I actually read the book. I just want to hear their voices since this is a dual POV. A good book, easy to read/listen to. I mist say that every time I heard Gemma's POV its just like one of my friends making chitchat with me.

DNF at 40%.
I really want to love Josh and Gemma Make a Baby. I got an audio copy for review and I was not sure if maybe the narration or the quality of the audio book was the one thing that was making me struggle so much to actually get connected with the story and the characters.

The plot seem to be very predictable. It was like - meh, nothing new to see here. I hope Gemma’s character was not the typical damsel in distress with so much negativity going on. Anyway, I hope its a plot that others may like. It has potential but not just for me.

Thank you Netgalley for the audio book in exchange for my honest review.

This story is a quirky romantic comedy in which an awkward yet successful woman in her early thirties has decided to have a baby—and all she needs is a donor. The problem is, the donor she chooses is not exactly up for the task. On top of that, someone she has admired for a long time suddenly has a romantic interest in her. An unconventional love triangle, a cast of colorful women in a support group, and plenty of awkward moments await.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. The cover is cute. I had high hopes for the novel but it was kind of a miss for me. Maybe someone else would like it more.

I received both copies, an audiobook and a novel! I enjoyed the audiobook more. I don't remember much about the story tbh except that the female character wants a baby. She is divorced and not planning to date. Then she considered IVF, the problem is she needs a willing sperm donor with no-string attached and that is Josh Lewental, her brother’s best friend and the boy who took her virginity. It has the same vibes as Jane the virgin which I kind of enjoy. However, Gemma was judgmental but at the end it was good that she had a character development. The couple was extremely funny. Overall, this book was fun and unique! There will be a second book which will be available on January 26, 2023.

Charming and hilarious! Loved both main characters and their families. The narration was excellent. May contain TW as it explores fertility issues. Thanks NetGalley for the audio copy.

Became uninterested in the book but look forward to trying to read it again in the future! Have never been a fan of pregnancy tropes which mainly caused my distaste in the audio

This was really charming! A few things irked me, that I think were unrealistic. A woman going to a fertility clinic would have likely done a tad more research about the process and/or the doctor would at length discuss the process to include trials and tribulations. But aside from the heroine’s lack of knowledge about how she will achieve her desired baby, the idea is cute and the tropes were on point for me! Gotta love a second chance childhood-ish romance/crush situation. Brother’s best friend- even better! This trope always sets up for cuteness tenderness and this one didn’t disappoint! Overall really happy and thankful for this ARC. It helped me get out of a reading slump!

⚜️Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loved the audiobook narrator! But, the book just didn't work for me. It started out so strong and then it fell flat for me. I ended up dnfing. Gemma and Josh were annoying after a while.

I loved Josh and Gemma! What can go wrong when two people decide to make a baby with a contract? We all know where this is going and yet the characters are so lovable that this rom-com will stay on your radar for a re-read, I loved the secondary characters in this book as well!

This was a sweet story. Always love to go into a story blind. I wish I had written a review right after finishing the story. Sorry to say that I do not remember enough details to write a better review.

"Love is the best gift I've ever had the privilege to give"

🎧Josh & Gemma make a Baby by Sarah Ready🎧
Narrated by Erin Mallon

Genre: Contemporary romantic comedy

CW-Infertility, Endometriosis, Miscarriage,death of a parent

Tropes~ Childhood Friends to Lovers, Brother's Best Friend, Family of choice, Slow Burn, Planned Pregnancy Opposites attract, Love after Divorce

This book tells the story of a girl with PCOS and infertility issues who decides to get a baby through IVF rather than waiting to meet her prince charming and for this she asks her childhood neighbour and Brother's Best Friend & much to her surprise he agrees
The book is really fun along with addressing the serious topics like Infertility.
I really enjoyed the narration done by Erin.

If you're like me who loves reading quotes, you must give this book a try, because each chapter of this book starts with a quote.

he book follows the story of a woman who desperately wants to have a baby that wouldn't be a problem if her husband did not dump her ten years prior because she was diagnosed with some fertility issues.On New year's day she decided to have a baby with the help of IVF.
Gemma then turned Josh her brother's best friend and asked him to be her sperm donor to which he surprisingly agreed. No commitments just have a baby seems easy enough, except things did not go as they planned.
The book tackled infertility which is one of the most important issues today. I loved how the author presented the possible consequences of being infertile and also the importance of having a support group to understand that you are not alone.
I am not an expert on contemporary romances, but I feel like there could have more to the story like explaining what happened to some of the side characters of the story.

