Thank you NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
I usually am not a huge fan of pregnancy in my reading, but the author did so well writing this book that it was not an "ick" for me! I really felt I was alongside Eve's journey with pregnancy,
her career, and her relationships. This book had so many great tropes of found family, second chance, unexpected pregnancy, slow burn, and friends to lovers! I absolutely loved to see Eve's and Shep's love grow and how well he treated her! He is such a golden retriever book boyfriend!

I did read an adorable book called Ready or Not this weekend. It is the story of a woman who ends up pregnant after a one-night stand and how she navigates such a drastic change to her single life. It was emotional, sweet, laugh out loud funny and had the best swoonworthy romance. It is really a story about moving forward, embracing the love and support of friends, learning how to communicate and realizing that you are stronger than you think you are. I just loved this heartwarming book.

What a wonderful book and a love letter to new moms. The romance was cute but the memories - fear and anticipation of having a baby are central in this book.

This was my first time Cara Bastone's books and it was a nice surprise. I'm a fan of pregnancy trope so when I first read the description of this book I knew I was going to like it. What I'm not a fan of is love triangle and I was really worried how Cara was going to work the relationships between Eve, Shep and Ethan so I really liked how she didn't make them to be a love triangle and found out a way to make all of them to have a nice relationship. It was a cute read overall.

Thank you to PRHAudio for my complimentary audiobook, and to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for my complimentary eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own

Ready or Not was a heartfelt ode to pregnancy.
Cara perfectly captures all the highs, lows and in betweens of those precious 9 months of anticipation.

I absolutely adored the dynamic between Eve and Shep. Every woman needs a strong dependable partner to help navigate all the ups and downs of those crazy pregnancy months. I’m so glad she had him ! The baby daddy just had to many issues going on to be fully present.

I binged this one in a day as Alex Finke has a very pleasant voice. I enjoyed all her character voices.

[Review to be shared socially on Goodreads, Amazon, and in my Facebook reading group, Coffee & a Good Book on 14 February.]

I downloaded this book yesterday, and I'm here ready to review it today. It's a quick read that I couldn't put down.

Eve is a single girl in her early 30s who finds herself unexpectedly pregnant after a one night stand. Even though she is confused and scared, she chooses to continue with the pregnancy. In making that choice, we get to see what it means for the future father, his life, her career, and her best friend, who is experiencing infertility. As we follow Eve's pregnancy, we get all of her ups and downs, including super steamy scenes. It's an enjoyable read, and we see Eve mature from a self centered young adult into a fully aware, soon to be mother.

There is absolutely no pro-choice/pro-life debate or theme. If there had been, I would have chucked this book entirely. However, if infertility, loss and pregnancy are your triggers, it's best to put this one on hold until you are ready to read about those themes.

Thank you to the publisher, Random House Publishing Group for the complimentary ebook via NetGalley, in exchange for a review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

this book does have a really sweet romance story, but it’s so much more than that. i really loved seeing eve’s journey through pregnancy & motherhood. i think the author wrote all of her relationships with other characters really well. they all seemed so genuine, and this wasn’t a book where i felt like i needed to have other characters povs because i could feel what they were feeling from eve’s pov. shep my sweet boy <3 i love him so much, this is a case where you can just tell how much he genuinely cares and loves her and i felt so lucky to read their journey. also enjoyed that there is no third-act breakup!

this is the cutest book i have ever read!!! eve + shep have my whole heart. this book was witty, emotional, and real. i felt like i was experiencing everything along with Eve as I read. i appreciated how real the inner dialogue was, as if I was experiencing all her thoughts with her. I loved Shep so, so much! He’s a childhood best friend and a true gentleman who constantly goes out of his way to try to make Eve’s pregnancy just a tiny bit easier. I also appreciated the growth Ethan showed towards the end of the book and the little found family the 4 of them now have. All in all, this was an extremely cute and emotional romance read for those who love or are okay with best friends brother and pregnancy tropes.

Eve’s life takes an unexpected turn when a one-night stand leads to an unplanned pregnancy. Her best friend’s brother, Shep, becomes her support system and sparks a new attraction. The baby’s father is torn, adding complications. Over nine months, Eve discovers that family and love can surprise you.

