Begin Again is one of the most thought provoking, honest, emotional and heart rending books I’ve ever read.
How the author managed to get the real raw emotions ( that I could believe and feel ) down on paper and into words is amazing.
If you read the blurb you will know, sort of what this story is about. But it’s much more than that.
As other reviewers have stated, it’s not a comfy read but was totally riveting. I read it in a day, I just couldn’t put it down.
Definitely one of the best books I’ve read and if I could give it more stars I would for sure!
Superbly written.
Totally recommend.

Emily has been living with Lauren for 5 years and things have not been going well between them. Lauren hasn't been sleeping in their bed and has been generally standoffish. Emily doesn't know what is wrong, and to make matters worse, Lauren doesn't like to have emotional discussions.

Struggling with a way to work through their issues on her own, Emily focuses on her work. Her team infiltrates companies that need help with communication. Their new assignment lands her at a company where she runs into, Burke, an old acquaintance from New York. Burke, who she had a strong connection with back then and it doesn't seem as if that chemistry has been lost.

I love a good amount of angst in my books, and this one was full of it. I mean, a book that starts off with a long term relationship on the rocks is certainly qualified for some drama. But this book really crosses the line of morality for me. Much of the angst was based upon Emily's attraction to Burke and what that means in terms of her failing relationship with Lauren. Emily's behaviors and actions made it hard for me to like her. This was written well and the situations were handled realistically and that is probably why it was so hard for me to connect. I wanted to root for the budding relationship between Emily and Burke, but it never felt exactly right.

There were some surface level side characters peppered both in the workplace and in their personal lives to help the story move along. None of them were super fleshed out.

Overall, this was an OK read when you're in the mood for some infidelity drama.

I recommend this to people who like to read about stagnant relationships, corporate jobs, reconnecting with old crushes, non-communication, cheating, and coffee.

Begin Again is one of the most beautiful, heart-rending, and thought provoking books I've read.

I want to get this out of the way early on; if you've read the blurb you will have guessed that our main character, Emery begins to think about cheating on her long term girlfriend. I know cheating is generally taboo in lesbian literature but please don't let that put you off this truly remarkable book. Kat Jackson manages the rare feat of making a lesfic novel that toys with infidelity, meaningful and elegant.

Emery is a business consultant, who despite helping people to communicate better in her working life, struggles with this in her personal life. Her relationship with Lauren, who she shares a house and her life with, is falling apart because they rarely really talk. Jackson uses first person narrative, which not only allows us access to Emery's innermost thoughts but gives the text a conversational feel. We experience her doubt and loss at Lauren's distant behaviour, her intense rush of excitement at meeting Burke after so many years, as well as her crippling guilt and shame for even contemplating doing anything that could lead to losing Lauren. Despite her flaws, I couldn't help but identify with Emery; the pain and loneliness she felt she felt in her own home, how she spoke about her previous relationship with an emotionally abusive ex, and of course her fabulous relationship with her best friend, Alison. (I believe Alison is getting her own book, which is most-excellent news!)

While this all might sound a bit grim, it does have plenty of light-hearted moments too. Emery's friendship with Burke is a delight to watch unfold, and her colleague Caren is highly entertaining. Above all, it does show some light at the end of the tunnel. Hope is a deeply buried seam of a precious metal that undercuts this whole book, and fittingly, it does let its light shine through.

I believe this book is the author's first, and it was very well written if that's the case. It will probably be rated 5 stars a few times, I just reserve that rating for books that I would read a second time. Why wouldn't I read this one a second time? The subject matter is HEAVY.

This is a very realistic story, and one that may be familiar to quite a few out there. It's a story about the dying of a relationship that you believed at one point in your life would be your final one. It's told from Emery's POV, as she's coming to that realization. A lot of the book is dealing with those depressing first thoughts, and then the aftermath of figuring out what to do. All that is happening while a new love interest joins her life.

The book has a nice flow, and I stayed interested in how it would turn out throughout the whole book. I did want to read a nice little love story afterwards, but I knew that could be the case going into this book.

Overall, great first impression of a new author.

This is extremely moving story. I think it took me all but whole day to finish it.
I love the story not only because it is so close to what I went through but also because it is so extremely positive and beautiful. You can almost feel what the characters are going through. The whole relationship between Em and Laura and Em and Burke is very touching. I sometimes wonder what one person would do in situation like that. How to move. How to end. How to grow.
I am absolutely positive, I will be looking for more from Kat Jackson in the future!

This review for Begin Again is going to be a bit of a mixed bag. This is a debut novel by Kat Jackson, and overall I am impressed by her writing skills.

The story is clear and well-written. The characters are also well-developed and very real, including all the faults and idiosyncrasies we expect to see in real life. This is a character driven story so character development is very important. The tale is written in first person POV through the eyes of the main character Emery. Unlike most romance themed books, she is the only main character. Everyone else, including the possible love interests are secondary characters. This is also a relationship themed tale about past, present and future relationships, and how they can sometimes get all tangled up. Seeing through the eyes of a main character can really impact how we experience the story. Unfortunately, I did not like Emery as a “person”, and so I had a hard time connecting with her. In this case, having another main character might have allowed me another chance to bond with the story. If you like a well-written relationship-themed romance with real and flawed characters, you might like this novel.

