This is a book about hope and the power of forgiveness and love.  Mackenzie Cooper makes a mistake and it in a brief second she is filled with grief, loss and is now considered a criminal.  Leaving the life she knew and settling into a quiet Vermont town, she is plagued by the demons of her past and riddled with guilt because of her mistake.  Her marriage is over, her family estranged and her new life is drastically different from her past.  When her friends son is charged with a crime, Maggie Reid is forced to deal with the past she has tried to push away and must let pieces of Maggie return.  There are so many beautiful moments of love and forgiveness in this story, between family, lovers and friends.  Delinksy does a wonderful job drawing the reader into the Maggie's story and keeping them with her as she faces her past. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Before and Again
Maggie had a terrible accident that caused the death of both her young daughter and her marriage to Edward. She escapes to a small town in Vermont to hide from the past and start a new life. She becomes a makeup artist and befriends Grace, a single mother to Chris. Turns out Grace has her own secrets. I found the story completely unrealistic, part of it totally predictable and the writing very boring. I can’t give this story more than two stars. Thanks NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the advanced copy.

Loved this book!  No matter how we may try to leave the past behind, it has a way of catching up with us.  Can we build on the past to make a better future?  Maggie Reid's carefully constructed life in Vermont is all about keeping the past in the past, and seems to be working well until her ex-husband and brother turn up, and her best friend 's  son is accused of hacking. It's hard not to feel vulnerable  when life throws curve balls at you.  And yes, you can overcome the mistakes of the past and move on.

What a great book!  The loss of a child can be devastating to a marriage.  Barbara Delinsky describes the grief that each of them is going through so well.  She shows how hard it can be to deal with your own grief and yet acknowledge the grief of your spouse as well, especially when you are dealing with the guilt that she is!  Great read!

This was a good story about loss and moving on and leaving the past in the past. I generally love Delinsky's book and while this was a good read, it read like a mystery more than her usual women's lit novel. I wasn't expecting a mystery and so I struggled to get through the story. Some of the dialogs were slow and it took a while for all of the pieces to fall, but all in all, it was a good read.

Losing a child id tough for any couple, and this story illustrates just how tough it is. When Mackenzie took her eyes off the road, she lost more than a daughter.  She lost her marriage and a large part of herself, her family and friends. Now, with a new name, she lives in Vermont, in a small house wither menagerie of animals and works as  make-up artist at a luxury spa in the town. She likes staying under the radar, until her best friend’s son is accused of hacking into a powerful man’s twitter account. As her story unfolds, Maggie faces the unveiling of the truth of her past as well as of the truth of the small town. Maggie realizes the comfort we all need, especially in difficult times, bit she also realizes the importance of her past and how it can impact on her life in this small town

I really liked Maggie as she came across as a really good person.  Every chapter had twists and turns and new characters who added to the tale while keeping the suspense and momentum going. The love and grief are ever present but mostly the healing and looking to the future. I enjoyed reading Maggie’s story as portrayed throughout.  The tale is not always a always a happy one, but it satisfies. Once again, the author has managed to keep me focused on the story of Maggie while moving me along to new developments in her story  I recommend this to all readers of Barbara Delinskly and to anyone looking for a good read.    I received this from NetGalley to read and review,

When you find a book you are loving, do you hurry to get to the end or savor each page to make it last longer? This was my dilemma as I followed the lives of Maggie,Grace, Kevin and Edward. Maggie's inability to forgive herself, Graces's fear of discovery and Edwards need to rekindle the love he had for Maggie had me hanging on every word. It was a wonderfully written book.

Silly chick lit. I lost interest in it around halfway through. However, there are plenty of people who would find the premise and characters interesting. Just not my style.

I was given an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest and independent review.  
A novel about hope, love, moving on and fresh beginnings. The strength of this book is the detailed characters, their lives (past and present) and the way they interacted with each other. A well written novel set in a small town which I enjoyed reading.  The more I read, the more I liked it as the individual stories fleshed out. 
4 stars

After Maggie's life is shattered by a terrible accident, she loses everything that she holds dear..  Moving to Devon, she begins to build a new life.  Her ex-husband also moves to Devon much to Maggie's chagrin.    He purchases the spa where Maggie works as a makeup artist.   Her friendship with co-worker, Grace, is special, but Grace Has her own personal problems.

Before and Again ia a tale of grief, friendship, and love.  It is a warm story that comes  together as Maggie faces the old and embraces the new.  She has many challenges as she finds peace, acceptance and love.  It is a heart wrenching tale, beautifully written, that will bring both tears and smiles

Thank you to Netgalley for providing the ARC for review..

I've been reading Delinksy's books for years, and she's always an author I can count on for a good read. This book is no exception. I did find it a little harder to get into than previous books, it seemed a bit disjointed at first. Thus 4 stars instead of 5.

The book is about Mackenzie Cooper, who moved to a small town to lose herself and get away from a tragic occurrence in her life. It delves deeply into the despair of losing a child (this happens at the very beginning so it's not a spoiler) and what happens between the spouses who are having trouble communicating their pain. It also deals with Mackenzie's mother and brother, and their estrangement.

Suddenly, Mackenzie's ex-husband appears, in HER town, HER haven. Can they find their way back together, or is the past too painful to forget?

I recieved an ARC of "Before and Again" written by Barbara Delinsky from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.  I would absolutely give this book 5 shining stars!  

