Loved this one!! I wasn’t sure how a second romance book was going to be done with Josh and Gemma, especially since I loved the first one so much but the author did a great job with it and I ended up really enjoying it. And Ian became my favorite character 😂 This is kind of a second chance romance? I really don’t know what trope/s this book is haha! I have definitely become a fan of Sarah Ready and will read anything g she writes. The narrator did a good job on the audiobook as well.

I am just starting to listen to audiobooks and I love it! The narration was absolutely amazing, great to follow along with the text.

"Josh and Gemma the second time around" is a continuation of "Josh and Gemma make a baby".

The story is a romantic comedy, but with other elements as well. It starts a few months after we left the couple, and without spoiling anything, reveals the fall from grace and the fight the new happily ever after.

In all fairness, this book wasn't needed. Josh and Gemma's story was perfect as it was, and I feel like this book kind of ruined it. However, I still enjoyed most of it.

The writing was fabulous, as always, and I loved both main characters. There are two things that I want to focus on. The first one being Ian. If you are not a fan of redemption arcs, then I wouldn't recommend this book, because this is exactly that. I saw that a few other reviewers commented on it, and I completely agree with them that this book is more Ian's character redemption, than a romantic love story between Josh and Gemma. But!, the difference with me, is that I actually enjoyed it, because I love a good villain.

The second thing that I want to point out, and let my frustrations seen on is MISUNDERSTANDING! Can authors please stop using this trope? I hate it so much. It's infuriating and pointless because if the characters were normal people they would've talked it out. I just find misunderstanding lazy as writing, and definitely remove stars from my books.

And because this was an audiobook, I can't not praise the narrator -Erin Mallon, because once again, she did a wonderful job telling this story.

<i>This book was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review </i>

This was a super cute forced second chance romance. I loved how Gemma had to find her way again and I honestly really liked how Ian fit in. I was so sure I’d hate him and he turned out to be a pretty neat character. It was cool to see their odd friendship and how it helped Gemma find her love for Josh again.

🌀Synopsis
Gemma passes out during her wedding ceremony. She had preeclampsia and ended up in a coma for a few months. When she wakes up, she can’t feel. Her brain is scrambled and the life she knew is no longer there.
Upon waking, she meets the daughter she was pregnant with and finally sees her fiancé, Josh. Only, she doesn’t feel love for him anymore. They vow a year to each other. Gemma is determined to find that love again.
The only obstacle is her ex boyfriend Ian. She sees him at the rehab center and a friendship starts to form. Gemma doesn’t like him but she actually feels emotions when she’s around him, making her want to spend more time with him.
It takes time, but Gemma finds feeling again. Once she starts to feel anger she realizes it’s similar to love and uses it to form her feelings for Josh. Though rocky, eventually they move forward into a new love together.

I've definitely got some mixed feelings about this book and I'm not entirely sure how I really feel about it... I loved the first book in this series (which I think is a must read if you want to give this one a try) and I still loved the connection between Josh and Gemma, and Josh is an absolute sweetheart of a character that I absolutely adored. I think at the end of the day I just didn't want these characters to go through anything that they did in this book.

It was definitely and interesting story and I think one that deserves to have been told. It's definitely dealing with some really heavy subject matter but some of the actions of the characters just made me so angry. I completely understand why Gemma was the way she was and I would get upset with myself for being angry at her which I think is part of the reason I don't know how to feel about this book.

Taking the story out of it and my emotions around the characters, the story is very well thought-out, the pacing fantastic, the writing style is great, and the narration was perfect for the story. The characters are well developed and I was emotionally invested in their story.

It's not a story I think was necessarily needed as I think Josh and Gemma's story was pretty well wrapped-up in the first book, but it was nice to revisit these characters and see them come through the other side with another happy ending.

✔️ Brother's Best Friend
✔️ Relationship in Crisis
✔️ Close Family
✔️ First Person Single POV

I loved the first book so I was super excited for this one. it really blew me away I love josh and Gemma and this one totally liked up to the first book. I highly recommend this series.

Recently joined NetGalley and have to say it’s fab. This was my first book and it was brilliant. Would describe this as a great holiday read. Plot was good. Not too confusing at all. All the characters were authentic and linked in well with one another so it was a seamless read. A love story willing the characters to stay together… or do they? You’ll have to read/ listen to find out!!! Loved the narrator too

I absolutely loved Josh and Gemma on the first book, and that continues on in this book.

I am a lover of series, another book after the first, or epilogues. I always want to know more + what happens next with the couple. This book gave me that.

Although there were a lot of ups and downs to get to where they needed to be, it was worth it.

This is the sequel to Josh and Gemma Make a Baby. I'll be honest - I didn't remember the first book. However, I caught up a bit while reading this book. Gemma and Josh are getting married, but she gets preeclampsia and faints during her vows. When she wakes up, she doesn't feel anything for Josh. To complicate things, her ex (who was the villain in the last book) is there, and she feels something (anger, but she feels something!). She's wondering if her love for Josh will ever come back.

3.5⭐
A big hiccup! Will there be a HEA?

I was surprised when I saw a sequel (Thanks Kat!). I remember loving Josh and Gemma's first book and IVF is such an unusual theme for a rom-com that I never thought would make a good plot for this genre but Sarah Ready handled it so well. I would recommend that you read Josh and Gemma Make a Baby first because this book picks up where the first one left off.

