This was a cute contemporary romance filled with misunderstandings and very flawed characters. The premise of IVF was interesting and the secondary characters were all awesome. I loved all the different IVF friends she makes and her loud family.

The only thing that drove me bonkers was how the female character went from strong at the beginning of the novel to unjustifiably harsh. Josh was sweet but such a pushover. Open your mouth and tell your girl that her boyfriend stole your work already. That subplot drove me INSANE because it was so obvious.

I listened to the audiobook and LOVED the narrator. She really did an amazing job.

really cute and a fast read. Gemma was annoying at times but redeemed herself in my eyes towards the end. Josh was quite forgetful at least in my perspective. He didn't have anything special but the dynamic between the two of them was actually nice.

This is one of those books that at the start you can already guess the outcome. However, you'll also have a great read getting there.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to recieve an ARC of this book.

I couldn’t stop listening today! I started this morning and couldn’t stop! Great love story! Easy to listen/read! Great story line! Not vulgar for a romance!

loved this one. As the name was interesting I was drawn to this book. I haven't heard of this author so I had 0 expectations. I have to say, I loved this book, the characters, and the plot.
Especially the growth between the characters , the intimacy that the book portrays.

Gemma is ready to have a baby. The whole relationship thing hasn't worked out for her, but she is a strong, independent woman who can raise a baby all by herself. All she needs is IVF and the donor. She hopes to get Josh, her brother's best friend on board. To her surprise, he agrees... 🤰🏼🍼🎀

This book is absolutely wonderful. I will warn that it may be harder to read for those that have struggled with infertility, because there are definitely some emotional moments in this book, but I think it is a fantastic book. Lots of sweet moments and lots of laugh out loud funny moments. I adored this and I didn't want to stop reading! This may be my favorite read of the year 🥰. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

New to me author and I really enjoyed the book (and narration) The entire story was sweet, romantic, and heartfelt. It had wonderful character development, which I love. It also hit a lot of topics- family, finding yourself after divorce, infertility, judging others, fake people, love, the list goes on,

I loved the women's infertility group and all those different characters. They were all different, sweet, and supportive. I also enjoyed her family's banter and dynamics.

Easy to predict, but I still enjoyed listening to the story unfold. Josh is a sweetheart, and you fall in love with him!

Also reviewed on Amazon.

This book wasn't for me. I want to say that I can see how others would like it and there are cute parts throughout. Josh is a fantastic character who I adored and I want the best for him. My hang up was with Gemma. I thought she was selfish, immature, and mean and never identified with her or rooted for her and Josh to get together.

Gemma is sick of being set up with men and having her family think she's pathetically alone. She decides she wants a baby and doesn't need to be in a relationship first, so she asks her brother's friend to be the donor. He somehow agrees, even though she's pretty condescending and belittling to him and they begin the IVF process. Josh is a saint and sticks with Gemma through everything and even falls for her. She's oblivious, dating someone else and thinks Josh is a loser who doodles for a living.

I don't want this all to be about my contempt for Gemma, so here's things I enjoyed. The support group for women trying to have a baby is great. Those women are there for each other, really care about the others' well being, and I want to be friends with them. Josh is also the superstar who is a great example of what a man should be.

The narrator for the audiobook is Erin Mallon and I really like her voice. That was a standout part for me.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book and all opinions are my own. Thank you to Swift & Lewis Publishing and NetGalley for the copy

What an adorable book! There were a lot of topic gems in this story. Don’t judge others, infertility, focus on women’s weight, people are not always what they seem…the list goes on, but these were the main take aways I had by the end.

Gemma was a character that out of the gates I really liked. Especially after she went off on a horrible man at her parents NYE party in the beginning. You get him Gemma! I was angry with her a couple of times, but I always pulled for her.

Then there was Josh. A misunderstood man (mainly with Gemma) with a heart of gold. They come together to make a baby through IVF so Gemma can become a Mom…one of her biggest dreams. There’s some history between the two though, so it’s not an easy ride.

Their love story was very unconventional, and I loved every moment!

Thank you so much to @netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review! The audio was great!

It took me some time to warm up to this book. I found Gemma a little irritating, and the narrator reading the audiobook did not help. The narrator kept doing this thing with her voice that was so annoying I almost gave up on the book. I'm glad I kept up with it because this book turned out to be really cute and funny. Gemma grew up as a character and really redeemed herself at the end. Josh was a really sweet character and someone any girl would wish for in real life.

Honestly I don’t even know where to start with this book. The main thing that stuck out to me was just how genuinely good all these characters are. There’s no unnecessary drama, no pettiness, definitely no trying to hurt each other emotionally. Josh and Gemma are just two normal people trying to live life and have a baby together.

