This book was totally not necessary. I went into it thinking it would be cute and show the struggles of being a parent and I was completely bamboozled. The story took a very weird turn and was very confusing. The author should have given Josh and Gemma a better sequel.

Thank you, Sarah Ready, W.W. Crown and Netgalley for the gifted eARC.

Everything couldn't be more perfect for Josh and Gemma. Their lives are going as planned, they're getting married, they're having a baby, and life is good. Then, one day, everything changes. Instead of the happily ever after they planned, they are now finding themselves fighting to get back the love that they once had. Plus, Ian Fortune is back in their lives and causing tension. Will Josh and Gemma find their way back to their happily ever after, or is their love gone forever?

After loving the first Josh & Gemma book, I was really excited to read this one. Unfortunately, the second just wasn't as good as the first. I was hoping for a sweet follow-up story to the first novel, but that's not what this was. It didn't even feel like I was reading a romance novel. I felt like I was reading a women's fiction/family drama novel. There really wasn't very much interaction between Josh and Gemma in this story at all. Gemma had more meaningful interactions with Ian than she did with Josh. I would recommend reading Josh & Gemma Make A Baby before reading this novel so you have the needed background on the characters and story. However, if you are looking for just a fun, light-hearted rom-com stick with just the first book and skip the second.

Josh and Gemma the Second Time Around was definitely not what I was expecting, but in a good way. I loved Josh and Gemma Make a Baby and was very excited to read this sequel. Great twist, right at the beginning. I really enjoyed learning more about Ian Fortune and his personal growth. HEA, of course, because YAY!

Thank you to Sarah Ready, Swift & Lewis Publishing, LLC, and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 rounding up.
There were parts of this book I loved more than the first, but then it started to lull a bit around the 40% mark. Not at all like the first book and I really liked that about this!

The first book left us on such a cliffhanger that I needed to know what happened next with Gemma and Josh! I did not expect this. Again, Sarah Ready touched on the struggles we women face when trying to get pregnant, being pregnant and child birth. Showing Gemma experience preeclampsia and then eclampsia and ultimately end up in a comma because of it was something I'd never seen before in a book and I appreciated how it was portrayed for those who may not be familiar with the condition. Ready really had me wondering what the heck had happened when Gemma woke up to see Ian in her room and not Josh and her baby. I did not expect half of what happened next in the book, especially the part that connected Josh and Ian, which I gotta admit felt a little far fetched at first. I appreciate Ready showing the story of Gemma's struggle to feel and how she managed to get back to that as well as the story of Ian's mother and how she suffered a traumatic brain injury. It explained a lot about why Ian was the way he was and showed that he wasn't all bad.
I loved how Josh and Gemma ended up reconnecting and that they finally got their "ever after, together, sometimes happy, sometimes not, but always together. In love."

Thank you Sarah Ready for the words you wrote in the acknowledgements section <3

"If you're struggling - it's okay. If you make mistakes - it's okay. If you don't know if you're going to get through it - you will. It's okay. You are strong and more resilient than you ever thought possible." This was the 4th Sarah Ready book I'd read (in less than 2 weeks :P) and I love that she always touches on the hard things in life; the struggles, the sad stories and how each and every character was able to make it past all of that and find happiness.

Thankyou to Netgalley, the publisher and Sarah Ready for allowing me to read this ARC.
I did not realise that this book was a sequel and i have not read the first one.
I didnt mind this book and will read more from this author in the future.
Will go and find the first book in this series and watch it.
Thankyou.
3/5 stars

I would not call this a Romance book. I think it fits much better under the Contemporary category because even though there is a romantic plot, the story is more about what happens in life when certain substances hit the fan.

Overall, I liked the story and had fun meeting Josh and Gemma once again. Josh is the sweetest. Loved the slow burn. Did I need more of Ian? Not really.

One thing driving me nuts was them misunderstanding each other all the time and making wrong assumptions based on what they saw. I felt like this book was one error on their part after another.

