I received this ARC from Netgalley and I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

So this one was very interesting. I think it was well written. I liked the dialogue. The characters felt realistic...at least initially. It's probably more between a 3.5 - 4 stars for me.

What has me undecided on a rating is the turns the second half of the book took. I was really relating to Margo and her feelings of longing to be a mother and how when it's something you want in your soul you see babies everywhere. And how she felt life passed her by. I sympathized with all of this so much. She's lonely with few friends. (also relatable). And then she meets Rexford by chance and he's so great. They become very fast best friends. He has gone through similar heartache before. I think I just really liked Rexford as a character. He's too good of a person.

I understand her not wanting to ruin the relationship with Rex by thinking of him romantically, but I could tell he probably felt strongly for her since the beginning. This is where I feel like he deserved better and the other things I didn't love about the book: I feel like she kind of used Rex. He became her go to. And he had to watch her go through other failed relationships. He was always at her disposal. Whatever she needed he was there. Even if he was busy with work he rushed to her. I feel like even tho he tried to date he couldn't fully commit to anyone else. And I'm sure his other partners knew Margo was more than just a friend in his mind. And then when he offers to become her sperm donor she's very cruel about it to him. And she finally gives in to be with him after the mess with Markus/Lukas and that's only because she sees another woman flirting with him. And then he agrees to help her raise her daughter. I wish she would have had a biological child with Rex. Also the side story with Ethan and how that all ended was just crazy and I felt like it was a way to kill off characters so Margo and Norma had happy endings.

Lukas was a bizarre character. It was so out of left field that I kind of was like 'is this really happening?' It definitely creates drama and intrigue. I just found his character to be strange. And I feel like she overlooks the blaring red flags because she wants a baby so bad and he's hot. Also it was so odd to me that Lukas had just witnessed his girlfriend fall to her death not too long before meeting Margo, yet he was willing to be the father to her kid. I get that he needed to have a hideaway spot and was using her to have a safe place to stay, but it just seemed like he'd be more torn up about his girlfriend. It just seemed like for a highly intelligent person she was making strange decisions, but I can also see that she was just desperate for a baby.

It's definitely an interesting book. Not your typical romance. I was pretty enthralled throughout wanting to find out what happens. I felt it was a tad long for a romance, but she packs a lot in it. I do recommend it. I will probably think of it again. I'm not sure I'd read it again though.

I’m so sorry this is a tad late!

This was a very light, easy read.

We’re following a divorce attorney named Margo who ironically is going through a divorce. And she wants a baby.
After many failed relationships, and now divorce, she’s determined to do this with or without a man.
Enter Rex, a stranger turned friend she met at a coffee shop. Will this be her happily ever after?
4/5

This author really kept me engaged and wanting me to keep reading the book each day. The story was also really good. I would def recommend this book, I already have!

I got this one as an ARC from Net Galley in exchange for my honest review.

This was an interesting but odd book. It's not bad book but you can definitely tell that its a first book.

My biggest issue with the book is that SO MUCH happens. The book starts with Margot separating from her alcoholic husband. And then there's Covid, other break ups, trying to find a random guy to knock her up (she says she doesn't want to do IVF but they conveniently ignore that IUI is a more readily available option), and then so much more happens after that. It's a mix of romance, women's fiction, crime drama, and total chaos. It really felt like there were a few different plot options and the author decided to use all of them instead of deciding on one.

I have to say, it was a lot but it wasn't boring. The book was a page turner even if the contents seemed a little ridiculous.

I think if the author had focused on just a couple of the elements, the book would have hit much better. Also, the protagonist is a little annoying. While I feel for her in terms of her desire to have a baby, the way she constantly brings up how she's a lawyer is too much. She makes so many poor decisions, it was a little cringe.

Hopefully on future books, the author tightens up the plot because I think she has a lot of potential!

I had a hard time getting into this book. I ultimately didn’t finish reading it. I don’t know if it’s just not my style of writing or what but it just fell flat for me.

Thank you for the ARC for my honest review.

Margo doesn't need Mr. Right. She only needs his sperm.

