This book was intriguing to start and then seemed to become increasingly scattered. The idea of Audrey meeting Fred at a photo booth and then never seeing him again is one of my favorite tropes, the same with left at the alter stories. Unfortunately, the time jumps to Audrey's day with Fred don't really make you care about him one way or the other. It's certainly the kind of thing that, in real life, would be a fun story to tell your friends and then stalk him on Instagram when you think of him months and years later. Even the one friend that Audrey is given doesn't seem to really care or understand why Audrey is remotely intrigued by him.

Despite Cousen's best efforts to make Josh seem like a perfect fit for Audrey by the end, he still comes off as being someone she's settling for. In an attempt to fill out the storyline, the author drags out the will-they-won't-they storyline for too long before speeding up the entire timeline of their relationship. There's not nearly enough detail to make you think Audrey should have chosen anyone besides herself at the end of this.

The storyline involving Audrey's mother's string of boyfriends also seems to be used to add some filler to the story. Again, because we don't get much detail on her existence outside of her relationships with Fred/Josh/Clara/her mother, there are many more ways that the trauma could have been used.

This is a 3 star book for me. It's easy to read, there are interesting pieces, and Sophie Cousens writes well. It just missed the mark for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I'm always torn on the one that got away trope. It can be hit or miss but I think this one ended up alright!

⭐️ rating: 4
📖 genre: Romance
🖨 publisher: Putnam & Penguin Random House
📍setting: London

🔲 REVIEW:

The story was told over alternating timelines between Audrey’s wedding day and her past. I particularly enjoyed the development of her relationships with her mom, Vivian; her nanny, Hillary; and her best friend, Clara. The depth of these relationships was a nice counterpoint to the chaos of the “bad omens.”

Over the course of the wedding day, a series of mishaps derail the wedding plans. These events started out light and cute, but got a bit unbelievable towards the end.

Were you Team Fred or Team Josh? I had a hard time deciding until the second half!

I enjoyed:
-the relationships between Audrey’s family and friends
-the astronomy and fate theme woven throughout the book
-the levity provided by Granny Parker.

If you liked this book, go check out Sophie’s last book: Just Haven’t Met You Yet!

Thank you to Putnam and NetGalley for the E-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

🔎 SUMMARY:
“A heartwarming and playful novel about the ones we love and the ones we lose by the New York Times bestselling author of This Time Next Year.
 
What would you do if ‘the one that got away’ turned up the night before your wedding?

Head-in-the-stars Audrey is about to marry down-to-earth Josh. Though they are polar opposites, they have a healthy, stable relationship; Josh is just what Audrey needs. But romance should be unpredictable and full of fireworks, and as the big day approaches, Audrey’s found herself wondering if Josh really is “The One.”
 
So, when Josh’s sister shows up to the rehearsal dinner with Fred, Audrey’s “What If? guy”—the man she met six years ago and had one amazing day with—Audrey finds herself torn. Surely Fred’s appearance the night before she is due to get married can’t be a coincidence. And when everything that could go wrong with the wedding starts to go wrong, Audrey has to ask herself: Is fate trying to stop her from making a huge mistake? Or does destiny just have a really twisty sense of humor?”

I really enjoyed this book from start to finish. I loved not knowing who I wanted her to be with or who was the predictable “one” for her. It kept me intrigued to the very end and I loved it

This was a delightful book to read. It had the back and forth timeline that is very characteristic of Sophie Cousens that is really interesting but also helps build up the tension in a very cool way. I love how this was not predictable at all and its a beautiful exploration of both characters and relationships. If you love her past books: This time Next Year and I haven't Met you Yet which I did, do not miss this! It's not as good as the first two but it is very close up there

Sophie Cousens did it again!! Love her style of writing. She’s perfect for the romance reader who isn’t quite RomCom, Bodice-ripping or Fifty Shades. Deeper plot and more character development.

I absolutely have loved ever book I have read by this author and this was no exception. she is always a go to instant buy for me and one I recommend to others

I was lucky enough to be able to receive an ARC for this book.

First of all, I absolutely adored it! This book did a PHENOMENAL job utilizing the love triangle, but also with storytelling using the timeline and flashback chapters.

With the love triangles in books, I typically tend to lean one way vs. the other but for a significant portion of this book I was completely torn and felt just as I would have felt being Audrey, the female main character. Sophie did a wonderful job with this and I couldn’t put the book down!

I also felt that the book did a great job of utilizing the timeline for storytelling and flashbacks. You not only were able to see the relationships evolve this way within the love triangle, but within the mother-daughter relationship between Audrey and her mother.

The only thing that I would change about the book would be the ending. It’s not that I disagree with the choices made overall, but I felt that it was a tad rushed. I felt a bit skeptical that things would turnaround so quickly after the events of the wedding day, but I still enjoyed the book overall.

