This was an unexpected delight. After looking at reviews, I was worried this one would be too much of a slow burn for me. It did not feel like a slow burn at all and I loved the MC's quirkiness. Maybe it's also my own bias because my marriage was a friends to lovers, but I love that trope in books! I thought this one had a lot of heart without being a bummer due to the character circumstances.

This was a fun read. I loved the storyline, characters. Such an enjoyable read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Random House for the E-ARC.

All thoughts and opinions are honest and my own.

Accidental pregnancies are not usually my thing but this one did it well! It was SO beautiful, Even the cover was incredible, everything about it is great! Highly recommend it!

After an uncharacteristic one-night stand, Eve Hatch finds herself pregnant. While the "father" is supportive, his life is complicated, and Eve's best-friend, Willa, has issues of her own. To Eve's surprise, her strongest ally ends up being Willa's older brother, Shep, whom Eve has known since they were kids. This is a sweet, satisfying, slow-burn romance; a rom-com in book form.

thank you netgalley for this free e-arc. i enjoyed getting to know and love eve and her weird, little world. i thought the writing was well-done and funny. eve got a whole personality and inner thoughts that meant something to the reader. willa sucks as a friend, ethan was the worst. protect shep at any cost.

A one-night stand leads to an unexpected pregnancy, the consequences of which reverb through Eve Hatch's life. While I don't typically enjoy the unexpected pregnancy trope, I enjoyed this book. Since the pregnancy comes at the beginning, and not as the cause of conflict in the third act, I felt it worked better.

I thought it was a great romance and it pleasantly surprised me. The one thing that fell short for me is that the implications of a baby felt a bit glossed over. I would've liked to see a bit more discussion about the ways a baby would drastically change the character's life.

Overall, a good read!

This was a 2.5/5 for me. Eve just annoyed tf out of me. Eve finds herself pregnant from a 1 night stand. She has no familial support, has a low paying job she hates, is not with the baby dad and lives in a very small apt.. but she immediately accepts the fact that shes pregnant. we get close to zero insight into her decision making. she is extremely calm about pretty much everything even tho shes HAVING A BABY. I really liked Shep but it was just too slow of a burn to keep me engaged. I also thought their fore play while she was pregnant was icky.

I received an advanced copy of Ready or Not by Cara Bastone from the publisher Random House via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What It’s About: Eve Hatch is happy with her life. She has an amazing apartment in Brooklyn that is cozy and close to her childhood best friend, but far from her hometown and family, where people never quite got her. While her job isn’t quite the dream, she’s hopeful that her passion and hard work and being in the right place will get her the dream role. Yeah, sure her romantic life hasn’t been great, that’s fine, she knows what to expect. But then things go off the rails after she has an uncharacteristic one night stand and ends up pregnant, which seems to crack her life open. Her best friend who has suffered with infertility is struggling with Eve’s news and their friendship feels strained. Eve also finds herself drawn to Shep, her best friend’s brother, who is the one who has shown up for her like no one else. Eve finds that maybe her life needs some reexamination and works to make her life as ready as possible over the next four months.

What I Loved: This book was pure joy and delight! I know that a lot of people really don’t like the accidental pregnancy trope and I have agreed mostly in the past. But this book does it so well! To make it unique, the love interest is not the father of the baby. But there is so much good here, I want to just gush and gush about all the good things in this book. This book covers some very difficult topics including infertility and abusive relationships, but our character is outside of all those situations and it is done in a way that is not dismissive of the problems, but also not the focus. The book is about growing up, but it is also not unrelatable or not believable. Also, did I mention that Shep and Eve’s romance is truly one of the most wholesome romances but also there is significant steam here. This book is one of my favorite romances of the year and I just want everyone to read it.

What I Didn’t Like: Nothing stands out to be honest.

Who Should Read It: People looking for an exceptional romance book with a unique spin on a classic trope.

Summary: An unexpected pregnancy leads our character on a different pathway to her happily ever after.

This book had the feel of an early 2000's RomCom and I loved it! It was funny, beautiful and heartfelt. It is more than just a romance novel. It's about love, loss, friendship, and found family.

Although Eve's unexpected pregnancy complicates her life and relationships, in the end it helps her grow as a person, and I enjoyed seeing her character growth throughout the book.

I loved all the small sweet moments between Eve and Shep. He was so kind and just kept showing up for Eve, however and whenever she needed. He didn't try to force anything or make her feel like her being pregnant and having a baby was an inconvenience or bad.

I read an ARC of this book back in September and I loved it so much that I got the audiobook when it released (which is great & I highly recommend!!)

