A heartfelt + laugh out loud romantic comedy that handles themes of infertility and infidelity with tenderness and vulnerability. I appreciated how these sensitive topics were approached and loved the balance of serious and fun in the storytelling. Thank you so much to Swift & Lewis publishing and Netgalley for my advanced reader copy.

So much to like about Josh and Gemma. There were times I laughed out loud, but there were so a few tears. Sarah Ready did the issue of infertility justice in this one. While the main focus is on Gemma and how she is handling things, you do meet other women with different stories and perspectives.

Josh and Gemma have a complicated relationship (by their own making) that develops throughout the story. You get bits and pieces here and there and I thought Ready did a wonderful job putting it all together without giving to much away at the beginning.

While Gemma is dealing with her infertility, Josh is dealing with the fact that his father is dying. I loved seeing this side of Josh, it highlights that he has emotions and isn't entirely afraid of them.

I really liked Gemma, though everything with Ian flat out annoyed me, but I know that's how it was meant to be. Ian is a big jerk and I'm glad he got a little bit of what he deserved.

I definitely recommend this funny and heartfelt story.

Rating 3

To be 100% honest, I read this book in 5 hours and because of that I don’t feel like I wasted my time, luckily. There were some things I liked about this story and some things I really really hated. I want to start by saying I thought the synopsis sounded great! I expected a cute story full of emotion, humor and some romance. I expected to connect with the main character and really feel for what she was going through. I really feel for parents, especially women who are unable to have children. I want to say that I think the author did a great job tackling such a sensitive topic. My main issue with this story was Gemma. Right from the start she was so judgemental of others and would think badly of others for their job or because they live with their parents. Even when she didn’t have the full story she still judged them and I didn’t care for that. She was way too obsessed with herself and what she wanted and didn’t care about how it affected others. At one point she goes off on a side character and doesn’t even feel remorse because what she said was true. I don’t care if what Gemma said was true or not, it's how she said it that wasn’t right. Josh’s character was okay. He was way too much of a pushover for me. He let Gemma walk all over him and he never actually sticks up for himself. I wish he said enough was enough and stood his ground but sadly he doesn’t. I also didn’t see the side conflict as being necessary to the overall story. I think if certain characters/events were left out then it would have given more time for Gemma to work on herself. One thing I did enjoy about this story was the bond Gemma and Josh were building from making this baby together. It made me think about how truly special it is to go through something like that with someone. I’m not sure if I would recommend this one. If the synopsis sounds good to you and you don’t mind a character that might get on your nerves then I’d say give it a try. I know I would have enjoyed this way more if Gemma was written differently because I think this story has good bones.

**Received a copy from #Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own**

Okayyyy this was so cute! This book made me so happy. It'd be great for a book club! Highly recommend.

CINEMATIC, FEEL-GOOD, HILARIOUS, HEART-WARMINGLY CUTE!

Trigger warnings: In vitro fertilization, miscarriages, pregnancy
Tropes: Brother’s best friend, Pregnancy

I absolutely loved loved loved it!! This book was a feel-good journey. It’s a cute light rom-com that is not for those who are looking for high-level spicy or smut (since the title might give you the impression that it revolves around sex or love-making). The story was hilariously and interestingly executed. What I loved about it is that I cared for the characters. It felt necessary that everyone was put in place to shape to describe the environment, the situation, the ambiance, everything. The story build-up, its flow, up to the ending were also well-done.

I adored how there were cute quotes and doodles in the book! I felt like Gemma was a quirky, go-getter, straightforward, and hilarious person. Although she had character development, I’m slightly not fond of her due to her needs/demands in life. On the other hand, Josh was unpredictable, adventurous, and likable. The chemistry was sweet to the point that they both made me laugh and tear up simultaneously!

However, I feel like there were parts (like extra small talks) that weren’t necessary? I felt like the scenes would still be understandable without them and some scenes could have been shorter. In addition to this, there were also parts that bothered me, parts that tackled demeaning, stigmas with divorcees, stereotypic descriptions of how people dress, and belittling jobs. What I am meaning to say is if I were reading this book and I have a similar job or I am in the same situation as the character/s, I would feel upset because I was described ‘that’ way or in a way that I wouldn’t want to be described.

Anyway, this would have been 3.5 stars because of the reasons mentioned above but since I ENJOYED the story THAT much and I think that it was well-written and told, I would give it a solid 4 stars. Definitely recommended!

