I read the first book of the series and loved Josh and Gemma. Sadly, this book fell a little flat for me. I agree with others who say it felt like the book was rushed through. It was a little over dramatic for me when the first was sweet and set a nice pace.

I really liked the concept of the book with everything that happened but I felt like Josh(who is the MMC) wasn't even that present and I thought Gemma became a not likable character. I did not care for the redemption arc of Ian who was so ick in the first book.

I do really like Sarah Ready's writing and that redeemed the book. I think maybe that is why I had such a reaction to the characters. They are very well written. I would definitely read something from her again.

Thank you to NetGalley, Swift&Lewis Publishing, and Sarah Ready for the e-ARC. This review is my own opinion.

Am I ovulating, or is this book a tear-jerker? *Dabs tears daintily as I finish folding laundry.*😭😭😭

Let me be clear... I’m not the type to cry normally. Small humans and dogs are usually the only things that get me? I definitely prefer to cry on the inside.. like Cameron Diaz...

But some books – like this one? You just have to have a good cry as you fold your husband's 56,712 pairs of gym socks and be ok with it. (A note for the trolls – my husband works harder than any man I’ve ever met and is a damn good man on top of it -- so yes, I’m happy to lovingly fold his socks and put away his laundry if he’s just too tired to do it. 🥰)

THOUGHTS:
- Absolutely loved exploring what happens to a person’s psyche when they experience parental abandonment. Society treated mental health as a frivolous afterthought for much too long and this book highlights that we’re JUST now beginning to understand how traumas will affect people.
- Discussions around fertility IVF, miscarriages, difficult pregnancies etc can be very sensitive, but it’s awesome to see a happy romance structured around these struggles! All relationships take work – but especially those plagued by issues that others without experience cannot possibly understand. If you loved Colleen Hoover’s ‘All Your Perfects’ – you’ll absolutely love ‘Josh and Gemma the Second Time Around’!!
- Real couples and real relationships are always so great to read. SO much of the smutty romance world is designed to give us brain candy to shamelessly listen to while we go about mundane tasks, but as I was saying about the sock folding above, it’s the little things and the real things that really make relationships happy and whole. 🖤🖤🖤

FAVORITE QUOTE:
“…. Sometimes things have to get really, really bad before they get better.” – Sometimes they just really do.

NOTES:
- Second in the series
- A reallll tear-jerker
- CWs: Miscarriage, infertility, parental abandonment

**I received this book for free as an advanced reader copy, but all thoughts are my own. – SLR 🖤

I may not have enjoyed this story as much as most, because I have not read the first book. However, the story was super cute, the writing flowed well. This was not my usual taste in romance novels, maybe because it’s the sequel, but it was still a good read nonetheless. I am sure for people who have read the first, the continuation of Josh and Gemma’s story would be more enjoyable!

This book felt different to most romance books because it felt very, very realistic. I like it that author found a beautiful way to show how not every relationship is perfect after falling in love, and to express real and understable feelings. Still—there were moments/scenes that felt incomplete, like something was missing. And so many miscommunication moments for my sake.
Anyways, I really liked and enjoyed this book. The story was really interesting and it kept my attention all the time. It was emotional and touching.
Thanks to the author, to the publisher and to NetGalley for a copy of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Swift & Lewis Publishing LLC for giving me an ARC!

So i wasn’t aware that this was a sequel (oopsies) , but i still found myself loving this book. it was a pretty heavy story, so proceed with caution. but i do think it was written SO well!!

Sooo . . . I didn't know this was a sequel so I didn't read book one prior. I think it might have helped me have some more background information, but I still very much enjoyed this as if it were a standalone. I will go read Book 1, however, because I enjoyed this one.

Gemma had a traumatic experience that leaves her not remember how to FEEL (the emotional kind not the physical kind). When she tells Josh she doesn't feel love for him, he's crushed. But they both so hard to find a way back to the place they were. She even struggles with feelings for her daughter, Hope.

The only person evoking any feelings in Gemma is her former boss, Ian Fortune, who we all love to hate. And I won't lie, he grew on me as I went through this book.

This was a beautifully told story of how love evolves and changes, even when you continue to remember how to feel.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Swift & Lewis Publishing LLC for allowing me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review!