This funny, heartwarming novel is fast-paced with well-developed and likable characters. The emotion is deep and real. Eve and Shep are adorable together.

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

THIS. BOOK. Was a freaking delight!!!

I giddy devoured this book in just a few days & alwaaaaaays looked forward to picking it up again. I know that the plot of accidental pregnancy scares some readers, but this was done right! The plot is gave us everything we needed. From a hilarious laugh out loud MFC, to a jealous baby daddy, friend to lovers, New York vibes, slow burn, & a golden retriever best guy friend. 🥹 I would 100% recommend this to anyone & everyone!! This heartfelt romance will fill your cracks & crevices by the end. Cara knocked it out of the park & I can’t wait to see what she has up her sleeve in the future.

Oh. My. God.

The prettiest cover.
The gentlest story.
Eve was a surprise baby who is having a surprise baby. She's so unassuming until she finally shines.
Shep is The Best.
Filled with gorgeous, funny, heartwarming, emotional, romantic moments.
Love is sometimes found in the ordinary, right by your side.

So so so good. I'm gonna need a moment. I literally want to turn to the first page and start all over again.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I! loved! this! book!

I fell in love with eve as a main character so quickly — she’s messy, funny, and 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 and I saw so much if myself in her from the start

and while I wouldn't necessarily categorize this book as a romance, it is a story about love

it is romantic, yes, but the love I’m talking about is not the slow burn, childhood friends-to-lovers romance between eve and shep — not really. the 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 love, the real heart of this story is the love eve grew for the child she was bringing into the world. the beauty of someone who had always felt like a bit of a lone wolf finding her inner peace in what was the most unexpected way possible for her. a love like that? a love between a mother and child? it took my breath away.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦. 𝘐’𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐’𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦, 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺.

did you think I forgot about shep?

where do I begin. shep is the definition of a dream man. attentive, thoughtful, self-sacrificing, and unwavering in his support. I think people sometimes confuse a golden retriever personality with immaturity and while he first comes across as a little lost on the page, he is the rock in the storm of eve’s life, an anchor in an unknown harbor

and it was so refreshing to have a character like his be there to remind eve that she’s not alone, never has been, and never will be

that love and support have always been there, she was just too distracted by life to see it

we know pregnancy is beautiful but complicated and cara managed to give us such an honest look at what being it means not just to a mother who is physically, literally growing a whole human being while going about her daily life (women are incredible), but how it touches the lives of every person around her — her sweet but distant brothers, her best friend who is on her own complex pregnancy journey, the cute guy at the bar that she spent one non-committed night with who is trying figure out his own life, let alone be responsible for another, the mother(s) she lost, the maternal figure she found in nurse louise

I laughed, I cried, and I felt warm and fuzzy and whole by the end — like reading eve’s journey somehow transformed me too

I finished the last third of this on an amtrak train back to to new york and while I will always love reading books that wisk me away to magical places, reading this story set in brooklyn felt very much felt like coming home

“𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘰,” 𝘐 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳.

NOW GO READ THIS BOOK, BYE

𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺, 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸

A single lady in NYC ends up pregnant after a one night stand. Eve is in a precarious position in all aspects of life, including with her best friend and her job. She's having a hard time telling people what she wants. But the sudden forced changes of being pregnant put her on a complicated crash course toward finding the life she is meant to live, whether she's ready or not. This was a fun, hard to put down rom-com.

First of all, I love this cover so much!

Second of all, I usually am not all about an unplanned pregnancy trope. But since it happens basically right from the beginning and is the catalyst for everything that happens versus it being a mid way twist or something, it totally worked for me.

Lastly, I loved these characters. Bastone really did a great job writing loveable characters that all had their own quirks and flaws, but ones that you rooted for every step of the way. I love that she didn't have a "villain" that wrecked everything or got in the way. That made this story seem so much more believable and relatable. I also loved the dynamic of Eve and her best friend Willa and the challenges that came with Willa, who has been trying to have a baby, seeing her BFF pregnant with a baby she didn't plan for. That added a whole other element that was very beautiful and poignant.

I enjoyed every minute of this one - it really was a beautiful romcom that just made me smile from beginning to end.

