Josh and Gemma the Second Time Around was a great listen! To make it clear - I hadn't read or listened to the first book, and honestly, this is a great stand alone. It's refreshing to start a book where the people are already established and together - I thought it would save some angst. (oh, Debby...) When the catalyst for their turmoil happens, it was heartbreaking and I ignored my family so that I could finish the book in one listening.

Ms. Ready has a way with words so that you can really feel what the characters are feeling and relate to the emotions. When Gemma was frustrated and scared, I could feel the anxiety she felt. When Josh was feeling scared and overwhelmed, it was the same. I was rooting for them to work it out and for a bit, I was worried.

The narrator did a great job of capturing the spirit of the characters and making them come alive.

I would love for their to be a third book to keep us up to date with Josh and Gemma and their families. I'm going back and reading the first book now so that I can see where it all began!

Josh & Gemma The Second Time Around
Sarah Ready

Rating💙💙💙💙💙

Highlights
📌Taunt Josh, he smirks.
Bully Josh, he laughs.
Hurt Josh, he shrugs.
When life kicks Josh in the face, he smiles.
His philosophy? If life gives you lemons, laugh.
But now, he’s not smiling, he’s not laughing, there’s no ironic gleam in his eyes or smirk on his face.
📌“Everyone can say it’s meant to be when things are good. Being in a relationship is easy when there’s plenty of money, or everyone’s healthy, or everybody has a job. But when somebody gets sick, or you go broke, or someone’s in trouble, that’s when you know whether your relationship is built on sand, or something stronger.”
📌“This may not be the life you want, but it’s the one you’ve got. Live it. Ian.”

Review

A wholesome romance where love grows in different ways and sometimes takes a backseat. Gemma has been planning on a backyard wedding, little did she know what it entailed, with stress levels running high that a very pregnant Gemma has a blackout but what happens when blackouts last for three whole months and leaves her a parting gift. What happens when love dies? What happens when there's no sky above will his love still stay strong?

A well written novel of drama, pain, heartache, medical issues, injury, pregnancy, self-doubt and most importantly rekindled romance all wrapped up with a neat bow with a gorgeous cover, the plot ever building up to the grand finale, the character's emotions running rampant and one character who can't feel, the characters are relatable and easy to love. Overall a book that romance lovers would absolutely devour in one sitting!!

OK y'all, I'm obsessed! Give me all the Sarah Ready books to read/review! While this is a sequel to another book, that I haven't read yet, it didn't matter. I was able to read it like it was the first book and it was fantastic! So much unrelenting love, along with wit and banter. All of my favorite things! Ready's comedic timing is excellent!

Gemma experiences a TBI (traumatic brain injury) and I really appreciated the author’s respect for how difficult it is to return to "normal life". Life isn't "normal" for most people after something like that. A new normal has to be learned and this novel really portrayed the process of relearning who you are now, who you will be going forward, what you want, what you need, what you can give to every situation, etc.

Josh and Gemma's relationship is beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. Everyone deserves to be loved like Josh loves Gemma! With that said...

Not really a spoiler per se but definitely giving part about the storyline away so proceed with caution:

The synopsis doesn't speak much on there being a relationship storyline outside of Gemma and Josh's, but there is one that I was obsessed with! I tend to root for the bad guy or the underdog and her writing style made it really easy to like him even when you should be hating him. Truly, every time he spoke I was laughing at his wit. Probably my favorite character I've ever read in a book so far!

I can't speak highly enough about this book! Anyone who likes romance books should definitely read this!

I enjoyed returning to the world of Josh and Gemma, because we don't often get to follow characters beyond their happily ever afters. But to be honest, my first thought when I finished listening to this, was that it was good but unnecessary.
Although everything fits in neatly by the end the story, I didn't feel the same emotional connection to it as I did to book one.

Sarah Ready is on her way to being an "auto-read" for me. I loved the story of Josh and Gemma make a baby, and the hilarity that was included in the novel. The second time around, I found it had a good deal of "realness" and drama included in it, which did take some time to adjust to after reading the first novel.

But then I realized, that although the story of it seemed "wild", the things they were going through, like the pregnancy complications, ARE for some people things that they will go through - so it is not so much "overdramatic" as it is showing those kind of extreme experiences are real and do happen, and here is how they can potentially turn out.

It always feels good to come back to characters you knew and loved, and to see them grow. I am not 100% sure I would read another Josh and Gemma book, because I wouldn't want to risk falling out of love with them. Although this book had me questioning by love of them at times, in the end, I am still here.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this audiobook.

Having read Josh and Gemma make a baby, I have all the time in the world for the very lovely Josh. When I read the blurb for Second time around, I was thinking - wait, what, - but there are some topics covered well, showing how relationships change, evolve and become stronger. The story ties up some threads from book one in a satisfying way. It's warm, funny and sad in parts and has definitely added to their story. I really love Erin Mallon's narration, she's great.

My first book from author Sarah Ready. And oh my goodness what a book it is! I know it is a sequel to Josh and Gemma make a baby, but TBH I had no idea when this ARC was approved, so I dived into it like a standalone. And let me say this it did not slow my reading process.
Sarah has made this book heartwarming yet angsty, inspiring and filled with sunshine. I admire her for writing about mental health issues so delicately.
This book is a sweet little package filled with love, kindness and an intriguing twist. A fast-paced yet gripping storyline and unpredictable characters will entertain you throughout. Read Josh and Gemma the Second Time Around and witness their happily ever after.

𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚂𝚠𝚒𝚏𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙻𝚎𝚠𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙻𝙻𝙲 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝙰𝚁𝙲 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙽𝚎𝚝𝙶𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚢.

I didn't know it was a sequel 😳 but it was brilliant and worked as a standalone.

