Not What They Were Expecting

Today I am taking part on the Blog Tour of Not What They Were Expectig by Neal Doran. First of all I would like to thank GG Book Tours for providing me with an e copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. You can follow the tour here!

Blurb: Life can be complicated. And complications are the last thing you need when a baby’s on the way. But when Rebecca and James announce their joyful news, little do they know the road to baby bliss is far from smooth. Not only has James lost his job, but he can’t find another and can’t tell his wife why. Meanwhile Rebecca’s own family has picked the worst possible time to start to fall apart, and are relying on her to try and fix it.

As secrets begin to permeate their lives Rebecca and James end up wondering are they really ready to be parents after all…

But it’s too late now – and the expectant couple are about to learn that life doesn’t always turn out quite as you expect it.

Review

Not What They Were Expecting tells the story of Rebecca and James, a happy couple who decides to have a child. They have been together for a while now, they love each other, they have good jobs and their friends already have two wonderful kids so why not try for one themselves? Put it that way it seems quite an easy decision but what they were not expecting is that the day of the first scan James would be made redundant in his well-paid job or that Rebecca's dad would get arrested in a public toilet (you can imagine why...) and start a media campaing to defend his rights against police abuse...

But this is only the begining of the pregnancy! Neal Doran takes us in a rollercoster of emotions: happiness, joy, drama, betrayal, disapointment and secrets, lots of secrets. He keeps the reader totally hooked from the first page with his witty sense of humour and all the unexpected twists (there were some that I didn't see coming at all). 

But what makes this book special are the main characters, Rebecca and James feel so real. It is clear that they love each other but they argue and swear (a lot) and drive each other crazy. They also have some problems really talking to each other but I wonder which couple doesn't? And a pregnancy is a really stressfull time, it can become a test for a couple (that I wasn't sure they would pass...)

Some of the side characters were a bit too much for me. A bit too stereotyped even. Especially the in-laws. I didn't like Howards and I didn't really get him. And sometimes the situations were so absurd that I wasn't sure if laughing or crying. I mean they  were really unlucky poor guys! But all in all, I enjoyed this book, I laughed out loud and warmed to the main characters. It is refreshing to read a romcom written by a man and get his point of view. Some of his considerations about the family and having kids left me thinking a lot! Oh man, I bet Neal Doran knows what he is talking about! 

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