I’m caught up in a whirlwind of emotions after finishing this book. My heart was all in on this roller coaster of a ride, as I traveled alongside Audrey through her past, her present, and her future. Before I Do was fraught with the most complicated feelings; love, doubt, hopes, fears, and a whole lot of what-ifs. The author did an amazing job of presenting all of the possibilities, all of the sincerity, all of the complex choices Audrey had been making throughout her life. None of it was easy, a lot of it was sad, but there was no way to get to the end of this story without experiencing it all.

ARC REVIEW
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (infinity)
New addition to my top reads of the year! Don’t miss out on this hilarious romcom that poses the question: what if?

💜 Audrey is marrying her love Josh when literally everything goes wrong with their wedding, including the sudden appearance of Fred—her one that got away.
Here’s what I loved:

💜 The humor. This book is hilarious at parts. Some of the wedding disasters had me laughing out loud and don’t get me started on the balcony serenade (just wait for it!).

💜 The love triangle. I’m a sucker for a good one. I found myself rooting for each man at different times during the novel.

💜 The structure. This novel jumps around in time, giving you lots of backstory for Audrey. In her author’s note, Cousens admits to spending a lot of time mapping this book out and you can truly feel that as you read. Every story is perfectly placed.

💜 The characters. Audrey is lovable even with all of her flaws. I adored Josh from the go. But it’s the side characters that make the book so memorable. There are some great secondary plot lines that give the book a whole new side.

💜 Cried ugly tears. Anyone who knows me knows that I love a book that can get me to cry or gives me reader’s anxiety. This one did in a few places. The story has some very heavy parts (TW: SA) and Audrey’s anxiety just pours out of the pages. But Cousens did find a good balance between the humor and series notes.

I’m begging everyone to read this book when it comes out. I’ve read a lot of books this year and this one shot straight to the top of my list! It has heart and humor and everything you need in a wedding gone wrong book!

Release day is October 11th!

Thank you to the author and publisher for the ARC book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for an early copy of Before I Do by Sophie Cousens in exchange for an honest review.

I was super excited when I saw that Sophie Cousens was coming out with a new book. I’ve read This Time Next Year and Just Haven’t You Yet, and I adored them both (5⭐️ and 4.5⭐️, respectively.)

Unfortunately, this book just wasn’t for me. Despite getting Audrey’s backstory, I just didn’t feel like what happened in her past was reason enough to let someone she had one date with years ago to confuse her so much on her wedding day. Neither of the romances made me feel very good, though I did start to warm up to one couple in the last 25%.

But it seemed like Audrey wasn’t ready to be with either Josh or Fred, and maybe should have been given some time to focus on herself. In a way, I felt like this was more of a coming-of-age story, rather than a romance… but there wasn’t a lot of self-work or growth. It made me not want to root for either love interest. And it didn’t help that none of these characters were particularly likeable.

On top of all that, this storyline was incredibly slow-moving while also being pretty chaotic- basically, not a whole lot happened but there was a lot of drama. You may like this story if you enjoy books that explore family drama, over-the-top situations, and if you don’t need a lot of romance or character growth.

This book was written in varying timelines of the protagonist, Audrey’s life. I enjoyed reading about how all of her choices led her to her Happily Ever After. The book did start off slow, but after I made it about halfway through, I needed to see how the story ended. The ending was completely satisfying and wrapped up the story so well. I could honestly see this being made into a movie. If you are looking for a feel good romance, then you should definitely pick this one up on its release date (10/11/2022).

Pub date: 10/11/22
Genre: romcom
In one sentence: Opposites Audrey and Josh are getting married, but Audrey's cold feet get positively frigid when her "what if?" guy Fred shows up with Josh's sister.

I love Sophie Cousens' books, so I had to read this one! The plot structure reminded me a bit of This Time Next Year in that we see flashbacks to Audrey, Josh, and Fred's lives at various points to learn how their relationships developed. Audrey's indecision annoyed me a bit at the beginning, but I grew to love her and understand her dilemma in wondering if she and Josh were really meant to be. I also enjoyed that the story was more focused on Audrey and her wants/needs than just her relationship with Josh.

If you enjoyed Cousens' previous books and/or you like non-traditional romcoms, give this one a try!

Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love the exploration of destiny and soulmates. Whether someone is meant to be—or not—and reading into happenings as signs. In Before I Do, we’re slowly, and perfectly, led through Audrey’s journey of discovery. Multiple timelines don’t always appeal to me, but in this case, I think it was beautifully done. The process allowed us to understand Audrey, and kept us guessing, in a way I don’t know could have happened quite as well in any other format. Parts of this book felt like a great romcom movie and the humor was a wonderful complement to the tougher subjects. All in all, a great read.