I read the e-book while being accompanied by the audiobook most of the time which was narrated by the lovely Erin Mallon (@mallonerin) who did a GREAT job doing the audiobook. Listening to it made it feel like I was watching a movie in my head!

Thank you so much to Swift & Lewis Publishing, LLC, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles/Audiobooks, and to @NetGalley for the advance reader's copy!

🤰🏻 Josh and Gemma Make a Baby 🤰🏻

“When you realize you love someone and that you want to spend the rest of forever with them, you want forever to start right now. So, I run.”

Gemma’s New Years Resolution is to have a baby. She calls her shot from the beginning, even knowing that she is committing to an IVF journey with infertility complications. As a single divorcee, she wants this baby for her, but specifically she wants Josh, her brother’s best friend’s baby. The journey that follows is funny, heartwarming and inspirational. On her IVF journey to motherhood, Gemma finds the power of love, imperfection, and speaking up for yourself. She transforms from someone who exists on inspirational quotes into someone who embraces the messy, raw excitement of real life. Along the way, she also finds love with Josh as he shows up for her repeatedly in her journey.

I enjoyed following Gemma’s growth, her love story with Josh, and learning more about the ins and outs of an IVF journey. The topic of infertility is a sensitive one, and this book shares the feelings that follow that topic. While handled well, it was heavy on my heart at times so be mindful if this is a hard topic for you to read.

Check this one out if you’re looking for:
🤰🏻 brother’s best friend trope
🤰🏻 IVF journey
🤰🏻 main character growth
🤰🏻 a serious love for lime jello
🤰🏻 a merry cast of supporting characters who say things like, “Obviously. I quit smoking, my husband has magic ice sperm, I won my last case. I can do anything.”

Thank you to Netgalley and Swift and Lewis Publishing for the ARC! Available on shelves on January 25th!

#bookstagram #bookrecommendation #bookreview #books #ARCreview #arcreader #readromance #joshandgemmamakeababy #netgalley #readeveryday #read

I loved this book because I can directly relate to it. I am part of the 1 in 8 that is affected by infertility. We will most likely be going under IVF treatment in the future so this book was not only relatable, but educational as well. I really liked Gemma and Josh's characters. I was rooting for their relationship the entire time. I was not a fan of Ian whatsoever. While I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the ending was definitely predictable. However, it was still very heartfelt. I am glad that this author decided to write a novel about couples facing infertility. You never know who is facing what and it is actually more common than thought of. I truly appreciate this book for that reason.

WOW, what a refreshing read. Amazing concept, great book. I love how it celebrates womanhood in every possible way. From Gemma, her sister, and her friends. The book speaks loud and there is alot to learn from it (from a woman’s POV).

The book started a little awkward but as the story progresses, it definitely got better. And Gemma is downright hilarious in her own way. Josh Lewenthal is a new book boyfriend to look out for. I totally swooned over him from the moment I knew about his resolution and got so curious over why he’s so hot and cold towards Gemma.

Everything was written realistically for me and I even love the side story of Gemma’s friends. I just wished I got to see more of Josh and Gemma’s romance.

Overall, I enjoyed reading it and at some parts I got teary eyed. So glad with how the ending turned out, and I’d totally recommend this to my book friends once released.

Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice 🌶

Note: I put this book down (DNF) at 15% as I could not continue reading it.

Before I mention what I didn't like, I will say that I enjoyed Gemma as a single woman, with her own job and life making the decision that she wanted to have a child and raise it (potentially) on her own. This is something I would like to see represented more in books as it is a decision many people grapple with.

My main area of concern for this book was that every character felt like a caricature, it was so over the top and unrealistic and was felt most by Gemma's mother who speaks to Gemma in such a bizarre way that it felt so inauthentic - parental verbal cruelty is something that can be understood on the page if written well but this was just so stunted and such a glaring plot device that I had to put it down.
In addition to the above, the repeated body shaming and woman's worth being thrown around by everyone in Gemma's life because she was divorced and "fat" (which I am not sure she even is from the writing) is just so unpleasant to read about and added to the inauthentic reading experience.

A real shame as the premise of this book sounded interesting but sadly it did not work for me.

I read this book in two days, which is quick for me. I liked it a lot, especially the topic of the book : infertility. It is not something we see a lot in books and it taught me a few things.

However, sometimes Gemma (the main character was insufferable with her judging, I thought that she would know better since she's also being judged. I do get that it's a necessary trait for the ending plot though.

I really loved the quotes at the beginning and the font used, as well as the little doodles throughout the book.

