this novel sure was a whirl wind and it kept me on my toes! based on the cover and synopsis, i was expecting this to be a rom-com but it dug much deeper than finding THE relationship. i’d consider this novel more of the women’s fiction/self-discovery genre. i really admired trish’s determination, headstrong nature, and i’m all for women power… but i didn’t agree with all of her decisions. between pete, elliot, and scott, i was completely overwhelmed with all the men trish was keeping track of in her life. i kept waiting and waiting for her to accept the help offered from her amazing friends! yes, she’s independent, but i just wanted to tell her that getting some support doesn’t make you weak.

having said that, i enjoyed how the plot of “a bumpy year” doesn’t focus on the perfect relationship that is often highlighted in romance novels. i thought the characters were well-developed (i had my list of favorites but i absolutely despised pete!!) this novel shows how messy and unpredictable love is. i adored trish’s friends and how they were a constant factor in the craziness that was trish’s year.

LOVED absolutely loved this one it was so well done and so relatable to a new mom. Highly recommend. It was quirky and fast paced.

I picked up this book based off the title and cover alone. It is marketed as a romance. From the cover, you get the sense of romcom. It is not either of those things and that really through me off.

I think the concept of the story had such great potential, but figuring out the genre would have definitely made this book more successful.

The book also ended abruptly without really a great conclusion. I would have liked an epilogue.

My other critique was how Unlikable the man character is. She uses fatphobic language and I definitely wasn’t okay with that.

2 Stars This story has an interesting premise and didn’t quite follow the same direction as other pregnancy trope books. It starts when the main character, Trish, is already 5 months pregnant. Most pregnancy trope stories start with how the parents-to-be met, their night together, then her finding out she’s pregnant and telling the guy. Instead, Trish doesn’t know who the dad is (or who she wants it to be), either her ex-boyfriend or her co-worker. It was interesting for the story to start this way, but it felt like part of Trish’s story was missing. I couldn’t get into the story and didn’t find Trish to be a particularly likeable character.

A great wee read, plenty of characters. Very easy to read. Throughly enjoyed this book. Will definitely read more from this author.

I had high hopes for this book. But it was cringe, I didn't enjoy the self body shaming...I really wish there had been a lot more romance!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc of "A Bumpy Year" by Olivia Spooner.

Trisha is pregnant and she doesn't know who the father is. On a trip to Tokyo for work she meets Scott, first on the plane and then again at her hotel, who she immediately dislikes, however, when he invites her to be his pretend date for a wedding he is attending where they start to hit it off. Getting back home Trisha thinks she can go back to work like nothing is happening and forget about Scott. Trying to get permission for DNA tests from the possible baby daddy's and just survive being pregnant Trisha is supported by her friends.

Going into this book like it is a regular romance was not the right way to attempt to read this book. This book definitely deals with some heavy topics. This book was more of a contemporary with a romance side plot. Really the romance between Trisha and Scott was definitely more of a backburner. Trisha's family life and her friends are the real story here.

Overall I thought this was a well written and thought out book. It was a bit silly with all the back and forth on baby daddies and the antenatal clinic scenes but the end of this story really got to me and I was touched by it. Spooner also dealt with really heavy topics well such as her gentle handle of depression, I also thought Trisha's reactions were very real.

4 stars.

This was a first time read for me by Ms. Spooner, so I didn't know what to expect when I started reading. It was a fun and wholesome story and I'm glad I had the opportunity to read it. While a cute romantic comedy, a little more weight and seriousness and reality was added to the story by including an underlying issue of mental illness that Trish deals with. Trish is a single, pregnant woman not quite sure who the father is, as there are two possible candidates. While awaiting DNA results, Trish's life becomes more complicated as she meets someone while on a business trip who she really seems to connect with. I do try not to judge a book by its cover (I'm never successful at that), but the cover is a bit deceiving in it gave the impression of a love triangle. The story wasn't really heavy on romance, but played more on Trish's other relationships, her journey of self-discovery, and overcoming trauma. I was a little disappointed in that aspect (was looking forward to a romance), but the story was still very enjoyable. The book had a number of cute scenes and fun and witty dialogue. All in all, it was an entertaining story and one I wouldn't hesitate to recommend.
I received a complimentary copy from Netagalley and am voluntarily leaving my reveiw.

