A book review for Cara Bastone’s latest romance about an accidental pregnancy, life-long friends, and new beginnings
Hello again lovelies, and welcome to another episode of “Monica Reads Through”… an ARC that she got a long time ago and finally got around to reading! This week I’m going to be talking about a contemporary romance called “Ready or Not” by Cara Bastone. The story follows Eve Hatch, a woman living a rather content life in Brooklyn, working at an “almost dream” job at the Wildlife Fund of America, and doing her best with her love life after being let down by not just one, but two Dereks. (How does that happen? Come on Dereks, be better.) However, it looks like fate has other plans when she gets pregnant after a one night stand with a gorgeous bartender. (Not named Derek.)
Suddenly Eve’s world has changed forever: her best friend Willa is being cagey after hearing the news; Eve has a baby daddy now, and he’s kind of freaking out yet is doing his best to stick with her; and one of her oldest and closest friends, Shep, went from being “Willa’s dorky older brother” to “that hot man who keeps feeding me and giving me foot massages.” What’s going on here? And how will Eve navigate this new world she’s found herself in?
Alright, top of the review. So here’s my star rating: 5 out of 5.
Y’all. I just fell in love with this book. It was like a warm hug, or a hot cup of cocoa on a rainy day, or greeting an old friend after a long absence. I feel like this book hit me in the right feels at the right time of my life. I’ve had this ARC for a while and only just now got to it. The main reason was because this book doesn’t hit shelves for another week; I tend to read a book rather quickly and then forget major plot points because I’m moving on to the next book. But I also feel like this book found me at the right time.
From now on, there’s going to be some spoilers laced throughout, so I’ll put my SPOILER ALERT right here just in case.
The characters have their own strengths and weaknesses, flaws and resilience. Eve had something so life-changing thrown her way and while she’s terrified, she still wants what she wants, and she is brave because of it. She has her doubts – she is frankly quite terrified about the baby coming – but I like that even though her pregnancy is totally unexpected, she doesn’t question whether she wants to keep it or not. Don’t get me wrong: I’m all for a woman’s right to choose, and if there was a part of the book where she’s thinking about abortion, I’d be all for that internal struggle. But there’s something about how she’s unclear about everything else in her life except the baby. I don’t know, it’s sweet.
I’ve never been pregnant, but there’s something so great about a woman who thinks of “pregnancy” and “having a baby” as two separate things that makes so much sense. Like, you’re on this crazy roller coaster filled with pre-natal doctor’s appointments, reading books about being pregnant, all the cravings, all the ways your body’s changing… but then suddenly halfway through the pregnancy someone talks to your fetus and you’re like, “Holy shit, there’s a baby in there and it’s gonna come out and I’m gonna have to take care of it??” If I were pregnant I’d probably be in that boat.
The struggle with Eve’s best friend Willa is heartbreaking, yet so beautiful. She’s a real person. Pregnancy for some people isn’t always happy news, especially if you have fertility issues and your best friend gets pregnant after a one night stand. It felt real that Willa just couldn’t handle Eve being pregnant, and needed to take care of herself for a while after hearing the news. And it felt real when Eve felt abandoned, even though she knew about Willa’s struggles. Does that make her selfish? In a way, but it’s a flaw that is true. Eve can be sympathetic about Willa’s pain over the pregnancy, but also want her best friend with her during the whole thing. The great thing about it too, was that Eve eventually accepted it and let Willa have her time apart from her. She waited for Willa to come to her.
The scene that really solidified this book as a great one for me was the baby kick scene. Early on, Eve and Shep are lying in bed together (platonically) watching an awesome movie (Spirited Away) when the baby kicks for the first time. It’s such a beautiful scene full of firsts: the first time the baby kicks, the first time someone touches Eve’s pregnant belly, the first time someone talks to the baby as if it were a human. Shep treats the baby like a baby. He’s so happy the baby kicked for him, and he just waits for another, talking to the baby and being grateful he got that one kick. It’s such a heartwarming scene and I kind of teared up. Like I said, this book hit me in the feels in a certain way. It’s such a great scene; it kicks off the story in a major way, especially the relationship between Eve and Shep.
The Eve/Shep relationship is sweet and tender, it makes my heart happy. I’m always a fan of friends to lovers, but also a fan of friends to lovers when one of the friends always had feelings. The yearning, y’all. The yearning. Plus it helps that Shep is a dorky, cinnamon roll of a man who must be protected at all costs.
The baby daddy, Ethan, wanting to be supportive and help when he can is a breath of fresh air. He’s freaking out for sure, but he steps up. Mad props. There were times where I wanted to smack him upside the head, but come on. He was doing his best. He just got back together with his on again/off again girlfriend when he finds out he knocked up a one night stand during the “off again” period of time. There’s a lot going on, and he stuck around even though he did annoyingly ghost Eve a couple of times.
Another thing I liked was the maternal relationships between Eve and some of the side characters. The first one is the stories Eve told throughout the book about her relationship with Will and Shep’s mother, who passed away before the events of the book. Their mother was like a second mother to Eve (Eve’s parents had her when they were a lot older, like in their 50’s, so Willa and Shep’s mom felt more “motherly” to her), and her absence was felt among the characters. The other maternal relationship was between Eve and Nurse Louise, aka Nurse Blank. (I found it hilarious that we didn’t know this woman’s real name until halfway through the book.) She’s Eve’s OBGYN nurse and her presence is mostly just in all the checkup appointments Eve has throughout her pregnancy. The final scene where Eve’s giving birth is the best though. Eve calls Nurse Louise and is like, “Hey, my water broke.” And Louise is like, “Okay, head to the hospital, but I won’t be there. It’s my day off.” And Eve is obviously pretty bummed. But “hard candy shell outside, soft gooey inside” Louise shows up to the birth and Eve’s so happy about it, I teared up again.
The relationships between those women – past and present – really enriched the story and helped Eve with her worries about being a good mother. She has a village – and so many people who love her – that she and the baby will be okay.
Also, after the birth when Shep says, “We’re connected to each other now” in reference to Ethan and himself, my heart just melted. Those men bonded by being in the room with Eve when she gave birth, and while I’m good with the place the book ended (it was about her pregnancy more than the actual baby), it would have been great to see more Shep/Ethan scenes. There will be weird times throughout that child’s life when it comes to the two of them for sure, but she will never not be loved, and that just makes me so happy. She’ll have two Daddies who love her and are okay with the other loving her and UGH my heart.
Thanks again to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group, and Dial Press Trade Paperback for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
“Ready or Not” is set to be released on February 13th, just in time for Valentine’s Day. Make sure to check it out when it hits stores, e-books, and libraries!
Until next time my lovelies!
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