Biz and Wyatt’s road to fatherhood ends up becoming a lot bumpier than they imagined. Weeks before their surrogate is due to give birth, their relationship has hit a bit of a rough patch and the dads to be decide to embark on a babymoon road trip. Along the way they run into all kinds of problems and unexpected detours.

I thought this book was really sweet and realistically tackled the problems a couple in a long term relationship can face, especIally when a huge life event is about to happen. It was easy to root for their relationship and I was really hoping they would figure things out along the way. I loved how different Biz and Wyatt’s upbringings were and I really think that added to the story dynamic. The Bump ended up being a great summer road trip novel about reconnecting with your love.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for a review copy.

The Bump by Sidney Karger is a feel good fiction you need to read this summer. Our main characters Biz and Wyatt are driving across the country on an adventure to California to meet their surrogate. They are going to be new fathers and I love how this story talks about being a new parent. This road trip is definitely bumpy. The start to question their relationship and even if they want to be parents. I feel so many people can relate to this story and it gives a perfect summer vibe. I can't wait to read more from this author!

Biz and Wyatt set out on a cross-country adventure that will lead them to California where their surrogate and impending fatherhood awaits. Along the way mishaps and miscommunication threaten to derail not only the trip, but possibly even their relationship as they both begin to question whether they’re ready for parenthood.

This was a plot that immediately interested and delighted me. Unfortunately I was kind of let down in some ways. While Biz and Wyatt were absolutely charming and strong characters, there was so much miscommunication and NON-communication between the two that it was hard to believe they have lasted as a couple. From conflicting feelings on marriage, to doubts on abilities to parent, to keeping secrets, this couple had a lot they should have worked on before setting out to be parents. Overall, I found it cute with a lot of laughs and fun moments but very melodramatic. A plot twist or crisis at every pit stop is unnecessary. There seemed to be emotional damage at every corner but was oddly tried to be funny. Sometimes it was confusing.

A fun road trip novel. Biz and Wyatt plan a road trip, timing it to end with the birth of their first baby. As one might expect the road trip doesn’t follow the original itinerary. As these two soon to be parents navigate the journey, it’s obvious to the reader that these two need to be more open with each other about their feelings. The story examines parenting and relationship dynamics in a way that was a bit over the top for me. Ultimately it had a satisfying conclusion. Thank you to Berkley for the opportunity to read an early copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Wyatt and Biz are getting ready to become daddies for the first time, having used Mackenzie as their egg donor and Flora as their surrogate. However, they have hit a bump in their relationship. Wyatt isn't sure he is ready to be married. They have been fighting lately and they haven't been intimate in a while. So, they head out on a babymoon road trip to be together before the baby arrives.
This trip has so many ups and downs, and moments that I laughed out loud (Stephen, the cat, for one). I love how the pair loves books, has trust issues, fears, goofy traits, and more. Biz comes from a big Italian family with loving parents, and Wyatt comes from a broken family. Together, they search for answers and how to find each other again.
Heartwarming and funny, too!

I had a great time reading The Bump by new-to-me author, Sidney Karger. Biz and Wyatt’s babymoon roadtrip was akin to their journey to fatherhood - initially well-planned and organized to bits, but like all else in real life, it went sideways along the way. Reading this made me cry and laugh at the same time. My waterworks were in full blast especially when both dads-to-be were resolving their respective issues with their parents. I can relate to their insecurities and anxieties when it comes to parenthood. I think the author was able to nail these topics quite well without making the story intense and heavy. I also appreciate learning the intricacies surrounding surrogacy. It’s such a complex process so reading about it enlightened me. This novel is definitely one of my recommended comfort reads — thoughtful, heartwarming with a healthy dose of humor.

Biz and Wyatt are taking a road trip from New York to California. It’s their last chance to be a fun-loving couple before they get out to Los Angeles to meet the women who has been carrying their baby. They’re planning on hitting all their favorite gaycation spots before they become dads, starting with Provincetown.

Biz was the star of a Disney show as a teenager, and now he writes for an food magazine. His articles about Italian food are favorites, and while the writing comes easy to him, he does wonder if he wants something more. Maybe he should go back to acting? But more importantly, he has a secret he’s been keeping from Wyatt. He is absolutely terrified of being a father.

Wyatt is a director of commercials and the responsible one to Biz’s party attitude. He’s been taking on extra work so that they can take a little time off for this trip and to get the baby back home to Brooklyn. He’s the one who planned the trip across the country for himself and Biz, Matilda, and Virginia Woolf. Virginia Woolf is what they named their orange 1992 Volkswagon Cabriolet, and Matilda is their dog. But they are all in it together, in this new life that will change everything for them.

But their trip goes off the planned route when Wyatt gets a call from his mother. His brother has been in an accident, and she wants Wyatt to come to the hospital to see him. They immediately head towards Boston. And while things are okay with his brother, Wyatt feels like there are things that he needs to make right with his mother. And that trip has Biz wanting to stop in on his big Italian family, located outside of Chicago.

They still make it to their friend’s wedding in Colorado on time, but they take another detour after that to Las Vegas. And then time runs out and it’s time to meet their baby.

