'Josh and Gemma Make a Baby' by Sarah Ready is a fun romantic comedy with some thoughtful themes at its core. We meet single Gemma, a divorcee in her 30s, at new year, her resolution to have a baby. The only obstacles being she needs to convince Josh Lewenthal to donate his sperm to the cause... and deal with the amorous advances of her gorgeous boss Ian Fortune.

The book made me laugh, particularly at the ridiculous situations Josh's flirtatious grin can get him into, and it made me cry (no spoilers here). Each character fulfils a romantic comedy archetype - Gemma is a clueless heroine but I appreciated her evolution across the text and her journey with fertility. I also enjoyed her relationship with Josh and how a flirtation, and some past romance as teenagers, evolves into something more meaningful.

Overall, this book is slightly ridiculous in part but has a good heart and some important messages about fertility and the journey to motherhood. It is wacky, funny and heartwarming - 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I thought that this was really cute!!! Josh was soooo hot and I loved his chemistry with Gemma! I'm always a sucker for a childhood crush romance so this was definitely my cup of tea!

Une romance captivante, dosée juste comme il faut. C'était mon premier roman de Sarah Ready et j'ai beaucoup aimé.

Gemma est une jeune femme énergique et optimiste, qui a été déçue par l'amour par le passé et qui découvre qu'elle ne peut pas avoir d'enfants, souffrant d'endométriose. À 32 ans, elle a un boulot qui lui plaît, elle vit dans un beau studio à Manhattan et est entourée d'une famille aimante. Elle est heureuse mais il manque quelque chose à sa vie, un enfant. Sa résolution pour la nouvelle année est d'avoir un bébé, pour cela elle décide de faire une FIV et demande au meilleur ami de son frère d'être son donneur, mais elle n'est pas préparée au tourbillon émotionnel dans lequel elle se jette.

Sarah Ready aborde des sujets forts et peu souvent abordés avec justesse et avec une certaine profondeur à laquelle je ne m'attendais pas. Cela rend l'histoire originale, vraiment appréciable et plus réaliste.
Les personnages sont tous très attachants, bien développés et plein d'humour. J'ai rencontré quelques difficultés par moments à dissocier les dires et les pensées car les guillemets se ressemblent très fortement mais cela ne m'a pas empêchée de dévorer ce livre à une vitesse folle..

Si vous souhaitez un livre sans lourdeurs avec une bonne dose de rires et de pleurs, il est fait pour vous !

This was such a great surprise read for me, Josh and Gemma make a baby was heartwarming and hilarious with the perfect love interest and a great slow burn romance.


I really liked Gemma she's definitely a bit judgemental throughout this book and comes off a bit nasty at times with her opinions but she definitely grew on me as it went on and Josh was just the sweetest cinnamon roll honestly such a great love interest that I was rooting for from the start.

Great set of side characters too and while her family are a bit misguided I definitely ended up loving them all too, just really an all round good romance that does cover some heavy topics, also has quite a bit of fat shaming and job shaming just know that going in.

If you like Bridget Jones you'll love this shares some similar moments to it.


Thank you to netgalley for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review

I absolutely adored every second of this book. It was the definition of a rollercoaster!

Gemma’s journey with infertility was heartbreaking but so so inspiring. I felt it really hit the nail on the head with all the emotions, the overthinking everything and the physical journey. I find IVF is always skimmed over in the media but this book really showed it in a different light. Josh’s story… Tore my heart in two and stuck it back together again (I think?). It really frustrated me that Gemma was so ignorant to Josh’s emotions but that’s part of what made me not want to put it down. Honestly, I wanted to scream at her!

Overall, Josh and Gemma make a Baby took me through every emotion in existence and more. It was the perfect, fast paced story that left me feeling warm and fuzzy inside. I’d recommend it to anyone that loves a good, cheesy romance!

I could have DNF’d… and if I did, I would have never had the pleasure of finding out how Josh and Gemma’s story ended and that would have been the biggest shame. This was such an unexpected 4 stars for me.

Gemma is a 30 something divorcee who struggles with infertility issues, which was the underlying cause of her divorce. She is living in NYC with a career she thoroughly enjoys working with her dream employer, but there is a baby shaped whole her in life she desperately wants to fill. Enter Josh; Gemma has known him forever, he is her bothers best friend, he’s practically family, not to mention he took her virginity many moons ago. He would be the perfect sperm donor should she go through IVF. And although they barely talk except for once a year at her parents New Years party, its 100% a great idea to ask him out of the blue to be her baby daddy… or so she thinks.

The first couple of chapters just didn’t do it for me. I found Gemma to be unlikeable, giving off major woe is me vibes. And her mother, ugh! I know she thought she was looking out for her daughter, but her desperate need to set her daughter up with a man was borderline pathetic. When she asks Josh to donate sperm for her to under go IVF, I cringed. I was so embarrassed for her, it truly seemed to come out of left field. She then spent a majority of a book dating a total asshole. So much toxicity. BUT I stuck it out, and I’m so glad I did. What unfolded was such a sweet heartwarming romance. Josh and Gemma were the absolute cutest couple, and they didn’t. Even. Know. It. *sigh*. I need a squel ASAP! I laughed, I cried and smiled ear to ear as Gemma came to terms with what will make her happy.

