Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ready or Not is an unexpected pregnancy character driven fiction about a woman, Eve, who has a one-night stand and- you guessed it- ends up pregnant. I went into this book thinking it was a romance and I cannot stress how much it is not that. I think had I not had this expectation I would have enjoyed it more for what it was rather than just waiting for the romance part to hit. This novel follows Eve navigating a relationship with Ethan, the child's father, while also finding herself falling for her best friend's older brother.

There are so many things I liked about this book. There was no weird secret about Eve having feelings for Shep. She told Willa and Willa said 'don't break his heart' and it was a very reasonable and respectful conversation. There was no weird unnecessary conflict at the end to spice things up. It was just steadfast love and Eve sorting her shit out. The writing significantly improved over the course of the book but toward the beginning the author would say something really wild as a simile that just took me right out of the story. One I highlighted was 'The sky dark as a hat pulled over my eyes' which I guess would technically be correct but kind of seemed out of place. The narrative voice was also a bit strange since it seemed like third person most of the time then she would be randomly talking directly to the reader.

I was also a little annoyed at the Eve for a good part of the book. She seemed like such a passenger in her life. Just going along with whatever and not making any choices until the end. And she just so happened to have these two perfect men fall into her lap? Wild but ok. Shep was the perfect book boyfriend and please tell me why that annoyed me? it almost seemed like his personality was just being perfect and always in love with Eve which was a little dull to be honest.

3.5/5

I thought that this was so adorable and i loved the friendship aspect before the romance. Him helping her with the baby daddy issues and then just being pregnant and always being there for her when nobody else could. Stepping up to be a good father figure and just being the cutest man ever!!

WOW. This book was incredible. It made me want a baby kind of? And I've never felt that way before. I loved Willa and Eve's friendship. I love Shep, I love Ethan, I love Isamu. I love the history, I love the little things like Eve explaining that she doesn't want to know the sex of the baby, and that it's different than gender and that the baby will choose its gender when its older. I love the big things like relationships and grief and independence. I'm a little confused where Eve lives because it didn't really sound like Midwood, but I was willing to just go along with it for the sake of the story. I wish Good Boy was a real bar, I'd go there all the time. I liked that there wasn't much about this story that was conventional. I liked that Eve had older parents, I liked how seeing different people deal with loss. It was really a great book. Thank you to NetGalley and Dial Press Trade Paperback for this ARC!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.
This was a great book and I'll be purchasing it for the library.

Eve Hatch loves her life, her apartment, the company that she works for (WFA) and that she lives near her bff Willa. As she is the product of a late in life unplanned pregnancy to older parents, she is not close to her three much older brothers, so Willa and her brother Shep are who she hangs with. Uncharacteristically, she had a one night stand with a bartender, and despite precautions, finds herself pregnant. She knows she wants to keep the baby, even though she had never had any interest in having a child before, and feels all alone. The sperm donor (Ethan) has a girlfriend who he loves, though they had been broken up at the time of the inception. Willa and her husband have been trying to have a baby, but she keeps getting her period. And she's not even sure if she will tell her family. It is Shep that is there for her from the very beginning and he has a secret that he never told her, (but he thought she knew). Such a sweetheart.

What I liked about this book: wonderfully written characters, humorous dialogue and an entertaining story. What I didn't like was the ridiculous anti-biology, anti-grammar idiocy. Which annoyed me so much that I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5. Fortunately, it was one conversation, that was never mentioned again.

I was gifted with an Advanced Reader's Copy by the publisher via NetGalley.com. This was my unbiased, honest and voluntary review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing me with an eARC of Ready or Not in exchange for my honest review!

Ready or Not really did give me the good old boost of heartfelt coziness and charm that I needed. I don't even read all that much of the pregnancy trope, and it's not like I actively avoid it, but it's just not something I actively pursue, either (I definitely don't like it, though, when it's plopped into a tale as a plot twist). But it's a compelling trope in this warm and lovable book that gets me invested in Eve's messy life, in the people surrounding her, and in the adorable dynamic that grows between her and Shep. It's absorbing to see how this book explores motherhood, the impact it has on the perspective you have on people and the ways in which they connect with one another, creating families that break out of the nuclear family stereotype, and the pressure that society puts on us to conform with its traditional norms by procreating. As for the spice, we only get a bit of it after embarking on a whole slow-burn journey, but that journey brims with authentic chemistry, and it reaches a gratifying payoff once we get to the actual spice itself towards the end.

Overall, I'm officially rating Ready or Not four out of five stars, and I'll be keeping an eye out for more of Cara Bastone's writing.