PLEASE NOTE: This is posted on my GoodReads currently and will be posted to Instagram and Amazon closer to its publishing date. Thank you.

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

“Before I Do” by Sophie Cousens
⭐️⭐️⭐️/5... 2.5?
✈️ to: England
TWs: sexual harassment, anxiety, infidelity

"Before I Do" is a story about what happens when your what-if guy shows up at your wedding and makes you doubt your supposed-to-be-marrying-tomorrow guy. It's chaotic, a lot messy, infuriating, occasionally endearing, and ultimately not for me.

My main issue with this book is that the majority of it is just a bit... boring and I didn't get a sense of the main character's (Audrey) personality until the halfway mark. Most of the characters felt a little bland.* The supposedly dreamy what-if guy is anything but and I was frustrated that Audrey was so swayed by him.

✨𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭: While I do enjoy a big romantic gesture dance number (ala Mamma Mia), not even that could overcome the annoyance I felt with Audrey's indecision.

*Except for grandma Parker. She and her romance novels and bad omens could never be dull... Ok, Hillary the nactor (nanny actor) was also pretty great.

I have loved every one of Sophie Cousens’ books, and Before I Do was no exception! Cousens writes romcoms in such a heartfelt, beautiful way, and I always end up rooting for her characters and their HEAs. In this one, it really posed a dilemma because I liked both Josh and Fred! The multiple timelines made these characters all the richer and more developed, and I just adored this entire read!

I can’t wait to read more from Sophie in the future!

Love, love, loved!
This made me laugh, it made me cry. I felt so invested in the character’s story and the outcome. I enjoyed all of the characters so much. It resonated on so many levels.
Brilliant! Well done!
If you enjoyed Sophie Cousens’ other books, I think you’ll enjoy this one too.
Easily one of my new favorite authors.

Thank you NetGalley & Penguin Group Putnam Books for sending this book for review consideration.

Similar to her last two novels (“This Time Next Year” and “Just Haven’t Met You Yet”), Cousens explores themes related to destiny vs. choice; what we think we need vs. what we really need; and timing. “Before I Do” is well written and has depth to it, but there’s not much character development for anyone but the main character and the overall story doesn’t feel well rounded.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a review.

I really enjoyed Cousens’ prior book Just Haven’t Met You Yet, a quirky fun read so was excited to receive an ARC thanks to NetGalley. The first page is a quote from Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice, “Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance,” so I was really looking forward to another fun quirky book. This book opens with a wedding. And then the book goes back and forth between the days leading up to the wedding and several years before when she met someone e for one day and fell in love and didn’t see him again - until the rehearsal dinner as the date of someone else. Just my kind of fun romcom. There are parts in here that seem to take a long time getting to. And many different timelines between past, way past, present. I loved the astronomy references which made it fun to read about. All in all another solid book from Cousens.

This charming book surprised me. While it had the incredible meetcutes and quirky characters (a sassy grandmother is always on my romance bingo card) I expected, it also had some really poignant moments about love, familial misunderstandings, and what it takes to make a marriage work. It’s light but not frothy- on a popcorn to steak spectrum, I’d consider this one a PB&J sandwich.

This was the absolute SWEETEST book. It’s big on the “what if” moments that all of us have had at least once in our life. Audrey is a prime example of how your family really does play a role in how you view things/situations. I loved loved LOVED Josh. I’m not going to lie, this book had me on my toes until the very end while I was waiting to see what was going to happen! I’ll definitely be reading this one again and again!

Sophie Cousens has been one of my favorite authors! I surprisingly hadn't read anything like this before and really enjoyed it. The differing timelines helped really paint the picture of the one that got away and Audreys conflict. It was emotional and a page turner.

I love this book so much.

I don't usually love when books jump from the present to the past every chapter but Sophie Cousens wrote this so well. I was so invested in both the past and present and loved the way it was easy to follow along.

I especially enjoyed all of the astronomy references as I too wanted to get into the field but the math part was just too difficult for me to master. I love that Audrey was able to learn to love herself despite not being on the same timeline as her peers, it's a good reminder that everyone moves at a different pace.

Adding an excerpt of my favorite part of this book. I need to print this out.

“I call bullshit on what you are saying. I don’t like this narrative that’s crept into books and films. This idea that you are not worthy of love until you have your life sorted out, that you need to be sure in your career, completely mentally stable and happy before you can be loved. I fucking love you, whether you’re a work in progress or a finished article. So should Josh, and so should you.”

