I received a copy of Josh and Gemma Make a Baby via NetGalley to read and review. 3.5 stars

I finished Josh and Gemma Make a Baby in one day. The story was pretty predictable but it was still enjoyable to read how it played out. I choose not to have kids so I can’t speak from personal experience on IVF but I really liked that the support group each had their own way of handling IVF. I don’t think this is a topic that’s covered regularly so it’s nice that not everyone was on the same journey!

I feel the drama between Josh and Ian could’ve been played up a little more (especially if Josh found out how Gemma was treated on the live feed when she was clearly not well)

I decided to take on this book for a lighthearted read but it wasn't just a lighthearted read it discussed Gemma's struggles through her life and the struggles of IVF. I'm not usually a romcom reader but this book looked so cute I had to read it.

I loved everything about this story and it left me with a big smile on my face after finishing it!
Gemma is an amazing character. She is funny, positive, has a big heart and is sooo relatable.

Josh is everything a woman could ever want and more and I loved seeing their relationship unfold. How, despite knowing him her whole life, she is just now getting to know who he really is. Her focus on her IFV keeps her from seeing what is right in front of her and it was amazing seeing her open her eyes more and more. I loved the banter between them and the book had me laughing a lot.

I liked the writing a lot. Once I got started I couldn't set it down.

Super fun book! I was actually hesitant to read it based on the title and not being a parent, however, I loved it! Such a fun read with also serious topics like IVF. Loved the friend to more than friend relationships.

A cute and light read that covered an interesting topic that you don’t often see being wrote about! There was such good banter throughout and the characters were really relatable and likeable. Nothing groundbreaking but a fun read!

A cute story concept that left me feeling a little confused. This story started off with so much potential but at the halfway mark things started to get weird and I was ready to tap out. I powered through the rest of the book and was perplexed by some scenes that weren’t funny but just odd. Central Park and a phone?! The ending was cute enough, but this simply was not for me.

I enjoyed this book and while it dealt with some sensitive issues, fertility being the main one , i thought it was a fun story. The author has infused some laughs into her storytelling and some fun quirky characters especially the fertility support group. While some readers may think the story was insensitive I felt she brought some issues to light in a fun up light read where there is a happy ending.

I received an advanced copy from NetGalley and all opinions are my own.

I would recommend this book to my friends and family and I think it would be a good discussion book for my book clubs.

This was really fun! Very easy to read with likeable characters that I could root for. I enjoyed this one throughout.

Unfortunately I could not finish this book, I wanted to like the main character so badly but the connection just was not there. I love this concept but I wish it was executed a bit differently for me to have enjoyed it.

This book was the whole package for me. It was funny, real, focused on a really important topic with regards to infertility and also features plenty of steam! I kept finding myself needing to read more and find out if/how Josh and Gemma’s relationship would develop.

I really enjoyed this book! Normally I am averse to the pregnancy trope, but Sarah Ready did the story justice! Going through Gemma's struggles both to do with her problems getting pregnant, as well as in her personal life with Josh and work were incredibly poignant and resolved really well. I found her voice incredibly refreshing and despite only knowing Josh through Gemma, it was really easy to get a feel for his character as well. Ready handles infertility with sensitivity but mixes in a good bit of humor and lightness to tone it down. As someone who has not gone through IVF or fertility issues, it was a good balance between being informative without reaching too far out of the narrative.

I adored this romance in every way and I need to get a physical copy for my shelves! The narrator did an amazing job, the characters melted my heart, and I was so sad to see it end. I can't wait to read more from this author!

Gemma has experienced less than ideal relationships, and also has received an infertility diagnosis, but has decided that she wants to have a baby. She identifies who she wants her sperm donor to be - her brother’s best friend, Josh. She’s known him her entire life, and she believes his traits make him the perfect choice. She’s not looking for a co-parent, and when she pitches the idea to Josh he surprisingly agrees.

The story progresses from there, dealing with the messy relationship that develops between the two. It’s hard to take emotions out of the picture when you’re talking about creating another person to bring into the world. There was a lot of emotion involved, and I felt it - on both sides.

Things get even messier when feelings develop on both sides, but neither have the courage to admit it. This was actually one of my criticisms of the book, which is that I didn’t quite get their attraction (not even physical) to each other. The story was that they had loved each other from a young age, but you never see any of that and so I found it challenging to buy it.

There is a happily ever after ending for these two, so overall the book left me with positive feelings and I definitely would recommend it.

Thank you @netgalley for this ARC.

Gemma is a divorced 32 year old who wants a baby. She knows that she is ready to be a mother, and she isn’t waiting around for a husband to have a baby. She is going to have IVF, but she doesn’t want just any sperm donor. She has the perfect person is mind.

Josh is Gemma’s brothers best friend. He is smart, good looking, familiar, and has been apart of her family’s life for many years. Gemma ask Josh to be her sperm donor for her IVF process, and he agrees! This should be easy right? Get pregnant, have a baby, and share the baby with Josh like the contract they agreed on. Maybe there is more to it then Gemma realizes like feelings about Josh she didn’t know were there.

The characters were relatable, well developed, comical, and just down right perfect in my opinion. I felt like a was reading the perfect rom com, and I was wishing the whole time that it would be turned into a movie! Infertility can definitely be a sore subject, but I felt like Sarah Ready done a great job at making the subject lighthearted. Overall, this was a great book with lots of funny moments that had me laughing, and I would suggest it to anyone who is needing a good laugh!

