Baby Bank by Sarah Robinson

Mila Torres is only a year away from thirty-five, and when her doctor mentions she might want to consider freezing her eggs, she realizes that her someday of kids might be now. When she goes down the fertility options, her friend says there's an app, but of course, there is. So, with new knowledge and swipe ready, she delves into Baby Bank. The one-stop shop for all your sperm needs. When she finds the perfect donor and everything is set up for the hotel meet-up. Then it all goes drastically wonky. She is a divorce attorney, potentially looking to impregnate herself, this is perfect fodder for her side hustle as a comedian.
This is an interesting story of authentic living, uncovering your limits, being open and letting people be who they are. Enjoy.

Kept reading until 30% to see if Mila got pregnant but then DNFed. There were too many characters and it was too chaotic. Why did she call her mom Chicky instead of mom?! That was weird. And also felt like there was a lot of backstory that needed explaining about *why* Mila wanted to be a mom so badly. It seemed like such a random decision and then to get pregnant so quickly after deciding seemed pretty unrealistic. Just uninterested to continue. Thanks anyway for the ARC.

Baby Bank is a queer romantic comedy and the first in the Queerly Devoted series. Mila Torres is a bisexual DC lawyer by day and a stand up comedian by night. At thirty-four, she is feeling time ticking away on her chance at motherhood, so being the independent millennial she is, she decides it’s time to become a mom, whether she has a partner in the picture or not. Enter Baby Bank, the free sperm donor app. This is a story of knowing who you are, going for what you want, comedy and romance.

I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect when I picked up this book. I don’t read a lot of queer books and wasn’t sure how the Baby Bank app was going to play out, but I am definitely glad I took a chance on this book. I found this to be a great new aged romance with undertones of finding yourself even when you thought you knew who you were and discovery. The comedy throughout this book made it hard to put this down, I kept looking forward to the next humorous thing to happen. Like I said before, I haven’t read many queer books, but I can definitely say of the few I have read, this is my favorite! I really enjoyed the characters and how everything played out on this book. The ending seemed to come up too quick, but I loved the deleted chapter after the epilogue! I definitely recommend this is you want a laugh and some good, queer romance!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book!

*This is about a 3.5 for me.*
**Thanks to Netgalley and Sarah Robinson for the ARC. This review is my own.**

This review contains mild spoilers.

Mila is a lawyer slash stand up comedian, who decides to use a Tinder-like app to find a sperm donor after her gyno says she's running out of time. She's also being hounded by a reporter sniffing for info on one of her firm's clients. Pregnancy hijinks ensue, and a FF love story.

First, what I enjoyed:
This had some pretty funny moments! Mila's friends and mom are funny, and some of the situations end up amusing as well. The banter was cute, too. Plus I loved the whole Aston thing, and him having a group and parties for his donor mamas is so adorkably weird. Found family is one of my favorite tropes, and I love that Mila has such a great support group for herself. Mila shows a lot of growth throughout, and I really appreciate that!

Some of my concerns:
The pacing of this felt off to me. Mila makes what felt like a snap decision, and then from there everything goes really quickly, including the relationship with Ari. (Yes, I am aware of the wlw relationship stereotype, and this felt like that to me--stereotypical.) One of the lovers is always running off, and they rarely seem to spend time together, but we get a declaration of love and proposal (Again, the stereotype. I know. They just didn't have enough scenes together for their love to work.)
Finally, the bonus scene that comes after the epilogue is...confusing? In the epilogue, they considered having another child, but then the bonus scene is the birth of Gracie. (I think this could be rectified easily by swapping the order or even just adding a *Gracie's Birth* to the bonus scene title.)

Back to what I appreciate: the representation in this book! We have a pretty diverse cast, and none of them feel like "the token...." anything, and that is such a rare occurrence. The characters feel genuine, not like placeholders, which is honestly, just delightful. Also, Mila stands up for the reproductive rights of women, and we stan that.

All in all, this was cute and kind of funny. If you like FF romcoms, you might enjoy this one!

