Thank you so much for Ready or Not! This book is a refreshing breath of fresh air sure to break anyone out of a reading slump. This book is laugh-out-loud funny and so relatable! Highly recommend this book!

♥️I
♥️LOVED
♥️THIS
♥️Book

A must read!
I loved the characters development.
I loved the relationships between all the characters.
I loved the flow of the story.
Yup, loved everything!
I was so sad to get to the end of the book.
You need this book in your life
Cara Bastone is a new author to me. I want to read more written by her.

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I hope that you're ready (ha!) for this sweet book, Ready or Not. From the beginning, I was absorbed in Eve's journey - and greatly enjoyed her commentary along the way. Did I fall in love with Shep along the way? Maaaybeeeeee.

This book was absolute perfection. For fans of Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reed, I highly recommend Ready or Not. The cutest romance about how life always works out better than we could imagine.

This is the first book I have read of Cara Bastone's and I'm glad I was able to read it. I wanted to read this book because I fell in LOVE with the cover. I mean that cover is so beautiful and makes you want to be there. I have had the best luck judging a book by it's cover. This was another one I made a good choice with. This book gave me all the feels and had me laughing out loud. I had such a good time reading this book. You won't be able to not fall in love with all of these wonderful characters. I can't wait to read more of Cara's books. I would HIGHLY recommend this book. Grab a cup of coffee and take the day to read this fun book.


Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Random House, Dial Press Trade Paperback for allowing me to read this ARC for my honest opinion.

•Accidental pregnancy
•Love triangle
•Found family
•First person POV
•Slow burn

I've never been an accidental pregnancy trope girly but after falling in love with Out on a Limb a few months ago I began to have second thoughts. One book could be a fluke...why not try another...or two?

After finishing Ready or Not I can say that it is in fact not a fluke and I do love this trope!! That or I just love well written books with complicated, unconventional, deep down good to their bones characters.
Eve finds herself pregnant after a one night stand with a bartender she's met exactly once. Both of her parents passed away years ago, her siblings are twice her age and live halfway across the country, and her best friend is dealing with infertility issues of her own. The perfect storm of emotions to make her feel very alone. Despite feeling alone along the way, for the next nine months, those surrounding Eve prove that she is far from. This book was all about showing up. Showing up for yourself, for those who love you, and those who you've never even met but already love more than you ever thought possible.

I will say that somewhere in the middle it got a bit repetitive and slow for me. Even so, I couldn't wait to see what Eve's version happily ever after would look like. 4 solid stars. I would definitely recommend this & will read more of this author's work.

Eve, Shep, Ethan, Willa, Nurse Louise… there isn’t a character not to love. Everything in this novel feels so real and genuine. The tingly love feelings, to the anxiousness of navigating an unexpected pregnancy, to supportive but heartbreaking reality of friends- I loved it all!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Recently Released on Feb 13, 2024.

I loved this book! It made me emotional and care about Eve and what she was going through. If a book can make me cry and laugh at the same time it's a 5/5 in my book! Thank you Netgalley and Cara Bastone for this read!

I've spent the last couple of weeks slowly reading this book, and it definitely lived up to the gorgeous cover. It starts with a trope most people don't seem to like (surprise pregnancy), but don't judge this book by that one single trope. It's so much more than that. It's found family, friends-to-lovers, slow-burn, takes place in NYC, and really spoke to my mama heart.
⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

2.75⭐️

I'm sadly a bit disappointed in this one...

I've never rolled my eyes when an "accidental/surprise pregnancy" trope is involved. I actually think these circumstances make character growth much more admirable.

Unfortunately, what irritated me was the baby daddy situation. Initially, there were no problems, and the baby daddy, Ethan, wasn't in your face too much.
Enter Shep! He's Eve's best friend's brother. He stepped up for Eve when his sister started taking a step back. Honestly, it's tragic that we didn't get more romantic scenes with them together.
But getting back to the baby daddy... just when you finally feel the connection between Shep and Eve, Ethan's there. I wanted to throw something so bad because it took a turn where you didn't know who Eve would eventually end up with, and I hated that.

There's also an unnecessary "woke-ness" going on surrounding an unborn baby. That's all I'm going to say about that...

Ready or Not has a messy but beautiful plot, which was what I was hoping for when I requested it. Obviously, I was hoping for more romance and less triangle romance vibes. But it was interesting to see how Eve started to adapt and accept her future. It's not perfect by any means but definitely enjoyable :)

*𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘙𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘤! 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯*

I had no idea what this book was about and went in blind. I just loved the cover and knew I wanted to read it. This was such a heartwarming story and the slow burn was just perfect! I really enjoyed the characters and their personalities. The complexity of of an unplanned pregnancy and all of the feelings associated with it were put on full display! I would definitely read more by this author!

"Ready or Not" by Cara Bastone is a heartwarming and utterly charming romance that snuck up on me like a delightful surprise. Readers are transported to Brooklyn's cozy streets and are met with unexpected twists.

Meet Eve. She’s a woman content with her life. Sure, her romantic history involves two disappointing men with the same name, but at least she knows what to expect. Until an uncharacteristic one-night stand leads to an unplanned pregnancy, cracking open all her relationships.

Meet Shep. He’s her best friend’s older brother and suddenly, he's checking in, ordering surprise lunches, and… kind of hot. Then there's the baby's father, supportive yet conflicted. Will family and unexpected connections sneak up on Eve and challenge her assumptions?

