Book Review: Something Old, Something New by Darcie Boleyn

Last Updated: 8 April 2024

AD* | Will you marry me…again?

When Annie Thomas agrees to give her ex away at his wedding to his boyfriend, she thinks she’ll be fine. With her three children at her side, she can handle anything. Then she finds out her gorgeous first ex-husband Evan Llewellyn is flying in from his glamorous life in New York to attend as well!

An unexpected pregnancy ended their relationship and as she stumbles through the ups and downs of life as a working single mum – helping everyone else find a happy ending along the way – Annie refuses to believe their old and incredibly hot spark can still exist.

It’s only when she and Evan are forced to face up to the past together that they’ll discover if they can have their own happily ever after too!

It's Monday again and I'm kicking off the week by hosting one of the first stops on the Something Old, Something New blog tour!

This book is perfect for this time of year. I always associate springtime with romance, and not forgetting the approaching wedding season, it couldn't have come at a better time.

Perfectly unconventional family

The book follows the story of Annie Thomas, a single mother with not one, but two ex-husbands under her belt. It takes a little while to really get going - Annie has a tendency to moan rather a lot about various people, work, and just life in general. This can get a bit repetitive at times, especially as we're just going over and over the same points time and again. However, once things get going, the story definitely improves and picks up the pace.

Annie has one of those perfectly unconventional families that you only ever find in romcoms and chick lit. The combination of a single mother, two ex-husbands, a teenage daughter, her boyfriend, two little kids, two interestingly named dogs (which, by the way, surely have to win some kind of award for the best-named dogs in fiction) and a bearded dragon is ideal for creating endless comedic situations for the characters. In fact, it's these incredibly realistic moments of comedy genius that really make this book. There are little pockets of humour throughout, but every now and then you come across something that genuinely makes you laugh out loud - the cricket incident is my personal favourite!

Laugh-out-loud humour

Compared to the humour, I felt the romance part was slightly lacking. Don't get me wrong, it was pleasant enough, but Annie and Evan just didn't have that crucial spark, in my eyes. If anything, it felt rather rushed - it feels like we missed out on a lot of the development of their relationship this time around, and they were talking about feelings and emotions that we just weren't seeing.

I actually think that it's a combination of the children and the humour that steal the show here. The two are so intrinsically linked that the humour definitely trumps the love aspect in my opinion. All three of Annie's children are so lifelike that their lives are a pleasure to read about. The author doesn't shy away from the messy side of parenting - the children are by no means perfect, but the story is so much better for that. From sweet Annabelle to conflicted Janis to Henry, who is wise beyond his years, the children are the real stars of this story.

Rating: 3 stars

A heartwarming, laugh-out-loud tale of second chances, Something Old, Something New is available to buy now (paid link; commission earned). To find out more about Darcie Boleyn, you can find her on Twitter.

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* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review 

Will you be reading the book? Let me know in the comments below!