Josh and Gemma Make a Baby

Disclaimer: I was provided a copy of this novel as an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I will start off by saying the premise of this novel sounded initially very interesting with the potential to be quite the heart-warming romantic comedy, especially because Older Brother's Best Friend is one of my favorite tropes. Unfortunately, it fell really flat in a number of areas. The writing itself is not bad, but it felt stunted and repetitive so many times. I'm a visual reader, so I quite literally SEE the visuals as if I'm watching a movie. Unfortunately, I rarely saw the visuals aside from some emotional end book moments.

Characters and their established relationships to our heroine Gemma were constantly repeated as if the reader would suddenly forget who her siblings or friends were. (Seriously I stopped counting how many times I had to be reminded about "Leah, my sister" or "my sister, Leah". We get it. Leah. Sister. The sister).
And since the entire novel is told through Gemma POV, we don't really get a well rounded idea that this is actually how Gemma *thinks* and not simply a lack of more professional prose on the part of the author. Furthermore, the book is called **JOSH & GEMMA**Make A Baby, so I would have expected to actually have dual points of view considering that they've known each other for 24 years.

Regarding the secondary characters, my biggest frustration is how many of them felt like one dimensional 90's-era stereotypes that were either completely clueless (but evidently well intentioned?) or just plain mean. And when I say mean, I mean MEAN. (Does the author even *like* her heroine? We're constantly reminded by every woman around her how terrible she dresses)

One the earliest things that made me start to doubt the book (besides all the fat shaming) is that our heroine suffers from stage four endometriosis, and the "inside of her abdomen looks like a grenade went off" and her tubes are completely blocked... yet she never had any pain and hasn't experienced any severe secondary issues from it in nearly 20 years. Every woman I know that has had to deal with endometriosis has had even a modicum of symptoms that make themselves known early and often.

The second thing that really started to grind my gears was how unbearably self-deprecating Gemma was. It wasn't even funny really and with the amount of side characters making snide comments (or any comments) about her weight it just started to feel like one big, uncomfortable "See?? Fat girls with fertility problems really do get the Hot Guy and the Happily Ever After" which is in all honestly a fine type of story to tell, but the execution of this novel was just downright... embarrassing.

Now the romance.
Is this a romance novel? Because Josh and Gemma don't really interact all that often and when they do their dialogue is so...boring...that my eyelids felt heavy and I had to constantly shift in my seat in order to pay attention. Even the slapstick bits (which make ZERO sense bc if anyone acted like that in a fertility clinic they would obviously be barred from returning--and they do return for more shenanigans). But yes, it is a romance novel that earns it HEA at the end...though with some struggle.

And when you *surprise surprise* discover that Josh has had feelings for Gemma all this time, for one, are not shocked, but also two, again this novel is only in Gemma's POV, to which she's terribly unreliable for most of the first half. We're supposed to believe that Josh has been pining away all these years, writing a comic book about how much he pines for her and yet we really don't feel any of that emotion throughout the first 70% of the book. At that point we get a sex scene...which is really the first time in the book that I felt there was any *real* emotion written on page, it was the first time I actually saw the book in my mind tbh.

Now the *twist*, the big reveal of our Villain.
I kept thinking to myself 'this reminds me of a movie I've seen. Just what was it called...?'
The Waterboy.
Yes, you read that right. The twist in this book reminded me of the same twist in the Waterboy. You know which one I'm talking about. With the notebook? Yeah. So needless to say, that was probably the more humorous thing about this novel. But at the same time, it felt uneventful. The drawing in the chapters are cute, and I get they supposed to allude to Josh being an artist, and the quotes everywhere, but it didn't truly connect well throughout the story.

Anyways, the only reason I gave it an extra star is because it only starts to pick up once you hit the conflict and the climax (and epilogue). The writing takes a distinctive turn that feels like the author wrote this part first and then tried to figure it out from there. Which, there's nothing wrong with that, but the tone is not the same in the first and second act and even with the slapstick comedy moments, it doesn't match up. Even if I stop and visually look at the length of the paragraphs, it differs hugely to the beginning where so much was just short and basically written which I guess an attempt to "show" the story, but largely failed as it most just told us what was the story. I completely understand why some DNF'd this so soon, bc I would have too had I not felt obligated to review it.

Ideally, the author needs to tone down so much of the side character action (Carly and Theo can stay though, the rest really aren't worth so much screen time) and work on the relationship between Josh and Gemma, because when they are together, they **shine** but everyone else, especially so many people being so rude to Gemma so often diminish that. And quite frankly we deserve to be in Josh's head. He's a good guy. This book has so much potential but many of the scenes and storytelling need to be revisited. As a romance lover I can appreciate the end (and the entire ridiculous convention scene) but as a whole, it didn't feel like much of that scene was earned in comparison to the rest of the book

This was a slow burn romance that had all of the romcom trappings, but at the same time, explored the serious subject of infertility and IVF. After yet another year of her mother's heavy handed matchmaking and barbs from most of the people in her home town about her infertility, Gemma, who just wants to finally be a mom, resolves to start the new year pursuing IVF and having a baby on her own. The only problem is that she needs a sperm donor. The idea of using an anonymous donor doesn't appeal to her. Instead, she decides that the perfect donor would be her brother's best friend, Josh, who's been a fixture in her and family's life since they were kids. What could possibly go run with such a plan? Plenty, as it turns out.