This is such a fun read, I read it in one sitting!
We meet Mila Torres a successful divorce lawyer by day, and a stand-up comedian by night. Whilst visiting her doctors for her annual pap smear, he suggests that if she wants child in the future, she needs to freeze her eggs. Mila pretty much decides that she doesn’t want children in the future, she wants them now…
Mila is introduced to Baby Bank, a free sperm bank app. After getting her girlfriends together and swiping numerous times, Mila finds the perfect candidate. She meets him at a hotel and using a home insemination kit - Mila becomes pregnant. However, it’s not just his baby she wants… she also wants his sister.

I loved the LGTBQIA+ representation in this book. The characters are fantastic, the story is so well written and the female empowerment is something else! I found this book really fun and easy to read. The idea of this book to me was really wholesome, I was left feeling really emotional in certain parts and rooting for our main characters throughout! I would 100% recommend this books to friends.

I look forward to reading more Sarah Robinson books in the future! Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

Baby Bank is a delightfully witty sapphic romance that is deeper than I had anticipated. This is a book that firmly has a place on my reread list due to the humor, witty dialogue, and dynamic characters all wrapped up in a snuggly baby blanket!

Give me more queer romance novels with alternate family planning please!!! So I have previously hated romance novels that feature a pregnant FMC (if you remember my review of RoomHate it was the worst haha). Now maybe I’m a little more open to it when it includes two queer women and a sperm bank app 😂
I loved that this book spoke to alternate family planning. The FMC wants to start a family and jumps in solo because she wants to start a family even if it means as a single parent! I also love that it mentions the astronomical cost of alternate family planning that makes it near impossible for many queer folks, single people or other economically less privileged people.
Also both FMCs were funny, complicated, in therapy 🥳, and going through many major life changes (relatable content anyone 🤣).
Also what I loved loved besides all of the above were the incredible ancillary characters from the family (can I get a Chickie and Pastor Steve romance novel please, love seeing older characters being spicy and finding romance) to the roomies, friends, etc. They all felt like fully developed characters in their own right even the smaller parts instead of just a plot device, which I felt like I’d like more romance novels to take notice of. Which makes me even happier that I read the end notes and it looks like we will have more books in this world!
Thank you @netgalley for my copy! This is out September 19th! Also pictured walking Brooklyn because I read the majority of this book on our morning walks 😍

This book gave me all the feels! The main characters were so fun and likable. I love the story and the little "plot twist" There were a few times that I felt the story was a little rushed; however, that did not take away the enjoyability of the story. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who wants a cutesy quick read.



*Thank you to netgalley for the ARC*

premise:
contemporary adult fictional romcom set in Washington DC (but in the general DMV area too!)
first-person POV of main character
34-year-old Mila Torres, full-time lawyer who moonlights as an amateur stand-up comedian Tori Miles, decides that she wants to pursue motherhood!
Her friends/roommates (Isa, Yasmeen, Rachel) tell her about Baby Bank, an app where you can find sperm donors!
Mila interviews and background checks Aston Li, who has created his own Facebook group of "Pieces of Aston" for the moms to keep in touch
Mila has also been hounded by this journalist, Ari Elliot, who wants Mila to spill on one of her horrible clients (a man who is trying to limit abortion and birth control access, yet paid for his mistress to get an abortion)
Mila pursues motherhood without updating her mom, Chicky, about it, though they are extremely close and Mila wanted this to be just for her for the moment
tropes: forbidden love, forced proximity, baby daddy's sister, found family
representation: Mila is pansexual & Latina, Aston and Ari Li are AAPI, Isa Reyes is Filipino, Yasmeen Kianai is undisclosed POC, Yasmeen & Rachel Blumenthal are both queer
steam: 1.5/5 - it's like almost open-door, but not quite there???
cw: pregnancy, sexism, abortion, infidelity, gender reveal party, medical content, depression

thoughts:
Ah, I thought this was a delightful millennial queer romcom! I adored how familiar these characters felt, from Mila to her group of found family/besties, to her mom Chicky, to Aston and Ari. They were all so much fun to get to know, and it really felt representative of the diverse world we live in today.

