"Ready or Not" by Cara Bastone is a heartwarming and utterly delightful read that takes readers on a journey filled with surprises, laughter, and love. When Eve Hatch finds herself unexpectedly pregnant after a one-night stand, her carefully planned life takes an unexpected turn. As she navigates the challenges of impending motherhood and strained friendships, Eve discovers unexpected support from her friend's older brother, Shep. With his unexpected kindness and charm, Shep becomes a source of comfort and stability for Eve during a time of uncertainty.

Bastone's writing is wonderfully authentic and filled with humor, making Eve's journey feel both relatable and uplifting. As Eve grapples with the complexities of family dynamics and the unexpected twists of love, readers are treated to a story that is equal parts heartwarming and entertaining. "Ready or Not" is a special blend of romance, humor, and genuine emotion that will leave readers smiling long after the final page.

I received an ARC from NetGalley for this title in exchange for an honest review.

Ready or Not is an interesting mix of tropes that I enjoy with those that I do not like at all. This is a childhood friends to lovers romance, which almost never works for me, paired with a surprise pregnancy trope that I usually really like. It is a contemporary romance, which is totally my jam, but it is told from only one POV, which I usually don't like. All of this to say, Cara Bastone is one of my favorite authors and this book just continued that trend. She made me enjoy stylistic and story choices that I usually don't love, and that means that this book was genuinely engaging and did it's job.

Eve discovers that she is pregnant in the first chapter of this book. She knows that she will keep and love the baby, but doesn't know exactly what that will look like. As someone who is very organized at her job and in her home, this uncertainty causes her turmoil throughout the book. Everyone in her support circle, including the baby's father and her best friend seem to be filtering the baby news through their own lenses of life experience and are unable to support Eve in the ways she needs. Everyone, that is, except for Shep, her best friend's bother who is a consistent, kind, and enthusiastic support.

The pace of the first half of the story drags a little bit. I did feel some frustration toward the characters, but that was largely intentional from the author. I read the story in one day, alternating between the ebook and audiobook. This book made me cry in Target. Do with that what you will.

Cara Bastone gets my wholehearted stamp of approval. Her stories are always engaging and hopeful. This is another 5 stars from me!

4.5 stars ⭐️

✨ accidental pregnancy
✨ friends to lovers
✨ best friend’s brother
✨ slow burn

I was SO pleasantly surprised by this book - I hadn't heard much about this book before reading but I absolutely loved it! This book was so charming, tedner, goofy, and swoony. I will 100% be reading more Cara Bastone books in the future!

Thanks to NetGalley & Random House Publishing Group for the ARC! 💕

What a fantastic book this was! Usually I shy away from accidental pregnancy tropes given my own experience with infertility. However, I think that because this was the main premise of the story from the start, I absolutely connected with it and loved every second of this book! The author handled the pregnancy theme with sensitivity and care. I appreciated that Eve’s best friend, Willa, was a character struggling with infertility. It felt relatable to my own experience. The actual pregnancy was also raw and real, not just fluffy and for the sake of the book. I absolutely loved the love story at the heart of this book too. Brothers best friend, friends to lovers, and even the found family in your one night stand all just blended so flawlessly together. The tension between Eve and Shep was perfectly done and when they finally got together, the spice was sooo good! Eve was a truly funny, relatable and wonderfully refreshing main character! And Ethan was a perfect addition to this whole story! I truly loved everything about this book! Thank you so much Netgalley and Dial Press Trade for my #gifted ebook!

Cara Bastone never disappoints!

I loved the setting in Brooklyn - Cara obviously loves the neighborhood and clearly pulls from her real-life experience. I found the family dynamics - of Eve's brother's being much older than her and Willa & Shep's mom being like a mom to Eve as well - intriguing.

I never found the baby daddy to be interesting as a love interest - so it didn't feel much like a love triangle to me. The friends to lovers slow burn of the central romance was perfectly paced and juicy.

Absolutely adored this book.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the arc of this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Ready or Not is about main female character Eve who has found out she is pregnant after having a one night stand with a bartender.

This is the story of Eve's pregnancy. How her friends and co-workers take the news, how her relationships with people change, how Ethan takes the news that he's going to be a dad, and how Eve can find love even when pregnant. It's a romance featuring the tropes best friends brother and friends to lovers.

There were a few moments that had me in tears for Eve and the hormonal journey that is pregnancy. Absolutely loved this one.

