Ready or Not: A Novel (Dial Delights)

A surprise pregnancy leads to even more life-changing revelations in this “absolutely buoyant read” (Elle).

“Bastone delivers on this truly heartwarming, funny, and real story. Come for the dog bar, stay for the special, slow-burn romcom.”—Abby Jimenez, New York Times bestselling author


A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, NPR, Elle

Eve Hatch lives for surprises! Just kidding. She expects every tomorrow to be pretty much the same as today. She loves her cozy apartment in Brooklyn that’s close to her childhood best friend Willa, and far from her midwestern, traditional family who has never really understood her. While her job is only dream-adjacent, it’s comfortable and steady. She always knows what to expect from her life . . . 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 tense, right when she needs her the most. And it’s actually Willa’s steadfast older brother, Shep, who steps up to help Eve. 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, as if she needs one more complication, there’s the baby’s father, who is (technically) supportive but (majorly) conflicted.

Up until this point, Eve’s been content to coast through life. Now, though—maybe it’s the hormones, maybe it’s the way Shep’s shoulders look in a T-shirt—Eve starts to wonder if she has been secretly desiring more from every aspect of her life.

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.

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Published Feb 13, 2024

400 pages

Average rating: 7.89

88 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

louislabelle
Sep 22, 2025
8/10 stars
Great read, has smut so I subtracted a point. Nice romance, won’t re-read (another point removal)
Ava Robbins
Sep 14, 2025
6/10 stars
A cute story unfortunately plagued by how dumb, delusional, and in denial the female main character is- highly recommend listening via audiobook to make up for some of that because I would have liked this marginally less if I was reading this in a physical copy. Shoutout to narrator Alex Finke!

Lastly, this book paired with the timely release of Sabrina Carpenter's "Juno" has given me the sudden urge to become pregnant even though I am in the throes of my grad school education!!! Which has been a welcome daydream because all these homework articles are driving me crazy!!! So this book gets some points for that.

3.5 stars
Tanja
Jun 25, 2025
6/10 stars
Cute and fluffy! I enjoyed Eve’s journey!
b_marie
May 01, 2025
8/10 stars
More like 4.5 Stars. This book was great. This is the type of pregnancy book I want and can enjoy. It was light and cute but also had this serious nature to it that allowed me to kind of think. Shep is like top 5 book boyfriends ever. If my partner does not treat me like Shep did if I get pregnant, there's gonna be a problem. Eve was someone that I could kinda relate to. Someone who is just kind of coasting through life until something comes along that makes you think "what do you really want" and getting to see her go through that was beautiful.
carrmel21
Feb 26, 2025
10/10 stars
I just finished Ready or Not, and wow—this book completely stole my heart!

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