osh and Gemma Make a Baby by Sarah Ready is a cute, modern twist on the friends-to-lovers trope. When Gemma, a divorced career woman decides that despite the obstacles (endometriosis, infertility, and no significant other) she wants to become a mother, she embarks on the journey to parenthood with determination. Josh, her brother's best friend and the young man to whom she lost her virginity years ago, agrees to be her sperm donor. From there, through a wide range of challenges and hilarious circumstances, Josh and Gemma learn about each other and their feelings about love, friendship and parenthood. The minor characters, especially Gemma's infertility support group friends, are lovable (mostly) and easy to care and root for, as are Gemma and Josh. At times heartwarming and also heartbreaking, Josh and Gemma Make a Baby is at its heart a funny and hopeful story. I found myself laughing, crying, and even blushing while listening to Erin Malley's wonderful narration in the audio version.

Thank you to Netgalley and Swift & Lewis Publishing for the opportunity to listen to an advanced copy of this audiobook. The opinions in this review are my own.

I really enjoyed this super cute rom com and thought it was very charming! However, if you are going through infertility or have struggled with infertility I would be cautious going into this book because it does discuss a lot of heavy topics. But overall it was a delightful book that romance lovers will enjoy! Thank you NetGalley and Swift & Lewis Publishing, LLC for a free copy of this book via Kindle in return for an honest review.

Gemma Jacobs is 32 years old, a divorcee, and ready to turn over a new leaf! Her New Year’s resolution: have a baby! All she needs to do is invest in IVF treatments and the sperm of her brother’s best friend, Josh Lewenthal.

Sarah Ready does an excellent job painting the scene for readers through descriptive language. The narrator really hammers it home with her enthusiasm and was perfect! So much so I ugly cackled out loud multiple times. Possible triggers in this story include IVF, miscarriages, and the death/loss of a loved one. I’ll admit the story may be a little predictable and dragged towards the middle, but I couldn’t help rooting for Gemma to grow through her insecurities, even when she was downright infuriating.

I enjoyed this lighthearted romance and how it depicts real-life struggles people go through, as you get to see Gemma at her best and at her worst. This story could have improved with more flashbacks. Gemma’s divorce was a life-changing moment, and I’d love more insight into how she got to this point. Another opportunity would have been dual perspectives. Josh Lewenthal seems like the perfect book boyfriend, and getting inside his head would have made this a 5-star read for me.

Thank you to Net Galley and Swift & Lewis Publishing LLC for the ARC!

⚠️ CW: infertility, loss

💭 OVERALL
This upcoming rom-com could be a fun, breezy read for those who enjoy a little cheesiness and are able to suspend disbelief about fertility treatment. I enjoyed it on the whole, and might recommend it to the right readers. A couple of concerns related to the content warnings above would prevent me from recommending it broadly.

⭐ x 3
🌶️ x 2

I found the overall romance arc of Josh and Gemma Make a Baby to be quite charming. This is a story of two thirty-somethings who have known each other since childhood and have lived totally separate lives while still in each other’s periphery (à la brother’s friend, friends to lovers, second chances). What draws them closer is Gemma’s decision to pursue parenthood sans partnerhood through IVF, preferably with Josh as sperm donor.

👥 CHARACTERS
Josh is a beautiful cinnamon roll of a love interest, and I enjoyed discovering what he had been up to in the past decade-and-a-half.

Gemma, through whose POV we experience the story, is… a work-in-progress. While I found her voice clear and approachable, I was often confused by her total lack of curiosity about the lives of those around her. (Remember when I mentioned learning about Josh’s life? It is a little unbelievable that Gemma was wholly unaware of even the biggest highlights.) Despite her flaws (primarily her quickness to judge), I found Gemma to be likable enough that I could root for her in her personal growth.

The side characters tended to feel like caricatures built around a single defining trait or interest, but this felt oddly appropriate given the comedic tone of the book.

🤣 HUMOR
The book's funny moments are largely slapstick. I get a kick out of wacky humor, so I took no issue with the improbable and highly convenient circumstances that made these laughs possible.

🎧 NARRATION
The narrator did a great job with this one. Character voices were easily distinguishable. Transitions between scenes and chapters were clear. The tone was emotive and immersive.