I was super excited when I saw that there's going to be a sequel to Josh and Gemma make a baby but while I really enjoyed the first book, this one was quite disappointing. The entire concept of the book was interesting, but I still felt like this sequel wasn't needed. I felt like I was watching a telenovela, all those big events, traumatic backstory reveal, lots of miscommunication and those spicy scenes one after the other was a bit too much for me personally (don't get me wrong, I can really appreciate a good spicy scene).

Erin Mallon did a fantastic job narrating this book and it made my reading experience much more fun!

Thanks to NetGalley for this arc.

TW: Pregnancy illness, hospital, trauma,

I had no idea that Sarah was making a sequel to Josh and Gemma make a baby, but I was thrilled to read the second one and learn about the baby, etc.
I could not put this book down, as I was so invested in both Josh and Gemma and how the relationship would pan out. I got a bit frustrated about how the storyline was going, as it felt like things were missing in parts (a bit rushed).
If you love rom-coms, this book is for you.

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

Sarah Ready, what have you done? I need a weighted blanket for the ringer you've put me through!

When we last saw Josh and Gemma (in 'Josh and Gemma Make a Baby'), IVF was successful and they were waiting for their baby to be born, with Josh proposing to Gemma.

Now they're ready to get married, only for pre-eclampsia to strike at the altar, no less, with Gemma in a coma for months. Only for her to wake up and say she can't feel any love for Josh. A heartbroken Josh is left trying to juggle his successful career, their baby, while Gemma has to deal with life with a brain injury, a baby, and work her way through her feelings and the trauma.

Adding to the complications are the return of her boss Ian Fortune, a man who stole and passed off Josh's work as his own.

This book truly tests the wedding vow 'in sickness and in health'.

I had to put this book down and read it in stages. At times I had to skim it (don't worry I did return). Not because this book was awful, in fact, quite the opposite. I had to put this down and read something lighter because I was so invested in this story, and the emotions it evoked.

I think this book represents a leap in Sarah Ready's writing from the first book. It's heartbreaking, poignant, but, thankfully, full of hope. When the dawn broke and I got to the end I honestly felt like I was friends with these characters.

It's a huge risk to write a sequel to a love story, because you have to break them apart in order to put them together. Otherwise you have to make the main characters from side characters of the first book.

If I had any quibble, I think it would be the return of Ian Fortune and the revelations involved in that. I would've preferred that be resolved in the first book. At times I also couldn't help but wonder if both books would've been better off merged as one, cutting out the parts in the first book that didn't sit well with me. At any rate I am wondering out loud and should add this is merely my thoughts, which in no way affects my overall big love for this book.

I hope Sarah Ready one day can give us a special novella (take my money please!) where we get to see Josh and Gemma further in the future with life in less choppier waters because they have weathered it all.

Thanks to Netgalley and Swift & Lewis Publishing for the ARC. I have pre-ordered my own copy.

This book was utterly impossible for me to put down. I binged the first half of it on audio, completely flabbergasted by the turn of events for my much-loved characters from the first book, and then sat down in bed and finished the rest of it in one night. I really just needed to make sure things would be OK for Josh and Gemma and their baby.

Sarah Ready has certainly succeeded at writing books that pull me right in and drop me into the lives of her characters and I am here for it.

3.5/5 stars
This book is very different compared to typical romance novels. It feels more realistic and a read for someone who is looking for something a little different than normal. Im not sure if it was my cup of tea exactly, but I did like it. What I did like was how realistic it could be at times, not every relationship is perfect after falling and love and I think this novel captures that. There were some moments that felt incomplete, like seeing Gemma going shopping with her mom. It felt like something was missing at times and could have been more developed. There were also many instances of lack of communication which made reading this frustrating at times.

This is a New Adult/Romance/Women's Fiction book, which is the second book in a series. I haven't read the first book, but this book was easy to understand, and it can be read as a standalone.

The story is about a woman called Gemma, and her fiance Josh, who are about to be married. Gemma is pregnant with their first child, which they are both really excited about. At the wedding ceremony, Gemma gets sick unexpectedly, and their whole world is turned upside down. Will they be able to survive what happens next?

I really enjoyed reading this book. The story was really interesting and it kept me engrossed. Heartwarming and emotional, this book will appeal to anyone who loves a good romance or family story. I highly recommend both the ebook and the audiobook, as both are great!

Many thanks to the author, narrator, publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

After making a agreement to conceive a child using IVF. Gemma and her brothers childhood best friend Josh quickly fell in love.

On the day of their wedding and Gemma at 34 weeks pregnant what possibly could go wrong?

I read the first installment of the series of Josh and Gemma Make a Baby and I instantly loved the book and the story line.

Having read, Josh and Gemma the 2nd Time Around. The story started to infuriate me. This wasn't in a bad way, I was just really frustrated about what was happening to the characters in the story I had to keep reading to ensure everything was going to be OK.

I did like the book however, I felt it did take a cheesy turn towards the end. I would definitely recommend this as a cosy comfort read.

3.5 stars!

"Josh And Gemma Make a Baby" was one of my favorite books of 2022. I laughed, cried, and felt all the feelings. I was so excited to get my hands on this sequel because romances with established couples going through challenges are one of my favorite types of stories to read.

Unfortunately, this book didn't live up to the hype I set up for it in my head.

Here we have Josh and Gemma, already engaged, expecting, and living their 'happily ever after'—until an accident shatters their perfect little bubble. They find themselves trying to rekindle that romantic spark and rebuild their shaken relationship amidst over-the-top and seemingly impossible situations.

This book is still full of the same emotion and beautiful family aspect as the one before, but I honestly can’t say it created the same lasting impact on me. Josh was his same lovely, superior romance hero self, and I loved him for that. I couldn’t say the same for Gemma, though. She was still the same quirky character as before, but somehow the events in this book made her out to be more of an unlikeable character, one I couldn’t fully support up until the end. There were many times when I wanted to shake her and yell at her for having the worst communication skills I’ve ever read in a book.

As harsh as this may sound, I thought that Josh was too good for her in this sequel that I almost wanted to forget that this sequel exists.

Criticism aside, I still think this book is a testament to Sarah Ready’s writing skills. She’s still amazing at weaving romance with women’s fiction. Because of that, I’m still keen on picking up more of her work, even though this one somehow missed the mark.


tw: illness, hospitalization, car accident, injury detail

<b>“‘I can't be sorry any of this happened,’ I say. ‘Because it showed me how many ways there are to love.’”</b>

(Thank you to NetGalley and WWCrown for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)
I surprised across this sequel immediately after finishing [book:Josh and Gemma Make a Baby], which had been on my TBR for a while, and that I really enjoyed as a slow burn, just-friends-turn-into-something-more. It wasn’t perfect (⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ for being properly swoony but just sort of allowing people to be awful to Gemma – especially her mom – and not really calling them out on it) but an enjoyable story nonetheless.

Josh and Gemma are expecting their baby in just a few weeks, blissfully in love and experiencing wild success in their careers. Gemma is literally about to walk down the aisle when everything suddenly goes black… and she wakes up three months later, having been in a coma from an eclampsia-induced seizure. When she wakes, her ex/former boss/world’s most hated man Ian Fortune is by her side, her daughter is a stranger, and Josh is nowhere to be seen, except on the cover of a gossip magazine that implies he’s sleeping with the actress starring in his comic’s TV adaptation. Josh hurries back, but to Gemma’s horror, she doesn’t feel anything – including love for her fiancée – only numbness. So she vows to relearn how to love him.

So it is with some sadness that I share that I had a hard time with this sequel. I really can’t stand it when exes-turned-villains get a second run in which they again behave abominably – in this case, Ian basically stalking Gemma and wearing her down and refusing to take no for answer – and get rewarded for it. Whether we’re supposed to believe Ian really has a shot, or if he’s telling the truth when he says he’s trying to goad Josh into action, is beside the point.

Moreover, and this is where I think I really struggled, is that Josh – in the title! supposedly our hero! – was barely in this story. And it just felt so out-of-character from the guy we got to know in <i>…Make a Baby</i>. He spends a lot of time in LA, which I suppose was forgivable when everyone thought Gemma might be in a coma forever, but (a) he had a newborn, maybe motherless baby he should have been home caring for! and (b) once Gemma woke up, he should have moved heaven and earth to stay by her side and help her with her recovery. He also was strangely out of tune with Gemma’s struggles, and he’s guilty of one of my least favorite tropes (running away rather than allowing an explanation) not once, but twice!

I also wondered about the way people treat Gemma’s mental and emotional issues. She absolutely should have been in intensive therapy (not just OT). And while I know it’s true that sometimes TBI does permanently change someone’s personality, the way some people – particularly Dylan, holy sh*t what he said was unforgivable – either treated it as a given or shrugged and said Gemma should just hope for the best really rubbed me the wrong way.

This book was saved for me by the third act. Ian’s behavior is at least explained, and while I don’t believe he deserves to be fully redeemed the way the book seems to want him to be, his motivations are at least clear. And I especially loved Gemma’s realization that she never stopped loving Josh, just that her love had changed, and would continue to change their whole lives.

<blockquote>
"It was so dark." I look into his dark brown eyes, at the light shining in them.
"I'm sorry," he whispers.
He wraps me in his arms and I lay my head on his chest. My cheek presses against his soft t-shirt and I breathe in his smell.
"No. I'm glad," I tell him. "Before, everything in my life was so bright that I only noticed the big things. The big love. The big joy. The big happiness."
I rub my fingers over the stubble on his chin. It feels soft and scratchy at the same time. "But when everything went dark and quiet, there was room to notice the small things."
His hand moves to my back, and ever so slowly, he starts to rub his hand up and down my spine. My heart speeds up at his touch.
"It took me a bit," I tell him, "my eyes had to adjust. But then, with all the bright gone, I got to concentrate on the quiet, and the little, and all those things I'd never noticed before.
</blockquote>

[book:Josh and Gemma the Second Time Around] by [author:Sarah Ready]
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 2.5 stars rounded up.
🌶️ 🌶️ Midwesterners who like Jell-O molds think this is spicy, but it’s really just a little heat
🥧🧁🍰🥮🌭 Both too much and not enough weird desserts. Some just desserts. Definitely not enough barbecue cocktail weenies
☕️ ☕️ ☕️ Too much stolen coffee

I also listened to parts of the audiobooks both this and <i>…Make a Baby</i> and Erin Mallon does a commendable job. Not too … squeaky… the way some narrators can be.

I was so excited when this sequel was announced. I wish it was a little bit longer, I felt like I got through it too fast. I love Sarah’s writing because even if I feel like a ridiculous situation is happening, the writing is so good that it doesn’t bother me. I need to work on my writing skills to describe how her writing makes me feel!

Love doesn’t die. At least, if it does, that doesn’t mean you can’t breathe life back into it and experience it a second time around.

-second chance at love, this book is a sequel
-Gemma and Josh have their happily ever after, or do they?
-the new conflict didn’t seem necessary, I feel like this was sort of a don’t fix what’s not broken situation 😥
-the ending was cute but the drama and throughout felt a bit forced
-I will note that I didn’t read book 1 so that probably affected my rating
-thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC 🙌🏻💕

2.5/5 stars! The first book in this series was sweet and sassy, with the perfect mix of humor and angst before the main characters get together. However, I really struggled with this sequel. It felt unnecessary and like it took away from the magic of the first book. This book was overly dramatic and I couldn't connect with the characters. It felt like the author was forced to write the sequel and put out a rushed product. I would read another story by this author because I loved "Josh and Gemma Make a Baby."

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

Perfect feel good, heart warming romance novel. Beginning really captured me, it was funny, witty, sarcastic. It did dragged a bit in the middle and towards the end. Wanted a bit more of that wit and sarcasm towards the end too. Other than that - simple, Hallmark, warm and fuzzy story. Good message about not giving up and striving to be better even when circumstances are less than perfect and always knowing that things work out at the end.

This was the perfect follow up book. I had read the first book and the characters were always there and I wondered what had happened with them. This was perfect. I highly enjoyed it and recommend it.
I just reviewed Josh and Gemma the Second Time Around by Sarah Ready. #JoshandGemmatheSecondTimeAround #NetGalley