Thank you to Netgalley & Random House for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion!

When I first started reading this book I did not know what to think since right away you realize it’s a pregnancy trope. I am not a fan but I pushed my way through. And what unraveled was a cute banter sweet story nothing what I was expecting (without giving spoilers) and that last couple of chapters were filled with so much swoon my heart couldn’t take it! Also no third act breakup so that also helped my heart lol. Highly recommend!



I received this arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 4 💫

Synopsis
Eve Hatch is pregnant! And it’s unexpected, the outcome of a one night stand. Her planned pregnancy turns into a blessing, as her old friend Shep is by her side through 9 months of pregnancy, while the father decides what he should do - does he want to be in the child’s life?

The Review
The cover of this book is simply gorgeous. How could you not want to pick it up? The beginning of the book had me cracking up, and I immediately fell in love with Eve’s character. The story was super cute, and Shep was such a wonderful guy, so filled with love and admiration that it made it so hard to put this book down because I wanted to soak up every sweet moment of his and Eve’s friendship. The relationships in this book were well written and you could tell that Willa, Shep, and Eve had been lifelong friends. At certain points I thought maybe Ethan and Eve could have given a relationship a go, but I knew where the story was going, but it was still in the back of my mind the whole time.

Final Thoughts
Pick-up this book if you’re looking for a heartwarming story that will give you a little chuckle, but constantly make you smile.

Of Note
The book did have a detailed spicy 🌶️ scene and mentions of infertility.

Tropes
💛 Friends to Lovers
💛 Best friend’s brother
💛 Soulmates
💛 Sudden/unexpected baby

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group, Dial Press Trade Paperback, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book!

This is not your average unexpected pregnancy book – first off, you find out (besides on the BEAUTIFUL cover and in the summary) in the first few pages. This was a new author to me, and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but I was loving this book! While it was only told from Eve’s POV, I felt like we got to know the other characters pretty well, and I loved some of the side characters – specifically Nurse Blank/Nurse Louise. While I cannot confirm, I felt like the feelings and descriptions Eve had throughout her pregnancy were accurate and relatable. I was obsessed with Shep, and just really enjoyed this story as a whole. It wasn’t overly romantic, so I think readers who aren’t a fan of the romance genre would also enjoy. There was so much going on in this story, but in a great way. Eve is just figuring out life in general – her friendships, family, career, lovelife - all while dealing with loss and pregnancy!

Tropes:
- Surprise pregnancy
- Friends to lovers
- Best friend’s brother
- Slow burn

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing for this ARC!

As a woman in her thirties, I was very intrigued by this one. It’s a fast paced and heartwarming story overall, with a very conversational writing style.

I really liked all of the characters, and they all had such different and unique reactions to the situation at hand. There were great moments that explored female friendship fertility struggles.

The star of the show for me (obviously) was Shep. He was a quiet presence from the beginning, but the slow shift in their relationship was so satisfying.

Content warning: pregnancy (like the entire book is about pregnancy)

"A surprise pregnancy leads to even more life-changing revelations in this heartfelt, slow-burn, friends-to-lovers romance of found family and unexpected love."

This was a great depiction of what a surprise pregnancy is like, especially with someone that you might not consider to be a long-term partner. It is also a slow-burn, so it takes up until about 80% to finally get a spicy scene between the two love interests. I also really appreciated how the author wrote about gender/sex of the baby and pronouns (well-done!). Overall, it was an enjoyable read and I absolutely adored Shep (he gave off major golden retriever vibes...but in a healthy way).

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Random House, and the author, Cara Bastone, for an Advance Readers Copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest review/opinions.

This book is a slow starter. At the beginning I thought it might be good, but forgettable. By the end I felt like I'd lived through everything right alongside the characters, had been pregnant myself, and was moving into the apartment right with them. It was all so vivid and embodied.

I'm dealing with a death in my life, not the coming of a new life, but it was also weirdly cathartic. The feeling of dealing with an overnight change in situation was remarkably similar. When Eve felt uniquely alone, I could relate. The relief and comfort of Shep not being shy and jumping in to help was familiar as well. As was the feeling of some people being weird about it. It was the perfect thing to read at this stage of grief.