A funny aside: there was one oddly noticeable error in the narration ("cervical music" instead of "cervical mucus"), but this was a minor one-off.

😔 CONCERNS
At times, the treatment of infertility in this book is unrealistic to the point of being insensitive. The novel spans one calendar year. Once she decides to pursue IVF, Gemma is able to begin and progress through fertility treatment with seemingly no delay or difficulty. This is counter to the experiences of many, and I can imagine it being difficult for some to read.

The way Gemma is treated by others is frankly inappropriate and goes largely unchallenged. It seems the majority of her hometown knows of her infertility diagnosis, and views her as pitiable and/or undesirable as a result. She is also shamed for her size.

📅 Josh and Gemma Make a Baby will be available on January 25th of this year! The publisher kindly provided an advance copy of this audiobook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Josh & Gemma feel so real to me after listening to this story, and even more relatable! Gemma is a go-getter that has handled the cards she has been given with grace. Josh is the family friend that has always been within the background of Gemma’s life. Together they can make an unstoppable team.

The novel is a romance at its core (good ole FWB trope), but dives into many other themes and topics as well that kept me interesting and invested in the plot. There is combination of humor and heartfelt moments as well.

The ending comes around as any reader would hope, and I quite literally gasped in excitement during the last chapter!

This one was really cute but not very steamy. It’s got a cinnamon roll, friends to lovers, man falls first, and a little bit of second chance romance. It’s got more substance than a typical romcom but I’d still consider it a light hearted read. I think it covers a lot of topics that are real issues such as illness, infertility, looking down on divorced/single older women, and making incorrect assumptions about people but the issues are addressed and worked out by the end. Would recommend for any romance reader.

So I came into this expecting a romance and it really wasn’t, at least not by my definition of romance. The main female character spent most of the book dating a guy who wasn’t the male main character, and even when she started to realize her feelings for the main male character, she was terrible to him.

Gemma was an extremely judgemental person and it was extremely frustrating. She literally destroyed every relationship she has but was able to fix them all with a simple apology. It didn’t feel like enough.

I really liked the concept of this book, but Gemma sort of ruined it. Josh was a wonderful character and, honestly, he deserved better.

Until around the middle of the book, it was a 3 stars read for me, but then it had my favourtite romance trope i.e. when the guy has been pining for the girl for a while and she has no idea.

I usually don't like characters who keep saying inspirational quotes and mantras, and for a while, I was annoyed at Gemma for saying them almost all the time but they did help her through a rough time, so that's good about them, I guess. I think that's because I thought that Ian guy was a fake jerk from the beginning.

The character development in this book was really good. Also, I really liked the support group part.

CW: Death of a parent, infidelity, and infertility.

A cute little rom-com with an interesting cast of characters. Predictable, but still entertaining. The support group friends were a fun addition.

Gemma is a 32 year old infertile divorcee. She is tired of being set up with "older guys who don't want kids", when what she wants most is to have a baby. She decides that if traditional methods aren't an option that she will find another way to have a baby. She starts the process to have IVF, but the idea of picking a stranger out of a catalog to make up half of her baby is not appealing. She wants a smart, healthy, easy on the eyes guy, who is a decent human being. That leads her to Josh, her brother's best friend.

At first when she asks him to be her donor he seems put off, but he changes his mind and agrees before her next doctor appointment.

Gemma makes friends with 3 ladies at an IVF support group who challenge her beliefs. Meanwhile, her boss takes a romantic interest in her, despite 6 years of overlooking her. And Gemma starts feeling things for Josh.

She has a day where everything is right in the world, closely followed by a day when everything that can go wrong does.

Will Gemma wind up with her boss or Josh? Will she get pregnant? Will she finally open herself up to love at all?

This is a great book that pulls you in from the get-go. The narrator does a wonderful job distinguishing characters and setting the mood.

My only complaint is the excessive amount of "feel good the universe loves you" quotes.

This was a super cute, funny, feel good romance.

Gemma is divorced, in her early 30’s, and works for a self-help guru known for his pithy inspirational quotes. Those quotes got her through the pain of her divorce and the realization that she was likely infertile from severe endometriosis. That’s the one serious part of this book that could be a trigger- it does deal with infertility. Josh is her brother’s best friend, has been a fixture at family gatherings… and the first guy Gemma had sex with years ago. Despite that, they aren’t particularly close, not even friends. Josh was a player when they were teenagers and Gemma decided long ago he wasn’t boyfriend material.