Josh and Gemma the Second Time Around begins with Josh and Gemma's wedding that didn't quite get to the "I DOs". I love the side characters both family and friends who are involved and now with a newborn.

I don't feel there needs to be a sequel to the first novel. I thought this premise was okay but the characters are the best part, especially, the "bad" guy, Ian Fortune! 😍 Friends, this one is spicy!🌶️🌶️🌶️

Erin Mallon did a wonderful job with the narration. I flew through this one!

This book wasn’t as good as the first one. The first part of the story drug on way too long. I felt like Josh and Gemma’s connection was completely gone. Sad bc I was looking forward to this one. Good narration though

3 STARS

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and Sarah Ready for providing me with an ARC of this audiobook.

I was excited to get a chance to delve back into the world of Josh and Gemma!
I really enjoyed this sequel and like how Ian got some redemption from being the worst character ever!!!!
Definitely recommend reading this!

3.5 *

I loved the first book! It really caught me by surprise. I was eager to read the second one!

I listened to the Audio and once again it was an excellent narration by Erin Mallon. She perfectly brings out the character of Gemma!

We left Josh and Gemma in a good place in the first book. Things were finally coming together. I liked the concept of this second book. It was interesting and the turn of events took me by surprise in the beginning. Things wavered a bit in the middle but I still liked this one. I'm not sure if it was needed but their love has certainly been solidified by the telling of this story. As far as a happily ever after one just never knows with Josh & Gemma!

I'd like to kindly thank NetGalley and Swift & Lewis Publishing LLC for granting me access to this Advance Listener Copy.

This was a great read! Fun and funny! I haven’t read this author before but I am glad to have discovered! The characters are impossible not to fall in love with!

DNF at 8%, so my review only reflects what I read. I didn't realize when I requested this book that it was a sequel, not a stand-alone. The beginning of the book started with Gemma telling Josh to "take care of her baby" while she left. I obviously do not know the details because I did not continue with the story, but that conversation was very off-putting to me as a mother. The section of the story that I read was slow-paced, and I didn't really connect with the characters.

3.5⭐

Book 2 ~ you definitely should read Josh and Gemma Make a Baby first.

Featuring ~ single 1st person POV, very minimal steamage, slow burn, second chance

I didn't read the blurb and just requested this one blind because I loved book 1 so much. I was expecting to enjoy this one much more than I did. I mean it was fine, but I wasn't really wowed. There wasn't much rom or com.

I really liked Josh a whole bunch more than Gemma. My heart broke for him. I know that she couldn't help what was happening with her feelings, but there was lack of communication, which I'm not a super big fan of.

Ian is brought back into the story, which was fine, but the reason why puts more of a damper on Josh and Gemma finding their way back to each other. I did like that whole twist though.

Narrated by Erin Mallon for 8 hours and 37 minutes, easy to follow at 2-2.5x. She did a fine job again.

Overall, this was just alright for me. I wanted a little more pizzazz. I will read another installment if there is one though.

*3.5 stars*

I liked the first book so much, so I was really interested to see what this second book was all about. After reading it, and to be completely honest, I’m still not sure if this second book was actually necessary. To me, the first book was incredible as it was, a standalone story.

There’s not really not much to add, the story just felt lackluster to me, like I wasn’t reading about the same characters that were in book 1. I still would say this was a bad book, I can totally see some people loving it, but it just didn’t do it for me personally.

Thank you to @netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Book wasn't at all what I expected. It has way more depth and seriousness to it than a light and breezy romance novel. I didn't realize it was a sequel and it read fine without having to read the previous one. Would have gotten more of their backstory and probably make their love story have more history to it. Josh and Gemma are having a baby and are about to get married. Something happens to change their whole life trajectory. This is the story of how they manage through this.

I absolutely loved the first book, Josh and Gemma Make a Baby, so as soon as I saw this on NetGalley, I had to request it!

I went into this story without really knowing anything about the plot. After the first chapter, I was like WHAT JUST HAPPENED?? It only got crazier from there as this is told from Gemma’s POV.

I loved the extra character depth of Ian, the ass from the first book. At first I didn’t understand why it was relevant to the story, but it gets to that eventually.

My only complaint was that I really felt Josh and Gemma had very bad communication skills with one another, leaving the other hurt for days at a time when a simple text or call could fix the issue at hand.

Overall, it was a great sequel. Yeah, it wasn’t needed, but it was still a very fun read with characters I loved in the past.

*Audiobook arc provided by Netgalley and Swift & Lewis Publishing LLC in exchange for an honest review.*

Josh and Gemma Make a Baby was a feel good book, Josh and Gemma the Second Time Around is a painful book. Everything is going great for the couple until a major life event happens. The test on their relationship isn’t something so easy to overcome and it was really 50/50 on if they’d be able to pull through. To be clear this sequel was entirely unnecessary as the first book was perfectly fine as a stand alone, but if you’re okay with seeing the tougher sides of a relationship it’s worth reading.

I think my favorite part was actually the relationship with Gemma and her mom though. Ian is back and his redemption arc isn’t really what I would consider a redemption arc. Surface level you could say it is but to me it came off more as a character being self aware and acknowledging who they are as a person and what the ramifications of that are.

As always Erin Mallon did an amazing job narrating.