I’m giving this a 3.5 star rating, and moving it to 4 stars overall for the writing skills of Ms. Jackson. I will also be looking for future novels from this author.

I received an ARC from Netgalley and Bella Books for an honest review.

Set in Portland Oregon, Begin Again is Kat Jackson's debut novel, which details the unravelling relationship between communications specialist, Emery, and her girlfriend of five years, Lauren. As their bond and love begin to fade away, Lauren meets Burke Calloway again. She and Burke spent some time together at a party years ago in New York City and it was one of those meetings with instant chemistry and communication that neither have forgotten. But they never exchanged personal information after that one night they spent talking on a balcony in NY.

Lauren and her co-workers are brought in as communications consultants at Whitmore, where Burke works, to improve working relationships. She and Burke learn that they will be working together over a period of several
weeks. Their relationship grows during this time period, while Em and Lauren's relationship falters.

This debut novel was well written, with a good pace, and I could sympathize with the characters.

A shout out to the author in regard to Burke and Em's first "non-date", (i.e. professional outing) when they were trying to maintain their distance. Burke took Em to a Chris Pureka concert. She is one of my favorite artists and is a mainstay to the Portland music scene after having moved there from the east coast eight years ago.

I received an ARC from Bella Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Overall for a debut author I thought this book was well written and actually would love to read the next book by Kat Jackson. This book was just not my cup of tea especially with the lesbian cliche of a bunch of cheating involved. If I read a synopsis of a book and know that cheating will be involved I usually wont pick it up because it causes me to not really want to get immersed with the characters and I end up not liking them which happened with the main character Emery.
Emery and the other main character Lauren have been together for 5 years and Emery hasn’t been happy in the relationship for awhile and the story is written from Emery’s point of view. Lots of angst and drama for sure but has a quick happy ending.
I give this book 3.5 stars and just want others to know that again it is a well written book and not the authors fault that I have my own personal issues with books when cheating is involved.

I received this ARC copy via NetGalley and publisher for an honest review. Many thanks!!

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me with an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. I felt invested in the main character from the very start. It was an easy read and I did it all in one sitting. The only thing that annoyed me was the predictable nature of gay women cheating on one another. It’s always the same in lesbian storylines so I had high hopes this one didn’t. I was disappointed but still enjoyed the storyline.

4 🌟🌟🌟🌟 stars

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

Emery and her girlfriend Lauren has been together for four years going on five but it’s seems something not right with their relationship anymore. Emery notice this because they having been intimate or sleeping in the same bed recently.

When their friend Meredith comes to stay with them because she need to get away from problems she having. She becomes more of talk to between them. Lauren hasn’t been herself we learn it’s because she having jobs problems.

As Emery trying to figure out what happening in her relationship which I find ironic because she a
communication specialist that she finds it hard to talk to Lauren but when old friend Burke is employed by the firm she working at a time in her life she always wanted to get to know Burke but at that time she had a girlfriend but time isn’t different now then it was back then but this times circumstances is pushing her to get to know her better.

This was ok read. When your in a relationship you need to communicate even if it’s something you don’t want to hear because ignoring the problems won’t work it’ll create bigger problems that you might not be able to fix.

This was the author’s debut novel and it was told from the main character Emery’s point of view.

Emery and her girlfriend of almost five years were having problems They weren’t communicating, and when they did talk, there was no depth to it. There weren’t intimate for months, even at times sleeping separately. Meredith, Lauren’s best friend, came to live with them and she sort of became a mediator. She was also seeking a respite from the men she was having affairs with. Overall, it was not a good situation. On top of that household situation, Emery, who ironically was a communication specialist for a consulting firm, found herself working for a company that employed an attractive acquaintance she knew from her college years. In the past, Burke was someone she wanted to get to know better, but the opportunity was never right since she had a girlfriend. In the present, same relationship status, but circumstances pushed Emery to get to know Burke better than she should have.

This story had an interesting mix of characters and relationships. Emery was nicknamed the Queen of Communication by her colleagues because of her people skills and excellent problem fixer. However, for many months, those skills seemed to be nonexistent when it came to her girlfriend, but not her friends. Lauren was going through a difficult time because of her job situation but didn’t open up to Emery about it. Lauren and Emery just ignored their problems and they did this for the majority of the story. I think this non communication problem continued for too long and took away from conversations that could have been very emotional and moving between Lauren and Emery since they still loved each other.

The storyline also dealt with affairs. Several of their friends had affairs even though at the time they were in committed relationships. So there were lies, deceit, and hurt feelings throughout the story. It was actually hard to like these characters, especially Emery. I also didn’t think there was any great chemistry between Burke and Emery, but their communication level was better than Emery and Lauren’s. This was a drama filled storyline, but I felt it didn’t have enough of the emotional depth that so often makes a story come alive.

Overall, the writing was very good with an interesting storyline. Personally, I would have enjoyed the story more if I liked the main character and there was more emotional depth. Other readers might enjoy everything about this story.

An ARC was given for an honest review.