I feel that for this book to make a bit more sense I should have definitely read the first book. I did not realise this was a sequel and so felt a bit confused going into it. For that reason the book was a bit harder to understand going into it but I did learn the vague plot slowly through reading the book.
I did find this book really cute but I feel that it would have been better with if I had read the first one.
Josh and Emma were really cute but there was a lack of chemistry I felt.
It was however a really easy and cute read.

I just need to preface this by saying that Josh Lewenthal still has my heart.

I have a lot of emotions after reading this book. This book just elicited…a lot from me.
Josh and Gemma Make a Baby was one of my favorite books of last year if not of all time, so I was so excited for the sequel…and then I read the synopsis. Let’s just say that I avoided this book like the plague because I didn’t want it to ruin the magic of the first book if it ruined their love story. I’ll start off by saying that this book definitely didn’t ruin the first book for me, but I also think that it didn’t need to exist.

I actually really liked the main drama of the book. I already felt so connected to the characters that watching them go through that made me feel more than I’ve felt while reading a book for so long that it made me love it and read it so fast. If this book would have just been Josh and Gemma rediscovering their love, I would have adored it.

One problem…WHY WAS THIS BOOK MORE ABOUT IAN FORTUNE THAN JOSH OR GEMMA?! I bet if I counted the amount of pages that Josh is on and Ian is on, they would be about the same, if Ian’s not on more. And I just don’t get why! I liked him getting redeemed and the idea that everyone deserves redemption, especially factoring in his backstory, but why not just give him a separate book for that? Like give him a love story to his own, don’t have him encroach on Josh and Gemma’s!

This book definitely gets props for making me scream out loud at it! I also like that while I think most of Gemma’s choices were really stupid, it reflected somebody that had gone through the trauma she had.
This book is getting this rating simply for the first 15% and the last 15%, aka, the parts of the book that Josh is actually a part of! If I hadn’t already been extremely attached to him because of the first book, I don’t think this book would have received this rating.

I really enjoyed this! I really liked the first book so when I saw this one on NetGalley I was excited! This book dealt and focused more on heavier topics than the first book which was more of a rom com. But it felt like realistic problems that a couple might go through when things get tough. While it did have its light-hearted moments, it isn’t a light-hearted book. I still really enjoyed it despite this! I enjoyed Ian’s character arc in this book! Overall, I really liked this and it was a 4.5 for me! The narration was great as well!

Thank you to NetGalley, Swift & Lewis Publishing, Independent Book Publishers Association, and Members Audiobooks in exchange for an honest review!

This book, like many rom-coms are a little bit over the top. It was very cute though. It sometimes read as more of a contemporary drama at times, with some parts that definitely made a bit sad with the heaviness of the topics.

Honestly though, I enjoyed there wasn't as much spotlight on the baby as I thought there would be. That may be controversial, but it's my truth. 🤣 As much as I don't enjoy babies, I really enjoy this couple overall.

A big thank you to Swift & Lewis Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Josh and Gemma the Second Time Around - 3/5 ⭐️
📍Sequel
📍Second Chance Romance
📍 Slow Burn

I liked the concept of this second book and it was interesting reading about what happens after the "happily ever after". Even though I didn't love Ian’s redemption story I recommend this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Swift & Lewis Publishing LLC for the gifted copy!

I loved the first book featuring these characters, so I was really excited to dive into this one…and it didn’t disappoint! I will say this book had a completely different feel to it, when compared to the first book. I felt that this one had much heavier content, and wasn’t as hopeful throughout as the first. While I always rooted for Gemma and Josh to reconnect, there were so many times where I was devastated with the turn of events and wondered if there would be a happy ending. Traumatic brain injuries are such a delicate topic, and I feel as though the author captured the struggles for not only the person it happens to, but also the family around them. I really loved this book- highly recommend!

I really enjoyed the first book and wasn’t really sure how a sequel would go. I’ll be honest, I wanted to stop listening about 20% through the audiobook but kept going on hopes it would get better. It had ups and downs and I often felt like certain issues would come up out of nowhere. I liked that it highlighted some issues a relationship may have but it was to an extreme. The first book really could have been a standalone.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sarah Ready, and Swift & Lewis publishing LLC for allowing me to listen to the audiobook to review.

