Everybody says New Year's Resolutions are made to be broken, but Gemma is determined she will keep her's, she wants to have a baby. She just needs Josh Lewenthal's sperm.
Heartbreaking and funny, Ready created the right balance between the two for a very entertaining book that keeps going till you can't stop reading.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book.

If you are on the lookout for a typical romcom that goes exactly as you expected, this one is for you! This was a very fast pasted book for me with almost every trope in the world of romcoms! 3/5 because some of it was unrealistic which isn’t my thing but tons of people like unrealistic as an escapism. The parts about conceiving a baby and the struggle of doing it alternative ways are well written and thought out and was good rep for these people!

Josh and Gemma Make a Baby is a feel good story I didn't know I needed. I typically don't read books about pregnancy and babies because they quite honestly tend to be too Hallmark-y for me. This was not the case. This book had everything I wanted and then some. While a major plotline was Gemma having a baby, you also go to see Gemma and Josh grow as two adults who are still learning to navigate the big kid world. We see Gemma realize her true worth through her own lens, and not the lens of those around her. Gemma comes to realize her potential, her strengths, and what she actually wants in her life. Gemma starts to live for her and makes moves to be her most authentic self. While that's all fine and dandy, the best part of this book was how real Gemma's fertility journey was. Diagnosed with an extreme case of endometriosis, Gemma was told that she wouldn't ever have kids. Flash forward to Gemma's IVF journey and her struggles to conceive. Incomes Josh, the brothers best friend who was all too happy to help Gemma with her pregnancy journey. While the focus is mainly on Gemma, and written from her POV, you also have the pleasure of watching Josh become the man he truly wants to be. I couldn't recommend this book more. It's authentic, heartbreaking, heartwarming, and just so genuinely real. Josh and Gemma Make a Baby gets 5 stars from me.

***Book Review***
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Book title: Josh and Gemma Make a Baby
Author: Sarah Ready


I love Josh and Gemma Make a Baby. It was a cute romance. And it discusses a huge under discussed issue….infertility.

Josh and Gemma Make a Baby tells the story about Gemma whose husband left her when he found out that she was not going to be able to give him children. But Gemma decides to handle the situation on her own and have IVF treatments to have a child. Instead of using a random sperm donor, she asks her brother’s best friend Josh. Josh been a constant for Gemma and her family for years.

During the IVF process Gemma joins a IVF support group and you get to hear other women’s struggle with infertility, inclusion IVF treatments and miscarriages.

What starts out a just a deal between Josh and Gemma to create a baby ends with Gemma realizing that she loves Josh…and discovering that he’s been in love with her for years.

Thanks to Netgalley and Swift and Lewis Publishing for the opportunity to read Josh and Gemma Make a Baby in return for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked it so much, decided to buy the Kindle version so I could read again in the future. I would caution readers it does contain infertility and pregnancy loss. I would recommend book and author. Thanks to NetGalley for the advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

I finished with reading/listening this book and it's a solid romance!
It has tropes that I like (brother's best friend, friends to lovers) and it mentions some trigger warning scenes (grieving, IVF procedures). It's funny and it's seriouses and it's overall a nice read for long winter nights.
I got both kindle and audio version because life is busy and I really liked the narrators voice.

I liked Gemma's personality and her strong will and Josh is such a cutie too. I really enoted their story.

Thanks to Netgalley for receiving ARC copy. All opinions are my own.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

The concept of it is really good. I've never read a romantic comedy with such serious topics like miscarriage, IVF, etc. Falling in love with someone you picked to be your sperm donor. He's also your family's closest friend.

The highlights:
One POV
Brother's best friend
Slow burn
Love triangle

I liked it. I liked the quotes with each chapter. Some of the scenes made me laugh. Some of the characters were unlikable to me, especially her IVF group and her boss. The first half of the book was pretty slow to me. There were also some parts that were just too random and weird for me. Examples: the phone part and the waiting room boy toy part. It's a little unbelievable. The second half really made up for it. I really loved and was rooting for Josh and Gemma. They definitely have chemistry. The end made me cry.

I recommend this book. I noticed it says book 1. I'm excited for more books.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Shift & Lewis Publishing for the ARC.

What starts off as an arrangement between Gemma and her brother's best friend Josh over time decides to morph into something else entirely. An agreement to have a child together is purely practical and transactional where messy feelings aren't needed, but someone forgot to tell these two. A fan of Sarah's books for her funny and unpredictable situations this definitely falls into that category.
I received an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley for my honest opinion.

2.5
Tw: body shaming, divorce shaming, miscarriage, infertility, ivf

I think there need to be more authors that tackle the topics rarely seen in writing. And I really enjoy that this author stepped up to the plate. I just wish she had done a little more research.

Gemma is a 30 something divorcée who works for some a motivational speaker/guru. Josh is her brothers best friend, an extension of the family.

Gemma decides, after being shamed by her entire town about her divorce and infertility, that she wants to have a baby. And she decides to ask Josh to be her sperm donor just casually during a party.