Gemma makes her mind up that she wants to have a baby. She is going to do this on her own, go through IVF and just use a donor. Instead of going the anonymous route, she wants Josh’s sperm. Gemma trusts him, he’s healthy, good looking and has always been around her family. In her words, he’s like a houseplant.

Josh agrees to the arrangement and off they go to figure it out together.

I don’t know much about IVF, but I liked what appeared to be a pretty honest take on the process and challenges. I could feel Gemma’s hope swelling and Josh’s care with her dream of becoming a mom. Throughout it all, there were real laughs, fun side characters, a unique loving friend group who wouldn’t be friends if not for this thing in common. Gemma grows independent, confident and starts to see Josh in a new light. Josh is wonderful. He has a sunny, lovely, contagious attitude about life.

And the self-help guru? What a piece of work!! He’s hilariously inauthentic in every way. Like a TV evangelist down to his slick suits and sound bites.

**Many thanks to Netgalley, Swift & Lewis Publishing, LLC and Sarah Ready for the advanced audio-book copy in exchange for my honest review**

I do love me a rom-com and this one was a delightfully heartwarming slow burn. So cute!

Gemma really wants a baby to raise on her own. She decides to do IVF and asks her brothers best friend, Josh, to be her sperm donor. He agrees and although they have known each other for years and actually lost their virginity together, how well do they really know each other? Many assumptions are made and we all know what happens when you assume...

Josh has book boyfriend potential with his easy going, charming, sweet and jokester demeanor. I do kinda wish it was written in dual point of view, so we would've known how he was feeling through the whole process and just his feelings in general.

The narration was perfect and I can tell why Erin is an award winner!
This is my first time with this author, but it will not be my last.

Trigger warnings: infertility, IVF and miscarriages

I received a free ARC of the audiobook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Unrelated to the book itself, the narrator for this audiobook was amazing. A relaxing voice that was expressive throughout the story. The voices of different character's was well differentiated to know who's speaking (even though the story says it).

There were some unrealistic pieces to the story such as how quickly the process of deciding to have a baby, getting an appointment for IVF, and the fact that her insurance covers the entire process was unrealistic. Then Gemma having done no research about the process was also unrealistic. Even said, I can understand the process moving fast for dramatic and entertainment purposes.

I liked the story and felt the connection between Josh and Gemma to be authentic. It felt realistic that two people that grew up near each other both never admitted their feelings. What was unrealistic was Gemma having no idea that Josh was a famous comic book writer and felt that he was a starving artist.

Overall, I felt that the story was enjoyable and it's something I would recommend to friends. Although I think if someone is going through fertility trouble this might be a little too much of an emotional rollercoaster for them.

Oh man! I absolutely loved this!! It gave me all the feels. I could personally relate to Gemma and her battles with infertility, which probably made me enjoy this even more. Josh was absolutely the sweetest guy right in front of Gemma the whole time. I knew he had loved her forever, but the fact his comic was about her was the icing on the cake. I had goofy smiles throughout! I listened to the audiobook and followed along with the egalley. The audiobook was so good! The narrator was absolutely perfect!! Highly recommend!!

*Thank you Swift & Lewis Publishing and @netgalley for the audiobook and egalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Josh and Gemma make a Baby
★ ★ ★ ★ ★

— — — — — — — — — —
Synopsis:

Gemma is done being told how her life is supposed to go. For years her mother has been trying to set her up with old guys from her neighborhood. But she is determined, she doesn’t need a man to make her happy, all she needs is Josh, a fertility clinic and a little bit of patients and her baby is as good as here.

But for that to work she’d have to ask Josh first.

— — — — — — — — — —

This book made my insides bubble with joy. The characters were all written with so much love and care. They each have their own little quirks and corners that make them feel so realistic and lovable.

Gemma is a person that seems to know exactly what she wants but in reality, she has no clue what she really desires. Her personality and thought process made me love her almost immediately.

The relationships in this book were so well written. I especially enjoyed Gemma’s little group of supportive friends. The whole friendship group dynamic wass so well thought out.