I appreciated that Mila had a great relationship with her mom, who raised her as a single parent. They had such a close relationship that Mila felt like she had to actively separate which parts of her were *her* since she shared almost everything with Chicky. I was raised by two parents so I can't speak to this experience, but I believed Mila when she expressed a desire for more autonomy and not feeling as if she had to keep her mom informed of everything she did, right as she did it. I also thought this was lovely representation of how an already loving and healthy mother-daughter relationship can still be examined, and even improved in ways you wouldn't think of before!

He really was not in the story TOO much but Aston was the ultimate himbo hahaha. He was direct, supportive, and gave sweet golden retriever energy hahaha. He was a breath of fresh air and levity for sure. I loved his mom Nomi, and how full of joy she was at having so many scattered grandchildren.

Ari's arc for overcoming her past trauma and divulging this to Mila took a lot of bravery, and there is a layer of mystery and intrigue there during the first 80% of the book. I'm glad we got answers, and that we got to see Ari get out of her own way!

I loved what the author said in the acknowledgements: "Why wasn’t there more trauma and conflict? Because there are an unending number of books out there to fill that need, but so few books that demonstrate happy, healthy queer people and relationships. Happy, healthy queer people who are out and proud, and go to therapy and have resolved past wounds…exist. Period....The reality is that queer people create families in dozens of ways, and live happy, healthy lives doing so. Or at least, have the potential to do so when they’re not targeted by others or the government." This book absolutely gave queer joy, millennial humor, and found family. I can't wait to read Yasmeen's story next!

quotations that stood out to me:
There was a briskness about her, but being her friend all these years, I knew her soft underbelly.

“Guys, Virginia is literally like a mile away. Less, even.” “But you have to cross a bridge,” Yasmeen pointed out. “We don’t do that. And Woodbridge is like a lot of bridges.”

But maybe that was the right thing to do. Maybe I was tired of working for a paycheck instead of a cause.

“Either way, I’m pregnant and fucked, and I never even got fucked. Now that is a modern-day tragedy.”

For some reason I didn’t fully understand comedians mostly networked by insulting each other. If I wanted another comedian to take me seriously, I’d realized that the quickest options were to roast them, drug them, or offer to get on my knees. The last option was clearly out—unless it was Iliza Shlesinger—but it was never Iliza. Sigh. Drugs were expensive, so that was out too, but it only cost my morals to eviscerate a funny man’s fragile ego, so ding ding ding—we have a winner.

Law. Comedy. Motherhood. Throw the dice and pick one—or could I actually have all three?

I promise I will never understand when people say sexuality is a choice. If I could stop being occasionally attracted to men, I certainly would have chosen that by now. There were honestly so few upsides to the entire Y chromosome.

I was a pregnant pansexual woman in a queer bar during the summer with no air conditioning, so I was basically experiencing my first hate crime.

I could hear my therapist’s voice in the back of my head asking me what I was afraid of. My entire career crashing and burning. That whole potential jail thing. Making things complicated with my future baby daddy. Messing up my child’s future family. Getting my heart broken.

It was clearly a mistake to be the first one of my friend group to get pregnant because everything these women didn’t know was terrifying me for what might actually be coming.

Seriously, why is half the world off-limits to pregnant people? It’s a bit ridiculous. WebMD wasn’t particularly helpful, just saying that I should ask my doctor but that it’s generally considered safe. Generally. What the hell does that even mean? When is it not generally safe? Fuck it. I was barely pregnant. It couldn’t do any harm this early—at least not any more harm than spending my pregnancy in jail might be.

I really needed to find a new obstetrician because I wasn’t sure I could handle the cluelessness of the patriarchy for an entire pregnancy. Then again, it was damn hard to find a good one that took my insurance.

What in the absolute science experiment is a woman’s body?

I deserved a medal for hearing about my age mid-vagina wand and not Kegeling him the hell out of my pelvic region.

“My motto is that everyone needs to get comfortable being uncomfortable. It’s the only way to grow.

How the hell was I supposed to raise a child when I still reverted to acting like one over the smallest emotional trigger?

