(Blog Tour) Book Review: A Bumpy Year by Olivia Spooner

Today is my stop on the blog tour celebrating the paperback release of A Bumpy Year by Olivia Spooner a wonderful and fun contemporary romance about a woman who’s pregnant and isn’t even sure who the father of her baby is! I’ve really enjoyed reading this and you can find out more about my thoughts in the review below, as well as seeing more about the book and author if you continue to scroll down after reading my review. A big thank you to Amy for the chance to be a part of this tour and for a copy of the book. Now, let’s find out how much I enjoyed this. 🙂

Title: A Bumpy Year
Author: Olivia Spooner
Cover illustrator: Beth Yirtaw
Publisher: Aria (Head of Zeus)
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Book format: Paperback
Sweet Strawberries:

Description: Pregnant. Single. Dating. It’s going to be…a bumpy year!
Trish Kirkpatrick never suspected to find herself unmarried, pregnant and…not entirely sure who the baby’s father is.
With her ex, Pete, and her colleague, Elliot, waiting on the DNA results, Trish finds her complicated world getting even more chaotic when meeting gorgeous architect Scott on a plane to Tokyo sparts a new flame.
As both her bump and her troubles grow, can Trish sort through the chaos and decide who she wants to become – with or without a man by her side?

*Free copy provided by publisher for review…

Review: This is such a great story and a lot deeper than I first thought it would be. Trish is five months pregnant, hiding the fact she’s pregnant from her boss, while also not knowing who the father of her baby might be. Being pregnant, single with no idea who the baby’s father is complicated enough, but then Trish meets Scott, a cute guy on the plane she’s on while on her way to Japan for a business trip. After making a fool of herself on the flight though, Trish is hoping to never bump into Scott again. But after several chance encounters with him she ends up heading off with him to a wedding.

I really loved this story from the start and immediately enjoyed getting to know Trish’s character who narrates the story. When Trish heads on a business trip to Japan, she ends up constantly bumping into Scott before he asks her to go with him to a wedding of one of his friends. The two immediately click and I like how things go for Trish and Scott in Japan. But soon Trish is back home and having to deal with the two men in her life who could be the father of her baby while also dealing with more of her own problems.

I don’t want to give away too much of what happens but I like how this book has some funny moments in it, especially with Trish’s friend group and what happens later at the antenatal classes she goes to. I really love Trish’s friends and how they all make each other laugh, but also how utterly supportive and perfect they are as a friendship group. It’s her friends and their support that really shines through this story and I just love how different they all are but how devoted they are to Trish and helping her in any way they can. Trish’s character goes through a lot. The book takes place mainly in the months of Trish’s pregnancy and I like what happens and how much deeper this book is than it first seems. While the main story of Trish dealing with her pregnancy and the struggles around the potential dads and all the drama that goes around that is interesting and fun to read, I really thought that the story did an amazing job of showing the effects pregnancy and also childhood traumas can have on someone’s mental health too.

The book has a good build up to the ending and I love what happens in one scene in the hospital where Trish is surrounded with her friends and they are all screaming, it made me laugh so much. I also love what ends up happening with Trish and Will and how things resolve in the end for everyone. I have to admit I was feeling a bit disappointed when the last chapter began and Trish was explaining something to someone and I thought the book was going to end on a slightly sadder note, but there’s a wonderful final scene in the book that made me smile so much and overall I have really enjoyed this story so much more than I was expecting.

There are the occasional uses of the f and s swear words as well as a few descriptions of the birth and pregnancy but overall there’s nothing that would really upset anyone reading it although it does talk deeper about mental health which I did like as it’s a real subject often ignored in such situations. I also found Trish’s back story interesting and it gives you an insight into why her character is the way it is and how things from childhood can affect our personal lives if not dealt with properly.

Overall this is such a great book and after reading this I discovered from the author notes, that one of the characters, Emma, is actually the main protagonist in previous book by the author so now I’m keen to read that too! This is a great story, one I’d recommend to anyone who loves a bit of a humorous story but also a great and deeper read about one woman and her struggles, but ultimately her strength through a first time pregnancy. It’s not as funny a book as the front cover led me to believe, but it’s a lovely story and one I will enjoy reading again in future. 🙂

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About the Author

Olivia Spooner has been writing fiction for twenty years and still feels she is only at the start of her writing journey. She lives in New Zealand with her husband, three children, a big hairy dog, and an overweight cat. Olivia is the proud owner of an independent bookshop where she happily shares her love of books with everyone who walks through the door. When not surrounded by books or creating stories, Olivia is most likely to be found at the beach or simply out walking – the more remote the location, the better. She loves a good meal and to the disbelief of her children adores a massaged kale and avocado salad. And chocolate. Just not together.

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I hope you’ve enjoyed my stop on the blog tour today for this brilliant book! 🙂 Do check out the other stops on the tour by seeing them on the banner below or search for #ABumpyYear on social media. :)