Introduction

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 of 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.

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Excerpt

Chapter 1:

When I was a little kid, I worshiped Josh Lewenthal, now, I couldn’t care less about him, I just need his sperm.
I’ll be the first to admit, I have no idea how to go about getting it, but as my obscenely sexy boss, famed self-help guru Ian Fortune, always says, “anything is possible if you put your mind to it.” ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

At the beginning of the novel, Gemma realizes that she’s been waiting for Mr. Right (or Mr. Right Now) for her dreams to come true, but she doesn’t have to wait any longer. In what ways did Gemma, her family, or society encourage Gemma to follow the prescribed path? In what other ways do we wait on our dreams, instead of pursuing them with abandon?
Gemma uses inspirational quotes as a structure to frame her life, her experiences, and to maintain a positive outlook. Is this an aid, a crutch, or both? Do you have any favorite inspirational quotes? Did the novel inspire you to keep an inspirational quote journal or diary?
When Gemma’s sister Leah said, “I know you believe there’s always a bright side, but I don’t think that’s true,” do you agree with Leah, or do you agree with Gemma, that there’s always a silver lining?
What do you think Gemma Jacobs looks like? Josh Lewenthal? Why do you think Ready never describes them in detail?
Early in the book, Gemma and Josh both write New Year’s Resolutions. How did opening and closing with New Year’s frame the book? Have you made any resolutions that came true, or do you plan to after reading this novel?
Gemma meets the fertility support group, Brook, Hannah, and Carly, later in the book. What purpose do these characters serve? Who did you relate to most out of the three? How do you think Gemma’s journey would have differed if she hadn’t met these women?
During their relationship, Gemma slowly learns more about Josh. She says, “Each of us, all the people in our lives, are like icebergs floating near each other. We only see the top of the icebergs, the faces we show the world, and the rest, all our inner lives and secret fears remain hidden underneath the surface.” What other characters did she have mistaken perceptions of? Is this a common theme in life? Do we only see the tip of the iceberg of others? Even those closest to us? Why or why not?
Gemma has infertility, which affects nearly one in eight couples in the U.S. It isn’t something that is often shared, or talked about, however its effect on a person’s life is great. How did Gemma deal with infertility? How did the other characters deal with infertility/miscarriage/early loss? How did Gemma’s perception of infertility change over time? Or didn’t it?
Ian Fortune is everything that Gemma believes she wants – success, wealth, charm, intelligence, a good-heart. However it becomes clear that Ian is not the person he claims to be. At the close of the novel he says, “If Alexander Graham Bell hadn’t stolen from Elisha Gray we wouldn’t have the telephone as we know it. If Edison hadn’t stolen from Tesla, where would we be? If Zworykin hadn’t stolen from Farnsworth we wouldn’t have television. Imagine that, by your reasoning there is a lie, a crime behind every television in the world. But isn’t it better to be on the side of progress and not limit that?” Advances have been made because of individuals using other’s ideas. Do you agree with his stance, or disagree?
In the end, Gemma realizes that she loves Josh Lewenthal and that the journey hasn’t been about making a baby, but one of self-discovery, and discovery of the inner-lives of those she loves. Did you find the ending satisfying?

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