I loved Josh and Gemma Make a Baby! This audiobook was brilliant! It was sweet and steamy at the same time!

I made it through this story but honestly, I’m not sure how. I was super excited for an adorable little Rom-Com. However, I was left feeling Blah. There should be a trigger warning for women and even men who may have having trouble having babies. This story does deal with Infertility Issues and IVF. So if you are having this as a trigger do not read this book. I can say this isn’t the worst book I’ve read but it’s also not the best.

LOVED THIS AUDIOBOOK!!

This book was a delight from beginning to end! That narrator, Erin Mallon, was awesome and I am so happy I chose to listen to this instead of reading it.

Gemma Jacobs- she quirky, funny, thinks too much, love quoting inspiration quotes, is a little clueless, has positive energy, and has a job she loves but is missing something in her life. Well, I should say someone. She wants a baby. Her marriage ended in heartbreak, she has an infertility diagnosis from having endometriosis and has not met Mr. Right. But there is IVF, all she needs is a donor. Josh Lewenthal is her brother's best friend. He has always been around. He's a super nice laid-back guy, quick to smile, funny, has an engaging smile, and is dependable. Gemma knows him, right? He is healthy, funny, and single. Why use an anonymous donor when she views Josh as being an ideal sperm donor!?! She is shocked and excited when he says "Yes". This book was so much fun to listen to. Gemma and Josh were both likable characters and I loved their witty banter and interactions. I enjoyed their journey and thought Gemma's family tradition of writing down resolutions, putting them in a jar (no name on them) and having them read out loud was charming. There are also some interesting and intriguing supporting characters as well. Gemma's fertility group members were fantastic and provided some laughs. Her self-help guru boss and co-workers made things interesting.

This book does touch on some very serious issues such as infertility, miscarriages, fat shaming and judging people by their looks. I wasn't the biggest fan of her mother always trying to fix her up, mentioning Gemma's looks, weight, how she dresses. She is not the only character who does this, and the sad thing is, this happens both in books and real life. **These may be triggers for some**.

There is a lot of laughs in this book, a lot of fun, there are some very charming and heartwarming parts. This book had me feeling all the feels. I mentioned the word journey once before in my review, but with books in the romance category, it is all about the journey. Sarah Ready took me on one entertaining, heartwarming, and at times, laugh out loud, bumps in the road, journey. This was my first book by Ready and I look forward to more of her work (I look forward to listening to more books narrated by Erin Mallon as well).

Highly recommend.

Loved every chapter, or should I say minute of this book? The chemistry between the two main characters was there from the start, and I loved all the tension and the what if moments. This is a type of book that I would also like to have in a physical format so I can display it on my romance shelf.

Ever since Gemma Jacobs divorced her mother has been trying to set her up with someone. Each candidate is less and less appealing. Her mother makes clear that the older Gemma gets and the more frumpy she dresses combined with the fact that she cannot have kids the less likely she is to find a husband.

When Gemma visits a fertility specialist he tells her that she is a candidate for IVF. Gemma decides to enlist her brother's friend, Josh Lowenthal. What ensues is a series of funny encounters and misunderstandings, a little bit of heartbreak, and lots of self-discovery.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable listen. The female characters of the fertility support group were interesting and supportive of each other.

Gemma, a somewhat overweight divorcee who has been told she can't have children, works in Manhattan. Her mother perpetually tries to arrange dates for her, none of which work out. Entering her 30s, she decides to see a fertility specialist who assures her she can become pregnant. Unwilling to wait for other things in her life to work out, she recruits her brother's best friend as her donor. Meanwhile, she has begun dating her boss.

Josh agrees to be her donor and they even write a business contract for the process. Things take a complicated twist when Josh, Gemma, and Ian (her boss) have an unpleasant encounter. Gemma makes new friends during her fertility journey and learns a lot about herself, Josh, and her own family.

Experienced narrator Erin Mallon does a great job with narration, though the book is a bit transcontinental. Given many of the expressions and the main character's rather British name, I was not sure if the book was set in New York or London until several chapters in.

Recommended for fans of chick lit.

Wow! This book was mkre than what I had expected. The narration was wonderful, the storyline - great and the characters seemed very realistic.

Even though this book dealt with series topics of infertility, endometriosis, miscarriage, etc, it was also light hearted and gave readers a ray of hope.

This book was considerably more hilarious than I thought it would be going it. It’s cute and mostly lighthearted while still dealing with sensitive issues in an appropriate manner.

Triggers:
IVF, sperm donations, miscarriage, endometriosis

In this book we meet Gemma, a successful (divorced) woman who is tired of her mother setting her up on dates - and pointing out that she’s already made it clear to the date that Gemma cannot have children. She decides to take matters into her own hands through IVF, which leads her to finding a sperm donor. She convinces her brothers best friend to donate for her and a hilariously adorable story ensues.

As I said above, there are some serious and difficult matters discussed in this book. If those are issues for you I’d skip it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was such a fun rom-com. Gemma wants to have a baby, but she's divorced and has fertility issues, so she recruits Josh, her brother's best friend, as a donor and slowly realizes that she doesn't know him like she believed. Gemma is a bit oblivious and Josh is a great guy, but a bit too accepting and easy-going. This leads to a lot of miscommunication about his feelings toward her that could have been resolved faster otherwise, but lends itself perfectly for rom-com material and a sweet, romantic story. The narration was also very good.

