Josie finds her life upturned after discovering her husband's infidelity. She moves back home, then discovers that she is pregnant. While wallowing in her sorrows and enjoying a corn dog at the county fair, Josie encounters two friends from her high school days. They commiserate about their perceived failures in life. Later that same day, those same friends invite Josie to become their new housemate. They agree to a pact to get their lives back in order within the year. This light hearted look at the adulting process is enjoyable. I recommend it for when you want something to take the edge off that psychological thriller you just finished.

Im so weak to such a wholesome story😩

I don't care what people said about this book but for me this one deserved the five stars. One thing that I noticed and liked about this book is that it makes me want to appreciate every little thing in our lives. If we put the situation in another place you would feel like "oh okay that's good for you". But no, they gotta make you squeal in happiness and feel the joy of the moment. Thanks for the pact. Sorry Ben and Josie, Kevin really get the credit this time. The pact thingy is really cute, not gonna lie. It just had to make me feel like I want to make a pact like this too and give stupid motivation to people. And you will definitely fall in love with their friendship

When I said it cute. Ben is cute. All of them are cute. But Ben is the cutest. He just had to be awkwardly cute there and somehow his reaction just stuck in my mind for days after finishing this book. His relationship with his daughter is cute too. Like all the things tjat related to Ben are so damn cute!

Get the greasy fair food, avoid seeing anyone she knows, get out. That was the plan when we’re first introduced to the newly separated, newly pregnant Josie Hale. After finding out her husband was unfaithful the process of a divorce has begun. However, one good night beforehand turned into a future keeping her connected to her ex. Josie is pregnant. She’s moved in with her parents back in her small hometown and nothing seems to be going right. She stops at the fairgrounds for a corn dog to curb her craving hoping to steer clear of anyone from her past but instead bumps into two of her former high school friends. One of which she had major feelings for. After finding out they were all struggling with adulthood and then finding out Josie’s parents are selling their place and she’ll need a new place to stay, the three decide to form a pact. A corn dog pact. Kevin and Ben ask Josie to move in with them as the three make moves to better their lives before their next birthdays. The story follows Josie through pregnancy, her rekindled feelings for Ben, and navigating her situation with her ex husband now that a baby is involved.
The book was sweet and fun with lots of laughs. Added side characters gave more to the story as well although I wish we could have seen more of how their stories ended up. I’m glad I was able to read this one as it was a quick read that left me feeling warm and fuzzy and a smile on my face. Rounding my 3.5 stars to a 4! Grab some snacks (this book makes you hungry!) and enjoy!

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the opportunity to read and review an early copy. Get yours at your local bookstores 05/03/22.

This book was absolutely delightful. It was like a reimagined prequel to Three Men and a Baby, and I enjoyed every page. I chuckled and I choked up in equal measure as Josie, Kevin, and Ben made headway on their Corn Dog Pact to get their lives together. The developing friendship between the trio was well paced and felt genuine, the relationship between Ben and his daughter tugged on my heart strings, and the slow-burn romance had me on the edge of my seat and shouting: KISS! KISS! KISS! at my Kindle. Truly a lovely and humorous story that I can recommend wholeheartedly.

Josie’s life is not where she expected it to be at 30. After trying to reconcile her marriage, she’s left with a pregnancy and a cheating ex-husband, forcing her to move back home. Naturally, she runs into her high school friends, who share similar life challenges, and end up forming the Corn Dog Pact to turn their luck around.

I thought this was such a cute book. Heads up, it’s not exactly a romance in the traditional sense at all, but rather is fiction with a little bit of romantic tension. I think that we’ve all felt like our lives aren’t going the way we thought it would at one point or another and this book is a perfect representation of this feeling. What I love about this book is the found-again friendship aspect and the support these friendships bring on their pact goals (with a little bit of competition of course).

I loved the relationship between Ben and his daughter and how it develops throughout the book, and how Josie and Kevin encourage and cultivate their relationship as well.