It's Audrey's wedding day and she's having some doubts, especially when someone from her past shows up at the wedding. It seems like a simple rom-com, but after a lot of jumping around in time (which was a little confusing at first but got easier for the reader as the book went on) to fill in the backstory with all sorts of interesting character development, the story turned out to be much deeper and more surprising than I expected. I appreciated the complexity of it and liked the characters more and more by the end of the story.

Before I Do is not your basic rom-com. The plot is surprising in that it moves away from the typical on again off again simple trope so common in the genre. This story is thought provoking and challenges the reader to take a side, which isn't easy. Before I Do follows the story of Audrey, is in the midst of the months and days leading up to her wedding to Josh. We get snippets of their relationship over time as they meet, how they date, and eventually how they get engaged. In the days and moments leading up to the wedding, a surprise guest challenges Audrey's love and makes her question her and Josh's relationship.
Sophie Cousens writes the story in a way that makes the reader doubt the relationship as much as Audrey. In a multiple time line story told with flashbacks, we also find out about Photo-Booth boy, who stole Audrey's heart in the span of a day, six years ago. Audrey doesn't know if moving forward with safe Josh is the way to go, or if she should be holding out for the magic of the day spent with a near stranger. I liked the way this book challenged my views on love and I honestly found myself vacillating along with Audrey as the story and the past timelines unfold. It's a great summer read, without being too simple, and leaves you with something to think about even after the book is over. I love a book that challenges my own perspectives, and this book absolutely does that! I gave it three and half stars, rounded up to four.

This is a romantic comedy, or maybe drama-comedy, that is so different from any I’ve read before! It works. We start the book right after an obviously failed wedding, and then move backward, both by years and years, showing the past that has shaped Audrey, our MC, her relationship with her fiancé Josh, and moving back just a few days to show the lead-up to the wedding, and then what happens at said wedding. I could not predict what would come next, which was extremely unique. The relationship between Audrey and Josh was sweet and healthy and I rooted for and believed in them. If you want an unconventional romance that gives you all the feels but also makes you think, this is the book for you. I’m proud this one exists, and will be following this author.

This book was SO GOOD! Sophie Cousens did such a beautiful job writing the story of Audrey as she gets out through the ultimate test inside her mind. The mixed timeline between past and present was so fun to read as the chapters progressed! I would definitely recommend! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Sophie, you had me laughing, crying and my heart filled with love! This book is about love, 2nd chances and those "what if" moments.

Audrey is about to get married and night before her wedding the guy she had the best day with, turns up with her soon to be husband's sister plus one. If that is not crazy enough everything starts to go horribly wrong. She starts to wonder if Granny Parker is right about bad omens. She questions everything including her parent's not so perfect relationship and even if she deserves to be loved.

I read and loved all Sophie's books, but I have to say this one is her best to date! She had me engaged from the start and I did not want it to end. The story is so relatable, I know I have thought about what if I made different choice in my life what would it look like?? I love everyone in the book; however, Granny Parker is my favorite, :)

You have to read this book, it has all the emotions and having you on edge of your seat.
Big five stars from me!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for gifting me this book for my honest review.

Audrey is having the worst wedding weekend ever… like dead bat falling from the church ceiling bad. After a series of “bad omens” and the guy that got away showing up unexpectedly to the rehearsal, Audrey starts to question everything and fall deep into the “what if” rabbit hole. We follow her in 3 different timelines as she tries to navigate her past choices and feelings of doubt.

Sophie really had me tripping on my own feelings. I couldn’t decide who I wanted Audrey to pick but then you get halfway in and you know. You know who she is meant to be with and you get to follow along as she figures it out and climbs out of her anxiety and doubt to find her love. At the same time, you still get the quirky characters and outlandish scenarios that I’ve come to love and count on from Sophie.

I really loved this book. Sophie is a master of serving a classic trope (soulmates, the one that got away, fate, love at first sight, hopeless romantic,etc) and taking it to the extreme, giving the reader a chance to explore it and come out the other side with some profound insights.

The last bit was everything with Sophie dropping some major truth bombs about life… like how we don’t have to have our sh*t together to be deserving of love. 👏👏👏

Thank you @netgalley and @putnambooks for this eArc in exchange for my honest review. I was absolutely thrilled to get a chance to read this before pub date.

This book starts out strong. The prologue throws you right into Audrey and Josh's wedding day. Something is VERY wrong. The only way to find out what happened is to dive right into it... Pulled me right in. That is the best way to start a good read!

I am a fan of the shorter chapters and present day setting. I love a book that I can visualize and place myself in. I enjoyed the presence that Audrey's dad was able to provide for her big day. That letter made me tear up. The REAL love story is well developed as you read.

I rated this book three stars, because I found the characters mostly unlikable... And there was a lot of them. Cara made me laugh a few times, and I really rooted for Josh from the start. Fred was the worst. I wanted to scream at Audrey for even entertaining the idea of him 6 years later. The few hours she spent with him so long ago was not enough to make me believe that they had anything real. Vivian and her many marriages was a little over the top for me. I had zero respect for her.