Here’s the thing about reading: you have to suspend some bit of reality to get into the story. We all know that. Some genres more than others, obviously. I just found that book I had to *completely* suspend reality in order to be in it. I just didn’t find it believable— and I felt as though the author could have done a little more research into IVF.

I wasn’t a big fan of Gemma’s personality, or the side characters because they felt all a little cliche, but I found Josh to be sweet and that was one redeeming factor throughout the story.

However, I found there to be quite a bit of shaming from this author. Fat shaming. Divorce shaming. Alternative medicine shaming. Alternative career shaming. And maybe that soured the book for me.

Thanks #netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review and opinion.

I requested Josh and Gemma Make A Baby on @NetGalley just last week in time for today’s pub day. I read this book in less than 24 hours and I could barely put it down! A very happy pub day to this gem of a romance by Sarah Ready!

Josh and Gemma Make A Baby follows Gemma who after being told she had lifelong infertility issues finds a Doctor who tells her that she may have a chance using IVF. She doesn’t want a random sperm donor though, and so she turns to her brother’s best friend, Josh Lewenthal. As Josh and Gemma navigate the IVF world together, it turns out that there might be something more to Josh than Gemma thought.

This book is the total rom-com package. It’s laugh out loud funny, has a cute romance, meddling family, and characters who are so easy to love. But it’s also much more than that as it deals with the serious issue of infertility. Yes, some things here happen more quickly than they would in real life with IVF access and treatments, but this story shines an honest look at the devastating effects of infertility and the difficulty that, as the authors note highlights, 1 in 8 couples has with infertility.

I adored this romance and I’m so grateful to NetGalley and Swift and Lewis Publishing for the advanced copy in exchange for my review!

I am so happy that I read this book! Gemma and Josh are such quirky and loveable characters. Josh and Gemma Make a Baby brings awareness to infertility and loss, and is one of the best rom-coms I’ve read in a while. I would definitely recommend this book and am hoping for a sequel! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.

What a heartfelt and fun reading! I giggled so much and couldn’t stop rooting for the romance to really develop!

All the best romance tropes were included in this one (brother’s best friend is my fave!) and while being a funny romcom, with an impossible contract (a.k.a. making a baby as a busniess request haha), i was glad to see the IVF journey so detailed. Infertility is one of the topics not discussed enough in books, let alone romance book, so this was a positive experince!

Thank you to NetGalley and Swift & Lewis Publishing for the chance to read an early copy of this book!

A romantic comedy about IVF is a tall order, but I mostly think the book succeeds. It's certainly given me a lot of food for thought. The relationship between Josh and Gemma proceeds in a predictable but delightful way, and the background of fertility struggles is an interesting element. I appreciate that the title and cover make it extremely clear what's going to happen, as I know there have been other popular books about fertility struggles that upset readers due to a surprise miracle baby. Here, the heroine has endometriosis, goes through IVF with at least one unsuccessful round, and then ends the book in the second trimester of pregnancy (with, of course, the implication of a happily ever after!). She also joins an IVF support group, with women who have been trying for much longer than her. I appreciated the sense of community and the discussion of topics that are important to women but often don't come up in romance. I had some quibbles with the book, probably due to being very attuned to this topic. Insurance doesn't come up, which helps the book be light and escapist, but I wish there had been some reference to how prohibitively expensive fertility procedures can be. There is also a major scene in the book where Gemma's first round of IVF results in a pregnancy and she immediately celebrates and takes it for granted that she's "done" before learning a few days later it was a chemical pregnancy. There's a reason there's such a strong convention around women not sharing news of their pregnancy widely until further along, and it was surprising that Gemma was so naive and that her doctors did not educate her on the possibilities. Finally, her successful round of IVF and pregnancy takes place in the epilogue--essentially, it seems like once the emotional conflict is resolved, the fertility elements are just a bonus, which doesn't really fit with the rest of the book especially because there's a time jump between the IVF and her fourth month of pregnancy, when it could have been fulfilling to see her navigate the uncertainty of the first trimester and Josh to support her.

Ultimately I think this is an important book to serve as a conversation starter and cover topics that we don't see enough in romance, which is too often the land of the miracle baby. I look forward to seeing what others think!

Absolutely adored this story! Gemma took a bit to grow on me - she was cringy, awkward, and unlikable at times, but by the end I loved her character. Josh is ideal book boyfriend material *chefs kiss*. He was so sweet and supportive even when Gemma was unkind to him. I loved watching their relationship develop and grow. I also liked how it touched on real-life struggles (IVF). A must read if you enjoy romcoms.

This was a super cute and goofy read that hit all my favorite tropes, especially brother's best friend.

I really appreciated reading a romance book about infertility because I feel like that is not a common theme within romance books. I loved seeing the progression of Josh and Gemma as well as they dealt with IVF and other challenges.

Overall this was a fun and enjoyable read.

