Everyone has a best friend. Mine just happens to be Dr. Christian Gallagher— the gorgeous, green-eyed heart surgeon who wants to have a baby with me.Yes, you read that correctly.When my mother approached me on my thirty-third birthday with a brochure for egg freezing, it was a glaring reminder that my biological clock is ticking toward its expiration date. I’ve always dreamed of being a mom and … dreamed of being a mom and had a plan — one that was destroyed when I caught my professional hockey player husband in bed with another woman.
Despite my broken heart I still believe in love. I want the happily ever after, but I also want a child desperately and won’t settle in order to make it happen.
That’s why when I decided to take my mother’s advice, Christian came up with his own plan: Let’s have a baby together.
It’s a bad idea. A really, really bad idea. And yet…I can’t stop thinking about how great it could be.
There’s just one condition. Before we have sex (oh, yes, we’re doing this the old fashioned way!) Christian is adamant we go on three dates.
Sounds easy, but it’s not.I thought sex would be the hard part, but the dates are only making me fall for the man I’ve known almost my entire life.
Whoever said sex doesn’t change things never went to bed with their best friend.
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I thoroughly enjoy this author’s writing and how the characters just come to life in my mind as I am reading. We should all be lucky enough to have a guy like Christian in our lives and I loved how Meadow wasn’t a damsel in distress looking to be saved, she was strong on her own just looking for a happily ever after. This book was well written and kept my attention as i needed to know how it would all turn out. I look forward to more books by this author in the future. I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this book for an honest review
Watching these two plan for a baby and get to the point where they have to do the “deed” was so fun to watch. Not only are there some comical moments, it was a romantic story as well. Love scenes were steamy and I loved watching these two realize that maybe a baby won’t be such a bad thing for their friendship after all. Could it make them even closer? This was a super cute book and was definitely a feel good love story.
I really Jeannine Colette’s books and Christian and Meadow’s story is easily my favorite of her books. This story is cute, funny, emotional, and sexy the perfect mix. I was instantly hooked from the first page, she captures you and you can not help but fall in love with the characters. This is absolutely a must read!! Love love loved!!!
I love this friends to lovers! Christian is a wonderful character. I like how he is always there for Meadow. This is a sweet and fun romance, with a beautiful ending. I enjoyed reading this story. Now, I’m looking forward for more books written by Jeannine Colette.
I’ve been hearing awesome things about Jeannine Colette’s writing for a while now and after reading the blurb (and seeing the great cover) for A Really Bad Idea, I knew this was the book. The plot sounded interesting and ripe for disaster- in a good way. Unfortunately, for me, Meadow and Christian’s story fell a bit flat.
In fact, I liked both of the main characters. They were both strong willed, intelligent and hard working. It was their personal lives that were messy. They were best friends who share just about everything with each other. I could feel they love they had for one another, it seemed that the only ones who didn’t know where them.
With a meddling mother and a clock ticking, they come up with a plan. It should’ve been foolproof. There should’ve been no complications. But life had other ideas. When the dreaded “feelings” got involved, everything got thrown off track. And Christian and Meadow didn’t know where to go next or what to do.
That being said, I found the pacing slow and most of the dialogue and twists were predictable.I knew where the story was going from the first chapter. It just took a long time for Christian and Meadow to catch up (like until the last chapter long). These two are the proof that friends-to-lovers can work if you give it the chance.
Another first author!
A Really Bad Idea is about childhood friends Christian and Meadow and how they fall in love in an unconventional way.
Christian and Meadow were cute together, perhaps a little too cute. There is minimal angst, which I’m sort of thankful for because I read this before I started my exams at the beginning of this month and couldn’t commit to anything that would require a 100% from me.
Now, why the 3-star ratings… One, like I already said, Christian and Meadow were too familiar and too cute together. I usually need, want and look for angst between the romantic interests and that was missing.
Two, Meadow’s brother Brian. Can I just say what a douche? Not everybody likes to play it safe in their life and actually love to get out of their comfort zones especially when it comes to falling in love. But the way he treated Meadow the entire book — the offhand remarks, the not-so-nice jibes — because of the “heartache” she caused everyone because Meadow divorced her cheating asshole of a husband? Like I’m sorry, but he and neither of parents approved or even bothered to like Brook (the ex-husband) so please, how can you be hurt?