2.5 stars — I truly did not like a single character in this book, with perhaps the exception of the main character’s nine year old niece.

Trish, our leading lady, is pregnant and two men in her life could be the father. They are both marketed as wanting to be involved in with the baby which made me think we were going to have some humorous competition scenarios happening a la Bridget Jones’ baby but they both ended up being the definition of losers and lame.

She then meets a third man on a business trip, Scott, who is charming and kind and she in turn decides to unload years of unprocessed childhood trauma on him immediately but also repeatedly and blatantly ignores her mental health struggles and so is continually rude to both him and all of her friends who try to connect with her and support her. Run Scott, run!

They were so many layers to Trish and sadly she wasn’t a character I could root for. I love when characters are honest about their mental health struggles and how that plays into their relationships and this book was not that. She was also so critical of her body in the first 30% of the book I almost DNF’ed it for that reason alone.

But my main gripe: this is marketed as a romance but there isn’t much to be found with any of the three potential matches that were offered. I mean, nothing. I was hoping this was going to funny & witty but instead I did a whole lot of eye rolling and cringing.

3 1/2 stars

A trend I'm starting to see with more and more books is what I would consider a misclassification. When readers dive into a book expecting it to be something it isn't, then the author is set up for potential criticism of what very well might be a well-written book. Personally, I found this book to somewhat be that way.. It's classified as a romance, yet it reads more like women's fiction to me. I didn't feel like the romance part of the book is all that fleshed out so calling it a romance is a bit misleading. What I did find it to be was a journey for Trish in "finding" herself. As the book progresses, it does touch on Trish's battle with depression. While it doesn't go into depth, I respect that there was mention of it. Letting characters have real life issues is important and makes them relatable. Also, depression is so prevalent in our society and needs more mention.

It might just be me, but I felt as if the author was trying to do multiple things with this book and everything got a little jumbled up. Regardless, I will still read more from her in the future. Her writing ability is definitely evident. I think the struggle here was just in figuring out a true identity for this book and sticking to it...in my opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

It was well written, interesting, and different from the stories I usually pick. I liked the short chapters because they were more enjoyable to read.

Based on the cover, I thought this would be a love triangle, but luckily it wasn't. Honestly, I'm not sure I would call this book a romance; Scott and Trish had some cute moments, but the chemistry wasn't there. It was undeniable that the story's main focus was Trish and her struggles with pregnancy, mental health, and past family issues rather than her romantic journey. The pacing was quite weird; the story ended so suddenly without any closure, making the main couple's relationship feel flat and lowkey boring. I wish there were an epilogue or at least 2 or 3 more chapters where we could see their relationship in more depth. My favorite part of the book was, for sure, the friendship between the four of the girls.

Overall, the story was enjoyable, but I'd not recommend it to someone looking for a romance read.

I haven’t read books from this author, I will definitely look for others!
It’s so wonderful to follow a strong female friendship group with all their ups and downs. Tricia is pregnant, isn’t sure who the father is and struggles to sort out her career and family dynamics.
Tricia is so comfortable with her three special girlfriends, accepting her past is emotional and learning to trust in love is terribly frightening.
The storyline was very real, the topics of pregnancy, depression and family were dealt with compassionately and honestly. When Scott comes into Tricia’s life, it takes time for their relationship to develop, at times Tricia can’t believe all that is in front of her. A sensitive caring book with a lot of friendship vibes!

Thanks so much to the publisher, NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read this wonderful book.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a really innocent, funny read. I liked how it was written with short chapters which were quick and easy to follow. Trish's is really easy to like and the plot was interesting enough to follow;. My only problem with it is the ending felt disappointing and flat.

Patricia (Trish) Kirkpatrick lives in New Zealand and is five months pregnant. Problem is she doesn’t know who the father is as it could be one of two men.