Wow, this book was so good. I love friends to lovers and this was exactly that. It was sweet, tender, emotional, and a great quick listen. I found myself wanting to constantly have it on as I couldn't wait for what came next in the story.

Disclaimer: I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange fir an honest review.

I just wish the female lead had been friends with the three ladies before the book started. It didn't seem plausible that she'd believe they'd all be BFFs after her actions. But then, having no friends is one of the reasons why she was desperate to conceive in the first place.

This surprised me! I mean, it was very predictable, but in a really sweet and cute way. I found myself laughing out loud a few different times while listening to this and that's pretty rare for me. Gemma was a great main character and I loved going along on her journey.

4.5 stars! This was an adorable rom-com that mature readers will love. It deals with more adult topics, like fertility, divorce, and overall feeling like you don’t know what you’re doing with your life. This made Gemma the perfect and relatable heroine for any 30+ reader.

Full disclosure: I love pregnancy in books. Seeing a hero step up and be a great father after a surprise? Hot. Seeing Josh agree to being a father, being involved throughout the fertility journey, AND loving Gemma unconditionally throughout? Incredible.

I have also never rooted for a guy as hard as I did for Josh, but also simultaneously wanted to violently knock some sense into him. It’s hard to believe you’re in love with someone when you let that person work for and date a giant tool. Of course, Gemma needed that journey for her own self-growth. But uuuuugh Josh could have fixed all of these problems with 30 seconds of honesty! Because of that, I can’t give this a full 5 stars.

This was a fun audiobook. The plot was light and charming as well. A great audiobook to listen at the beach.

Thought this was an absolutely adorable read! I would definitely love to read from this author again. Job Well done, well done!

I had such a fun time reading this book!
It was funny, sad, cheesy, eye-rolling, just the right balance of everything.
Not gonna lie, the title of the book kinda threw me of at first but I'm really glad I gave it a chance. And the narrator of the audiobook did a great job!
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Sarah Ready does an excellent job setting up Josh and Gemma's story. The story is funny and lighthearted despite the difficult topics discussed at times. Erin Mallon's narration is great and lends the story additional life. I highly recommend this book.

Despite her good life, Gemma wants nothing more than to have a baby -- which is exactly what her New Year’s resolution is -- and with that, she seeks help from Josh, her brother’s bff (what could go wrong?)

Soo, I haven’t read a good romance in a while, but this was pretty cute (also I’m a SUCKER for friends-to-lovers, so sign me up)!

From the beginning, it’s a shit show 😂 Gemma tells Josh that she needs this sperm and we witness a whole hot-dog-weiner-in-between-the-boobs incident, wow!! We learn more about Gemma’s past + her desires for a child and I couldn’t help but want happiness for her. Not gonna lie, I was kind of surprised to see how down Josh was with the whole situation but I was also here for it!

Every waiting room scene was an absolute, chaotic ass mess and I LOVED IT!! (seriously -- the washroom misunderstanding + mini spice, the crazy couple, and EVEN THE STOLEN PAINTING LMAOO -- such a trainwreck!). Regardless, it was so cute to see Josh and Gemma navigate through this mess. I loved their banter (and lime jello salad moments lmao)!! -- though I didn’t like the way things were heading (especially with Ian, aka Gemma’s boss). There were definitely some dumb, sporadic decisions made + more trainwrecks but I think that comes with most romcoms 🤷

Gemma’s IVF support / friend group was also a highlight for me! I’ve read a few other books that touch on IVF, endometriosis, miscarriages, etc, but in general this isn’t a topic I see too much coverage on -- nor one that I am super familiar with, so I really appreciate the awareness the author put in.

Was this the best romcom I’ve read? Maybe, maybe not -- but I had a fun time overall (and my partner also enjoyed it for the most part lol)!

Thanks NetGalley, Swift & Lewis Publishing, and Sarah Ready for my arc!

Josh and Gemma Make a Baby was a cute, entertaining emotional story. It touched on some hard topics, such as fertility and all the issues that this can bring (some readers may need to be aware of some trigger warnings). The story was a lot more than I expected. The romance is a slowburn, as the book is more about Gemma’s journey to motherhood. There was something about Gemma that I connected with. I loved that she wasn’t perfect and at times was a hot mess. Josh is a likable, sweet, and easy going guy. It was evident that there was more to him. As a reader it was easy to figure out what was going on with Josh, but it was fun following Gemma as she discovered who he truly was. Let’s not forget the cast of side characters who brought their own entertainment to the story. The book was funny, cute, entertaining, and emotional.

This was a new author for me and I was a bit skeptical going into this book because I'm so used to reading romance from authors that I already know. Well this book totally made me rethink that, because I ended up loving this one so much! I really enjoyed the author's writing style, the characters and the plot. For me this was a mix between Christina Lauren and Sarah Adams, both favorites! I'm so happy to see that Sarah Ready has so many more books out and I will be getting on those ASAP.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.