A review by justmevictoria
Because of Them by Devon May

4.0

This book was kindly sent to me by the author in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

 

When the person you least expect is the person you didn't know you needed… 

 

Post-divorce life has been a bit of a struggle for Audrey. While she's happy that her ex-husband has found the love of his life and their daughter Maisie has another person in her life to love her, things are a little stagnate for Audrey. Her one attempt at dating was going swimmingly until the guy got scared off by her daughter, so she turned back to focusing on her career. But now life has really thrown Audrey a curve ball - two pink lines she wasn't planning for. As much as she wants Michael in her, and their baby's life, he's shown he's not in the same place of life that she is - he's got a gym in his bachelor pad apartment and he has no desire to progress in his career, even though his father has told him numerous times that it'll be passed to Michael upon his retirement. He's definitely not ready to raise a child. But Michael surprises her, stepping up to the plate to support her throughout her pregnancy, and working to put his life on track for the family he's always wanted but wasn't expecting so soon. 

 

Apparently I enjoy the accidental/surprise pregnancy trope? And Devon delivered a fabulous one, wrapped up in a single mum bow! I'm usually all about the single dad romances, but I clearly need to get some more single mum romances under my belt because this was a joy to read and filled with so much emotion as we followed Audrey and Michael on their unplanned journey to parenthood. 

 

Devon gave a nice little tease to Audrey's happy ending in the previous book, so it was nice to go back and see the journey she went on, especially considering Audrey was a bit of a cold character through the eyes of Cassidy and Callum. And having gotten a tiny glimpse of Michael in the first book, it was definitely fun to learn about his character. Together, Audrey and Michael had such great chemistry as they navigated the joys and challenges of finding love under unexpected circumstances. 

 

A trigger warning for birth trauma and NICU life. Devon fills these scenes with so much emotion from both perspectives as Audrey and Michael have their birth plan go out the window and how they thought becoming parents was going to go. There are also brief discussions of infertility in terms of Cassidy opening up to Audrey about her inability to have children and her feelings around Audrey being pregnant. 

 

Aside from Audrey and Michael's relationship, it was also such a joy to see the development of Maisie's parenting team as Audrey, Callum and Cassidy learnt to be a parenting trio, along with Michael as his relationship with Audrey developed. Maisie is such a fun character and her life is filled with so much love, and getting to see all these characters work together and interact is really fun. 

 

And speaking of side characters, the teasers for Amira and Noah? I cannot wait for their book! Devon has truly written an unmissable contemporary romance, filled with fabulous characters, heart-wrenching emotions, undeniable chemistry, and an authentic relationship. If these first two books are anything to go by, the conclusion to this trilogy is going to so damn good! 

 

If, like me, you've been reading all the single dad romances, it's time to dip your toe in the single mum pond!