Joe left behind his high stress life to live in a small town and run a small motel. He spends his days trying to fix up the broken-down motel and his evenings drinking until he can forget his pain. He is stunned and angry when Allison shows up unannounced trying to convince him to go back to work for the PR agency. She is desperate to keep her job with the PR agency, so she goes to Joe for help. The two of them have a lot of issues they need to work out and not a lot of time. Will they work out their issues or hurt each other all over again?

Both Allison and Joe have a lot of baggage. The author does a good job exposing the issues and showing how these two fit one another. I was impressed with how the author handled Joe’s drinking. Allison’s issues are a little more complicated than Joe’s. The author chose to show and then explain. Neither Joes nor Allison fixes their issues as part of this story. This is a story about two people confronting their issues and taking a second chance at love. There are some good side characters that I hope show up in future stories.

I thought the inclusion of the nosy older ladies didn’t add anything to the story. They felt wedged into the story. The bad guy went nowhere, and it appears he won in the end. I’m not sure how I feel about that. I question how Joe intends to make money running a tiny motel in the middle of nowhere.

This is a contemporary small town second chance romance. I want to know what happens next for Joe and Allison since the author left the with the issues unresolved. I will read more from this author in the future.

★★★★☆ (4 stars)

Before Too Long is sweet, gripping, and unapologetically human.

This is my second Kathy Altman novel and I suspect it won’t be my last. The tension between Joe and Allison is a great balance between straight-up salty and banterous. Altman does a great job of crafting well-developed characters, so it’s no surprise I easily felt a connection to the pair. Joe and Allison are facing some demons, something which is handled sensitively and allows the reader to understand the characters’ flaws, and love them alongside them, not in spite of them. It’s a very human thing to not be perfect, so it’s always a pleasant read when the characters are a bit messy - just like us!

Before Too Long is certainly fleshed out in terms of side plot too; I enjoyed the stories of other significant side characters (not named in this review due to spoilers) and multiple storylines in addition to the romance. There were a few characters I would have liked a stronger resolution for, such as Allison’s mother, although this wasn’t essential.

I’m also a huge fan of characters from a book universe showing up across multiple stories, so it was a lovely comfort to hear from familiar faces Parker & Nat from Thistle Hill Book 1.

My reason for knocking this down to a 4 star read was purely the payoff, or rather slight lack of - it could’ve done with being both a little more sweet & spicy when things are good for our protagonists. The happy moments between the pair are short and don’t quite feel enough given the build up and struggles beforehand. A happy ending is always lovely, but it did feel a little rushed in that sense. I’d have liked to sit with our characters in their joy for a little while longer.

(Huge thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book! The above opinions are entirely my own.)

First off there is a lot going on content wise, so I’d suggest making sure the trigger warnings aren’t going to make this an unbearable read.

I thoroughly enjoyed the author's debut novel, "The Long Way Home," and eagerly anticipated this one, So I knew a few things about the town from that and couldn’t wait to revisit with Joe and Allies fast paced story, it really does dive right in, However, I must regretfully say that although it was a decent story and I found it enjoyable to read, the banter between the love interests wasn’t enough to negate that they lacked depth, and their narrative was not as engaging enough.
Despite this, I did appreciate delving into Joe's story and revisiting Thistle Hill .
I eagerly await more tales about the residents of the area.


I received an ARC copy of this book for free from netgalley and I’m writing this review voluntarily based on my own opinion.

This was a great romance. The romance was very well paced and I really loved the banter. I would highly recommend this book.