Gemma is for sure a hot mess. She’s divorced, working at a job she thinks she loves, and praying for a baby through IVF because she can’t have children any other way. She’s a little too into her motivational quotes but Josh loves her anyway. Josh is her brothers best friend, and while he initially turns down the request to be a sperm donor, he quickly reconsiders.

The IVF support group is comprised of my favorite background characters. They’re all unique and sweet in their own way, and I loved how much they helped Gemma find her way and build her confidence back up. I don’t have the time to pick apart how much I loved each character, but when you read it you’ll understand.

The writing is just flawless. I cried when Gemma cried, I laughed when Josh said something funny, I replayed certain chapters just because I loved them so much I needed to hear them a second time. Seriously I cannot fully express just how much I adored this book and the romance unfolding between these two.

Go get this book! Like now! It’s amazing!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and Sarah Ready for providing me with an ARC of this book.
I loved this so much!! Josh and Gemma were adorable and I'm so glad they got their happy ending together

I enjoyed this read from a new to me author! I requested it up on NetGalley because I love rom-coms and it seemed up my alley and it did not disappoint.

Some of the IVF things were wildly inaccurate and I had had enough of the inspirational quotes by the end of the book but I also realize the importance of the quotes in regards to the storyline. I liked the dynamic between the two MCs and really loved Josh's personality.

Overall it was a very solid read and honestly I'm glad the a book that talks about infertility as not enough do!

When Gemma finds herself at her family New Year’s Eve party she realizes she’s become the neighborhoods desperate single woman. Thanks to her sad love life & her mom pitching her a date with any guy in town. Gemma however, has no intention on settling and finds herself wanting a baby but without the complications of a “baby daddy”. Being infertile she seeks in vitro fertilization and finds herself needing a sperm donor she’s familiar with. Will Josh be up for this task? Will she confide in her family? How will this whole experience play out? And where will it lead her?

This book seriously has EVERYTHING. The perfect amount of spice 🌶 , romance, drama, awkward moments, laughter and tears. The friendships and choices Gemma finds herself in, makes for a huge page turner. I only thought the ending was slightly rushed but otherwise this book is awesome and I recommend!!

Reviewed on: Amazon (pending approval), Instagram @4everbooked, tik Tok @4everbooked, and good reads @4everbooked

This romance audiobook was enjoyable to listen to. I really liked the characters that this story focused on and how their relationship has evolved from their meeting as children to their relationship as adults.

Gemma has a lot of her life planned out and it's mainly going according to plan after a couple bumps in the road. But one thing she truly wishes to have has been close to impossible so far in her life. After a decade of disastrous relationships and an infertility issues she has nearly lost the chance to have a baby.

Josh is and always has been the polar opposite of Gemma. Not to mention he’s also her brother’s best friend. For the past twenty years Josh has attended every Jacobs’ family birthday, holiday, and event – he’s always around. He has become a constant in her life where it's not always there when it comes to people not blood related to her. When Gemma brings up a deal with Josh that will be unemotional, businesslike arrangement for him to help her make her dream of having a child come true. No commitments, just a baby, and she is surprised when he agrees.

Through their attempts to keep their arrangement business like it becomes increasingly difficult to keep emotions out of the mix. Especially when it feels like a life, and a family, and love are forming during the time they are spending together. Will they both decide they do truly want so much more than just their arrangement together? Or will they walk their separate paths once the arrangement is complete?

I really loved going through the journey with these characters. Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this audiobook.

This story was so so sweet! I loved the infertility awareness, Gemma’s independence and self-assuredness, and Josh’s overall character/personality. I went and thinking this one would be super cheesy (and it was a bit cheesy at times), but it also made me tear up. Overall, I really enjoyed this one!

Happy #pubday to this gem! Josh and Gemma Make a Baby by Sarah Ready is just what I needed to start off 2022. I’ve read some good books lately with guys named Josh—Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating & The Hating Game—and this Josh is giving them a run for their money!  
 
A newly single 32-year-old, Gemma is ready to become a mother. After an infertility diagnosis, Gemma turns to IVF. Cue in her brother’s best friend, and the polar opposite of Gemma, Josh Lewenthal. Of course, Gemma thinks he will be the perfect sperm donor with no strings attached. But there are always strings, aren’t there?!

A sweetly romantic, heartfelt, laugh out loud read! I decided to listen to the audio version of this book, and it did not disappoint. Erin Mallon did a wonderful job in narrating.

A big thank you to @netgalley and Swift & Lewis Publishing for giving me access to an ARC of this book!