Margo Davis had it all: a successful career, a husband, and plans for a baby. But when her husband's alcoholism destroys their marriage, Margo is left alone and desperate for a new start. A serendipitous accident involving a peppermint mocha and ruined pants brings Rexford Montgomery into Margo's life. Kindred spirits, they confront the aftermath of their shattered marriages together, finding solace and support in each other's company.

After two years of trying the New York dating scene Margot has had enough, She knows her biological clock is ticking and she's having no luck at finding a partner.. She takes matters into her own hands by using a dating app to find a sperm donor. After finding a possible match she creates a contract and meets up with Lukas. Over time she starts to see other possibilities with Lukas and needs to decide what she really wants.

- Single POV
- Second Chance At Romance
- Friends to Lovers
- Bits of Spice

I really enjoyed this book and when I requested this book I didn't fully read the blurb. I was sold on it from the first paragraph and I'm really glad I didn't. It gave the book more of a twist and turn and I felt it gave the story much more depth.
I really enjoyed the relationships between both Margot & Rex and Margot & Lukas. You could feel Margot starting to fall for Lukas no matter how many times she told herself it was just business.
I really liked the independence of Margot and felt this didn't change even as she decided that she was going to make a baby. She tried it 'the old fashioned way' and after no luck she found another way.

I'm giving this book 3.5/3.75 stars.

This was a wonderful story of resilience, second chances, love and motherhood. I found the FMC so relatable with the breakdown of hear marriage, starting over, and her desire to be a mom. This was both funny and endearing.

I have to say, the blurb, cover, and labelled genres for this book make absolutely no sense whatsoever. It is NOT cute, light-hearted, or cozy, which is the impression I got from the cover. Nowhere was it mentioned that the book revolves around serious crimes, addiction, or gun violence.

I've read two other books where the FMC decides to have a baby on her own, and both were genuine romances. This one was just unhinged, and with Margo being a lawyer, I couldn't understand her impulsive choices. I somehow got myself through the entire book, but i don't recommend it one bit.

3.75/5 stars

This is a really hard book to review without giving away spoilers. It centers around Margo, a family lawyer who ends up getting divorced herself. At the same time, she really wants a baby given she’s approaching 40. I thought the yearning for a baby and how Margo handled that was very realistic and relatable.

We also see Margo meet and become best friends with Rexford. Seriously, what a cool name! What follows is a very slow burn romance with some VERY unexpected twists and turns along the way. Margo at times can be very frustrating too but I really loved Rexford.

A solid debut book from Olive and I hope there are more books to come! I really enjoyed Olive’s writing style. This is definitely much more than your typical romance novel. Thank you Olive and NetGalley for the ARC!

Oh my god this woman is an idiot. The amount of red flags that Lukas has are insurmountable and she still chose to have sex with him. Rex is right there and is clearly in love with you. They work so much better and she is upsetting me. Letting Lukas stay at her apartment is crazy and I wish she would have acted her age and kicked that man out. As soon as he told me about his influencer ex girlfriend I would have looked her up to make sure that she's okay. The fact that she was shown the evidence and still didn't believe it is crazy. I don't feel bad at all that he died. The book should have focused more on her relationship with Rexford and I wish the baby was his.

I received an arc through netgalley.

Thank you NetGalley & the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review. Unfortunately this had to be a DNF for me.

I believe this book has good qualities and will do good for the right audience, however it wasn’t for me.

It was hard to read the first 100 pages and couldn’t make myself read the other 400. It was boring in my opinion and just not my cup of tea.

I really enjoyed the aspect of the book. The idea the FMC started over and finally trying to start a family via a sperm donor after a failed marriage. I feel like this book could have gone a lot further but the plot was all over the place. And it did get a bit confusing at times and the timeline jumps between past and present. I do feel like it’s always important to get an aspect of the past during a failed Marriage in a book but I don’t feel like it needs to be the main focal point, I believe books should focus on the healing and the plot of the story and not just her past. It does take place in the Covid pandemic era which I personally wasn’t a fan of it wasn’t a fan of. I feel like this book has potential but it needs to be focused more on the actual aspect of her journey of finding a donor and less on the pandemic. Thank you NetGalley #netgalley

This was very slow and yet somehow bursting with detail and plot. I think this could've been streamlined a bit, as a lot that comes up isn't really relevant or adding anything. That said, the prose is nice and easy, and the creativity is there, but the plotting needed tightening.

