Josh and Gemma Make a Baby by Sarah Ready (ARC) (Audiobook)

 Hey Everyone!

I haven't had the opportunity to read an ARC in years, and this was my first time getting to listen to an ARC via audiobook, so it was pretty exciting.  Years and years ago I made a Netgalley account, and I honestly became horrible at keeping up with all the books I was requesting.  I just found out that Netgalley is doing audiobooks now too, and that got me very excited, because audiobooks and physical books are my jam!  So I am swearing to myself that I will only request one book at a time, so I make sure to actually review it!

My first Netgalley review in many many years is for Josh and Gemma Make a Baby by Sarah Ready which will be released on January 25th!

From Goodreads:

New Year's Resolution:

Have a baby

Preferably with Josh Lewenthal.

Meet Gemma Jacobs. She's driven, energetic, and a positive thinker. She has a great career working for famed self-help guru Ian Fortune, she lives in a cute studio apartment in Manhattan, and her family is supportive and loving (albeit a little kooky). Her life is perfect. Absolutely wonderful.

Except for one tiny little thing.

After a decade of disastrous relationships and an infertility diagnosis, Gemma doesn't want a Mr. Right (or even a Mr. Right Now), she just wants a baby.

And all she needs is an egg, some sperm, and IVF.

So Gemma makes a New Year's resolution: have a baby.

Josh Lewenthal is a laid back, relaxed, find-the-humor in life kind of guy. The polar opposite of Gemma. He's also her brother's best friend. For the past twenty years Josh has attended every Jacobs' family birthday, holiday, and event - he's always around.

Gemma knows him. He's nice (enough), he's funny (-ish), he's healthy (she thinks) and he didn't burn any ants with a magnifying glass as a kid. Which, in Gemma's mind, makes him the perfect option for a sperm donor. So Gemma wants to make a deal. An unemotional, businesslike arrangement. No commitments, just a baby.

To Gemma's surprise, Josh agrees.

They have nothing in common, except their agreement to make a baby and their desire to keep things businesslike. 

But the thing about baby-making...it's hard to keep it businesslike, it's nearly impossible to keep it unemotional, and it's definitely impossible to keep your heart out of the mix. Because when you're making a baby together, things have a way to starting to feel like you're making other things too - like a life, and a family, and love. And when the baby-making ends, you wish that everything else didn't have to end too. 

My Thoughts:

Story-wise I liked Josh and Gemma Make a Baby.  It deals with a subject that I almost had to go through...infertility.  I ended up being one of the lucky ones, who got pregnant naturally with my son.  However, before getting pregnant, I was mentally getting myself ready to have to go through this journey, and honestly even considering not going through it, because I was afraid it would have a negative outcome.  I was diagnosed with PCOS in 2018, and was told by multiple doctors that it would be extremely difficult for me to get pregnant, even going through IVF would be a struggle, because PCOS women have a hard time sometimes producing viable eggs.  In America, unfortunately, IVF is not usually covered by insurance, so it's VERY expensive.  It's also an absolute mental struggle to go through something like this, which is something this book addresses.  Gemma's was a very strong character for going through this pretty much all on her own.  Yes, she had Josh, but Josh wasn't honestly that hands on at first, because he was supposed to just be a side thing to help her get the deed done, so to say.  

Now, something that did bother me was how judgmental Gemma was.  She made awful assumptions about a lot of people around her, which was kind of the opposite of what she represents herself to be, working for a self-help guru; who encourages people to live their best life possible.  Her assumptions about Josh were very presumptuous, and honestly it bothered me how often she made them with no real background proof on why she thought this.  

Josh was a fine character, with a good background story. And then you have Gemma's boss/love interest Ian, who...can go live in a dumpster for all I care...let's just leave it at that.  

Where my absolute dislike came for this book, was the narrator of the audiobook.  I did not like the narrator's voice at all.  Her voice was like a roller coaster, up and down on the pitch, like every sentence was a question.  I personally found it annoying.  

Overall Rating: 

The book was pretty good, I didn't absolutely love it, and the main character had her moments where I couldn't stand her.  And then when it comes to the audiobook I would honestly give it a lower rating.  Just not my favorite voice for reading a book.  

I wouldn't recommend the audiobook, but I do think if the subject is something you're interested in then check it out.  There is a lot of great information that gives information on the process of IVF, support needed during the process, and lessons learned.  

This book comes out on January 25th, 2022! 

The Romance Bookie :)