Gemma was that particular kind of romcom heroine who can't seem to get out of her own way. She successfully worked as the social media manager for a self-help guru, yet whenever she got nervous, she started babbling and often said or did the wrong thing. Consequently she often found herself in awkward situations. Josh, meanwhile, was a sweetheart of a guy who had some rough personal issues he was dealing with, but hid them under a smiling, lighthearted exterior.

I’m sorry to say that the romance didn’t completely work for me. I was frustrated with Gemma, because even though she meant well, she was quite self-centered and oblivious to anyone else’s feelings through most of the book. I didn’t understand what a nice guy like Josh saw in her and really wished he’d wise up and find someone who would treat him better. However, the book does end on a high note, with at least some indications that Gemma was realizing that she needed to change her approach if she was going to be successful at love. My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.

My first book by Sarah Ready. I thought the writing was good and I would like to read more from this author in the future.

Gemma is a 32 year old, career driven, divorced, and wants a baby. She decides she doesn’t need a boyfriend or husband to have IVF. She just needs a sperm donor. Josh is her brothers best friend and has all her check marks for being the perfect donor. She doesn’t have feelings for him either, so this will be strictly business. But baby making doesn’t always go as planned.

This book was so cute and fun to read! I loved the characters. I look forward to reading more by Sarah Ready!

Josh and Gemma Make a Baby is amazing. Characters were so human like full of flaws and scenes had me laughing out loud! The story had me worried, happy, sad, a whole range of emotions. I'm not good with reviews but what I'm trying to say is this book blew me away. It's also my first Rom Com book I ever read. It filled me with such inspiration. Now I have to write my own Room Com for sure. 5 stars. I'd give it more but there has to be a limit lol.

Talk about a pregnancy trope! Love it.
Gemma wants to make a deal. An unemotional, businesslike arrangement. No commitments, just a baby. Plot twist never seen coming, they fall in love! The story is fast paced and filled with emotion and desire.
I still think pregnancy is the most magical thing in the world, I really did buy into the story line and the characters need to make a baby. Yay!

This was my first book by Sarah Ready but it won’t be the last! I loved everything about this book! The only thing I wish it had was Josh’s point of view.

Gemma is a divorced 30+ year old woman that is ready to start a family…even without a man. She decides that Josh, her brother’s best friend, is the man for the job. This story was heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time! I did shed some tears while reading this…from humor and heartbreak! There was angst, heartbreak, humor, spice and it was an emotional roller coaster! I don’t know if I’ve ever laughed as much reading a book! I am looking forward to reading more from Sarah! I highly recommend!

I absolutely loved this book. I don't usually enjoy the pregnancy trope, but this was different. Gemma is infertile and is trying to have a baby through IVF. I found it refreshing to read a book that talks about an issue that 1 out of 8 women go through. You can tell that she is strong and independent as she wants to raise this kid alone. She doesn’t care for a man, especially after the last one who left her because she couldn’t have a baby. The book goes through some real stuff that women go through.

Josh was as sweet as ever. He was always there for Gemma because that’s what friends are for. If she needed a date, a shoulder, or just a buddy to eat with, he was always there. He was sweet, patient, and always tried his best to put Gemma first.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, it was a nice fluffy read, easy to go through, and had some fun moments.

I definitely recommend it if you are looking for a light read that talks about stuff that books don't really talk about without it being too heavy.

Fav quote: "Love is the best thing I've ever had the privilege to give."

4.5 stars

I absolutely loved this book. I don't usually enjoy the pregnancy trope, but this was different. Gemma is infertile and is trying to have a baby through IVF. I found it refreshing to read a book that talks about an issue that 1 out of 8 women go through. You can tell that she is strong and independent as she wants to raise this kid alone. She doesn’t care for a man, especially after the last one who left her because she couldn’t have a baby. The book goes through some real stuff that women go through.

Josh was as sweet as ever. He was always there for Gemma because that’s what friends are for. If she needed a date, a shoulder, or just a buddy to eat with, he was always there. He was sweet, patient, and always tried his best to put Gemma first.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, it was a nice fluffy read, easy to go through, and had some fun moments.

I definitely recommend it if you are looking for a light read that talks about stuff that books don't really talk about without it being too heavy.

Fav quote: "Love is the best thing I've ever had the privilege to give."

4.5 stars

It is rare that I find a book that I love as much as Josh and Gemma Make a Baby. Not only did I connect to this book on a personal level, it was so well written and hilarious that I read it in one day! Without giving any spoilers, this is one book that you cannot go in to with any prior judgements based off of similar books in this genre. Sarah Ready has written a wonderful book, and Josh and Gemma are one of my new favorite power couples in my book world! Thank you Net Galley and Swift&Lewis for the ARC!