I enjoyed this book so much that I immediately preordered the hardback edition after reading the ARC.

— — — — — — — — — —
Ratings:
Smut: 🌶🌶🌶/5
Story: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Writing style: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

This was just perfection! While this book had be laughing out loud and grinning like an idiot, it also tackles some hard stuff. Trigger warning, this book deals with pregnancy, IVF and miscarriages.

Other than that, this book has everything you want in a romcom. Fans of The Unhoneymooners, The Hating Game and You Deserve Each Other will love this book. To sum it up, it gave me “OMG-this-book-is-just-so-cute-I-want-to-live-in-their-happy-bubble-forever!!!” feels.

TW: Infertility, Miscarriage, Death, Loss of a parent

#review
This one's my first book by Sarah Ready. And, I should agree I’m impressed. I loved the author’s writing style. She has beautifully presented Josh and Gemma’s story in a hilarious yet poignant way. I listened to the audiobook version narrated by Erin Mallon, the six-time Earphones Award Winner and a five-time Audie Award Nominee. The experience is exemplary!
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While the plot is simple and predictable, it’s the writing style and narration that makes it an adorable read. I liked the character build-up, the way the author sets up the context slowly. All the characters are likeable. I loved Josh’s characterization and Gemma’s family, especially the scenes with her nieces and nephew (they were so adorable). The IVF support group also had some amazing characters who added a completely new flavour to the story. In my opinion, Gemma’s character was a little cliched - optimistic on the outside and judgemental on the inside for me.
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The author also touches upon multiple social stigmas and complex emotions w.r.t pregnancy, heartbreaks, miscarriage etc. at ease. I adored her writing style, especially those funny/nervous conversations between Josh and Gemma during the hospital visits.
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One thing that was a little put off for me was the way it all starts. I felt the first chapter was a little too abrupt and it took me a while to settle down. Also, I felt the self-help quotes were being referenced too often that it becomes repetitive by the end.
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Overall, Josh and Gemma Make a Baby by Sarah Ready is a roller coaster ride that’s fun and emotional in equal parts. It’s engaging and entertaining to every bit that you can finish in one or two sittings. I would definitely recommend this book if you’re looking for something quirky and entertaining.

If you want a love story that is equal parts heartbreaking and heartwarming, look no further than Josh and Gemma Make a Baby by Sarah Ready.
Gemma is a newly single 32-year-old who is determined to accomplish her goal to become a mother. Since she has been diagnosed with endometriosis, she knows she must use IVF. As far as the donor goes, she looks no further than Josh, her brother’s best friend and the furthest guys from “marriage material” she knows. When Josh agrees to the plan, readers set out on an emotional journey of hope, loss, and love that will make you wonder who is chopping onions around you.
This story handled serious topics like infertility so well. I’ve never gone from crying to laughing so quickly. The dynamics between our MCs was so dynamic. I felt the tension between their banter and humor.
There was also a great “found family” trope in Gemma’s infertility support group. absolutely tore through this book because I was so invested in these characters.

Recommended if you enjoy:
Brother’s best friend trope
Friends-to-lovers (done right)
Slow burn
Love after divorce
A new book boyfriend
Comic books

Audiobook notes: Unpopular opinion, but I felt the narrator was a bit monotone. I also didn’t care for her “Josh voice.” I warmed up to her after a while, but it turned me off at first.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ALC copy. Josh and Gemma Make a Baby is out January 25th.

CW: IVF treatment, infertility, endometriosis, miscarriage, death of parent, mentions of divorce/cheating spouse

“You should always believe the universe is going to give you good things, because sooner or later, it will.”

Gemma is 32, divorced and trying to have a baby through IVF but instead of sperm donors, she wants to have it with her brother's best friend Josh. Because Josh has always been around, she's known him for twenty-four years, he's like a house plant, always in the periphery of her life.

Josh agrees, and the whole process kicks off just as Gemma's boss and guru Ian begins showing a romantic interest in Gemma.

It was fun, heartbreaking, warm, lovely story. The only thing I didn't like in this book is Gemma's judgmental nature.

I LOVED it and enjoyed listening to the audiobook so much. It has unexpected story line. Both the main characters are likeable and the blooming of their love was so sweet.