Through their epic road trip, there are fights and resolutions, secrets and connections, fears and pain, tears and laughter, lots of music, a lost dog, a found dog, homemade tiramisu and Burger King Chicken Fries, car trouble, legal week, and a truly unforgettable bed and breakfast in Ohio. And then, at the end, is a baby.

The Bump is a sweet, lovely, heart-wrenching journey to parenthood. These characters will steal your heart from the start and take you across all the emotions as the travel across the country. There is so much going on during this trip, both physically and emotionally, that you will need a vacation to recover (not really, but you will at least want some drinks and pool fries to celebrate it all). Screenwriter Sidney Karger brings this story to life with spunk and verve, making it so readable it’s impossible to put down.

I adored The Bump. It was exactly the summer trip I was looking for, and I loved every stop. This story just made me so happy, and I kept hoping that Wyatt and Biz would get out of their own ways to chase after that happy ending I wanted them to find. Life is filled with so much worry and pain, but these guys also found joy, hope, and healing on their journey, and it was an amazing ride. This might be the perfect summer book.

Egalleys for The Bump were provided by Berkley through NetGalley, with many thanks.

This is a story about some solid reasons to book a flight!

I think if you enjoy a solid slice of life romantic drama with some lightly humorous notes, this is a solid pick. Think, This is Where I Leave You- but in a car with a very cute dog!

Thank you so much Berkley & PRHA for the e & audio copies.

The road to parenthood doesn’t run smoothly, and in The Bump, Sidney Karger does a masterful job of examining the ups and downs, the peaks and pitfalls as main characters and soon-to-be dads Wyatt and Biz road trip from New York to California to meet their baby.

I really appreciated how Karger looked at all of the emotions surrounding new parenthood. While it’s exciting, the fear, the stress, the anxiety, the self-doubt and even the loneliness can be very real, too. Karger looked at it all with humor, sensitivity, and grace, and had me both laughing and tearing up.

I also loved how Karger looked at the cracks and insecurities in the foundation of Wyatt and Biz’s relationship. A big life change can magnify those things, and I related to a lot of it. Fear and negative self-talk can really mess with your head, and I only wish they’d talked things out sooner.

Additionally, I liked how much I learned about surrogacy. There were so many things and aspects of it that I hadn’t thought about, and the insight into that was so educational.

And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention just how lovely I felt both families were. The acceptance, the love and the nostalgia were heartwarming and made my heart so happy, and the mystery surrounding Wyatt’s dad had me invested too.

The Bump was my first Sidney Karger book, but it won’t be my last! Charming and heartwarming, you definitely need up pick this one up today and give it a read 😍

Two longtime partners travel across the country on their way to the birth of their child via surrogate. It’s supposed to be a babymoon for Wyatt and Biz, but nothing about their trip is as carefree as Biz had hoped it would be or as structured as the plans Wyatt had made for it. Through multiple detours and bumps along the way, can this couple—so excited and yet so anxious about becoming parents—weather their own doubts and issues and reconnect with each other? 
 
Highlights for me: 
* Biz’s energy 
* Biz’s exuberant and close-knit Italian family
* The father figures
* Matilda, the dog
* The epilogue 

What didn’t work as well for me:
* Despite Biz’s repeated attempts to talk openly with Wyatt, Wyatt continually avoids deep conversations or ones that would potentially include conflict. Wyatt avoids these types of conversations so much that Biz tiptoes around him regarding major things that impact their lives.
* Wyatt understandably has issues through which he is trying to work, but he also has a tendency to make everything about himself. 
* I would have loved to have dived deeper into any of the locations where the couple stops along the way.
* After experiencing the road trip with them, I questioned how—especially with the stress that comes along with a baby—these two mean would successfully connect and have a healthy relationship in the future. (Thankfully the epilogue shows a happy family.)
 
I received an advance copy of the book from Berkley and NetGalley. All review opinions are my own.

In The Bump by Sidney Karger, we meet Wyatt and Biz- a gay couple in their 30s living in Brooklyn with their mini Airedale terrier, Matilda, who are about to have a baby via surrogacy. They decide to skip the flight to California for the birth, and instead take one last fabulous gay cross country road trip before “settling down” and becoming Dads.

I really felt an instant connection to this book as our two MCs, boyfriends of 12 years, are driving from NYC to Provincetown- something my partner of 15 years and I have done before. He is also a huge planner, like Wyatt, and I tend to go with the flow, like Biz. Of course, as with any road trip things never go as expected and the couple has to throw their original itinerary to the wayside and plan a new journey as they go…

Karger’s writing was really lighthearted and easy, even while addressing some heavy topics, and fans of Steven Rowley and Alexis Hall will definitely find themselves laughing, smiling and even crying along at points throughout this book.

The premise was fun and I enjoyed the story, but I felt a lot of what happened to be a bit too unbelievable. There were many times throughout where I felt one additional clarifying question, speaking up sooner, even picking up the phone would have led to a lot of clarity and different, more logical choices would’ve been made if this was an actual cross country road trip.

