A non-spoiler review of the contemporary romance sequel
Let me preface this by saying I really liked the first of this series, “Josh and Gemma Make a Baby”. It’s also a book you really need to read if you are interested in this one. There are many characters brought back from the first book and they are not introduced at all, so the author assumed you’ve read the first book. Which is fine – it is a sequel after all – but I had to go back through my Kindle archive and refresh myself on who some of the characters were! (Like me forgetting the MC Gemma had two siblings instead of one, so I thought her brother was her brother-in-law for a hot second. Whoops!)
Quick and vague synopsis: This sequel is about Josh and Gemma getting ready to start their “happy forever after” by getting married. However, a traumatic event happens on the wedding day that changes the course of not only Gemma and Josh’s lives, but the lives of everyone else around them. It’s up to Josh and Gemma to pick up the pieces and figure out how to move on and live the lives they want. Can they do it? Or is the future they imagined for themselves gone forever?
Sadly, this title fell short for me. It is solidly under the “Just Because You Can Doesn’t Mean You Should” category of books. The first title “Josh and Gemma Make a Baby” was a sweet tale that had some heartbreaking moments sprinkled throughout. It touched on tough topics that should be talked about, such as infertility and marriage issues. But the first one was wrapped up nicely and I feel it didn’t warrant a sequel. There was nothing to really “sequel squeeze” out of it.
There were moments where I teared up, like when Gemma would panic about her (lack of) emotions and when we learned the real reason Ian was at the medical center where Gemma had her appointments. However, a lot of the storylines felt rather forced and out of left field. The whole plot twist with Ian’s backstory really pulled me out of the book. I don’t know if that was supposed to be an “OMG!” moment, but it fell flat for me. It felt like a cop-out, like, “See, Ian had his reasons for being the way he was! He’s not a bad person!” But like, he is? His history is heartbreaking, yes, but his actions afterward were him and him alone. He took it out on an innocent man. He stole Josh’s livelihood because he felt Josh deserved it. I do like how Ian’s flawed and is more fleshed out for this story, don’t get me wrong, but the way it was portrayed made me feel manipulated.
I think the main thing that really rubbed me wrong was how a lot of the conflicts were simply because Gemma couldn’t. Use. Her. Words. I’m not trying to downplay her injury, because oddly enough I’ve been in a similar situation as Gemma, but it was a mix of both Gemma being too vague with her decisions or thoughts and Josh not being as patient with Gemma as he should be. There are two instances of this: when Ian and Gemma are seen by Josh and the events that happen immediately after, and the final “climactic” event with Josh and Gemma during the family picnic. It’s just… Gemma used broad statements and vague words to have Josh believe she chose Ian over him. But like, no? Gemma, use your words! It’s like the situation she was in is some big secret that she couldn’t tell Josh about? No, Gemma. Tell him. He’s an understanding guy, he would understand why you couldn’t come home right away. Same with the second instance. She’s overcome with emotion that she cries for a few minutes. Understandable, it’s a big breakthrough moment. But Josh just up and leaves? He takes that as her ending things there, too. It felt very out of character; for one whole book and roughly 87% of a second book Josh would’ve sat right next to her and comforted her while she let these tears out. Instead the author tries to create more drama by having him leave and squeaking out another chapter or two for it.
That was unfortunately another issue. This book is a novella masquerading as a novel. It stretched and dragged and could’ve been more succinct with the same story with fewer chapters and words. That’s why I feel this story was not necessarily one that needed to be told. It’s the same way I feel about Colleen Hoover’s sequel to “It Ends With Us” – it ended pretty well, there was no need for a continuation. It was an excuse to add melodrama when melodrama was non-existent in the first novel. (This book, not Colleen Hoover’s. There was a decent amount of melodrama in IEWU.)
Even with all of that, I will still give it three out of five stars because I do love these characters. Josh and Gemma have dealt with enough crap, can we stop it there? Let them draw their happily ever afters on each other and be with their sweet baby Hope? That would be greeeeeat.
Loved “Josh and Gemma”? Hated it? Let me know what you think!
Thank you to Swift & Lewis Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. “Josh and Gemma the Second Time Around” is out now!
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