And he constantly threw that little tidbit to her face every chance he got. I really wanted Meadow to confront him, hell even Meadow’s best friend who also happens to be The Douche’s wife should have said something but then came the age-old dialogue “You know how he is” and then a dramatic sigh and pity filled smile. I’m done with this bullshit. I don’t care if he was her brother.
Three, the ex-husband Brook. Asshole. Let’s leave it at that.
Fourth, the sheer amount of time it took Christian and Meadow to confess their feelings. *face-palm* You’ve been in love with each other since FOREVER and well into your 30s and you still hesitate to admit the obvious?
But to balance out all this, Colette gave an amazing set of parents, potential love interests and the cutest kids!
Overall, it’s actually not a bad book. It is quick and easy and something that anyone can pick up on a busy day or between two angsty reads because you want a break.
I fell in love with Jeannine’s writing years ago and she never disappoints. Her books always leave me feeling gleeful and optimistic. A REALLY BAD IDEA has become one of my favorites. Christian was so swoon worthy the way he was always there for Meadow. He was more than a best friend in this friends to lovers romance, he stepped up as her man years ago and patiently waited for his turn. Gah, every girl should have a Christian in their life waiting to catch them if they fall. I HIGHLY recommend this wonderful book that will leave you with the biggest smile on your face!!
4.5 stars
I enjoyed this book, friends to lovers, sexy doctor and lovely Manhattan that now I want to visit more than anything after reading this story and all the beautiful places the characters lived or had a date or just walked around.
Read it in one sitting and although at times it felt like dragging a bit, I understand why the need to have more about her inner thoughts and insecurities.
”It’s all about focus. Look down, and you reveal your fears. Look up, and you overthink your obstacles. The trick is to look forward,”
Yes, it takes a while till they get to accept their feelings but I laughed out loud and also felt heartbreaking for them at times.
Great writing as usual from the author and lovely story for a past thirty adults that are more focused on their careers than building a family.
4 When a Bad Idea Becomes a REALLY Good Idea Stars!!!
I absolutely loved this friends to lovers book by Ms. Colette. Meadow and Christian have been best friends for most of their lives and seen each other through thick and thin. While Meadow has always had a crush on Christian she’s never admitted it to anyone and when she finds herself at a crossroads in her life wanting a baby but not having a partner to have one with she finds the perfect solution or so she thinks…until Christian throws an idea at her that changes everything they’ve always been to each other.
And so these two friends set out to make a baby the old fashioned way! I loved how Christian wanted to romance Meadow. A girl he’s known forever but man oh man when he puts the swoon on he’s completely and totally irresistible! I mean come on…he’s a tops in his field heart surgeon, comes from a great family, smells good, looks like he walked off the pages of GQ and he’s not egotistical. He’s always loved this girl but watching him fall in love with Meadow was a joy!!
When their relationship moves to the baby making phase holy moly get the fans out cuz they are on FIRE!! Who knew that they would connect on this level unlike any previous relationships. This connection leads to deeper feelings that scared them both. Neither of them were looking for a relationship…. Christian has a plan for goodness sakes and Meadow wants a baby!! But fall in love they did. But it’s not all rainbows and unicorns for our new couple which I so appreciated because in reality it doesn’t always happen the way we want it to.
With her words Ms. Colette was able to put a smile on my face which I needed after the previous book I had just finished. This book is swoony, romantic and at certain points had me laughing out loud. I fell in love with Christian and Meadow when I turned that very last page, I sighed and felt a little flutter in my heart for this wonderful book written by one of my favorite authors!
I loved every word of it. Christian and Meadow had great friendship, amazing chemistry. Everytime they were expressing how they felt throughout their friendship made my heart beat a little faster with anticipation how long will it take before they FINALLY confess their true feelings.
I truly love BF to lovers kinda books and this one might be my favourite so far in the 2019. It had me laughing, made me cry here and there but most of all it had me swooning so damn hard. I highly recommend it
***Review copy requested and reviewed on behalf of OMGReads Blog***
WISHES DO COME TRUE **4.25 stars**
“It’s all about focus. Look down, and you reveal your fears. Look up, and you over-think your obstacles. The trick is to look forward”
Yes, Christian … and I was looking at you all the way through this sentimental, loving, romantic, thoughtful, insightful book that also touches on some important issues that were blended into a satisfying romance. And, oh, the wooing!!!! This is a 2nd chance at a 1st chance friends-to-lovers romance.