Overall, I thought this book was sweet and encouraging and would make a perfect beach read. There were a few things that made me suspend a little bit of disbelief, but nothing huge that took me out of the story.

I think this book promised me something in the blurb that it didn't deliver. I had expected somewhat of an MMF poly relationship between Kevin, Ben, and Josie. Unfortunately for me, that wasn't what this was at all.

This is a very slow, slow burn with friends to lovers involved. I felt the ending was a little rushed, but I did enjoy the journey to get there.

There was a lot of unfriendly pregnancy talk in this book, and constant reminders that Josie would move out when she "grows up" and her living situation being merely "temporary" that I didn't love.

Slow friends to lovers story, that looks like a set up for a queer romance, but isn't.

Josie is pregnant, divorced, and need of a place to stay. Her two friends from high school need a third to help with the mortgage, so she hops on board.

If you are expecting any fast paced romance, this isn't it. It is a slow, slow, slow friends to lovers. And I keep mixing up the two male protagonists, Kevin and Ben. One was her crush and high school and the other wasn't.

Nice enough love story. Not too deep. I guess I was expecting more.

<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.</em>

"After my life fell apart in Chicago, I mooched off my parents for a few months, then moved in with two random guys from my past after they lured me in with ice cream."*

Come for the fried food, stay for the Corn Dog Pact. Josie is freshly divorced and living with her parents when she learns she has a bun in the oven—and all she wanted was a fried bun from her small town fair. While there she runs into Kevin, an old high school friend, and Ben, the boy she hopelessly crushed on as a teenager. Turns out, they all are failing their 30s! So she moves in with them while they attempt to get their lives together before Baby comes.

With all the fun banter and silliness that is New Girl, plus the utterly heart-warming found family trope, this book is SUCH a fun time. Josie will be a single parent and Ben is already one, so we have fun interactions with his daughter. My only complaint really is that Kevin read as gay to me from the very beginning, and the story would have been way more fun if he was (or if any of the characters weren't all white cishet).

Also, this is more Women's Fiction (ugh I hate that name, but literary fiction isn't the genre and chick lit is even worse) than romance, and the small bit of romance is super slow-burn. But I wasn't disappointed with that!! Character development IRL.

*Quote is from an unfinished copy so it may not reflect the final version.

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks for the early copy. My thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.

Just finished this read.

Fans of romantic comedies and second chance romances will love this read. With plenty of laugh-out loud moments, there is definitely a lot for all readers to enjoy.

For me, I really found this book to be so relatable. It’s about trying to become a successful adult before we hit the age of 30?! Like who isn’t?! This story hits the right notes for me about real life and how you are never alone.

There was a great deal of balance with this book and I felt it really evened out with the highs and the lows of the natural flow of a book. This romantic comedy/ second chance love story is perfect for those that may feel stuck in their day to day lives and stuck in the same routine. It’s for readers that might feel like love is not around the corner. Love is out there and I truely found this story to be such an emotional roller coaster - but in the best possible way.

After Josie Hale finds herself unexpectedly pregnant, divorced, and out of work, she decides to return to her hometown. While wandering around the county fair, she runs into two of her close friends from high school (Ben and Kevin) and decides to move in with them. The trio, all feeling a bit lost, create a pact to get their finances and love life in order as they prepare to welcome Josie's baby into their home.

I picked up this book because the premise sounds inherently queer. Three unattached 30-somethings raising a child together in a shared home (with a vaguely m/m/f sounding relationship dynamic)? Sign me up! In some ways, the book delivers on that premise. Ben, Kevin, and Josie really manage to build a household and a family without being romantically involved with one another (even in the face of outside skepticism). However, it's hard to celebrate this unique family dynamic when it is bogged down with so many other problematic sentiments.