Audrey had rarely seen Hillary so animated. “Do you really want to live in a world where only the sorted people get to be in love?”

So funny enough I could have used this for a Cannonball 14 bingo because of the constant discussion of stars, who knew. But seriously though. This is the third book by Cousens I have read and they just keep getting better. Potential romance readers may be worried about the plot of this one and if this will work for them, but I promise you it will. It was lovely the whole way through. I called it a chaotic romance and it really is. And you are going to not like parts of Audrey sometimes, but you are going to be rooting for her while you read. I thought several times while reading this book that some characters were saying a lot of things I wish I had heard/known when I was younger. 

"Before I Do" follows Audrey who is about to marry her fiancée Josh. Audrey feels a bit "off" the night before their wedding and wonders if this is what she really wants and can she and Josh make each other truly happy. Audrey is shocked when Josh's sister brings Fred "one who got away" to the rehearsal dinner and Audrey is left floored about whether this is a sign that means the wedding is a mistake. The book goes back and forth to a time before the wedding and the time after. 

So Audrey is a bit of a mess. And there's good reason she is we slowly find out. Outside of her mother's multiple marriages, she's still reeling from an incident when she was a young woman which left her feeling guilty. And now that Fred, the first man who ever made her feel "something" is back before her wedding, she wonders if that is a sign she's about to make a big mistake. You may want to shake Audrey while reading, but there's reasons why she feels the way she does, and why she feels so off. An amateur astronomer, it feels as if Audrey is constantly giving up her dreams and has watched all of her friends, even her mother, continue to couple up. Part of her feels the push/pull of that. But we also get to see the many times she met Josh through the years and how he ended up being someone she wanted to be with. The story of Audrey and the story of Audrey and Josh was wonderful to read. And it was great to see an acknowledgement through other characters about how hard marriage is and how often it sucks. 

The writing was great and I laughed a few times while reading. Seriously the night before the wedding had the most messy stuff happening outside of Fred. I would have probably opened a bottle of champagne after the dead bat incident (you have to read it).

The pace actually works for this. Cousens does a good job of setting up points in time by saying X hours, days, months, years before Audrey is supposed to say I do. 

The ending was great I thought. You don't get the in between stuff, but almost the entire story in the end.

Audrey is a bit lost, struggling to find what she wants to do with her life. Her story is told through multiple timelines and introduces us to Josh, her type A fiancé that she once nicknamed ‘Bad Jeans Josh,’ her mother and her mother’s many love interests, and one special day spent with Fred from the photo booth. When Fred turns up on the day of Audrey’s wedding, she begins to question her relationship, love, and the role that fate plays in it.

I loved this book! It would make such an amazing movie. Audrey is not always likable, but she is real and relatable in her indecision. The book really makes you think about alternate realities and how the choices we make shape our future. I also really appreciated how Josh is portrayed in a realistic way. So many times, main characters seem too perfect, but Audrey, Josh, and Fred are all flawed and likable in their own ways. The ending chapters were sweet, laugh out loud funny, and the perfect way to tie up Audrey’s story. I’d recommend this book to any fans of rom coms- you’ll love this one!

Thank you to Netgalley, Penguin Group Putnam, GP Putnam Sons, and Sophie Cousens for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I received an advance copy of this book.

I feel like this book was written just for me. As a big 'ol what-ifer, I've probably spent weeks of my life talking to friends and family about our lives could have looked like in an alternate universe. This book gets at exactly this. A long time ago, Audrey meets Fred. They have an instant spark and spend a day together that they both remember for years to come. In the present, Audrey is about to marry Josh when Fred comes back into the picture. She has to grapple with what those two version of her life could have/would be and make a decision. Great characters, captivating plot, and a few laugh out loud funny parts. Highly recommend!

Have you ever wondered how life would have changed if you had made one different decision? Enter Audrey, Fred, and Josh.

With a storyline that jumps from one point in time to another…to another, the reader will explore Audrey’s experiences with love and be left wondering just what will happen before she says I do.

Great romance! Audrey and Josh are getting married. Opposites attract and it is wonderful! But then Miranda, Josh's sister, shows up with Audrey's What If guy. Did she miss out on something? Add in a crazy multi married mom, well meaning friends, and hilarious mishaps that make it seem like this wedding is cursed for a fun time. I can't forget a Yorkshire grandma who reads naughty romances and seems to know much about curses.
Thank you, NetGalley for a stellar choice!