This is definitely a passion project for the author, and if you love her as I do, you won’t be disappointed by this truly intimate love story. It was such a beautiful journey. Magical dates. Pennies and wishing fountains. A love that transcends friendship and decades. Making the courageous leap from friends to lovers. On every page and encounter, I could feel the fullness and scope of their love for each other, but hesitancy to take the leap of faith and express it.
Both characters were so heavily nuanced that every emotion was there to witness, whether spoken or implied. I found myself aching for their HEA and so wrapped up in the couple and their evolving relationship, that I just wanted more scenes of them.
This is such a beautiful love story, and this author never delivers anything less.
I always enjoy a great friends to lovers story. And this one was a bit different but in a good way. Meadow is feeling that biological clock ticking loud and clear and it doesn’t help that her mother seems to always find a way to just push that envelope a little bit farther than Meadow is ready for. People in love want everyone around them to be in love; to find their other halves. Christian has found his…his work. He has a plan, he had goals and there is nothing that will deter him from those goals. Let’s face it, his biological clock can tick until he is much older without consequences. Meadow, however, finds her dream of parenthood dwindling every day and her prospects for a beautiful love story circling the drain like her disastrous marriage. Christian loves his best friend enough to give her the child she so desperately wants but are these two ready for the changes that come with having a “friends with benefit” relationship? There were a few super emotional and some great funny moments in the story that kept me riveted until the end.
A Really Bad Idea is a standalone romance. What is it about romances with baby’s that grab me? I don’t know but I grabbed up this book because she needs a baby because her biological clock is ticking. Christian Gallagher and Meadow Duvane have known each other since they were kids. They are friends and he wants a baby with her the old-fashioned way after going with her to a fertility specialist.
Not only is Christian a heart surgeon. Which is a kind of human plumber he can actually do plumbing in the kitchen too.
I fell in love with Christian and Meadow as well as their family. Daddy Gallagher (Thomas) is Christian’s father and is also a heart doctor and is Meadow’s mother (Mama Duvane’s) doctor. And, the love that Daddy Duvane and Mama Duvane have for each other. Mama Duvane mettles in Meadow’s life. Just like a lot of mama’s do. She only means the best for her children.
I found A Really Bad Idea a really good and emotional read. I found myself not being able to put this book down. I LOVED reading this true romance book. 5 stars all the way!
Shes almost thirty three, and single. Her mind on children, her biological clock is ticking.
A failed marriage and no prospects on the horizon her mind is spinning in all directions.
He has a plan, a place he wants to be by the time hes forty. That doesn’t involve love and children.
They have been best friends since they were teenagers. She is his everything, he is her smile. Nothing is too much, no distance too far.
Is this just friendship?
Oh how I swooned over the good doctor! from his bedside manner, to his wooing of the ladies and how dedicated he is to his best friend. Hes mine!! hands off folks!
They are completely and utterly adorable together. Sharing food, and claiming ownership. Dancing to their own music. Simply put they are magical!
I loved this read from the moment it began to the last word written. I was completely swept up in their story, time lost all meaning and I didnt care.
My heart filled with joy as the distance closed and the lines blurred. I admit I did get a bit misty eyed the sweetness of it all got to me, but in the best way possible.
This is the kind of read that will play out in your dreams and have you waking with the biggest smile for it’s beautiful and serene, mesmerising and divine.
Its perfection in a book! And I know I will revisit this time and time again.
What an absolutely charming, delightful book! Written beautifully, this romance is one of friends to lovers, which is a personal favourite, starring Meadow and Christian, with an amazing support cast, not the least of which is Meadow’s mum, Gail. There is a winning combination of humour and love written with great style and confidence.
With such a strong romantic storyline in place, Jeannine Colette takes this book to another emotional level with the her description of Gail’s situation. The seriousness of her condition brings a depth and richness to the story via the responses and reactions of all the major characters and I loved the interactions between them. Gail is a brilliant character! Funny, astute and a total meddler, of the best kind.
All in all, this book has been an absolute pleasure to read, and totally worthy of 5 excellent stars.
This is a best friend to lovers romance that is told strictly in the female POV, but it is also so much more. There is no drama or cheating or anything along those lines, but A Really Bad Idea is filled with humor, friendship, family, emotional moments and some romantic, sexy times too. Basically, this story is simple and lovely.