“ Treat everyone like they’re somebody else’s favorite person on earth “ thank you Random House and NetGalley for an ARC of this lovely novel. The story focuses on Eve, a woman who finds out that a one night stand has led to an unplanned pregnancy. She goes through the ups and downs of finding out your pregnant, the awkwardness of telling people who can’t get pregnant that she’s pregnant and realizing the pregnancy hormones are some of the strongest emotions you will ever feel in your entire life. While this book was predictable, I enjoyed every word and nurse Louise is somebody I need in my life. the moral of the story is that when you become a mother you put everyone’s needs before your own and how you need to treat everybody with extreme kindness and who can say that there’s anything wrong in that?

Eve has the life she wants- a beautiful apartment in Brooklyn, a job at a place she's always wanted to work, and a best friend that has been a part of her since childhood. This all could change when she discovers she's pregnant after a drunken night at a local bar. I thought this was going to be a romance (and there is some romance), but really it's a story about a woman adjusting to life as she awaits the birth of her child. While I loved the writing, I felt like the characters were wanting. Eve as the main character spends half the book just letting life happen and doesn't really seem to grasp much that is going on around her. Ethan, the father of the baby, can't make up his mind on his involvement and Eve just lets him. Shep, her best friend's brother, is there for her and is the obvious romantic lead, but Eve doesn't even recognize her own feelings until well over half of the book. It got a little annoying to me, although I did like it all in the end.

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/154462768-ready-or-not" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Ready or Not" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1691108629l/154462768._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/154462768-ready-or-not">Ready or Not</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19304329.Cara_Bastone">Cara Bastone</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6272015427">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
This was such an incredibly cute read. But it felt like it could have been more. I thoroughly enjoyed the story from the surprise pregnancy to the complicated friendships and family dynamics but the friends to lovers did not feel like enough to me. It felt SO DAMN easy. There wasn’t much fight with the main love interest and it felt like he was too nice and it was too easy for them to be together. Obviously this is a romance book, but I felt like I needed so much more. I honestly felt more connection with the FOB and definitely more attraction to him. I kept wanting to know more about him, his life, and his story, but that never came. Maybe next time. All this being said, I did cry and I did connect thoroughly to these characters. The friendships all felt real and I loved the struggle with the best friend with infertility and the conversations about loss. So much of the story felt unfinished. I definitely felt that the love that developed was very much a love of convenience and who was present during this difficult time for her and I really did not resonate with that. <br /><br />I am so thankful to have been able to read this story as an advanced reader. I really hope to reading more from Cara Bastone.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/6094585-rosa-maria-lueras">View all my reviews</a>

4.5 stars!

Wow, this book was really not what I was expecting and ended up being so much more and a really fantastic read. Usually I am one to run as fast as possible away from anything that has the words “surprise pregnancy” in the description, but boy am I happy I didn’t do that with Ready or Not by Cara Bastone. I am a sucker for many things that occurred in this book, the slow burn was perfection, the best friend’s brother, he’s always loved her, and multiple care-taking scenes. When I say Shep has me by the heart and the swooning I have done over this man – he’s been added to the ever growing list of book boyfriends and I don’t think he can do any wrong. Eve’s evolution as a character was relatable, and also very heart-warming. This was the perfect blend of romance and women’s fiction – I’m definitely going to be adding this author’s books to my TBR.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book provided to me through NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Cara Bastone and Random House Publishing Group - Random House, Dial Press Trade Paperback for giving me the opportunity to read this book!

Ready or Not by Cara Bastone is a the story about Eve Hatch. She doesn’t like change, she loves living near her best friend and she is as far from her hometown as she can be. She has a good career and a her own apartment. Things are going well until a one night stand comes back to haunt her. Well not the one night stand but what comes from that one night stand. She is pregnant and she needs to make a plan and she doesn’t know where to start. Every relationship in her life starts to change with the news and she can’t keep her emotions in check. The people she counted on most, she stays away from, and the baby’s father doesn’t know how to react. Shep, her best friend’s brother becomes her closet friend. She is able to lean on and prepare with. Her best friend Willa, tries her hardest to be involved but is having a very hard time. How is she going to get herself, her friend and the baby’s father in line? How can she plan for the future when she has no idea who will be in it? How can she prepare for being a mom? So many changes for a girl that doesn’t like change. Eve has a lot to figure out and hopefully it can all be done before the baby comes.. one can hope can’t they?? This was a very good read. I liked the characters and the story. The author did a great job developing the main character. This was a four star read for me. I want to thank Netgalley, the author and Random House Publishing House for my copy for an honest review. It was my pleasure to read and review this book. I always love an uplifting story and Read or another, checked all the boxes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an ARC of this book.

Well I admit, I choose this book based on the cover and I am glad I did. It was a well done Romcom but also, had great friends and family elements woven throughout the story. Eve's best friend Willa, Willa's husband and brother all step up for Eve when she unexpectedly becomes pregnant. Eve needs to navigate her new circumstances now that she is pregnant. What will the father's involvement be, what will her brother's think, where will she live? The story was very cute and I enjoyed it. A book 2 to see where they are in a few years would be a fun read.