I have a knack for reading series & sequels out of order, but I do my best to enjoy them on their own! This was a sequel to Josh & Gemma Make A Baby, and other than some light confusion about side characters for a chapter or so, it was pretty easy to catch up with. However, the main plot led to a lack of chemistry between Josh & Gemma, which just made this hard to get into. I ended up becoming a lot more emotionally invested in this than I expected to, but there was seriously sooo much miscommunication it was painful at times! Overall a cute read, but probably lands better as a sequel than as a standalone.

Thank you to NetGalley and Swift & Lewis Publishing for both the ARC and ALC of this book!
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. The first one was great, and while I wasn’t sure of there being a need for a sequel at the beginning, I was more and more convinced and pleased as I read/listened!

I will say I LOVED Josh and Gemma Make a Baby, like loved. I swooned so hard for Josh at the end of it (Gemma was hit or miss for me) that I was so excited for this to come out. With all the anticipation I was NOT expecting what I just read. I'm all for reading about the realities of life putting a wedge between couples (I'm looking at you Pam and Jim final season of the Office) but that was wow.... a lot. I will say I read this book in an instant because I loved reading more about Josh and Gemma, I just had a hard time with everything that happens in the first half of the book. If you read the first book (let's be real you can NOT read this without reading the first) then I would recommend it but with a warning is all. It will hurt you before it heals you.

This book made me so emotional! The beginning was perfect. I was able to really connect to their relationship in a short amount of time, which was a great foundation for the rest of the book. I loved being able to see the little ways she was falling in love again even when she didn’t. All in all, just a beautiful and sweet book.

Josh and Jemma are going to have a baby, are crazy in love, and about to get married. Until something happens, and life throws a wrench - no, the whole toolbox - into their plans. In the aftermath, will they find their way back to each other?

Oh. My. Gosh. I devoured this book. It was amazing. Funny, sweet, heartbreaking, life affirming. I cried, I giggled, I swooned. I liked Josh and Jemma, and I was absolutely enthralled with the story and invested in their lives and the outcome of their relationship.

There is so much I am taking away from this book... I actually ran out of space for quotes in my reading journal. There were some cute illustrations in the book, and I loved the quotes at the top of each chapter.

I didn't read the first book, Josh and Jemma Make a Baby, and I got through this one fine, because there was enough explanation to extrapolate what must have happened in that book. I would recommend, though, if you can, to read the first book before you read the Second Time Around. I will probably get the first book to read, then read this one again. It is definitely worth the time it would take for a re-read. If you want to walk away with new understanding of what it means to love, despite drastic changes in your life, then you need to read this story.

*I was given a digital ARC by NetGalley and I am voluntarily writing this review.

JOSH AND GEMMA THE SECOND TIME AROUND follows Josh and Gemma after they solidify their relationship in the first book and embark on parenthood and marriage. One of the things that Sarah Ready teased about this sequel was that it would be “what happens after the happy ever after?” I braced myself for the emotional rollercoaster—which was wild and crazy—but I absolutely loved it. Having loved the first book, I was so excited and curious to see what was next for Josh and Gemma. And let me tell you—Sarah Ready delivered.

I’m so happy we got the “after”, even if it did tug at all my heartstrings. On what was supposed to be one of the happiest days of their life, tragedy strikes our happy couple, and we were left to read about the aftermath for Gemma, and Josh’s subsequent and unwavering faith in their relationship. Honestly, there were times when I wasn’t sure if they would get their second happily ever after, but we are in great hands with Sarah’s storytelling. It takes a little while to get there, but it is so worth it. I know I’ve talked about how much I love Sarah’s writing, and this book is no different. There is so much heart and emotion within these pages and I know it’s a story that will stay with me for a while.

As someone who loves an HEA, I really appreciated this take on what comes after, and reading about the strength of Josh and Gemma’s love. Though this story can be read as a standalone, you’ll appreciate it so much more if you read the first book, JOSH AND GEMMA MAKE A BABY, before you dive in. Be sure to have some tissues handy when you do! Huge thanks to the publisher and the author for an early copy of JOSH AND GEMMA. It’s out now for you to enjoy!