Shopping for a Baby's First Christmas

This is my first novel of the series, and the similarities between the mom and my mom are so uncanny I am reading them as romance horror. Down to the Tightwad Gazette and folding towels in thirds - the author could have been taking notes during my childhood. Excellent. Very frightening and romantic. 10/10, no notes.

More mayhem than laughs. Have read other books by this author and enjoyed them, but this one didn’t hold my interest.

A spinning maelstrom of Jacoby fun. As always with this series, I laughed out loud until I hit a spot that hurt my heart. This one spun a little out of control, not unexpected, but totally entertaining.

Love it. It’s an awesome series to read.

I can soooo relate to this book. With your first child, and in my case my only child, every first is absolutely monumental… especially your baby’s first Christmas. You want it to be so perfect, the kind of moment Norman Rockwell would have captured. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I did not get many Norman Rockwell moments with my child. My experiences were much more along the lines of Shannon’s… with the exception of sharing them with a husband who is a God among men. This book made me laugh, sigh, sometimes cringe, and also fondly remember all of the chaos of baby’s first Christmas. The only exception to that would be the poopsplosions. My memories of those are anything but fond. In fact, those moments in the book actually made me grateful to be the parent of a now teenaged boy. That doesn’t happen too often these days, so thank you for that Julia Kent. I can’t imagine any parent not completely loving this book. I can’t imagine any non-parent not completely loving this book, actually. This entire Shopping series has been a total joy to read, and this book is certainly no exception. Honestly, I just can’t recommend it highly enough. I hope Julia Kent never runs out of ideas for these crazy, lovable characters. *I was given an ARC of this book and voluntarily chose to review. All opinions are my own.

This latest installment of the Shopping series is everything I thought it would be: a lot of funny, a lot of crazy, and a little bit of angsty goodness. Shannon and Declan are celebrating Ellie’s first Christmas but this family doesn’t do anything by half. It’s like Christmas Vacation times a million. And the competition between Declan and Andrew has no end in sight. I already can’t wait for the next one!!! *This is my voluntary review of an advanced reader copy*

I cannot tell you how much I have loved this series!
To see the life changes in the Jacoby and McCormick families is fantastic!!
This is Ellie's first Christmas and only Ms. Kent can make the holiday a catastrophic hilarity!
You get to see all the major players in her past Shopping series make an appearance.
Just when you think Declan can't get any more swoony...he just does!
You get to see Shannon embrace motherhood in her own special way.
You get a lovely little holiday treat. You get so much funny, so much love and so much family that it just oozes from the pages!
If you are looking for a holiday treat, get your hands on this! Get you hands on ALL of the shopping series! Ask Santa for them!
Julia Kent is the queen of laugh out loud romantic comedy!!!!


I absolutely LOVE Shannon and Declan!!! When you add in baby Ellie, and I am in love!!! This addition to the Shopping series was all about the Jacoby Family which is a great thing! As much as I love reading about all of the luxuries of billionaire life, it was nice to get a glimpse of how life used to be like for Shannon. It was also very nice to see how Shannon and Declan are handling life as parents. Then there is Marie!!! Marie is her usual crazy, over the top self... But you also get to see why Jason is so in love with her and has stayed with her for all of these years. It is beautiful to watch these characters grow up and develop. It wouldn’t be a Shannon and Declan book if there wasn’t some catastrophic event... In the case of Baby’s 1st Christmas, it is every parent and pet owners worse nightmare! I shuttered as I read what happened (no spoilers) and went and checked my own Christmas tree! Overall I can’t wait for the next installment as Julia set us up for a big one!!!! I received an advanced reader copy for my honest review.

Julia this funny! You have done it again! I read this book straight through. I couldn’t wait to read what Marie has in store for the family. It has all kinds of things happening. Declan is not use to all the family fun Marie has planned.After five years he should know better. As crazy as the family is together one thing stands out. They love each other and has each other’s back no matter what. You have all kinds of things happening kids crying, animals fighting, fires, friends, family time and laughs.Can’t wait to read the next book!

Oh! My! I literally just finished! I read it straight through—couldn’t put it down. What a Jacobyian Christmas! So much insight into Declan’s family dynamic and the ongoing evolution of Shannon and his relationship and their family. Lovely appearances by most of the usual suspects. So much chaos, with Marie there always is, but also so much love. Baby Ellie is delightful and Chuckles as maniacal as always. He really gets his own against Marie. Also so many touching moments as the torch is passed on and Shannon comes to see Christmas as a mother for the first time. I voluntarily reviewed this Advance Reader Copy.