I have mixed emotions with this novel... I enjoyed many parts because it brought back memories of being pregnant with my three children and I also thought many parts were funny and relatable. However, the sex/gender/pronouns that got brought in multiple times kind of ruined it for me. The ending also felt rushed and incomplete.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for and Advanced Reading Copy of Ready or Not.

The thing about me is I love a surprise pregnancy troupe and a pretty cover…and this book has got both💖

⭐️READY OR NOT, comes out FEB 13TH⭐️

4.5⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group and @thedialpress for the review copy in exchange for my honest review!!!

#readyornot #carabastone #dialpress #thedialpress

This is a story about Eve. She just got confirmation that she is pregnant. Not what she was expecting. Especially since the father is a one night stand from a few weeks ago. This book was funny, heart warming and just made you smile. You get to meet really great characters like Shep, Ethan, Willa and others. This book just made me happy. The relationships and how they grew was fun to see. This book was definitely a 5 star book.

I really liked this book a lot. I have enjoyed Cara Bastone's Audible exclusive novellas so I knew I was already into her authorial voice. When I realized this was a book centering around a surprise pregnancy, I was wary and if you are not into that, please note that it really is the central theme (further, but carefully, complicated by another character experiencing infertility). While it's definitely also a romance, I think this is mostly Eve's journey and story of growth. I'll also note there is also an underlying theme of grief.

What I liked:
• As someone who has been pregnant, it made me feel seen in a lot of ways
• The combo found family + reconnection with bio family was beautiful
• The friendships were real and complicated and handled (resolved) really well
• The way that people supported and showed up for Eve made me actually cry a number of times (that is apparently the thing that gets me)
• Related, all the characters are really lovely and likable people. Shep is a cinnamon roll for sure.
• For about 85% of the book, I thought it was remarkable (and great) how careful it was about gendered language (but it seemed to slip at the end in a couple of mentions)
• The audio narration was really well done - more animated and varied delivery than you often get for a single narrator.

What didn't work as well for me:
• I did have to suspend disbelief a fair amount (or, I guess, a romcom amount)
• It took me a long time to really get Eve's perspective on her work stuff. I actually think that was a feature and not a bug and was resolved well. I might not have been as pulled out of the story if I had a little more trust with the author on that.
• I can appreciate a messy MC but it makes me uncomfortable when a non-fleshed out character is depicted as messy or problematic. For a while, I thought the book was allowing Eleni to be complicated but the resolution there felt a bit lazy and closer to the vilifying the ex-GF trope than I'd like to see.
• The way the childbirth was depicted felt very real in some ways but missing a really big component for me. I get that it is a whirlwind, and you get tired and lose track of time etc but it was written in a way where it sounded like it was happening *to* Eve and that she didn't really seem aware of some things (and thus could not have informed consent on some small choices you can make during labour.) Perhaps this is a relatable experience for some people but it bumped up against something that I am a bit sensitive about.

While I have gone on a bit about the things that didn’t work as well for me, this book was a solid four stars for me and left me with a bit of a hangover. I have been thinking about it a lot since I finished it and if you are not turned off by the central themes, I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Delightful story of a young woman facing an unplanned pregnancy. I enjoyed this book full of humor, love, friendship and a bit of fear. Eve is a single woman in NYC and the story begins with her taking a pregnancy test. As the story unfolds we meet the father of the baby Ethan who she questions whether she can depend on to help her. Center to the story is her friend Shep who is her best friend's brother. One can only hope to know someone like Shep. He quickly becomes a favorite character. What Eve faces and the questions she must answer in her life are realistic and relevant. While thinks may not work out as she imagined they seem to work out for the best! Thank you netgalley for the chance to read and review this book.

This book was so good! It’s been a long time since I read a book in under a week, never mind in a few days. I’m not usually a surprise pregnancy plot lover but this was done so well I fell in love. I both read and listened to the audio at the same time and the audio really brought the story to life! Can’t recommend this book enough. So happy I read it!

Thank you so much for Ready or Not! This book is a refreshing breath of fresh air sure to break anyone out of a reading slump. This book is laugh-out-loud funny and so relatable! Highly recommend this book!

♥️I
♥️LOVED
♥️THIS
♥️Book

A must read!
I loved the characters development.
I loved the relationships between all the characters.
I loved the flow of the story.
Yup, loved everything!
I was so sad to get to the end of the book.
You need this book in your life
Cara Bastone is a new author to me. I want to read more written by her.

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.