This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
“No, no. Not ready for children yet.” Is the standard response from Harry Spencer whenever he is asked by friends whether he and wife Emily are ready to become parents. Then Emily drops the p-bomb (as Harry calls it) and suddenly Harry is a thirty-something father-to-be who is still craving a twenty-something lifestyle. As the couple negotiate pregnancy’s ups and downs, Harry struggles to adjust to their new life and finds himself contacting ex-girlfriend, Jamie, on Facebook. Initially, he just wants to see what she has been up to all these years, but soon enough he is tempted by the ghost of girlfriends past and risks throwing everything away. Harry must decide whether to accept his new responsibility or give into the lure of an adolescent fantasy. After finishing this book nearly a week ago I still have mixed feelings about it. I almost want to call it “Lad-Lit” because it is clearly much more geared towards a male reader. As a woman, I hope that my future boyfriend or husband never behaves like Harry. While he is likeable, funny and generally doesn’t take life too seriously, he is also immature and weak. At times I found myself unable to comprehend why he would make such reckless decisions when he professed to love his wife and had a new baby on the way. I felt infuriated that whilst his pregnant wife was tired and trying to adapt to the changes in her body, Harry was sending inappropriate messages to an ex. I did enjoy many aspects of this book: the characters in general were well rounded and the secondary characters – although they didn’t have a big role to play – were very entertaining. The plot develops and climbs well and there are plenty of funny moments to be had. The main fall down, for me, was not being able to get on board with a character like Harry. A realistic version of a man’s views on sex and relationships? I’m not so sure… 6/10 MORE ABOUT THIS BOOK