For example, it is indicated several times throughout the text that this living arrangement is temporary for Kevin, Ben, and Josie. Josie at several times seems to suggest that once she has 'grown up' a bit more or gained her independence, she would necessarily move out. This goes relatively unchallenged except for by Ben. There also is a lot of problematic pregnancy talk. Josie speaks very, very disparagingly about her pregnant body. I understand that it can be difficult for pregnant people to cope with the alarming rate of change in their bodies, but considering this book revolved around a pregnancy it felt like a lot especially since it typically went unchallenged.

However, overall I still found myself enjoying this book. While it wasn't the queer revelry I was hoping for, it still was a sweet romance that delved deep into found family and what it means to build a home. I'd recommend it to folks looking for a sweet small-town second-chance romance

I really enjoyed reading this book by Stephanie Eding. As a singly mom, I can understand the stress Josie is going through while getting ready to raise a child on her own. She finds a great support system in her two guys she was close to in high school, Kevin and Ben. Man, I really loved their characters. Kevin is like a cute puppy, always there to make you laugh and feel better. While Ben provides great support and advice. While dealing with some heavy topics, the book didn’t feel weighed down by them. All together, it was a fun read and provided great entertainment.

One day you’re in a mediocre marriage, putting forth the final efforts into saving the relationship, hoping for the best; the next day, you’re pregnant, filing for divorce, and running into old friends from high school while shoving carnival corn dogs in your face. Not exactly how your life was supposed to go.

In The Unplanned Life of Josie Hale, we get to see Josie climb up from rock bottom. We start the novel when she’s at her lowest point. She’s just moved back into her parents house after learning she’s pregnant. The pregnancy may have been more welcome if she didn’t find her husband mid…compromising position with his secretary. The best thing about rock bottom is that there’s usually only one way to go. This seems to be the way for Josie when she runs into two of her closest friends from high school: Kevin and Ben.

In a somewhat bizarre offer, Kevin and Ben suggest that Josie move in with them. They can all help each other out, and get cheaper rent. Josie’s parents have just told her that she’d need to move out because they were selling the house. Doesn’t get much more convenient than that!

As the story progresses, we get to see more of Josie, Kevin, and Ben, and we quickly learn about Josie’s high school crush on Ben that has miraculously survived 12 years later, despite little interaction over the past couple of years. Herein lies the crux of my annoyance with this novel. The characters are supposed to be adults, turning 30 in the next year. Instead they act like they’re high schoolers in a social living experiment. I liked all the characters for the most part, but it was hard to really enjoy them. Josie gets the bulk of my annoyance. A lot of her annoyances with her parents, and her jealousy of her brother and soon to be wife, are so whiny. She complains about having to go to his wedding for virtually no reason.

The story continues and we see different moments of Josie, Kevin, and Ben’s life as they work towards reaching three goals they set for themselves, titled the Corn Dog Pact. They want to make improvements in their financial and love lives before the last person turns 30, and winner gets pizza for a month. We get to watch each character make strides and face challenges. The story ends how one might expect, which is okay, but the end does feel a little abrupt.

Despite the qualms that arise, some fun and heartwarming events transpire throughout the novel that make it worth reading. If you’re an adult reading this book, chances are you can relate to the feelings that surface as a result of growing up. It’s nice to see people working towards their goals and trying to make the most of the life they have. The themes of choosing your family are wonderful, and it’s great to watch Josie (and Kevin and Ben) grow together and face life’s different obstacles. After all, life doesn’t ever go as planned

When Josie discovers that she's unexpectedly pregnant with her ex-husband's baby, she seeks comfort in deep-fried food at the county fair. There she runs into her two old friends, Ben and Kevin. While sharing their own disappointments with adult life, they devise a plan to move in together and turn their lives around.

Lots of laugh out loud moments. All three are highly likable characters. You'll fall in love with this cast of zany characters. And don't read this book if you are hungry... Lots of mentions of food! Love the ending especially. :) A lovable fun book!

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC.