Thank you so much for letting listen to this audiobook. I had forgotten that this is volume two. So in the beginning I struggled a little to get into the story. But then I really liked it.

The story had me hooked from the very beginning and I just had to know what happened. I really enjoyed that it was filled with every emotion you would want from a good book and I would love to read more.

The narrator was amazing and really brought the story to life.

After reading and enjoying Josh and Gemma Make a Baby by Sarah Ready, I jumped at the chance to snag an early copy of the audiobook for Ready's sequel. After how loved up Josh and Gemma turned out to be in their first outing I had already autoinserted their happily ever after. A marriage, a new baby, happy hearts and a smooth ride. So jokes on me (lol).

Josh and Gemma, who’s 8 months pregnant, are finally at the altar getting ready to say I do, when everything goes wrong and all future plans are put on hold. Months later, it feels like everything has changed for Gemma. The person she was and the way she sees the world and everyone in it is different, and it will be the biggest test of her relationship with Josh yet to see if they can find their way through these new challenges and get back on the road to their happy ending. Hello, The Vow.

I’ve seen some say the sequel isn't necessary, and in a way, I agree. Spoiler: the characters end up in the same place at the end of the day. BUT I think some important topics and themes are discussed. And though I hate the miscommunication trope and therefore wanted to rip my hair out for a chunk of the book. I think it's well worth a read. If you’re looking for escapism and warm fuzzies, this may not be your book. If you want a satisfying emotional arc that shows a couple having to deal with real-life problems and find their way through them, it’s perfect!

Topics from post partum depression, learning that love evolves and grows with us, revenge isn't always satisfying, it's never too late to be who you want to be, are covered. And despite the difficult conversations, there's still a ton of warmth, fun, laughs, and yes, love. The narration is fabulous. I kind of don't want another book in this series, but Ready writes it, I will be reading it.

I relly liked Josh and Gemma Make a Baby and was happy to find out that another book about Josh and Gemma was being published. This second book about the couple was not as good as the first one. I think I would have been happy to leave them where they were in the end of the first book. The audiobook is narrated superbly by Erin Mallon.
This book deals with some heavy subjects like mental health and brain damage. In the beginning Josh and Gemma are getting married and having a baby when something happens that changes the course of their lives. They have to find their way to each other again, being Josh and Gemma, but different.
Josh is my favorite character in these books. I was a little disappointed that he was not as much present in the story as I would have thought. This book is in general more about Ian Fortune. We learn his story and motivations. Also as much as Josh and Gemma wanted a baby in the first book, here the baby felt like a prop when Gemma was dealing with her own life. The other familiar characters were just as charming as I remembered from the firs book.
I think that Josh and Gemma do not need any more books. I would not mind reading a book about Ian Fortune, though.

We all have that friend who took a bit of adderall in college with the intention of pulling an all-nighter and instead ended up writing an unhinged screenplay based off the lifetime movies that we’re playing in the background.

That’s this book. It was perplexing, distressing, and made me laugh out loud more than once but not on purpose??

This is *definitely* going to hit all the rights spots for some readers, but it didn’t for me. I don’t like miscommunication tropes and I barely survived the first book’s will they/won’t they/just kiss already storyline. This book is all of that plus absolutely unhinged shenanigans.

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC. I didn’t *not* like it, but it did way too much all at once for me.

“Josh and Gemma the Second Time Around” is an emotional, fun and a real look into life after a wedding and a baby.

The story picks up where the last book left off. Gemma is pregnant and it’s almost wedding time for them. But as their relationship progresses, things they weren’t expecting come into play.

This book is raw and touches on things couples go through every day. Not everything is sunshine and roses all the time and I loved how this showed that. It’s a realistic look into what people can go through. Josh and Gemma are a great couple and will be relatable to a lot of people. Their banter was great and you can tell how well they mesh together. There were several plot twists that I didn’t see coming and they added so much to the storyline. I love how this book showed that everything isn’t perfect all the time and that’s okay.

Erin Mallon was phenomenal per the norm. I will never tire of listening to her. Her solo narration was great and her male voices are always so good.

I enjoyed the first book in the series and actually think this one has managed to do what a lot of sequels can't - it's better! The audiobook and narration were excellent and it added to the story.

The storyline in this book is stronger than the first and the relationship is much more believable.

I loved Josh and Gemma's dynamic and I would love to read more of them.

This was a fun, lighthearted read that I enjoyed throughout.

Gemma and Josh are about to get married when Gemma passes out and is in a coma from undiagnosed preeclampsia. After Gemma awakes months later, this becomes a forced second-chance love when Josh and Gemma decided to give it a year to get her to love him again. I read this as a stand-alone and it probably would have helped if I had read the first one. I loved the beginning and the ending of this book. However, lack of communication drives me crazy and that seems to happen in a ton of romcoms. People, just talk and tell others your feelings. When you assume things that’s when sh*t hits the fan! I was invested in the story and it was a quick and fun read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Swift & Lewis Publishing, LLC, and the wonderful Sarah Ready for the Advanced Readers Copy of Josh and Gemma the Second Time Around. My Thoughts and opinions are my own and my review is given voluntarily.

I received both the audio and eBook arc and I love reading along with the narrator. It creates such a beautiful movie in my head and allows me to create the scene and connect better to the characters and plot lines. The narrator Erin Mallon did a wonderful job bringing Gemma and Josh's relationship to life. The audio just added such a great dynamic to an already great storyline.

When I read Josh and Gemma Make a Baby last January I immediately fell in love with Gemma. Her character was so sweet and feisty. She reminded me a lot of myself. When we were introduced to Josh, I thought he was an arrogant jerk, but the more interactions I saw with Gemma, he grew on me. and the ending made me fall in love with Josh. I knew this was a storybook couple. I didn't expect there to be a second book to their story, so I put one together in my head and played out their happily ever after. When I saw that Sarah was writing a second part to their story I was so excited. Little did I know she was going to jerk at my heartstrings and have me in all the feels with this one.

Josh and Gemma the Second Time Around was a beautiful story of love, determination, and endurance. It shows just how much love can survive if you have faith and don't give up. Josh is 100% my new favorite book boyfriend/husband. Seeing how he never gives up on Gemma and their family, even when she feels nothing is beautiful. He pushes through and wants to show her love. and in the end, love endures. don't let me spoil it for you. Pick up a copy yourself and see for yourself.

and Sarah Ready, all I can say is please keep the storyline of Josh and Gemma Going. I would love to see their life unfold and their family grow. One of the sweetest book couples ever!

The following review was posted on my blog today, Thursday, January 26th, the day of publication. It will be shared on Twitter and Instagram today, and has already been posted on Goodreads. The blog post includes links to order the books and to its Goodreads page, so readers can add it to their to-be-read books.









“I loved you yesterday. (…) I love you today. (…) I’ll love you tomorrow.”

Author: Sarah Ready
Narrators: Erin Mallon

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 5 stars
Narration: 5 mikes
Spicy Meter: 4 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Describes eclampsia and memory loss after being in a coma. Contains explicit sexual content.

What happens after the happily ever after? That’s what we’re set to find out in this sequel. “Josh and Gemma the Second Time Around” follows Gemma as she readjusts to the reality that love sometimes isn’t what you think. It isn’t fireworks all the time. It isn’t a fairytale. It is hard, and it changes over time. After a critical event, Gemma is left feeling… nothing? Not even for Josh, the man (and baby daddy) who has always made her feel too much. Josh is willing to give it another go—but is Gemma?

Erin Mallon is something else. She’s slowly becoming my favorite female narrator, that’s all I’m saying. Her voice really took us through this heart-wrenching journey.

But, ultimately, this book is as heartbreaking as it is heartwarming. I am so mad at Sarah Ready for doing this to us, I legit could not handle it. But at the same time I am so grateful that she gave us more Josh and Gemma.

Throughout this book, we get to see more of the characters we loved and hated the first time around. In the first book we got to explore heavy topics like infertility, IVF, and miscarriages. In this second book we get to see what happens when life doesn’t go as expected. How “in sickness and in health” can be applied even before you’re officially married. We see Gemma land in a coma after suffering from pre-eclampsia. We see her lose her feelings. We see her come back.

I cannot recommend this series enough. Yes, it has nice tropes, like dating your brother’s best friend, etc., but it’s so much more than that. These books bring true human emotions, they explore narcissism, they describe trauma—Sarah Ready really exceeded my expectations with “Josh and Gemma the Second Time Around.”

If you click here, you’ll be redirected to Goodreads, so you can add the book to your TBR list.

Or you could click here, and be redirected to Amazon, so you can order the book.

ARC provided by NetGalley and Swift & Lewis Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: January 26, 2023

This book will take you through a roller coaster of emotions! I truly didn’t expect it to veer the way it did. On the day of Josh and Gemma’s wedding, Gemma ( who is weeks away from giving birth) collapses. She ends up being in a coma for three months. When she wakes up from the coma she doesn’t feel like herself. She has a hard time feeling any emotions at all. The story oscillates between extreme joy to extreme sadness. There are a whole lot of frustration and unknowns, and I can only imagine that’s exactly how it is for someone dealing with a traumatic brain injury.

The first book “Josh and Gemma Make a Baby” was much more lighthearted. While I didn’t expect to feel the weight of sadness throughout this read, it was extremely honest. This book shouldn’t be compared to book one because this book makes its own point. Life can change in an instant. The entire read felt so raw and visceral that I wondered if the author had personal experience with this topic. When I got to the end and read the acknowledgments I received my answer. She has. My heart broke a little more after reading that and I just wanted to send the author and her mom a big hug 🥹❤️

I do want you to know this book has some very uplifting moments as well as some hilarious scenes too. Josh and Gemma do find their way to happiness and because of the journey they go through the ending seems that much sweeter. You will truly feel the enduring love these two have for each other. It’s a beautiful story. It’s an honest story. Its a touching story. Most of all, it’s an epic reminder that we shouldn’t take life for granted. Not one single second. 4/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars (rounded up)!

Reading "Josh and Gemma Make a Baby" by Sarah Ready is a must if you want to enjoy "Josh and Gemma the Second Time Around" to the full extent. This book picks up right where we left Josh and Gemma, in love, pregnant, and ready to get married and have a baby. Unfortunately, there's a hiccup in their happily ever after. Can Josh and Gemma get back to the love they once knew?

This book is good! I thought it would be an unnecessary sequel. I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in this series, but it doesn't feel like a sequel needed to be written. I think this is an entertaining read. Ready alters the course of Gemma and Josh's lives enough to justify its existence. She asks some big, big questions here. She's not afraid to go deep and pretty dark with what happens to her characters. This is a really tough read at times in terms of its content. I was not prepared for this plot at all! Made me hug my husband a little bit tighter! I was also not expecting to like certain characters who attempt to redeem themselves after what happened in the first book! What happens to Gemma and Josh really tests the bonds and strength of their love in more ways than one. There is a lot of talk about love, but what does love look like in the face of extreme adversity and trauma? If these characters had been even slightly less developed, this book would not work at all, but because of Sarah Ready's excellent depth of character from the first story, we grow and learn and adapt and relearn with Gemma and Josh along the way. It got me in the feels more than once! Things do feel like they wobble and feel a bit long in the middle-end of the story.

I also loved Erin Mallon's audiobook narration. She breathes life into these characters, does wonderful voices, and has fantastic emotion in her voice!

Thank you to NetGalley, Sarah Ready, and Swift & Lewis Publishing, LLC, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles for providing me with an ARC copy of this book! All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated for my review.

Josh and Gemma are about to marry when Gemma experiences an eclampsia-induced seizure. After three months in a coma, she's disoriented, and she's lost touch with her emotions. Her doctor says there's a good chance she'll make a full recovery. Yet Gemma isn't sure she can ever feel the love for Josh that she did before. Can their relationship survive?

This is a funny, poignant emotional novel that I loved as much as the first book in the series. Josh is patient and supportive with Gemma during her recovery. The audiobook narration was well done. It's ultimately a joyful, uplifting story.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

I made the mistake of going into this one without reading the first book so I had to hit pause and go back to Josh and Gemma make a baby. I listened to the audiobook and I must say that the author picked great narrators! Often, the narrators don’t have that spunk and it makes me loose interest real fast. While the beginning was a bit slow, the second half of the book was good. This book had me feeling all the feels… one minute I was happy, the next I was sad and miserable but in the end it was all good. If you’ve read read the first book, you cannot and should not miss this one!

This is actually book 2 in a series, but it can be read or listened to as a standalone and that's what I did. This means I missed out on how Josh and Gemma got together and got pregnant, but book 2 starts while Gemma is still pregnant and when they are just about to get married.

Based on the synopsis I had expected a completely different story about how married life was just not what they had expected or perhaps about how having a baby changes relationship dynamics. The plot of this story took me by surprise so I don't want to give anything away by talking about it.