Definitely a feel-good, easy, gay read- which we could always use more of!! Give this a read when you need a quick palette cleanser this summer, especially with Pride month just around the corner! Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the eARC. 3.5 rounded up to 4

I liked The Bump more than I liked Best Men, but I still didn’t like it. So I think this I will not be reading this authors books going forward. His writing and stories are just not for me.

This story follows two soon to be dads who take a babymoon/road trip before the birth of their child.
Overall I thought this was a unique, cute story and enjoyed enough to finish, but I wasn’t blown away by it. Honestly I spent atleast half the book wondering how the MCs had managed to stay together for so long with their lack of communication.

in The Bump, Wyatt and Biz embark on a road trip to live it up, see some family, and go to a wedding, all on their way to get to LA for the birth of their baby to a surrogate. This book warmed my heart. Wyatt and Biz were the most lovable guys ever, their banter made me giggle, their family dynamics were hilarious, their dog stole the show and the pop culture references were perfectly placed. It was heartwarming and emotional and just very huggable.

Sidney Karger's THE BUMP follows a gay couple on a cross country roadtrip to see the birth of their new baby via surrogate. This is very much a paint by numbers roadtrip book, and by that I mean it's a bunch of stops to see family members and other zany supporting characters they meet along the way. The book is quickly paced so I literally read it in a matter of hours, it's cute and funny in parts, it just simply left me wanting more. I really think each stop on their roadtrip could've been longer and fleshed out more, and I also think we didn't get enough of their backstory to really see how these two fell in love. I didn't understand their relationship and honestly didn't think it was healthy. (AND I OOP).

I say that because most of this book is Biz and Wyatt at odds with each other before the baby comes. It's only at the 70% mark or so that they start to realize why they would be good together as dads. I understand that this is the point of their journey, I just wasn't rooting for them to be together or bring a kid into the world at all. It seemed to me like they had WAYYYYYY more to figure out before having Finch and because the story is cut short in many ways, I didn't feel like their happy turn at the end was warranted. Now this isn't to say that this is a bad book, it just feels like a watered down story I've seen countless times before.

I feel like I only have a surface level understanding of all of these characters and that's about it. And I wouldn't even categorize this as a rom-com as there is little to no romance and it's mainly our characters figuring their shit out. There's nothing wrong with that, I just wish Karger offered something that felt more original or surprising. I do love the representation and themes that are presented in the book, I just think it was birthed a little prematurely. Regardless, special thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to give this one a chance but I should have known that I would struggle because I always have a hard time with the miscommunication trope.

The Bump follows Wyatt and Biz, two men who have been in a relationship for years that are about to embark on their babymoon road trip. Unfortunately, neither one of them has been truthful to the other about how utterly terrified of fatherhood they are and it has caused a "bump" in their journey together. Along the way on their cross country trip, they each learn more about their own fathers and how those relationships have shaped them and in turn, they learn a little bit more about the relationship they have with each other.

Honestly, I found it so hard to root for these two to make amends on their trip because there were so many issues in this relationship. I don’t think they made a good pairing and therefore this made for a frustrating read. However I did enjoy the road trip aspect itself, especially the brief stop in P-town, one of my favorite places!

Thank you to Berkley and Netgalley for this advanced copy through the #BerkleyBesties program. All thoughts are my own.

You The Bump is a heartwarming story of a couple’s journey to fatherhood via surrogate. Rather than fly from Brooklyn to California for the birth of their child, they take a babymoon road trip - and everything that could go wrong does. There is plenty of humor and heart, but the story also delves into some more difficult topics and family issues. I thought the author did a really great job of tackling the anxieties that come with starting a family, especially in a non-traditional way. I especially enjoyed the character and relationship growth throughout the story. I got a little frustrated with some miscommunication throughout, but I overall really enjoyed this one! Anyone could enjoy it, but especially if you’ve experienced the terror of impending parenthood I think you will really relate to this book!

Read this if you like:
🗺️ road trips
🗺️ family and found family
🗺️ parenthood
🗺️ heartwarming stories

I loved that this book was a unique take on romance. I feel like so many of the books I read are focused on single people becoming partnered. This one focused on partners repairing and strengthening their relationship.

That being said, I didn’t love the two main characters. They were fine, but they were too similar. I had to keep reminding myself who was who based on their jobs and family situations. Their personalities weren’t distinct enough, other than one being spontaneous and one being a planner (but then I felt like that wasn’t really consistent).

I also felt like I was missing some conflict here. They really just needed to communicate and trust each other - otherwise their problems all worked themselves out easily. That can make for a positive reading experience, but it leans kind of boring.

Thank you to the publisher - I received a complimentary eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

There are a lot of things to love and appreciate about this book including

Grown up love and relationships
Fur babies
Surragacy
Extended family love and drama
Real struggles of an upcoming baby

Unfortunately this book is marketed as funny and it just missed that mark for me. I didn't find it at all humorous. It was emotional and sometimes just depressing. If I hadn't expected the humor, I think I would have enjoyed this so much more.

Read this if you like:
•cross country road trip
•surrogate rep
•humor

Wyatt and Biz decided to go on a cross country trip for their babymoon and it turns out to be a huge disaster. There were times where the lack of communication annoyed me, but overall this was a really cute book!

Thank you Berkley romance!