I enjoyed this book quite a lot in the first 40% but then I started to get a little bored and found it to be dragging on too much. It didn't really read like a 32-year-old woman was the protagonist, being far too naive when it came to men. It was also frustrating to read about the ways she was belittled because of numerous things, particularly in her hometown.

I did enjoy reading her and Josh's relationship, it was endearing and cute, but I do wish we'd gotten a chance to see a glimpse further into the future. All in all, it was a cute read, and picked my interest back up towards the end (there were some funny moments too), but I wouldn't read it again. I had high expectations going in and they weren't met lmao

Unfortunately, I didn't really like this one. The characters seemed a bit immature, especially towards the beginning of the book. I also experienced a lot of second-hand embarrassment, which I don't love.

Thank you to NetGalley, Swift & Lewis Publishing, LLC & Sarah Ready for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.


Josh and Gemma Make a Baby is a sweet and funny romcom with some of my favorite tropes such as “brother best friend” and “friends to enemies to lovers”.
The FMC is a 32 year old successful social media specialist, divorced with fertility issues. And after many years of waiting for Mr.Right she decides that she's done waiting and that she will be trying to have a baby with in vitro fertilization (IVF).
The MMC is a dear family friend and Gemma brother's best friend, who happens to be the person that many years ago Gemma lost her virginity with. Josh is a famous comic autor who is dealing with his fathers health problems and that and his love for Gemma lead him to accept being Gemma´s sperm donor.
This book truly is funny but also is eye opening, it deals with a problem that so many women and couples struggle with and sometimes they may feel that nobody gets it. For me it was wonderful to see Josh be a lovely partner in every sense of the word with Gemma, he truly was there for everything. and her friends from the grup support were funny and well diverse, we got to see how different couples deal with infertility issues.
I don't think that the semi love triangle was necessary but I didn't hate it, I think I just didn't fully get how Gemma was attracted to Ian. And what I really didn't do not liked was Gemma´s mom, the woman was awful, and I can not imagem a mother talking to her daughter like that… calling her fat… that was a big no for me personally.
Overall it was a good book, and it will make me read more books by the lovely Sarah Ready.

I really loved this book. Because of the subject matter, please exercise caution if you think extensive talk of infertility, miscarriage, and IVF might be triggering. 

The opening chapters read a little like a recycled version of the opening to Bridget Jones's Diary. As such, I wasn't initially expecting much. However, once we got past that, I found myself enjoying it more and more. Gemma is a divorcee, who has given up on men. She's desperate to have a baby, despite her infertility issues. But she has a plan. Josh Lewenthal. Josh is her brother's best friend, and the man she lost her virginity to. She thinks he's a man-whore, and has lots of other preconceived ideas about him, but he has 'excellent genes', so she wants him to be her sperm donor. Josh has been keeping a secret though...

As they navigate IVF together, Gemma finds herself questioning everything she thought she knew about Josh. And herself. You can't help but root for them to get pregnant, and for them to inevitably become a couple. Josh is SO adorably sweet, funny, and kind. Seriously, get yourself a man who'll ring you repeatedly to help you out when you're super horny... 😉 I loved their obvious chemistry, even if Gemma is oblivious for half of the book. It was also refreshing to see the journey Gemma (and her family) went on because judgemental definitely ran in the family. The interactions between the fertility help group were funny and often poignant, although I did find the ending a little over-simplified.

But be warned, you will need a tissue or ten for this one. It really does pack an emotional punch. If you love stories with (at least) one of the leads pining for the other, this one is for you. Though I saw the twist coming, and couldn't see what on earth Gemma saw in her boss anyway, the sweet moments between Josh and Gemma more than made up for that. I will definitely be reading more of Sarah Ready's work. 

*Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to give an honest review on both the eArc, and Audiobook (which was beautifully read by Erin Mallon*

Overall Rating: ❤❤❤❤❤
Heat Rating: 🔥🔥🔥
Emotional Rating: 😂😂💓💓😢😢😢

This book was such a surprise! I was instantly captivated and in some ways, have found that the blurb and front page, did not reflect the amazing story of Gemma and Josh, having a baby. Gemma Jacobs is in her 30s and has a great job working for self-help guru Ian Fortune. Yet her New Year’s resolution to have a baby, is not that easy. She needs to find a sperm donor and to undergo IVF and Josh Lewenthal, ticks all the boxes. She has known him forever, as he is her brother’s best friend, he is funny, healthy and good-looking. So when Josh agrees, Gemma soon finds that it is not only a baby that she wants.
What makes this book stand out, is its ability to develop secondary characters who are so engaging and have their own distinct personalities. I found myself wondering what the future would hold for Gemma’s IVF friends as well as her sister, who all play such an essential role in supporting Gemma. And then there is Josh, who we see through Gemma’s eyes, gradually change as she realises that he is not the teenage boy that she once crushed on. Just thinking of Josh and Gemma, makes me smile and I can assure you, that this book and all its characters, will reverberate long after you finish reading.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.