I really enjoyed this book. It was definitely different from a lot of things I have read in the genre. Gemma is a 30 something women who wants to have a baby, but has endometriosis and not many prospects in her love life. So she decided to take things in her own hands and decides to do ivf and chooses her brother’s best friend as her donor. I usually hate the trope of woman falling for her older brothers best friend but it was done well here and not cringey. Definitely wanted to shake some of the characters and tell them to wake up but it was fun!

I felt like I need a day or two to really process this book after I finished it. If you’re looking for a simple romance with little care for anything else than by all means add this book to your TBR. However if you are a person who is heavily invested in the character as people you might want to pass this book up. Gemma is an insufferable, prejudice child. She spend the entire book judging Josh for the assumptions she has made. Her mom is the absolute worse taking every opportunity to auctions her daughter off to utterly intolerable men because she believes that the best her daughter can do. And what does Gemma’s dad think of all this. Nothing. His character is a void of nothingness. This author I feel is disconnected from reality in that the entirety of the book pushes this idea that a woman’s only value is her ability to make a child. Not one female character in the book is okay with not having kids. Whether it our lead girl Gemma, her successful lawyer friend, or any of the many other woman in the book they are all showed as being nothing really more than their uteruses. This idea is pushed so much that other character who have no business dialoguing about Gemma spend their few lines talking about her inability to have kids. As if all this isn’t enough Gemma is a total scum bag to Josh. She never once looks into his work but she assumes he is poor and lazy because he makes graphic novels. She assumes he’s homeless and living in his dads basement because he’s impoverished. Even after finding out that he’s staying at his dads because his apartment is being renovated she makes the assumption that he’s living in some rundown college style hole in the wall apartment. She spends nearly every second putting him down to any character who would listen to her. And I’m expected to believe he’s been in love with her for two years even while knowing what she thinks of him. Honestly writing this review brought it all back to me and why I originally was going to give this 2 stars I have to give it 1 stars.

I received an ARC via NetGalley.

Woof. Let’s start with a synopsis: Gemma is a 32-year-old single woman who decides to stop waiting for the right man before starting the family she wants. After consulting with a fertility doctor about IVF, she has one man in mind for a sperm donor: Josh, her brother’s childhood best friend and her high school crush. After Josh agrees to her plan, the two navigate all of the complicated ups and downs that come along the way.

Pretty compelling, but that is the unfortunate end of good things to say about this book. The characters are one-dimensional at best and horrible at their worst. Paired with incredibly outdated attitudes, this quickly became a hate read for me.

First of all, let’s start with Gemma’s decision-making. This is not a successful, financially-secure woman who put long and careful thought into getting pregnant as a single person. No- she just wakes up one morning and says, “Hmm, maybe I want to have a kid.” She miraculously books an appointment with a specialist the same day (red flag), and all of the IVF costs are waved away with some vague explanation of good health insurance.

Gemma lives in a run-down studio apartment and appears to not be making much money. But that doesn’t matter- at no point in this book does she or anybody else consider the logistics or financials of what her life will look like once her dream baby arrives. I’m willing to give a wide berth to fantasy in a romance, but not a single conversation about, you know, where she’s going to put the baby?

Which brings me to my next complaint: what universe do these characters live in? Gemma is some kind of social media specialist for a Ted Talk-esque self-help guru named Ian. The quotes offered of his wisdom, however, make Live Laugh Love look like Shakespeare. Her job also seems to consist of posting these fortune cookie rejects on Twitter alongside cutesy pictures of puppies and kittens. It’s some kind of sick, kitschy internet version of the “Hang In There” poster, and I do not understand who the audience for this would be.

Let’s get to her hometown, which seems to have been cursed by some witch to be perpetually stuck in 1962. The presence of a single woman over 30 with fertility issues (endometriosis) causes every resident of this town to go wild. The older woman wring their hands and desperately try to set her up on dates. The men (who are somehow still wearing toupees in the 21st century) waste no time in reminding her that she is used goods as a divorcee and that she shouldn’t dare have standards. It was honestly appalling to see these attitudes repeated outside of an episode of Mad Men.

The protagonist was just not likable. Gemma’s favorite outfit seems to be a “lumpy sweater with leggings and chunky shoes,” a description so nice that the author repeated it twice. It appears that she has no life outside of going to work, and that lack of depth extends to her inner character. What are her interests? What are her goals? What does she like or dislike about living in New York? All a mystery.