Tropes in this book:
-Childhood friends to lovers
-Best friend's brother
-Found family
-Surprise pregnancy
-Slow burn

*I had this review all written out months ago but I just now realized I never posted it! So sorry!

Ready or Not was a sweet novel that explores the idea of love and family. While I don't usually read pregnancy-based romance stories like this one, I found that it was a sweet and refreshing take on the trope.

Thank you #Netgalley for the copy

I really enjoyed this book! We follow Eve, a single young woman who is faced with a big decision to make that will change her life forever. She chooses to keep her unplanned pregnancy from a one night stand. The book is broken out into each trimester and the ups and downs that Eve faces. She luckily has the support of close friends and coworkers to help her as she needs, especially when she wants to do things on her own. Loved the connections that evolve and even at the very end during the delivery I almost got teary eyed reading how the characters came together.

An easy, heartwarming read. I appreciated the tension that came from a strained friendship, which isn't something I see executed well or explored frequently enough in romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dial Press for the eARC, and to PRH audio for the gifted audiobook! I can’t believe I waited so long to read this absolute gem. This is one of the best audiobooks I’ve heard this year. Alex Finke did an absolutely stunning job with the narration. Eve’s voice is so solid, her character comes to life and between the narration and writing her sense of self comes through so strongly. Each character is so well-written and distinct vocally too.

This is such a genuinely sweet story of an unexpected pregnancy, a well-known unpopular trope, but if this is an incredible novel. I urge you to push past your dislike of that trope because this book is beyond a traditional romance and has so much to offer. I absolutely adored getting to see inside Eve’s head and enter her world. I could read the grocery lists of these characters and be happy because I want just a little more of them that badly. Eve’s big brother Dustin and Nurse Louise were standout minor characters for me, and we each deserve a Shep in our lives.

As if I couldn’t sing this book’s praises enough, the cover is gorgeous! I want more from Cara Bastone, immediately. Her writing is superb.

This is an accidental pregnancy trope. She accidentally gets pregnant. The setting takes place in New York City. Her love interest is not the baby's father, but he's her best friends brother. This was a great romance novel. It was deep, funny, and relatable. 5 star read.

Omg- I devoured this book. It was so sweet and funny…. And real! I just, loved each and every character (even bonehead Ethan!)

Thank you, Cara Bastone, for writing this beautiful book!

This will be in my top ten of 2024!

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 her best friend is dealing with infertility issues. Despite feeling very alone the people in Eve's life prove that she is far from it. If you liked Out on a Limb you will LOVE Ready or Not!

“Eve, for as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to be as close as possible to you.”

“He blinks down at me, a slow expression, filled with a depth that only decades of knowing someone can give you. This here is a man who knows me. And I feel known.”

Shep is absolutely one of my favorite MMC's ever written. He is so sweet and genuine but also extremely sexy! I loved their friendship and how it developed throughout the book and the movie theater scene was an absolute favorite!

Count me in for anything with a New York setting. I love how Shep is giving all the golden retriever vibes, and is truly the best friend / supporter a woman would want in, specially in a situation like the one Eve’s in.

I’m not a superfan of the pregnancy trope, but decided to give this a try. Eve and Shep were beyond cute. I really liked the authenticity of how pregnancy was portrayed.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was such a cute read! The cover drew me in on this one and the tropes were some of my favorites! Definitely recommend!

I'm not usually a big fan of surprise pregnancy books but this one actually starts out with Eve finding out her news. The found family and friends to lovers storyline in this book really grabbed me from the start. Shep was such a sweetheart though why he waited so long to tell Eve how he felt was beyond me!! I love the way the author kept Ethan, the baby daddy, in the picture too with everyone getting along cordially for the sake of the child. If you haven't read this one and feel like a slowburn love story with a baby at the end, give it a go.

3.5 (maybe 4?) stars. Here’s why I’m ambivalent: This was at its core a perfect, fast-paced, page turning rom com - the type of book I absolutely love. I just couldn’t get past how wildly far-fetched the story was combined with it being centered on such a sensitive topic.

Holy smokes this book is full of land mines depending on what your personal triggers are: pregnancy, loss of pregnancy, loss of parents…it’s hard for me to rate a book higher when those topics are present. So reader consider yourself warned.

I also think it’s important to acknowledge that I’m reviewing this book as a woman who has never been pregnant, so my opinions are only as relevant as that fact. All that said, I enjoyed the writing, I liked all the mostly endearing characters, and would definitely read more from this author.
Thanks to Random House Publishing and Dial Press Trade for my ARC.