Thank you, NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

“Josh and Gemma Make a Baby” by Sarah Ready was emotional, charming, and so funny. Definitely recommended!

5/5 stars

I LOVED this book! Here's what you need to know: Gemma can be annoying, but the way it all comes together at the end is *chef's kiss* and this book is funny enough that I chuckled out loud several times.

Even though I read the ARC, I bought a physical copy for my library.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC and audio ARC.

This audiobook was finished in a DAY. I could not stop listening, I wanted to know how they ended up. All the events from start to finish were pretty amazing. Like any good book, it should always start with a problem, in this book??? Gemma want's a baby and her ex has a family so she feel she has to catch up. Thanks to the new ways we can have families she gets a sperm donor, in this case Josh. They had a situationship and obviously didn't stop thinking about eachother. In the end they both agree to the terms of having a baby, and at the end they end up together. I know my students will love this story, especially in high school as I'm sure many will be raving about it on tik Tok and their various social media platforms.

Really enjoyed this one felt that it sucked me in and enjoyed the story the characters and the flow of the book. Highly recommend

Sarah Ready knows how to catch the attention of her readers. What got me to pick up this book was definitely the title, I've heard of fake dating, and dating out of convenience but this was the first time that I came across a book where the main characters were trying to have a baby BEFORE they date.
I really didn't have much expectations for the book, but I was surprised by how well the story flowed. If you are able to pick it up I would recommend also getting the audiobook because it just added a deeper level of involvement with the story.
So where do I start.. the story line seemed a little ridiculous but the more you got to learn about the characters the more it made sense as to why they made the choice that they did.
Gemma is the main character of the book and we are told the story from her view point, she's a likable character even though she goes a bit over the top with her motivational quotes. She's a divorcee with an infertility diagnosis, since she's unable to have a serious relationship she decides to go through IVF. I will say that I was not very familiar with IVF so I'm not sure how realistic it actually was. What I can say though is that those parts in the story might be a little too much for someone who has gone through it themselves since even I found myself getting emotional at times which surprised me. She wasn't a perfect character but she was a very realistic person in my opinion. I don't want to give away too much but her character is able to grow from this experience and she realizes that she has been very wrong about multiple thigs. Some people might not like her character too much but she will grow on you if you give her a chance.
Now lets talk about Josh, he's Gemma's brothers best friend of course. I think we can all agree that this type of trope is a good one. Josh is probably everything that you would want on the male lead, kind, smart, funny but unfortunately he is very misunderstood. So of course when Gemma needs a donor she thinks of him, the uncaring guy that wont want commitment. But that's not the case, we learn that he actually cares more than what he leads Gemma to believe. Even though we don't get to see his point of view we still get to know him pretty well since we learn about his personality at the same time that Gemma does. This might not be too much of a spoiler but just in case <spoiler> The part where he tells her that he didn't love her from the time they were young was probably a huge plus for me towards the story. It seems that authors like to make characters pine for each other when its a similar trope but having them not really pay attention to each other until they were adults made it better. Like he said he was just a horny teenager lol </spoiler>
Both characters are very likable and there are times when they made me laugh and when they made me get a bit teary eyed. The cell phone scene was to die for and also the boy-toy movement.
There was also other set of characters that were part of the story like Gemma's support group, I loved those characters I thought they were extremely funny although I did think that they forgave Gemma a bit too quickly.
Then we have Gemma's family.. I think that as an almost 30 yr old women I can definitely relate to what Gemma was feeling. Getting reminded that we aren't getting any younger and that we need to date quickly to get married quickly. In her case getting married again. Her family felt really close and I think that comes with having close family is that they think they are able to say things to you without it being offensive or them thinking that they are being insensitive. Those moments I definitely did not like too much but I understood why they were added to the story.

The book was such a great pick that I would recommend it to anyone that wants a more realistic type of romance story. thank you Net Galley and Swift & Lewis Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I really enjoyed this book. Both the characters were relatable in a very different way. I saw myself in Gemma sometimes. It was a very fun read. I did wish that we had a little more of them but what we got was really good!

DNF’d by chapter 3. Super uncomfortable to read, I was appalled by the body shaming and ableism in just those 3 chapters. Highly uncomfortable hearing the older sister talking to her as a 16 year old like she was a child and using the words “stole my panties” as a euphemism for losing her virginity was really confusing. MC has endometriosis and her mom tells her no one wants a chubby barren woman, something like that? No thanks.