I anticipated this book would be fun and sexy based on the light heartedness of the title and cover, and it was, however it was so much more than that. Josh and Gemma Make a Baby by Sarah Ready made me laugh out loud and full-on ugly cry. I was not prepared for the level of emotion and pain that I would feel because of this book and I am honestly impressed. Sarah Ready takes two people with seemingly little in common and brings them together for one of the most intimate, challenging tasks imaginable and manages to convincingly make them fall in love along the way. Overall, the story is light-hearted, fast-paced and full of enough inspirational quotes used to satisfy you for the rest of the year.

⭐⭐⭐⭐✨/ five stars

Josh and Gemma are acquaintances who have known each other for decades and when Gemma decides she wants to have a child she reaches out to Josh to assist as the sperm donor. They navigate the challenges of using IVF to become pregnant while attempting to date other (objectively gross) people, maintain professions, avoid awkward setups coordinated by a well-meaning mother, and keep any emotions out of the mix.

As you can probably imagine this fails miserably leading to an adorable story of two people who reconnect and develop a bond through one of the most intimate processes possible, baby making. Josh Lewenthal is consistently a dream partner with his confidence, charisma, and comic fame (?), who supports Gemma through the process while subtly wooing her. Meanwhile, Gemma is so caught up in her perceptions of who other people are to give him or her friends the benefit of the doubt. This all comes to a head when Gemma is forced to confront that the encouraging quotes she lives by cannot take the place of genuine connections with other people and she ends up putting herself on blast in the process.

My biggest wish for this book is that Ready had explored in more detail Gemma's relationships with her fertility group members. I loved each and every member of her support group with all of their quirks and would have loved to see them feature more in the story as I feel that those women played a huge role in challenging Gemma to grow and open up to others. In some ways each of their stories felt more real and more powerful than Gemma's sudden desire to have a child, but that would have been a different, much heavier, book. However, Josh and Gemma Make a Baby does take on the burden of unsuccessful pregnancies and repeated unsuccessful attempts to become pregnant and because of that I would not recommend this to anyone who is currently grieving from a miscarriage, or struggling to conceive.

Gemma is in her 30s and her biological clock is ticking. She has a job that she loves and is passionate about and wants someone to share her life with...preferably a baby. Gemma has been there, done that with men and she is done searching for her Mr. Right. All she needs now is egg, sperm, and IVF to make it happen. But who's sperm to use? Who does she know and trust to have their baby and it not be weird and awkward? Enter, Josh Lewenthal. Josh and Gemma have known each other their whole lives. Josh and her brother are best friends and he has been a constant presence in her life and her family's life. He is the perfect choice...if only she can convince him.

The title gives away a little bit of the plot of the book, but honestly I was impressed by the fact that I didn't see all of it coming. I had expectations for what would be in the book and how the plot would come together, but it ended up being better than I expected. The characters were very relatable for a romance book and honestly the depth behind Gemma and her fear of commitment and being let down was pretty impressive for a "fluffy" romance novel. I would say this is pretty light on the romance and would be a good read for someone who tends to steer clear of super steamy books. It was sensual at some points, but appropriately so in my opinion and was very tasteful.

Gemma wants a baby, but she is divorced and decidedly single, so she decides to do it on her own. But she needs a sperm donor to start IVF, so she recruits her brothers best friend, of over 20 years, Josh Lewenthal. When he eventually agrees they begin a journey that neither of them expects.

I loved this book! Both Josh and Gemma are very lovable characters and my love for them grew as the book went on. I loved their witty banter and interactions and seeing their friendship grow throughout the book. Josh’s poignant moments made this story special, his relationship with his dad, his connection to Ian and his obvious feelings for Gemma. The antagonist and side characters were all well developed and rounded the story out to make me love it even more. Gemma’s group of friends that she makes from the IVF support group was one of my favorite aspects of the book.

I loved the way that pregnancy, IVF, and the struggles these bring was addressed. Though it is not something I have personally experienced it all felt very realistic. Besides pregnancy and IVF I felt that this book discussed a lot of other topics that do not get discussed enough such was women feeling like they have to have kids by a certain age, having babies in your 30s, and even having to be in a stable relationship by your early 30’s.

This book had everything you could want in a romcom. This book had a lot of laughs and fun but there were many heartwarming and charming parts. This book made me feel so many different emotions. This is my first book by Sarah Ready and I look forward to checking out more of her work. I also plan on checking out more of Erin Mallon’s work as well. She did a fantastic job narrating. The way she was able to hit all the comedic timing but also capture the sadness was incredible. This book was a very strong 4.5 stars for me.