Mackenzie Cooper is your typical mom juggling life and her young daughter's social life, until she makes the tragic mistake of glancing at her GPS creating a tragic result for her daughter,  her marriage, family and friends.  In an effort to create a new life, she moves to Vermont, now Maggie Reid, she has been successful at reinventing herself.  A new career as a make-up artist, new friends, new home, never mentioning her past life she moved away from.  When one of her new friend's sons is charged with a felony, she is torn between remaining in hiding, or walking out into the public eye to support her friend.  As time goes on, you soon see not everything, or everyone, is who they seem.  Many living in this rural  small- town Vermont have also run away from a past they were hoping to forget.

Let me start by saying, this is the first Barbara Delinsky book I have read, and it won't be the last.  This was a well written, quick moving story, that kept you interested from beginning to end.  Maggie is such a great character, you can just feel what a good person she is on the inside, your heart just breaks for everything she is going through.  Such an injustice to not only lose your only child in an accident and blame yourself, when it was clearly not your fault, but to lose everyone you know and love as well.  You can't help but be inspired by her strength to move on and help others when they need it.  There are many characters introduced throughout the story, some from the past some from now, but the author does a great job of integrating past and present without the reader feeling lost.  

If you are looking for a inspirational story of triumph, forgiveness and redemption...this book is definitely for you.  I would highly recommend "Before and Again".

Ok... so I was lucky enough to get this book through Netgalley. Barbara Delinsky offered it up to some of her fans and I jumped at the chance! I have always loved her books. I hadn’t read one in a while. This book definitely grabbed you from the start. It starts off with a mothers worst possible nightmare and how she works her way through it. She moves to a wonderful place in Vermont and she makes herself keep on living, though sometimes she feels like she doesn’t deserve it! I really loved the characters in this book. I found myself enjoying enjoying this book, maybe more than I thought I would. Hope, love, and happinesses not my usual genre. Well done and will recommend.

I've been a fan of Barbara Delinsky for a long time, and this book truly does not disappoint; it is in the top of my list of her books. It is about life, love, loss, and starting over. When I saw it available through Net Galley in exchange for a review, I could not wait to read it.

This was a super powerful book. A really hard subject; the loss of a child and how to live life again. Mackenzie is on the way to drop her daughter off at a rural play date. Her distraction at trying to locate the address on the GPS of her phone causes her to run a stop sign. What a devastating loss. In the ensuing aftermath she and her husband are estranged and divorce. It is often harder to move on after such losses, but Mackenzie recreates her life in rural Vermont. Until she discovers her ex-husband is her new boss and her best friend has secrets that run deeper than her own and could ultimately affect her happiness and her freedom.

Before and Again by Barbara Delinsky.  While I usually enjoy Ms Delinsky's books, this one didn't engage me.  The book did seem to be a bit too long and rambling at times.  

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

3.5 Great concept for the book. How a parent copes with the loss of a child and dealing with "what if" moments.  I enjoy Delinksy's writing style, however there were too many side plots that distracted from the main story.

‘In Before and Again’, Barbara Delinsky has written a truly poignant story filled with the most amazing characters. The main characters of Maggie and Ned were so wonderfully human and exactly what I expect from a Barbara Delinsky novel. She does an awesome job with her characters and her descriptions. She has the knack for filling in the little details that make everything work cohesively. The characters are very strong even those that don't think they are.


This wonderful story is filled with families, scars, love, escaping your past. It takes place in a small town where friendships are treasured.  It beautifully depicts all that comes with living in a small town. The secondary characters have full stories as well. There is good food and tons of artistic expression that come into play in this book.  I really lost myself in this story and found myself cheering the characters on as they progress.  I truly didn’t want the story to end. Perhaps a sequel? Just saying.  

I would like thank NetGalley, Barbara Delinsky and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First let me say, the lost of a loved one and coping with grief is hard to deal with. I was hoping this book would be a great read, but I was slightly disappointed. It grab my attention in the beginning, but it lost my interest in the middle. Overall, its an average read.

I just finished reading Barbara Delinsky's Before and Again.  The title is absolutely perfect.  

This book, while it does have a love story in it is not really a romantic fiction.  Maggie forces some pretty difficult questions in her quest for peace, self forgiveness and a new life.  Maggie and Edward had a Boston, MA marriage, with all the trappings of a family doing well financially.  When tragedy strikes, it breaks their marriage.  After the divorce, Maggie moves to Devon, VT to begin again in a quiet New England town that accepts that we all have a past and doesn't necessarily care to know details.  

Soon Ned takes over the Inn where Maggie works as a makeup artist, and Liam, Maggie's brother, moves to Devon to open a restaurant.   Where it goes from here is sometime predictable and sometimes surprising, but entertaining for sure.

This book visits multiple relationships.  Mother Daughter, Husband and Wife, Brother and Sister, friends, lovers, family  It asks questions that can be very difficult to answer.

Maggie is living well in a little town called Devon that is more like a resort town than a neighborhood.  She works as the make-up artist at The Inn, where many of the rich and famous come to vacation.  She is actually in hiding from her real self, a mother who ran a stop sign and killed her young daughter in the accident.  The resulting publicity destroyed her marriage to Edward Cooper, so she has changed her name and run to Devon as her haven.  The action increases when Edward comes to Devon, intent on starting a new business there and running The Inn, since he has become the new owner.  This is the main story line.  There are many others, like the mom who won’t tell her son who his father is and the son who is subsequently arrested for hacking.  The whole story has one theme, that of reconciliation.  I had to keep reading to find out what happens with Maggie and Edward; it was such a great and satisfying book!  The ending was a surprise, one that you won’t see coming.  The events of the story were so realistic and soul-stirring that it made me want to make sure that all of my relationships are straight and that there is nothing between me and those I love.