I loved this book! It brought me back to when I was pregnant with my babies and the things I didn’t know. I loved the relationship she had with her friends and didn’t allow the hard things in life to overcome her. Such a fun read!

Eve Hatch is originally from the mid west and now lives in New York working in her *almost* dream job. She hasn’t had the best luck when it comes to dating, especially with guys named Derek. After a one night stand, she finds out she’s pregnant and realizes everything in her life is about to change. Just when she needs the help of her best friend, Willa, their relationship seems to be going through a rough patch. Instead she strikes up a new, unedited friendship with none other than Willa’s brother, Shep. Who wouldn’t love a man who checks in regularly, orders you lunch, listens without judgement and oh yeah… he’s totally hot! Eve goes through a wild journey in the span of nine months. Learning more about herself, life, family and friendship than she ever thought she could. Ready or Not is such a fun and romantic read full of slow burn, best friends brother, friends to lover type of romance. So so cute and worth the read.

As far as this trope goes, this romance works. Accidental pregnancy is a tricky one, and Bastone largely delivers. But I just personally wasn’t drawn to the writing or the voice or perspective––not this author’s ideal reader!

Ready or Not is lovely heartwarming and realistic contemporary romance that follows Eve Hatch who unexpectedly gets pregnant after on night stand that changes not just her life but her too.

Eve is still getting used to the idea of baby and how the baby is going to change her life, the father of the baby (Ethan) already has a girlfriend and isn’t sure how much he wants to get involved in Eve and baby’s life, her best friend (Willa) reacted badly to the news as she herself was trying to have baby for long time with no luck…

Only person who is genuinely happy and supporting is her her best friend’s brother, Shep. The more he gets involved with selfless care and concern, the more Eve starts developing feelings for him but is it just a pregnancy symptoms or something deep and real?

Writing is refreshing and entertaining. I loved the format of the the story. It was divided in 3 part with pregnancy stages. I loved how author told how women feel in all three trimesters through Eve’s life changes and feelings.

I loved how Eve took it all. She might seem not taking it seriously and going through it in stride as we don’t get to know her much before the pregnancy but as I read more I could see it’s more like her nature. She is kind of person who lives in her dreamy state and struggles when it comes to making big decision. It was interesting to see how having baby and and pregnancy progressed it made her change how she lives and thinks. It was amazing to see her develop and read her journey of embracing pregnancy and motherhood.

Author portrayed- feeling of becoming a new unexpected mother, how people react to it when you’re not with the father, impending parenthood, changes in life with nor expectation of support from father, anxiety, and how all feelings changes as soon as you see baby in the ultrasound- all in most realistic and relatable way.

Willa‘s reaction to Eve’s pregnancy was bad in the beginning but I love how she tried to mend that reaction after she got over initial shock and pain. I loved how author portrayed dealing with infertility issues through Willa, how painful and difficult it is for women who has gone through miscarriage to be happy for someone having baby who never thought about pregnancy in life. It was most realistic and heartfelt to read her situation and I loved Eve for not taking it to heart and not letting Willa’s reaction destroy their friendship.

I also liked how clear Eve was about what she wanted from Ethan and Shep. I had a feeling this might turn into love triangle and was so relieved to see it didn’t. Shep was a sweetheart. He was that lovely cute guy who was just happy to take whatever Eve was willing to give to him, whether it is friendship or boyfriend or second father to the baby.

Like said in book, he was so “other-centered person” who is happy for others but I also liked having Shep’s view on his own action. He acted the way he did for one reason which was to be with Eve no matter what and for that he was ready to get along with Ethan which is most loveliest thing I read and it somehow also felt selfless selfish thing one can do.

Romance is slow burn with friends-to-lovers trope with many lovely and heart-melting moments. My favorites were Shep being there for Eve when she revealed pregnancy to Ethan, first baby kick, Shep buying a cycle with baby seat, and Shep reading baby books.

Climax is exactly as I anticipated. I also liked Ethan after that drunken scene and how he finally got sense to do right thing. The best scene was both Ethan and Shep helping Eve in labor and how that changed the dynamics between them in the end. End is lovely and perfect.

Why 4.5 stars –

Even though writing is engaging, entertaining, and refreshing, I feel this is kind of book that you’ll enjoy more with audiobooks. There is lots of monologues and expressions, and feelings that felt sounded much better in visualization than in words.

Overall, Ready or Not is delightful, uplifting, and heartwarming Friends to lovers romance with most realistic portrayal of surprise pregnancy.

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.