Thank you to Olive McMahon and Net galley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review. This was a super easy and enjoyable read. Margo is a divorce attorney is going through her own divorce when she meets Rexford in a coffee shop. They quickly become friends. The book had a good mix between slow and fast paced bits to keep you interested in the story. Within the story you are also following Margo’s clients stories which is a nice contrast.
Highly recommend this book if you are a fan of second chance romances.

This was a cute, quick and easy read.

Margo put her career first as a family law/divorce attorney, and hoped a home, marriage, and a baby would come next. After a failed, quick marriage to an unknowingly deadbeat alcoholic and pathologic liar, she now has to start over in the Covid pandemic era which is fraught with its dating challenges. During this time, she meets Rexford at a coffee shop, <<insert meet cute >> and they fast become great friends. Frustrated with the lack of success in her dating life and her strong yearning for motherhood, she decides to take matters into her own hands and find a sperm donor using a dating app.

This book made me laugh several times and was relatable with the challenges of dating in Covid and cringe worthy experiences of dating apps. The first half was somewhat slow and spent more time with the foundation of Margo and her marriage to Jackson and the complete dud of a husband that he is. I would have liked to see less detail on her failed marriage and more on the failed dates after him and sperm donor saga. Margo’s character resonated with me- career focused women are often older by the time the settle down for a family and that stress and anxiety about finding the one and having kids on that tight timeline is real! Lukas backstory was a very unexpected twist.

Enjoyable read overall! 3-3.5 / 5
TW: addiction, divorce, gun violence

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and Olive McMahon- thank you!

Really fun and quick romance story. Super cute and liked the added touch of the Mc on a fertility journey. Nothing too special but still enjoyed it.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of this book. The beginning was very slow with a lot of Margo’s past that made sense to the story but maybe not need for the first half of the story. The ending then felt really rushed with how slow the beginning felt.

This book was amazing! I loved the characters and the plot was very well written. The writer is very talented and the story was very interesting.

This book is potentially a 2.5-3 star. I am so confused by this book. I don’t think it was for me, I think maybe I’m the wrong demographic for it or maybe because I couldn’t relate to the main character Margo at all I didn’t love it…
Everything seemed normal in the beginning but then there was such an emphasis on her alcoholic ex & her divorce I thought we’d never move on. I appreciate the detail, but this was my least favorite part of the story. Then by the time she moved on it was with Mr. crazy pants accidental murderer? That was such a quick but intense plot line, I did not understand Lukas and I’m not even sure that I believe his side of the story about his ex on the mountain. It all seems very suspicious.
My confusion came to a head when Margo changed her mind at the end of the book and realized her true feelings revealed that was suddenly in love with Rex after friend zoning him for years. The last 15% of the book was wild. Entertaining, but not for me. I did not have any problems with the writing itself, only the storyline did not do it for me. I think this book had a wonderful message about staying true to yourself and doing what is best for you / your family, but it got a little lost in the grand scheme of things.

I don’t know how to feel about this book. It was all over the place and a lot of the plot was unnecessary. Why was Covid in this book? It provided no importance to the story and made no sense. The book is set to release in 2024, yet takes place in 2020 and 2022. So the author can talk about Covid for a few paragraphs. Can we please all move on from the pandemic? At this point books need trigger warnings if they are going to try to force them into the plot because I’m so tired of it and need to know not to waste my time. And I’m gonna say it. Putting in a 2 year time jump before we even get 50 pages in is cheap writing. It’s an easy way to make the two love interest seem like they are more in love than because the author doesn’t want to actually show us with plot. Don’t tell me “oh they’ve been slowly falling in love for two year here’s a kiss to convince you.” SHOW ME THEM FALLING IN LOVE. The plot twist was not well thought out. The romance was not good. Really this book was all over the place. It was 3 different stories smushed into one. It just didn’t work. And I don’t even want to get into all the problematic abuse in this book. I can’t.