Gemma is also one of those romance characters who refers to her female anatomy as “down there,” who alludes to not being able to masturbate for vague reasons, and who can only communicate about sex at the same level of maturity as an 8th grader. Now, a novel about a repressed woman learning to embrace her sexuality… that is something I would be interested in reading!

Some of the IVF information reads like it was copy and pasted from WebMD, which makes it all the more irritating with Gemma is completely uninformed about concepts like chemical pregnancy.

It takes a little too long to get to the predictable end to me. Gemma’s brief detour into a romance with her boss really needed to be pared down, especially because it was an equally bizarre representation of modern dating. This might be a decent beach read if you want to totally switch your brain off and you don’t mind hating the main character.

I’m on a roll with amazing books!! What a start to 2022 😍

This book was amazing. More than pregnancy trope, it’s the journey of the main character through infertility. It was managed gracefully, funnily and with a lot of heart.

Here’s what I loved:
- The main character. My beautiful plus size 30 something divorcé Gemma who still has a positive attitude about life despite everything. I want to be like you when I grow up.
- The treatment of infertility as a topic. Through diverse storylines/women, we learn 1% of what it means to go through procedures, and how hard they are on women.
- The soulmatism. I love how the book went full circle. I managed to be surprised about certain twists and turn of events by the end that had me melting.
- The view on self help books and positivity quotes. Instead of mocking them, we see them under a new, soft, and grounding light. It made me less of a cynic, so I’m thankful.
- Female friendships. This is something I always love to find in books. Different women with different wants, dreams, personalities & lives, each being successful in their own way.
- Josh. He was just, so goddamn sweet and supportive. Golden retriever energy, my baby.

What could’ve been better:
- The conflict of Gemma and her friends. It was a bit out of the blue so it could’ve built up more.


Perfect for fans of Amy Daws, Sarah Adams, Jen DeLuca and yes, Colleen Hoover (you won’t cry — much, and there’s a HEA don’t worry).

4.25 stars

Funny, sweet romcom that tackles the heavy topic of infertility and IVF with emotional depth, sensitivity and grace.

Gemma Jacobs is 32 year old divorcee, social media specialist with fertility issues. After ten years, she is done with waiting for Mr Right, and makes the very brave decision to do this on her own, with the help of medical intervention.

Josh Lewenthal is Gemma’s childhood family friend and BFF to her brother, Dylan. He’s always been the happy-go-lucky fixture, who took her virginity and then disappeared for years after he left for college. Gemma isn’t looking for a relationship so it doesn’t matter what their history was, Josh is still a smart, good looking, healthy, nice man, someone she’s known him for 24 years! This makes him the ideal sperm donor and—well, well, well, what do you know—after some thought, he agrees to her outrageous proposition.

Secretly Josh has been in love with Gemma for a couple of years—YES, give me a yearning hero any day!—of which she is completely oblivious to. There is a tiny love triangle subplot involving Ian, a celebrity self-help guru who is Gemma’s boss and 100% certified douchebag.

I loved the natural progression that their relationship takes, especially when he accompanies her to her IVF appointments. The whole scene after the transfer made my heart ache, and there are a few more later in the book where I ugly-cried a little. If you love and collect cinnamon roll heroes, be ready to add Josh Lowenthal to your list.

A few scenes were a little over the top with some unnecessary slap stick comedy, and the grand gesture portion was pretty drawn out with a lot of going to and from places. Nothing was a deal breaker but I think the pacing towards the end could’ve been edited to dial up the intensity, just a teeny tiny smidge.

I had a wonderful time reading and will be looking out for more of Sarah Ready’s writing in the future. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Could not put this book down!! Wonderfully written and a good book to read if you love the friends to lovers trope.

This was a very in the middle of the road romance for me. I think it definitely had things that worked well but it also had a few things that I really did not enjoy.

On a positive note, the topic of fertility and issues surrounding it was addressed in a way that I think any woman who has had issues will be able to relate to. There were several women in this story that had fertility issues that were discussed at length to really show the spectrum of the issues women can face when trying to conceive. I thought that Josh was a very sweet, genuine character who never tried to push Gemma into a situation that would make her uncomfortable.

Things that I didn’t like about this book mostly revolve around Gemma. She was very inconsiderate and selfish through the majority of the book. She has assumptions about Josh’s career that she held onto even after other characters mentioned that he was very well off in his job. She talks about her boobs constantly, which came off as very self centered. The miscommunication troupe was rampant on her life. I just couldn’t get behind her as a character most of the time.

