Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⬜
Title: Ready or Not
Author: Cara Bastone
Genre: Romance
Setting:New York City
Month Read: February 2024
Book Type: E-Arc
Publication: February 2024
Publisher: The Dial Press
Pages: 375
*Thank you to Netgalley and The Dial Press for my advanced E-copy. It has in no way influenced this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
TRIGGER WARNING-
Pregnancy / Alcohol / One Night Stand / Sex / Abandonment(?) / Grief / Infertility
"Don’t worry, Eve, your body is taking care of you. It’s a novel idea. Because if it’s not just me taking care of my body. If listening to my body means that it’s taking care of me too, then…maybe, just maybe…I’m not completely alone."
No Spoiler Summary:
A surprise pregnancy leads to even more life-changing revelations in this heartfelt, slow-burn, friends-to-lovers romance of found family and unexpected love.
Eve Hatch is pretty content with her life. Her apartment in Brooklyn is cozy and close to her childhood best friend Willa, but far from her midwestern, traditional family who never really understood her. While her job is only dream- adjacent , she’s hoping her passion and hard work will soon help her land a more glamorous role. And sure, her most recent romantic history has consisted of not one but two disappointing men named Derek. At least she always knows what to expect…until she finds herself expecting after an uncharacteristic one-night stand.
The unplanned pregnancy cracks open all the relationships in her life. Eve's loyal friendship with Willa is feeling off , right when she needs her most. And it’s Willa’s steadfast older brother, Shep, who steps up to help. He has always been friendly, but now he’s checking in, ordering her surprise lunches, listening to all her complaints, and is… suddenly kinda hot? Then there’s the baby's father, who is supportive but conflicted. Before long, Eve is rethinking everything she thought she knew about herself and her world.
Over the course of nine months, as Eve struggles to figure out the next right step in her expanding reality, she begins to realize that family and love, in all forms, can sneak up on you when you least expect it.
Review:
I'm completely blown away by how quickly this book sucks you in and makes you fall head over heels in love with every single character (even the annoying ones!) I didn't expect to read a book about a surprise pregnancy, because I am an idiot that doesn't read blurbs if it's a romance book that I'm going to throw into my Book of the Month cart anyway, and when I got this on Netgalley I instantly dove right in.
Eve is charming. She is the perfect lead for this novel, and she had me in stitches, and having been pregnant twice I just understood so many parts of this novel down to my aching lower back. The not quite love triangle was really spcecial, and this is just a book that I felt I hadn't read before (which is uncommon when you tear through probably 20-30 romances a year?) Cara did something really special with this book and I so thoroughly enjoyed myself. I laughed out loud, I felt her loneliness, I grieved with her, and I celebrated her triumphs.
Derek and Shep were both really interesting male leads, and I really enjoyed watching their arcs through Eve's eyes. What a road they take you and Eve down throughout the book. It was really interesting to see her prevail through every slight, every emotion, and every good and bad thing that happens to her through the novel.
I loved this book, and I highly recommend it for any romance lover, especially for someone looking for something a little more out of the box!
Recommendation:
Love Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood
The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren
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