I loved the main characters of this book, Mila and Ari! They were easy to root for and enjoy. In addition to that, this book had simply fabulous supporting characters who carried a good amount of the comedic input! I couldn’t decide who was my favorite, so I’ll leave it at that! I really appreciated seeing this relationship and process. I read the author’s note to the reader afterwards and she noted that she wanted to showcase that queer families can and do exist and can be happy and in the current political climate, I am glad that she decided to push against the rejections and criticism and move forward with the book! I loved the epilogue and bonus scene! It truly rounded out the story and left it complete for me.

Baby Bank is a fun and enjoyable read about a 34-year-old woman who decides to become a single mom through sperm donation. Mila Torres is a successful divorce attorney in Washington DC, and she lives with her best friends. She also does a comic stand-up act on the side. After a visit to her OBGYN, she realizes that it is time for the one thing that she has always wanted to do: become a mom.

With the help of her friends, Mila selects a sperm donor via an app and makes contact. In the meantime, she meets Ari Elliott, a reporter for the Washington Times. Ari is also the sister of the chosen donor. Mila is drawn to Ari, but Ari puts boundaries in place, seemingly not wanting more than friendship.

There is a lot of representation in Baby Bank, in terms of ethnicity and queerness. Mila is a Latina lesbian, and Ari is a white bisexual woman. The book also features a diverse cast of supporting characters.

There are lots of laughs and humor in Baby Bank, from comic bits to friends' antics and unique situations. But there are also some serious topics, especially concerning reproductive rights. Mila makes some questionable personal choices, and I like that Robinson doesn't make the consequences magically disappear.

Overall, I thought Baby Bank was a well-written and enjoyable read. The characters were likable, the plot was engaging, and the humor was on point. I would recommend this book to fans of contemporary romance, LGBTQ+ fiction, and heartwarming stories.

A cute, sarcastic, funny story. The characters were relatable and hilarious. I found it enjoyable, yet not enough to become obsessed with it or to add it to my favorites. I do recommend this story if you're looking for a light hearted read to wind down with.

Mila Torres is a divorce lawyer by day, and a comedian (Tori Miles) by night. She’s also pansexual and has just been told by her doctor that her biological clock is ticking. Thanks, dude.

That gets her thinking… and once she finds out about the Baby Bank app, she realises that this plan is in motion. Throw in a workplace ethical dilemma, a hot reporter, the perfect sperm donor who even has a Facebook group for his baby mamas, and a group of mostly queer friends, and you’ve got yourself a great read.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a fairly light read, although the book does dig into serious issues such as abortion rights, maternal mortality rates, sexual assault and more (trigger warning ⚠️ SA resulting in pregnancy and abortion resulting in maternal death are small parts of the story, but not discussed in depth).

Personally, I found Ari and Mila’s romance at the end of the book way too rushed, and would have loved more of a build up to it. It was also a little confusing at times with Mila’s mum being Chicky and sometimes referred to by Mila as Chicky or as mom.

I loved the character of Nomi, and would have loved to see more of Aston and even Ari.

For me, this was a 3.5 stars 🌟 rounded up. I loved reading something that had much more representation than many other romance novels I’ve read lately, and I definitely need to find some more queer romances!

BABY BANK had an intriguing synopsis on Netgalley, so when it was offered as “Read Now” I couldn’t say no. After finishing the book, the book was definitely interesting, but not what I expected it to be.

The book is being marketed as a rom-com, and while there’s a little rom, it felt like this could’ve been marketed differently. We’ve got our MC Mila, who’s in her mid-30s with a desire for a family, yet no prospects to help her do so. But she’s also a lawyer with a dream of being a comedian with both careers steadily climbing. Very independent woman vibes if you ask me!

There were multiple subplots that should have been developed, but they were shadowed by the rom-com aspect. Truthfully, the rom-com was barely visited (minus the tension Mila created in her head), and well, since it’s a romance, you can guess how it ends.

Along with the subplots being a bit more interesting that the actual plot line, Mila’s very immature for someone in her 30’s which made it a tough read. The flow was a bit off and random events would randomly be referenced in the book at inopportune times.

Lastly, there’s a HUGE trigger warning that’s revealed at the end of the book that was glossed over a little too lightly and didn’t need to be in the story at all.

Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC, but this will be a tough one to recommend.

Content warnings: death, sexual assault, abortion

This book was, unfortunately, a did not finish. While it was little to do with the writing itself, it was a topic that hits a little too close to home for me, and as such, I couldn't finish it. The writing I did read was very good, and I think many others would enjoy this.

"Baby Bank" by Sarah Robinson is a refreshing and delightful first installment in the queerly devoted standalone series. The story follows Mila Torres, a successful lawyer and comedian, whose desire to have a child leads her to the Baby Bank app and a life-changing encounter with a sperm donor. Robinson masterfully weaves LGBTQ themes into the narrative without overpowering the plot, offering a witty, hilarious, and emotionally engaging book. The exploration of queer family dynamics is heartwarming, and the author's focus on healthy relationships and boundary-setting is commendable. Overall, "Baby Bank" earns 4/5 stars for its unique perspective and engaging storytelling. A must-read for those seeking a queer romcom that breaks free from clichés.

After years of debating, she decides that she's ready to have a baby so she goes to an app called Baby Bank and finds a man to work with. His sister, the reporter who's been trying to get a story from Mila, ends up becoming close with her and they eventually get together.

I wasn't really sure what to expect going into this book, but after reading it I am so happy I did. It's full of snarky quotes, found family, amazing friendships, happily ever afters and bonds between anybody and everybody. I sped through this book and I'm going to be thinking about it for a long while.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sarah Robinson for an eARC of this book

Found family, humor, and sapphic romance; this book has it all. A thirty-something woman in DC is living her best life, then after a doctor’s visit she decides to find a sperm donor and have a baby. She finds the perfect donor, but finds herself more interested in his sister. This was such a fresh read and I can’t wait to see what comes next from this author. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

*disclaimer: I was gifted this by netgalley and I'm voluntarily leaving a review*

Queer romantic comedy with found family? Pining? Sign me UP. This was such a cute book. I'm so so happy I found this, and I devoured most of it in one day.
The fact that this is part of a series is even better. Normally I'm not a fan of cartoon like covers like this one (it's why I haven't read a lot of booktok/bookstagram books let's be honest) but the cover grew on me more as time went on.
The only thing I would change is that the inside cover says it's a lesbian romance, and that's only partially true, as the main character is pansexual. It may be a good idea to say it's sapphic instead.
I grew really attached to these characters, and seeing that the author based some of this on her own experiences was so sweet. As the character Ari often says, family is what you make, not who you are related to. The chemistry between Ari & Mila was so good, and the banter is phenomenal. This author is definitely one I'm gonna follow more closely, as this book is really good and I love queer books.

Mila Torres is a DC lawyer who does comedy gigs on the side. She also is 34 and feeling like she needs to start a family sooner than later, with or without a partner to help make it happen. She finds an app for sperm donors to make the process a bit more cost effective and finds the perfect match. When she meets her sperm donor's sister she finds the family she imagined may be even closer than she thought.
I wanted to like this and the premise was promising, the idea of falling for a sperm donor's sister was a great set up for a fun rom com. Unfortunately this fell a bit flat for me, there are some funny moments and I liked Mila's comedy alter ego in Tori. I also liked Lukas as a side character, he was pretty funny and brought some light moments to the story. The story is told from Mila's perspective and it feels more a coming to terms with her life and all the massive changes underway than a romance to me. There are a lot of moments with her alone, contemplating her life, future and how to tell her domineering mother what is going on. The drama with her job as a lawyer seems interesting but also not detailed enough to really add to the story and at times took away from Mila and Ari's relationship development, which there was very little of to begin with. They really only have 2 scenes together at the beginning followed by a vague kind of break up and a hail mary move at the end that results in a love declaration that just doesn't feel quite right. I didn't feel their build up or why they end up wanting to be together enough to root for them at all. There are some funny moments throughout and I think some of the side characters really helped move the story but it just wasn't quite enough for me to understand the romance here. This may be an issue with me as there seem to be others who have enjoyed this unfortunately it didn't quite work for me. This looks to be the start of a series so I may try the next one and hope for some better chemistry next time.