The narrator was brilliant and I felt like Gemma was chatting with me directly.

Gemma’s inner dialogue got me in the feels and the use of months was so effective.

4.5 🌟

This book seemed so short to me, or maybe it somehow fell short even though I was so excited to read more about Gemma and Josh. I think the problem I mostly had is how fast we got into the *event* that changed everything, without getting any sort of major update/communication between the main characters. I also felt somewhat confused by Lisa - I'm not sure that initially it was explained what the extent of the relationship between her and Josh is, and it's almost as if Gemma and Josh skirted around that? I cannot imagine she didn't care to know what was going on once she saw the magazine covers. Also the complications that later resulted from the lack of this communication were sort of wild and easily avoided in my opinion.

Even though I prefer the first book in the series, I still very much enjoyed this continuation. I thought it was a great idea to develop Ian's character more. He completely changed in my eyes. I feel that he played a much larger part in the book than even Josh (and Gemma, sometimes), but I didn't mind. I hope we can get a book about Ian in the future, and that he can find love and happiness that we get to read/hear about.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing this book for a review!

I’m already a huge Sarah Ready fan. Her books are always so much fun, and of course I fell in love with Josh and Gemma in the first book Josh and Gemma make a baby, so obviously I couldn’t wait to see how this story progressed. However, the real star of this show was Ian. I enjoyed it and how it tied everything up in a nice neat bow. If you haven’t read any of Sarah Ready’s books yet, you should definitely check her out because her rom-coms are like a warm hug.

If you are looking for a cute slow burn second chance romance this one is for you. This book was cute but it could have used more pizzazz.

This book wasn’t my cup of tea, but it was very well done. When I saw the cover and the narrator, I chose this book on the spot. I barely skimmed the synopsis, because I just KNEW I would love it. Unfortunately I was mistaken, but that is more my own fault than the author’s. The trouble was that the prologue implied that there might be an unhappy ending, and I spent the entire rest of the book dreading the events that were foreshadowed. It was overall a fun read, but any sequel that follows a book that wrapped up so nicely with a happy ending will absolutely have some manufactured angst between the happily ever after couple.

I was able to read an audiobook review copy thanks to the publishers

Gemma is about to marry her soul mate, is heavily pregnant, then something dramatic happens.

From there the book goes rapidly downhill. It has a series of unlikely connections and misunderstandings and would have been much better had it been shorter

This was so unexpected in all the best ways. I expected a lighthearted feel-good romantic story. What I got was so much more, and all the emotions of love, happiness, angst, sorrow, pain, fear, heartbreak, joy, and satisfaction. With a little bit of laughter, and a little bit of spice, it's an inspirational journey to finding yourself again, and learning to love. While the topic is no stranger to me in my professional life, dealing with the trauma of TBI may be somewhat triggering for some. I was so fully invested in the characters and their journey that I did not want this one to end! The narrator did an amazing job of bringing this story to life. Definitely recommend it! Thanks so much to Sarah Ready, the publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this audiobook.

If you enjoyed Josh and Gemma Make a Baby (the first in this series), chances are you'll also enjoy Josh and Gemma the Second Time Around. Spoilers for the first book so if you haven't read that one yet, turn around now. Josh and Gemma are great. They're preparing for their wedding and the birth of their baby. Everything seems perfect. But perfection is impossible to hold onto so when something happens, they are forced to struggle with the unexpected. I really can't tell you what it is, otherwise it'd be a spoiler.

I will say, you have to suspend belief in a few parts of this book. I think it went just a little too far for the sake of a rom-com. However, I did enjoy this one and would recommend it if you liked the first.

Highly enjoyed this book. Just like the first book it deals with some harsh topics, even more so in this one.
It was great to see what happens after the "Happily ever after."
And even though this is a sequel, you could read it as a stand alone.
But I thoroughly enjoyed finding out the history of these characters.

I haven’t read the first book, so I’m missing some of the background, but even as a stand-alone, I enjoyed this book. The author gave us plenty of details to follow the story even if someone picked this up without reading the first. I didn’t expect it to be so intense right off the bat, but it followed it up with the sort of happy ending a romance reader is looking for. The plot twists and misunderstandings were well woven in the story and believable. The spice was well written. The passing of months bookended the book was a nice touch.

This book has more drama than a Telenovela.

The main Character, Gemma, goes into a coma on her wedding day as she's about to recite her vows, and pregnant with her first child. After 3 months in a coma, she tries to re kindle her relationships that she claims have lost that loving feeling for. She goes thru a series of unfortunate events with her former employer, Ian, who is the "Worlds most hated man." Ian shares his life story with Gemma after his poor attempt to make Gemma's fiancé, Josh jealous. Which just throws everything she knows about the people close to her thrown for a loop.

This book is part of a series that seems to be a requirement in order to understand some of the references.
I felt myself sympathizing for the almost husband, more than the women who just came out of a coma with a whole new set of life challenges. She' comes off as vapid and selfish,

Overall, this book was not for me. I almost DNF, but the awkward drama kept me questioning the motives of Gemma enough to finish.

It was ok. I didn't like it as much as the first. The characters felt bland and the motivations felt incoherent and inconsistent. Also the dialogue felt unnatural and stilted.

I wasn't convinced that this book needed a sequel, and I'm still not, especially since the plot came out of left field. However, I did really like the book! I liked the growth, and at first I wasn't super thrilled about the addition of a tragic backstory for a certain character because it felt like the narrative was trying to absolve them, but then it became very clear that that wasn't the case. As an entire concept, this plot was crazy. Somehow a marriage in crisis and a second chance romance and a hurt/comfort? Certainly like nothing else I've ever read before. Overall, I liked it, even if I didn't think it was super necessary.