There was one scene I wish I can go back and skip and never read again, I’m still cringing. *IYKYK*… Overall this was a cute read that tackled some pretty deep topics. Well done Sarah Ready!

Loved Loved Loved! This book was such a "Feel Good" type of book. I enjoyed watching Gemma grow into the woman she became. As for Josh, I can't stop thinking of how selfless he was towards Gemma. It was the perfect "Rom-Com" book while still focusing on the struggles of fertility that many woman face daily. Will read more by Sarah Ready.

This book was not supposed to be on my TBR, but here it is on the list of completed books. And im glad it is.

An honest 4 stars for this book, which captured all the important details of an IVF treatment, a thirty-one-year-old woman and her brother's best friend's love story(one of my favorite tropes), a stuck up in the butt villain, and of course the nosy town and the loveable family.

It was cute, tear shedding, and light, just exactly what I needed or anyone might need. So grab the book guy and read up. You will like it.

Josh and Gemma make a baby is a hilarious and heartwarming story.

Gemma Jacobs made a New Year Resolution to have a baby via IVF. So, she chose her brother's best friend Josh for a sperm donor because she thinks Josh is perfect.

Gemma's character is hilarious and quirky and on the other hand, we have Josh the adventurous with a devil may care type attitude and he's swoon-worthy. They are likeable characters and share good chemistry, and of course, I love the slow burn romance between them.

This book will make you laugh and sometimes it will make you cry. I like the way the author touched upon the topic of IVF. I love the plot, it was adorable and fast-paced.

If you love rom-com with slow-burn romance I would definitely recommend this book.

I could not get into this book and had to dnf. I read to about 4-5 chapters in and was finding that i was not really into the whole concept of why was going on

Gemma and Josh were both likable characters, and I loved their witty banter and interactions. I enjoyed their journey and thought Gemma's family tradition of writing down resolutions, putting them in a jar (no name on them) and having them read aloud was charming.

There are also some interesting and intriguing supporting characters as well. Gemma's fertility group members were fantastic and provided some laughs. Her self-help guru boss and co-workers made things interesting.

This book does touch on some very serious issues, such as infertility, miscarriages, fat shaming, and judging people by their looks. I wasn't the biggest fan of her mother always trying to fix her up, mentioning Gemma's looks, weight, and how she dresses. She is not the only character who does this, and the sad thing is, this happens both in books and in real life. These may be triggers for some.

There are a lot of laughs in this book; a lot of fun. There are some very charming and heartwarming parts. This book had me feeling all the feels. I would definitely recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and Sarah Ready for providing me with an ARC of this book.
I loved this so much!! Josh and Gemma were adorable and I'm so glad they got their happy ending together

This book was super cute and funny and a quick read. Some of the sentences in the book confused me. Overall, I loved the characters and the banter. I laughed at moments. I also like that there was realism in this book. Not all things you want come easy. Super excited for everyone to read this!

Josh and Gemma Make a Baby was a very real and honest story about a single woman in her thirties who decides she wants to try having a baby. Gemma has been waiting a long time to find the man of her dreams, but after a divorce and being diagnosed with endometriosis she decides to take matters into her own hands and start IVF treatment. Being scared of the anonymity of sperm donors, Gemma convinces her brother's best friend Josh to donate his sperm and help her cause. Throughout this journey, Gemma realizes she doesn't really know Josh at all just what she's judged from afar and their quickly formed friendship starts to form into something more.

When I first started this book, I wasn't quite sure what to expect in terms of the storyline. However, I was pleasantly surprised by all of the good (and sometimes bad) details we got of Gemma's IVF journey. I really appreciate how the author also included stories and voices from other women in Gemma's support group and their struggles and triumphs with IVF. While I was still invested in Gemma and Josh's story, I found myself most looking forward to the doctor's visits and the weekly support group to hear more about how their IVF treatments were going and to see how they were all dealing with it differently.

I really ended up loving Gemma's character arc so much. It was a pleasant reminder of how we can sometimes think we know so much about people but we are really just judging the surface. Going through the ups had me smiling and giddy for Gemma, and the lows had me almost in tears. While I did end up on Gemma's side, I was always Team Josh! Josh had so much emotional depth and his unyielding support was so lovely. I really liked how he appeared to everyone else as one thing but we ended up finding out so much more about him that had me as a reader really rooting for him.

What I didn't love were the scenes about Gemma's work and her boss, Ian. It just felt very cliche and I could tell what was going to happen from the very start. The weird tension between her female coworker Lavinia was not important to the plot and even the way things ended with Gemma, Ian, and her workplace just felt very melodramatic and kind of bland.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and I appreciated how while it was on the shorter side it didn't feel rushed; it had a very nice pace throughout. Would I recommend this book to others? If you love romance like I do and are looking for a quick read, sure! It was enjoyable. However, there are several other books I'd probably recommend over this one.