5/5 stars!

I was pleasantly surprised with this read which I devoured in what felt like no time at all!

Gemma has been through a lot in her early adult years and has decided to make her own path to personal happiness and have a baby on her own via IVF. Josh is Gemma’s older brother, Dylan’s, childhood best friend. He’s always been around; he’s nice and he’s funny. To Gemma, he’d be the perfect sperm donor, so she decides to make him a no commitment, business-like deal. To her surprise, Josh agrees! And that’s where the fun begins!

The writing is amusing and full of banter. I found myself laughing in more places than I would like to admit. There’s plenty of cheesy self-help quotes (which do have their purpose in the story). I also experienced some frustrations about the slow burn romance that felt like we were missing opportunities to engage in! The sort of ‘love triangle’ between Ian (Gemma’s boss) and Josh added some tension, but ultimately was a hiccup in the plot that we quickly dismiss.

I loved the character development and sort of ‘life lessons’ that Gemma went through. She has experienced a lot of awful circumstances and relationships in her young adult life, but she slowly grows into herself and learns to trust and share her feelings again. I also enjoyed how the author allowed us to feel like we were really getting to know Josh alongside Gemma.

Brook, Hanna and Carly were women in Gemma’s fertility support group, who were all going through their own through their own tough time with infertility. They were secondary characters who really rounded out the story and added to the laughs! It would definitely be cool if the author made companion novels with their perspectives/relationships as well!

All in all, a well-paced slow burn romance with plenty of chemistry from a new-to-me author! I will be looking into more of her works in the near future!

<i>I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher of this advanced digital copy for the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for an honest review! All opinions expressed are my own. Upon publishing of this novel, I will also be posting my review to Amazon Canada.</i>

This is a super cute rom-com with a surprising amount of depth and a detailed look at the joys and sadnesses of IVF, but also has its fair share of humor. I'm not a big fan of the brother's bff trope but it didn't affect my reading experience too much.

So. This is a DNF for me at 20% and I feel awful DNFing ARCs. This was clearly not a book written for me - and that's okay. I thought it was something I'd enjoy (hence requesting the ARC) but ultimately it was just not. With that in mind I won't give it an actual rating - but my current feelings on this are 1.5-2 star.

What I did like - A woman with a stable job decides she doesnt want to wait for a man to become a mother and pursues IVF on her own to have a baby. While single motherhood can be incredibly difficult I love seeing strong independent women recognize that it can also be the right choice for them too. Though of course I know this will end with her in a relationship (and presumably pregnant without IVF) it's just nice to see that conversation.

Gemma also had some funny moments - such as not realizing she joined a video call half naked and hiding from the camera while giving a presentation. the set up was a bit weird but it made me laugh. I think there was likely more of this silly humor throughout and will be enjoyable for those who like the book.

but what I didn't like far outweighed everything to the point I had to put the book down.
- the incesssant reminder that Gemma is damaged goods because she is fat (which... i dont even think she actually WAS fat. just heavier than her mom/sister), divorced and infertile. So just a heads up women if you fit that profile you might as well die? Was that supposed to be funny that everyone thought she was just a dried up hag? It felt very dated and even worse coming from a woman. and it was coming from EVERYWHERE. it sucked.

- I am not a fan of boss/employee relationships so that starting up was a PERSONAL no for me (however - i dont hold this against the book since i know its a common trope. just not one for me).

- the kindle version of this book had really random and out of place drawings that mostly confused me and did NOT add anything to the story. when i say they're random and out of place it was because they didnt need to be there, they messed up the formatting and they weren't used with any consistency. You tell me Josh is on the bed, then you show me a drawing of a bed (without Josh) and add the caption "he was on the bed" like yes i know what a bed is why is this here? I haven't read adult books that contain pictures so maybe i'm missing something with that but it did not work for me at all.

- Kindle Formatting specifically - each chapter has a quote from Ian under the chapter number (and i think always used within the chapter - that part was cute) however on teh kindle most of these quotes were unnecessarily large and frequently cut off due to the margins. Hopefully that will be fixed by the time this is released but it was distracting for me.

Ultimately this book is the equivalent to a Hallmark Movie - you know all the beats, and where it'll go and those can absolutely be fun experiences to just have an easy-digestible-comfort read where you know whats going to happen. Unfortunately - i wanted a sexier story with more likeable characters and this just did not deliver.

I do hope the intended audience enjoys this though.

- thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review