This book started in a brilliant way and I couldn't put it down at the beginning. However, somewhere around the middle, it lost the whole impact and it started to feel repetitive and flat. It also felt too full, as if the author wanted to cram all possible events into the story. I don't know, I can't put my finger on exactly what was wrong with the second half, it simply read differently and was not as lightly written and as full of joy as the first part.

Altogether, "Confessions of a First - Time Mum" was brutally honest, incredibly funny and also poignant, a read that I could easily relate to. It gave a very realistic look at motherhood generally. Poppy Dolan has really brilliantly captured how it is to be a first - time mum - a mum altogether, showed both sides of motherhood, this of incredible happiness and being proud but also this of feeling totally misunderstood, alone and desperate. A story also about friendship and support and backing up your friends no matter what. It isn't only about being a new mum but it also explores many more issues, and even though I sometimes felt a little overwhelmed with the number of events, I still enjoyed how different and colourful those subplots were, and because of them the pace felt really quick.

Stevie is the First Time Mum in this new book for Poppy Dolan. She has a beautiful bouncy baby called Cherry who has arrived in her and Ted, her husband's life - like a force of nature.

But Stevie now feels lost - all she seems to do is deal with baby sick, stinking nappies and a few hours sleep. To vent her frustration she has started a blog and reaches out to other people who may be struggling like her in the wee small hours between night feeds.

In reality though, Stevie struggles to deal with everyday activities like taking Cherry to the health clinic for her checkup or trying to get a cup of coffee in a cafe. She meets Nelle who is struggling in her own way for the third rather surprising time with her baby Joe and Will who is father to twins, who have one speed - fast.

A friendship forms and whilst this helps Stevie and she starts to feel she might have a purpose in life and be worth something, her marriage with Ted seems to be slipping away from her. Of course to vent her frustration on her anonymous blog is a way to deal with it.....

....until being anonymous stops..... and the whole world wants to know who you really are and what gives you the right to make any sort of comment or judgment on families and parenthood.

I wasn't sure about this book, as I did not think I would be able to relate to any of it, as I am not a mum but Poppy Dolan gives it such depth and wonderfully funny laugh out loud moments that really this book is about how you need to talk about what is going on and that hiding behind something is not always the right thing to do. The use of parenthood is the vehicle for it all.

What a wonderful account of what can happen when the media turns and it becomes news, and sad we live in a world where some publications in print or online thrive on such material.

The structure of the book was great, blog posts, emails, texts and was very 'current' and 'on topic;, a book of its time probably and that is why it will resonate with lots of readers. You don't have to be a mum to read it but if you are I am sure this book will strike a chord with you all.

I really enjoyed this book, it is completely relatable and will make a whole lot of mums feel better and feel like they aren't the only ones who are having tough times.
The whole blog posts and all in this are so funny and I really loved reading these parts they kept getting better and better the more confident Stevie was getting.
There is so much drama in this, it is hilariously good and so exciting.

Confessions of a First-Time Mum is my first book that I’ve read by Poppy Dolan and my word, it’s an absolute corker. Right from the first page I was laughing out loud, not just a little chuckle but a full on laugh and I just knew that I was going to love and devour this book.

Stevie has just had her first baby, the adorable Cherry. However her life isn’t what she imagined, Cherry vomits a lot and cries a lot, Ted her husband works a lot and Stevie is well feeling lonely. She meets two new parent friends Nelle and Will who help her realise she is a brilliant Mum. Stevie also pours her heart out onto a blog where she has a realistic outlook on her parenting experience which I loved reading about.

Now I don’t have kids yet but after having worked with small children/babies in the past I related a lot more than I thought I would have done. I laughed my way through this brilliant book where it made me realise that not everyone knows what they’re doing when they have kids. I will admit I am petrified of having my own kids, what if they’re not what I expected? What if I regret having them? This book has made me realise that no matter how bad I think I’m going to be, there will be people out there who can relate to me!

I absolutely loved the characters of Stevie, Will and Nelle, I would love to have friends like that in real life. By the end of this book I felt I had made some fabulous friends in these characters. Poppy, please can we have another book with these relatable, well-written and brilliant characters? Cherry although she was a monster at times, she was so adorable and you couldn’t help but love her.

Poppy’s writing was just flawless, from that hilarious first page to the excellent ending I was hooked. I couldn’t tear myself away from the lives of Stevie and co. The humour is there throughout the book as well as some emotional moments that did pull at my heartstrings on occasions.

Confessions of a First-Time Mum is a stunning, fun, hilarious and relatable read that will appeal to to not only parents but really to anyone who loves their books funny and full of well-written characters.

5☆ A Fabulous Insight to the ups and downs of being a Mum!

Confessions of a First-Time Mum is a laugh out loud look into the ups and downs of becoming a first time Mum.

Stevie is a first time Mum to Cherry.
She isn't finding things easy as most first time mum's.
What I loved was how you got to see Stevie's vulnerabilities, her struggles, her triumphs. I loved watching her grow with confidence, with Cherry and her life in general. As motherhood changes all aspects of your life.
Her mishaps and mayhem had me laughing out loud.

I really enjoyed Stevie's Blog Entries. She had me laughing and sympathizing with her as she laid everything out there for all to read and equally judge.

I haven't yet got children but Poppy certainly gave me a realistic look into what it could be like.
This was a wonderfully written, warm, funny, relatable read that I thoroughly enjoyed. I felt like I was on a journey of discovery alongside Stevie and I love books that make you feel involved, or trigger memories.