Content Warnings: pregnancy, miscarriage, death of a loved one

LOVED IT. Obviously, with any book, there are things I wished were a little different, but overall I absolutely loved this book. It was cute and had an extremely slow burn in the best way. The town Gemma is from gives small town vibes with fertility shaming and other things like that, but unfortunately that happens and the book does a good job drawing attention to IVF and the procedures. I wish the friends had their own stories to go along with this (author should consider writing these!) and I wish there had been an epilogue to find out if the baby was a boy or a girl.

Sarah Ready’s latest, Josh and Gemma Make a Baby makes its conflict known up front – Gemma wants a baby…now. Gemma Jacobs is single and done mingling with all the perspective partners her family trots out year after year. Gemma’s plan is simple: ask her brother’s best friend (and healthy enough) playboy from next door Josh Lewenthal if he’ll give up some sperm to make her dream come true. Thus begins the comedy of romantic errors because nothing is quite so simple when the sperm you’re asking for is from the sweet, single, very sexy boy next door (who might have made off with Gemma’s virginity in high school). Ready is blunt with Gemma’s infertility diagnosis (endometrioses) but paints a somewhat unrealistic picture of the complexities and emotions that go with IVF. Gemma’s naïve belief that she’ll be pregnant the first time out of the gate coupled with the comedic fails that happen in the fertility clinic leave the story to fall short of real emotional connection. Josh and Gemma Make a Baby is a fast-paced romcom for fans of Rachel Lynn Solomon’s The Ex Talk and Angie Hockman’s Shipped.

Happy release day (25.01.2022)!!!

When I say that this book surprised me, I mean it. This is the first book I have read by the author, Sarah Ready, and it most definitely won't be the last! I'm not a big fan of pregnancy/baby tropes in books, however... I absolutely loved this book and enjoyed every second I spent reading it. I don't know what I expected when I started reading it, but I know for a fact that the last thing I expected was to be crying, giggling and kicking my feet.

Gemma! Oh, Gemma. A 32 year old, strong independent woman working in the big city for a self-help guru (Ian). She has given up on men (same girl), and decided that her New Years Resolution is to have a baby on her own - with the help of IVF. She is a divorcee and currently single, so is she going for an anonymous donor? Nope. There he is... Her BROTHERS BEST FRIEND (I screamed) of like twenty-something years, Josh. And the best part is, he agrees to be her donor. Now, WHY would her brothers best friend say yes to something like this? Let me tell you, when I found out I cried. And then I cried some more. And some more. (Definitely a good mix of happy and sad tears).

Oh, and I also loved her newfound friends. I think Sarah did an amazing job at giving us exactly what we needed from each character we meet in this book through the eyes of Gemma (the book is from Gemma's POV) - however, I would love to see even more of her friends and learn more about their struggles with marriage, fertility issues etc.

Let's just say that this book was an emotional rollercoaster, and I enjoyed it A LOT. I mean, who doesn't love a good slow burn, friends-to-lovers, brother's best friend romcom? That makes you laugh while also touching on some heavy, but very important topics. TW: Death of a parent, fertility issues, miscarriage, IVF.

It's a well written book, and all in all it gets a well deserved 4.5/5⭐ from me <3

Thank you to NetGalley and Swift and Lewis Publishing, LLC for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

**Book Review**
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Josh and Gemma Make a Baby
Author: Sarah Ready

TW: IVF, pregnancy loss

I absolutely couldn’t put this book down and read it in two days. It was fast paced and so sweet, I loved Ready’s way with words and her writing style. I didn’t think it was possible to intertwine romance and pregnancy loss but I stand corrected. Some parts made me absolutely bawl with how Ready writes about Gemma’s feelings and some parts made me laugh out loud. I found myself wanting more by the time I finished it and I can’t wait to read more of Ready’s books..

Thank you Net Galley and Swift & Lewis Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review and opinion.

When Gemma decides that she doesn't need to have a boyfriend or be married to have a baby, she enlists the help of her brother's friend Josh. He's laid-back, doesn't take anything seriously and has a revolving door of women. Despite all of that Gemma has known him for years and he's practically one of the family. She's shocked and ecstatic when he agrees to be her sperm donor. And so begins the journey of Gemma and Josh trying to make a baby.

I was able to listen to the audio version as well as reading the book, and I love being able to do both together. I'm a fan of Erin Mallon's audiobooks and thought she did a great job with this book. There were some laugh out loud moments and I love how close Gemma is with her family. As they spend more time together Gemma realizes that she doesn't really know Josh at all and had misconceptions of the type of person he is. She's scared at the realization that she's beginning to have feelings for him, afraid it will complicate the situation. Throwing herself into dating her boss Ian, Gemma realizes that she can't hide from the truth but is scared to admit her feelings to Josh. Overall this is a good book to read and listen to and I look forward to reading more from this author.

Thank you Netgalley, Swift & Lewis Publishing LLC and IBPA/Member's Audiobooks for the opportunity to read this book.

I just was not ready for all the feels this book has. The main characters are just perfect and seeing them realize they want what they want and just getting their HEA was lovely. I just want to re read this book immediately and that’s a sign of a good book to me.