Her best friends, Emma, Mags, and Lily are supporting her as she decides whether she should ask both possible fathers to take a DNA test.

When she has to take a business trip to Tokyo, she sits by a nice man on the flight who introduces himself as Scott. Chatting to her, he says something that makes her cry. Turns out they are staying at the same hotel and after sharing breakfast, he asks her to attend a wedding he is in town for. She agrees. His Japanese ex-wife is also attending with her boyfriend.

Trish had a strict upbringing by her military father and her distant mother. She has not seen or spoken to her two brothers in years.

This book has a touch of humor but is mostly based on the life of a successful woman who has had bouts of depression. To me, she comes across as a loner. Yes, she has girlfriends and has had boyfriends, but her upbringing seems to be her real problem. The pregnancy and childbirth are pretty much spot-on and if you’re a bit squeamish, you might want to zip past some of those pages. All in all, a pretty good read. I’ve enjoyed reading others’ reviews.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This was such a wholesome read! In the beginning, you meet Trish, who is single and newly pregnant. She is a complete workaholic and is struggling to balance her work life and her new reality of impending motherhood. She is also not sure who the father of her child is. You get to follow along as Trish gets ready for motherhood, finds support from her found family, meets a cute guy, deals with past traumas and finds herself and her new path in life. I absolutely adored reading this and thought the entire book was just so wholesome. I cannot wait for this to hit the shelves shortly!

3 stars ☆ This was such a wholesome read. I liked the short chapters which made me intrigued by the story and that you get to know Trish’s life background along with her pregnancy.

I thought that this would have a love triangle based on the cover and from a few pages in here but I was wrong. I may have some mixed feelings about Scott and Trish relationship because they do have some great and sweet moments but I just needed more of them together since I didn’t fully connect with these characters from how their romance and interaction were just like 30% of the book and that’s it.

The ending felt kind of flat and I wishing that there's an epilogue but there’s none. sad.

Overall, it’s an okay book. I was just expecting more from it.

Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for the ARC !!

Overall, this was a very quick and easy read. It wasn't amazing but it wasn't terrible either, so I had a good time.

THINGS I LIKED
I really like Emma's character. She seems like a supportive and lovely friend. Lily and Mags were also great, though Mags definitely gave token lesbian vibes.
The book was a lot more serious than I expected, but in a good way. It handled sensitive topics very well.
I appreciate that Trish is the emotionally closed off one and Scott is the vulnerable one. It sort of subverts the whole toxic masculinity thing.
On one hand, I like the whole "she's only vulnerable around Scott" thing, but on the other hand, I was confused simply because it doesn't seem in line with her character at all

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE
I hate how casually Trish mentions that she counts calories obsessively because that's so toxic.
I don't understand Trish's reasoning for not wanting to tell people about her pregnancy because they're going to notice when she has the baby anyway. There wasn't any solid motivation for her keeping it hidden besides dramatic effect.
I didn't enjoy how Trish keeps calling men males
There was a lot of serious things thrown into one book. It felt like too much a lot of the time.
The pacing was whack, especially within Trish and Scott's relationship.

I loved this heartwarming and funny novel which I read on Netgalley I can totally relate to the main character about what it feels like being pregnant even though my son is nearly 16 now. I liked all the characters in the book and the tangle of complex relationships between family and friends and so on.
I also loved the locations namely Japan and New Zealand and the more serious topics of depression, mental health and the struggles of moving from an independent career woman to being a mum. It was a great book to read, and I’d recommend it to any mums to be. Think the main reader group will be ladies as most men will probably shy away from this book when they realise what A bumpy year means.
It’s the first book I’ve read by this author but I’d like to read more in the future. I liked this book & I’m giving this novel 4 stars.

Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review. This was an enjoyable book.

I actually really enjoyed this book
Surprisingly it made me cry don’t know why there was just some things I related to that made my heart ache for Trish and her childhood
It like them confront books you find yourself lost it
The love story is truly wholesome and mainly focuses on Trish reconnecting with her family and trying to heal herself mentally to be better for her new born.
I would definitely recommend it if your looking for a cute romance with major character development