It’s been awhile since I’ve read a book in one POV and yes, it can be frustrating, but like life, we don’t know what those around us are thinking, but I also forgot how richly detailed and beautiful a good storyteller can be in that POV. Jeannine Colette is one of those crafted writers. Meadow and Christian embark on a journey that not many best friends willingly go down. With the story told completely in Meadow’s singular mindset every subtle nuance of body language, every word was analyzed, and I scoured between the lines to find the hints at what was going through Christian’s head. I was so drawn into Meadow’s head that I completely forgot most times that I was reading a single POV. This was a brilliantly written book!
Meadow has achieved every dream she’s ever wanted, except one…becoming a wife and a mother.When her best friend, Dr. Christian Gallagher suggests having a baby with her she doesn’t exactly jump at the idea, but she doesn’t throw it out either. They have been friends for so long because they haven’t crossed boundaries.
Ever.
So when Christian says he wants to have a baby with her and he also wants to do it the traditional way, she has some trepidation. He’s not offering her love, romance, and a happily ever after. He’s offering her a way to have a baby. They are friends and he also isn’t one to slam and run.
Yes, she can feel her biological clock ticking and yes, she knows she messed up by marrying the wrong man and wasting years of her life when she caught him cheating, but is she willing to throw out another chance at finding love in order to have a child with Christian?
Can she go through with his traditional idea, three dates before being intimate, and still keep her feelings unattached, still keep Christian friend-zoned?
This might be a really bad idea, or a really, really good one.
This is a best friends to lovers story. They have been best friends since they were children. Meadow is a nurse practitioner who has been divorced for a year—a divorce that drastically altered her plans of starting a family with her husband. Christian is an extremely successful cardiologist. He wants Willow to have the baby she wants, but he wants her to have his baby, not a donor’s baby. A baby to be made the old-fashioned way. There is a lot of miscommunication, a lot of romance and sweetness, and a REALLY overbearing mother with a heart issue and a hidden agenda. A very enjoyable story.
At thirty-three, Meadow never thought she would be divorced and childless, that had not been the plan, but neither was staying with someone that cheated. After having received info on egg freezing from her mother of all people, Meadow starts to wonder if she should look into the process or not. She knows she wants kids, but she always thought it would happen the more traditional way… you know after finding a man and marrying him. When she confides in her best friend, Christian, he throws out a crazy idea…. have a baby with him. The only issue is that he wants to have three dates, and that they actually do the deed, no turkey baster needed. For Meadow, he is the one person that has always been there for her, but is this asking too much? Will the lines get too blurred for them to maintain their just friends relationship?
This was a really good book that kept me thoroughly entertained. My heart actually hurt for Meadow at times. Giving us all the feels with some serious drama, and some very nice naughty bits. I give this 4 stars.
Paging Dr Christian Gallagher! Paging Dr Christian Gallagher! Get to my side STAT! You are giving me heart palpitations!
What a beautiful friends to lovers story is A Really Bad Idea.
I mean, the premise is not a new one, there are plenty of friends to lovers stories out there, however this one just had that something – and that something is Dr Christian Gallagher. Oh my, how swoonworthy is that man!
It wasn’t hard to see where this story was going to go, however it was a lot of fun going on the journey with Christian and Meadow. I love their banter, I love their connection – one that only years of friendship can really forge – and I really adore their fear of ruining friendships. I was glad that the sexual buildup didn’t overshadow everything else.
It is a case of will they or won’t they – and believe me, you want them to!
There are wonderful secondary characters, especially family members.
It wasn’t all smiles, and I may have shed a couple of tears as I was reading.
I don’t know how, but this was my first Jeaninne Colette read (I have read her collaborations, just not her solo writes), however I will be rectifying this in the future.
I can’t wait to see what she writes next.
It’s SOOOOO romantic and I loved it! The main characters are romantic but it’s not just them, it’s also the people around them and their family. Meadow and Christian grew up surrounded by love and good values but early on things didn’t go as they planned romantically. That just helped for them to solidify their friendship and work hard on their dreams. When Meadow decides to make life changing decisions and take on a new role, Christian seizes the opportunity to do it right along with her.
I felt so much confusion about their feelings versus their actions. You will hurt with them but more than anything you will be swooned off your feet. It’s beautiful to read this idea of knowing again your life long friend like Meadow does. To see him in a new light. She already knew Christian was amazing as a man and a friend but she will get to experience his full focus. A different side of him. With that, they will discover that they complement each other. They just fit. Maybe their time wasn’t before but now… it’s forever.