There were several twists and turns that I had not seen coming and the challenges Josh and Gemma faced were completely different from what I had been expecting. There were a few moments that made me giggle, but it was more of a sweet story with drama and not a laugh out loud kind of RomCom. I really enjoyed the narration and the story was also good.

Gemma and Josh have known each other for ages. They got together in "Josh and Gemma Make a Baby". It might be good to have read the first novel, before starting the sequel.

So what happens after the Happily Ever After of the first book? Do Gemma and Josh get married and have their first child together? It's complicated.

Right when Gemma is about to say "I do". things fall apart.

Yes, the premise was intriguing. Yes, I found some of it funny. Yes, I also found parts of it frustrating and very predictable. I don't want to spoil any part of the story here, but I saw the twists and turns coming from a mile off.

Let's say, when you ignore the obvious twist at the start, the rather weird 'medical' condition in the middle, this makes for an entertaining read, especially if you have read "Josh and Gemma Make a Baby" and liked it.

The audiobook is read by Erin Mallon, who does an excellent job.

I love Josh and Gemma and I was super happy to read their second book and see how everything turns out. And boy, what I ride it was. There definitely was a lot of emotion in this book and I think it really shows the importance of emotions. It also handles brain injury, in general, very well. It’s a serious topic and it’s handled quite well.
I was annoyed that Ian was such a big part of the middle part of the book, but I did realize it was necessary nearer the end. I’m happy for Josh and Gemma and their little family.
All in all, a very enjoyable book.

The narrator was good. I did mostly enjoy them and their voice. Sometimes, I felt a bit annoyed by Josh’s “voice”. It was very breathy at times but that is just my personal opinion.

Josh and Gemma make a baby was one of my favorite books of 2022, with so much humor, heart, and steam, I quickly fell in love with the characters. So when I saw Sarah Ready was writing a sequel, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. Many of the things i loved about the first book were present in the second book - which picks up right where book 1 left off. The characters are loveable and you can’t help but root for them. Sarah Ready’s writing is incredible and manages to hit all of the emotions - you’ll laugh out loud, you’ll cry, you’ll want to throw your book in frustration with the characters, and you might even blush over the steamy scenes. The array of emotions and how deeply you’ll feel them while reading this book is incredible.

However, the plot of this story was not my favorite. I’m not sure how many terrible things one couple can withstand, and the storyline felt so much heavier than the first. Because of that, I ended up not loving this book as much as the first.

Thanks to NetGalley and Swift & Lewis Publishing for the advance copy.

Ahhh, Josh and Gemma…love them.

This series is so much fun and infuriating in the best possible way.

In this 2nd book we get to hear more about Ian Fortune…yeah he’s a nightmare, I know…but every villain needs his origin story. We get that in book 2. It added a lot to the story.

Ian Fortune and Gemma both get some serious character development in this book. I sorta think Ian stole the show a few times. Once you read it you’ll know what I mean.

There is a lot of flirty banter in this one. We get a lot of perspective on this book too.

Towards the end you’ll get a nice helping of steam 🥵🔥 too. Sarah Ready writes perfect steamy scenes that are exactly what I’m looking for in a novel…not cheesy but not quite smut either. It’s good stuff. A perfectly sexy balance. 👌🏻👍🏻

I was just so fully immersed in this book. This is one of those situations where the book is just so good I’d be afraid they couldn’t do it justice on screen. BUT I’m totally here for it if they try. 🍿 🎥 It’s definitely a series I’d read again and one that I hope continues.

Only suggestion I have would be to use an actual male voice for Josh but I love this audio narrator overall.

Oh my gosh, Josh and Gemma the Second Time Around is crazy good y'all!

If you haven't read Sarah Ready's marvelous novel Josh and Gemma Make a Baby, you absolutely need to read that first. I highly recommend this unique, sweet, funny, and poignant series.

Gemma's story is fascinating, and I'm so glad we got to spend so much time getting to know the details behind Ian's history as well. Josh is adorable, nothing's changed there, and Gemma's wacky and nurturing mom gets some great scenes too.

Erin Mallon delivers a wonderful performance in the audio version of Josh and Gemma the Second Time Around! This is a diverse cast, and Ms. Mallon brings a unique voice which fits each character. Great emotion - whether it's a funny or sad scene, Erin Mallon brings it all in her narration.