Bastone's writing was the warm hug I needed from a book. She infused humour, heart, and authenticity into the pages. This unexpected love story swept me away and left me appreciating love, in all forms.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dial Press Trade Paperback of Random House Publishing Group for a temporary e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

At the start of this novel, main character Eve has just discovered that she is accidentally pregnant from a very uncharacteristic for her one night stand. The rest of her book finds her navigating the pregnancy, along with her relationships with friends, family, her job, and a very sweet slow burn romance.

This was such a cute one, I really enjoyed reading it. The romance was great, but I also loved that the book was about so much more than that, including both the depth of Eve’s friendship with childhood friend Willa, and her struggles to figure out what she wants in life. Eve’s approach to figuring out the logistics of future life with a baby, especially financially, felt a tad unrealistic for someone living in very expensive NYC, but I forgave it because the book was such a fun read. I think this was the first time I’ve ever read the surprise pregnancy trope, but at least in this book it was a good story!

I feel confident this will end up on my Best of 2024 list. This is an absolutely beautiful story told with skill and grace.

The unexpected pregnancy trope generally isn't one I love but here it's done perfectly. It's also done atypically, which I appreciate. The friends to lovers portion is so sweet and there's a lot of caretaking. There's humurous moments throughout the book but also deep feelings and difficult situations. I liked that the story is focused on the pregnancy and the heroine more than on the romance itself.

My only complaint about this novel is that I wanted MORE.

I've listened to several of Cara Bastone's audiobooks but this is the first book I've read by the author. I finished this book in ONE sitting. Very cute and very bingeable. The story takes place over 9-months after the FMC accidentally gets pregnant. A best friend's sibling, friends-to-lovers, accidental pregnancy trope perfect for any romance lover. The MMC made it to my best book boyfriends list - he was so sweet from page one!

Shep, Shep, Shep! That’s how I have to start this review. I fell in LOVE, Bebe! But I’m getting ahead of myself. My favorite discovery lately in books is Friends to Lovers. Cara Bastone knocks this trope out the park with this unexpected pregnancy rom-com. I adored this story, the relationships built, and maybe because I haven’t read much of these tropes, it didn’t feel stereotypical. Shep was the perfect cinnamon roll/golden retriever MMC who was so caring and always put Eve, the FMC first. I fell so hard and when it came to the spicy scenes…my goodness Shep is sexy!

Another thing I enjoyed was the hardship you also witness not only from Eve’s point of view, but also Ethan. You really see how he reacts to the pregnancy, his decisions based on it, and the emotional rolls it takes on his life as well. It’s not as in depth as Eve’s, due to this story being told from her POV, but it does give him justice in this life changing event.

I also truly loved Cara Bastone’s writing. It was comedic and modern, like a friend telling you about something that happened to them that day. It really gave life to Eve. But not only did Bastone write this character well, Alex Finke (the narrator) absolutely KILLED IT! I am a huge fan of her now and how she portrayed Eve made me feel like I knew her. She was animated, had great comedic timing, and did her male voices really well. Big fan!

The only reason why I gave it four stars is because I felt that something was missing from the story and I think it has to do with Ethan. Though he was included well into the story, I wish we had a few chapters from his POV and the problems he was having at home with his girlfriend. It would have made the story feel more complete to me.

All in all, loved this book! I can’t wait to see what else Cara Bastone has in store.

I can’t get over how much this book moved me. I honestly did not think I would enjoy this book as much as I did because pregnancy is not really my thing , but I decided to give it a shot and I am so glad I did! This book is so sweet and emotional, and you can just tell that the author poured her heart writing this novel and it shows. It really explained motherhood in a way that makes me appreciate my mom and all my mom friends and makes me understand their viewpoint so much more. It really is a beautiful book.

The first chapter opens with Eve at the OB gyns office to get confirmation that she is in fact pregnant after taking a bunch of home pregnancy tests. I really loved her inner thoughts and how relatable her character was during this opening scene. We find out Eve got pregnant after having a one-night stand and see how some of Eve’s friends have various reactions to her pregnancy, which can be a stress test for any friendship. We also see Eve’s emotional struggle she breaks the news to Will, who is the father of her baby and is back together with the woman he had recently broken up when they had gotten together. Which brings to question whether Will was going to be involved with the baby at all.

During all this turmoil, Shep, her best friend’s brother and long-time friend became one of the most adorable characters in the book. This man was a golden retriever of a man and just had me squealing as he became incredibly supportive of Eve without asking for anything in return.

Overall, this book really brought a lot of emotions for me, and I felt that this book has a lot of depth to it. I bet this would be a well-received book if given to a new mom or even a mom to be.

I want to thank NetGalley and Penguin Random House for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Ready or Not is a sweet, friends-to-lovers romance. I wasn't sure what to expect since unplanned pregnancies is not a trope I usually read, but I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this story. It's told from Eve's POV from the beginning to end of her pregnancy. I felt sorry for her so many times, I can't imagine going through a pregnancy with very little support. Shep is an absolute gem. I loved him from the beginning and desperately wanted him to have his own HEA. I really liked Cara Bastone's Audible Original audiobooks, so I had a feeling I would enjoy this story as well. I would recommend this book for anyone who wants a sweet, slow burn, unplanned pregnancy romance. Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for sending this book for review consideration.

This little book sucked me in quickly and didn’t let go! Read in less than 24 hours which doesn’t happen often. This adorable story is about Eve finding her path in life while thrusted into motherhood with an unplanned pregnancy from a one night stand with a very handsome bartender. Her journey tugged at my heart strings, made me cry, get that excited feeling when the love between two people starts blooming and loving how it all ends.

I couldn't put this book down! It was so sweet and realistic and raw. I've never even been pregnant but I could relate to everything the main character was feeling. I would love to read more by this author!