Overall, I can see why some people would love this book, but the borderline cheating trope was not my cup of tea.

What would you do if "the one that got away" showed up to your rehearsal dinner as a plus one the night before your wedding?

Audrey is getting married to Josh and they are total opposites from each other. He's a neat freak, organized and she likes to go through life unplanned, doesn't mind it being messy. She has a major case of cold feet, and it doesn't help that during her ceremony rehearsal things keep going wrong. To top it off her soon to be sister-in-law's plus one is Fred, A man she had a whirlwind day with six years ago, so she starts questioning herself if fate has other plans.

I consumed "Before I Do" because it was not what I expected. It wasn't your typical lighthearted romance; it took you through some of Audrey's traumas and made current her have an existential crisis. I really enjoyed how the time jump from six years ago showed you all the reasons why she is panicking on her wedding day. I loved seeing her grow as a person even if she didn't realize that herself and had her found family along her side to help. This book also made me cry (in a good way) reading about her and her late father's relationship.

I do wish it showed more of the romance between Audrey and Josh. It did have your typical grand gesture ending but I thought it was tied together really well. In the end I would recommend this book especially if you want a romance book that will take you out of your element and think.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group for a copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I've become a huge fan of Sophie Cousens over the past few years, so I was delighted to receive an ARC of Before I Do.

The alternating storylines in this book - along with the charismatic characters - added to my enjoyment of this love story. I changed my mind throughout the book, thinking about who I wanted Audrey to end up with - would it be Josh, her long-time love, or Fred, her what-if?

This story is terribly relatable for anyone at cross-roads with their own love story - choosing someone to spend forever with is a choice that shouldn't be made lightly, and it often brings up questions of doubt.

I loved Audrey's journey in this novel, not only in her decision-making process of who she wanted as a partner, but also in who she wanted to be for herself.

Thank you to Penguin Group-Putnam and Netgalley for an ARC of this book!

I think the reason I enjoyed this book so much is because I found the MC so incredibly relatable. And if I'm being honest, it's not the good things about her that made her relatable to me.

Audrey is having a mid-life, mid-wedding crisis when her "what-if" guy from the past shows up to her wedding as a plus-one. But really it's so much more than just that; Audrey has some trauma she has been ignoring for years, mother issues, and overall feels like she is still just trying to find herself so getting married feels like a big task.
Audrey is flawed. Very flawed. But in the most relatable ways. The most relatable to me was her learning what love/relationships really are and what they need in order to be successful. So. Damn. Relatable.

I loved the growth Audrey had. I loved the side characters. I loved Josh/James. It was a great book. I can't wait for more people to read it when it comes out this fall.

Thank you to NetGalley, publishers, and Sophie Cousens for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This is my third Sophie Cousens, and I really enjoyed it!

I found this to be really relatable as someone in my mid/late-twenties in a long-term relationship. I loved the overall message that being in a real relationship is not like fate where everything magically falls into place - but requires work and actively choosing each other. There will be moments where you spend a Friday night ordering toilet paper and toothpaste off Amazon, but there will also be Spring morning walks where you look over and feel a surge of gratitude and adoration for the person in your life. This resonated with me deeply, and I like how the book normalized having doubts.

I love Sophie's writing and she is an auto-buy author for me. I like her books incorporate themes of fate/destiny, and how genuine the romance is between the two love interests.

REVIEW - 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5 🌟

Audrey is getting ready to marry Josh - this is where the story begins. Josh and Audrey are opposites in every way. He is the picture of stability and she is flighty and unpredictable. And as the wedding day begins, everything starts to go wrong. Are these bad omens? Is Audrey making a huge mistake? She wonders if the differences between them are too great to overcome. Enter Fred - the “one who got away” six years ago. He is so different from Josh and exacerbates her fears that she is making a huge mistake. Is there one great love - a soulmate for every person? Was it Fred? Or can your great love be a wonderful life with your best friend? Is it fate? Or choice?

This question engages me and the way it is addressed is really well done. The book is told in multiple timelines and is more than the simple story of Audrey/Josh/Fred. Cousens does a masterful job of using these backstories set in between the hours beginning with the rehearsal and moving beyond the ceremony to help us understand the influences in Audrey’s life that have made her the woman she is now. Her relationship challenged mother, her deceased father, her friends - all play such a huge role in her development.

Audrey isn’t a perfect character. She has self esteem issues, anxiety and can be self focused. But those traits make her so relatable. I really felt for her and was cheering for her to make the right decisions for her. I could not put this one down!

Although this book is a “romance” I would not classify it as a romcom. To me it is more women’s fiction - a book written for a female audience to make us think - and in this case, we are thinking about love. What’s better than that?

Thank you to NetGalley, Sophie Cousens and G. P. Putnam’s Sons for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.