Poppy really thought of everything, she made the book current with the use of blogging, which with the use of websites like NetMums can really help.

If you are looking for a feel good, laugh out loud, realistic portrayal of becoming a first time Mum, then you will really enjoy this wonderful warm read.

Oh yes, I remember it well. 5 years of no sleep except in short naps (preparation for menopause and beyond if i did but know); exploding poo - or rabbit droppings all over a friend's guest bedroom; the wee in the eye (little boys); the sick and more sick; the joy of measles when the youngest catches it at 13 months just before her injection and you're in hospital after an op, and husband brings her in to see Mum!

And don't get the kids started on being forgotten in a supermarket car park and then there was Orlando and Disney!

So I've been there and thus my memory helped me laugh at the tales of mishaps and joys that are in this book. So much truth and such great fun to read.  May not appeal to those without knowledge of bringing up a child.

This is the second of Poppy's books we have read and loved. Confessions of a First Time Mum has me laughing out loud and left me with an achy face from smiling and a warm fuzzy feeling inside. It really is a feel good read.
No baby comes with a manual and guidance notes, and it's often difficult to talk and admit that as a parent of a new baby you are feeling guilty, overwhelmed, scared and incredibly tired. The addition of a third little person in a relationship can also pull on a strong partnership. It can be an isolated time and not an easy thing for every new Mum to talk about. And that is exactly how Stevie, the main character in this story feels.
Stevie finds comfort during the small hours through writing a blog, and meeting Will and Nelle. Sharing, writing and talking through her experiences makes Stevie feel like she is not alone whilst her husband is working full time to keep the family afloat financially.
It's through the blog by opening up and sharing her tales 'warts and all' as the saying goes, of being a new Mum Stevie finds she is not alone and experiencing the same as other mothers. When her husband reads the blog and discovers it's his wife writing....... no spoilers here!
This makes for a funny, heart warming and captivating read. Poppy has a style of writing that will engage you and absorb you into the pages of the story.
Thank you to Ellie, Poppy and Canelo for our advanced copy.

The ups and downs of dealing with a baby and the huge changes it brings to your life have not really changed over the years, even if the internet and social media have brought with them a whole new set of challenges. New mothers have always felt judged for their choices and experienced the limits which a crying baby can push them to- tempered by the utter love they feel for their child. So, I would say that any age of reader will identify with Stevie and enjoy reading her story.

The writing is full of humour and hilarious situations. I particularly enjoyed Stevie's blog postings which are so well observed. Stevie finds a real sense of family with her two friends, Nelle and Will, who she can turn to day or night. Stevie's ability to cast aside a rosy view of parenthood touches a nerve with her blog followers but she also comes to realise that once her anonymity is broken, not everyone appreciates her honesty.

In short: a great read for a summer afternoon.

Thanks to the author for a copy of the book.

My most recent Net Galley read has been this new book, Confessions of a First Time Mum by Poppy Dolan. And I love it. Especially for the truths it tells about parenthood. How difficult it is to admit you're struggling without feeling guilty and somehow like you don't deserve your kids. How hard it is pull together your pre-kids and post-kids identities. How much of an impact parenthood can have on your relationship with your co-parent - how often you will both be doing your best to do the right thing for the family but find yourselves not always understanding what the other needs. How difficult and scary it is to meet other parents, and the unfortunate fact that just because two people have children of similar ages, they won't necessarily love each other!

It is important for us to talk about the complicated emotions of parenthood, the fact that you can feel two totally conflicting things at the same time, and that it is not easy: feeling adoration and frustration at the same time. Isolation and completeness.

But with all this material, which should be shared with all new parents, is an engaging story. I found so much in this book to agree with and to feel relieved by. It's never a bad thing to realise that you're not the only one to have experienced something!

I'm going to put this out there - where the baby wipes was this book when my daughter was born?! Poppy Dolan had me in hysterics from the first page, and I'm not exaggerating. This authors humour is magnificent, yet she is only writing about parenthood in a realistic manner and without looking at it through rose tinted glasses. Just like Stevie, and I'm sure many of you as well, I had my plans before my daughter was born, adamant that I would do things a certain way. Did that happen? Did it fluff! It wasn't that I changed my mind when she was born, it was purely a case of being realistic and realising that, after being awake during the night more times than I was asleep, getting myself dolled up in the morning to go to a baby group wasn't at the top of my list.

Whilst I didn't find the early stages of parenthood as challenging as others may have done, I still appreciated and loved the black and white way which Stevie spoke about her life. She didn't fake it, she just said how she felt. As far as I'm concerned, I don't really see that as a bad thing, do you? What I also thought was completely bang on, was how Stevie said what a lot of mums think when it comes to being looked down upon by other parents for how you raise your own child. As a single mum, I have had my fair share of derogatory comments and people looking down their noses at me and yes, at first it bothered me, but now? I'm just proud of myself and so should every other parent be. Well, as long as they're being the best that they can be, obvs!!

Anyway, I'm going around the houses with this review - apologies! I thought 'Confessions of a First-Time Mum' was such a brilliant, brilliant read which had me snorting like a pig on more than one occasion. I can guarantee that a lot of readers will be nodding their heads at what Stevie comes out with, and relating to every single thing about this book in general. I know I did!

I thought the idea of Stevie's blog was really fun, even if it did sound a little familiar having read a similar thing in a different book.

'Confessions of a First-Time Mum' is a fantastic, relatable read for anyone who has children of their own. Hell, even if I didn't have a child, I am sure I still would have loved reading about Stevie, Nelle and Will, as people like them re just what the world desperately needs.