Going into this book I had extremely high hopes. I am a sucker for any kind of pregnancy trope and everything about the plot just screamed like it was the book for me. Unfortunately, this book just didn't live up to my expectations. Although I found the characters to be extremely loveable and the banter funny, I just felt like it lacked real development in plot. I found myself struggling to get through it and was disappointed by the ending. It had so much potential, and it just fell short for me.

It is rare that I find a book that I love as much as Josh and Gemma Make a Baby. Not only did I connect to this book on a personal level, it was so well written and hilarious that I read it in one day! Without giving any spoilers, this is one book that you cannot go in to with any prior judgements based off of similar books in this genre. Sarah Ready has written a wonderful book, and Josh and Gemma are one of my new favorite power couples in my book world! Thank you Net Galley and Swift&Lewis for the ARC!

Gemma is a 32 year old, career driven, divorced, and wants a baby. She decides she doesn’t need a boyfriend or husband to have IVF. She just needs a sperm donor. Josh is her brothers best friend and has all her check marks for being the perfect donor. She doesn’t have feelings for him either, so this will be strictly business. But baby making doesn’t always go as planned.

This book was so cute and fun to read! I loved the characters. I look forward to reading more by Sarah Ready!

3.3⭐

I was really intrigued by this book when I came across it! I thought the premise sounded interesting and I was excited to start reading it. While reading chapter 5, I was really enjoying the pace of the story. My anticipation for where the story was going to go was building up and I found myself instantly rooting for Josh and Gemma. However, at some point, this book began to fall flat. Part of this can be blamed on my own personal expectations not being reached and some decisions with the characters, particularly Gemma. As the book synopsis does not mention IVF would be involved, I was really expecting this book to explore Gemma carrying a baby for 9 months. The cover also gave me this impression. I found myself waiting for the book to get to the Gemma I see on the cover. Nevertheless, I do think it was a great idea to create a main character who struggles with fertility, and especially to show that a journey with IVF is not quick or easy.

I also ended up really disliking Gemma. I did not like how her harsh insults to her friends from the infertility group came out of nowhere and were brushed over. I understand Gemma was feeling really hurt, but nothing her friends said warranted such rude, unpleasant comments. It took my brain a few moments to catch up with the fact that Gemma really was saying these awful things and I wasn't imagining it. It felt like it came out of nowhere, and for that reason Gemma's behaviour felt unjustified. I wasn't able to root for her as strongly after this point, especially after learning about all the comments she made about Josh in the past. I didn't like how she made assumptions about him and never even tried to get to know Josh. Gemma becomes so consumed with herself that she forgets her words have consequences, as exemplified with how she treated her friends and how she never thought to give Josh the benefit of the doubt.

With all that said, I really do look forward to Sarah Ready's future books! I'm glad I was given the opportunity to read this new release. While I didn't enjoy some aspects to the story, the writing itself was not terrible. The epilogue was very cute, and I just knew when that New Year's resolution was read out at the beginning of the novel that it could only be Josh <3

Thank you Swift & Lewis Publishing, LLC, Sarah Ready and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book. All the thoughts and opinions are my own :)

This story had a lot of wacky humor dealing with a difficult topic. I wouldn't have had the strength to go through all the emotional and physical pain these women went through repeatedly to try to have a baby. Gemma was a jerk at times to Josh. She expected he's jump at the chance and money she was going to throw his way to be her sperm donor. The guy she idolized struck me as self-centered at first, but she thought he was a much better man than Josh even though Josh is the one who went to her appointments and supported her highs and lows and didn't let what one person did to him ruin the rest of his life. Gemma's fertility support group friends were an over the top riot. They saw the truth long before Gemma realized it.

“I couldn’t care less about him, I just need his sperm.”

Josh and Gemma make a baby is a rom-com about a woman, Gemma, who decides she is going to have a baby via IVF with her brother’s best friend, Josh. Gemma isn't in a relationship with Josh; she only sees him as a sperm donor (see the above quote). However, in their attempt to make a baby, Gemma realizes that her feelings for Josh go beyond a transaction.

Gemma is the sole narrator, and I loved her character. She is fresh, witty, honest, and sometimes a jerk; I found her voice refreshing. I loved Josh’s character too. Although we only experience Josh through Gemma’s eyes, it is easy to get a feel for his character. The two characters have strong chemistry and fun banter, and I was rooting for them early on.

I enjoyed the narrative style, and it was refreshing that there is only one timeline, which takes place in the present moment. There are brief flashbacks to Gemma’s childhood and some early interactions with Josh, but the narrative is rooted in the present, so the reader can experience Gemma’s infertility issues in the moment. Ready handles infertility with sensitivity and a bit of humor, which shines through in the infertility support group that Gemma joins.

This book is getting high praise, and rightly so. Once I picked it up, I couldn’t put it down. It made me laugh out loud on multiple occasions (the puking incident was my favorite)! There were a few cringe moments, but I got past them. My one critique is that the plot and Gemma mirror Bridget Jones’s Diary a little too much. However, infertility and Josh not being anything like Mark Darcy distinguish it from Bridget Jones.

Overall, this is a fun, charming, and heartwarming read that gave me all the feels!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.