Seven months ago Lauren Wentworth graduated with her degree in hospitality. She had her eye on her dream job, but the boss wanted her to have more experience. She travelled to rural New Hampshire to become temporary manager of Pinehaven Lodge, a rustic family-owned resort. When she arrived, she had an extremely adversarial relationship with the owners' son, Jonah. The more they worked together, that wall came down and they fell in love. He asked her to marry him, and she agreed, giving up the job in Boston and staying in New Hampshire. While working in the barn venue, she falls from a ladder and hits her head. When she comes to, the last five months are gone, and she only remembers the adversarial part of her relationship with Jonah. He is heartbroken and will do whatever she needs to get her memory back and make her happy, including letting her go. She calls Boston to check in and finds out that she forfeited the job, but they agree to give her one more chance. After talking to everyone around her, she finally believes that she fell in love with Jonah, but those feelings are gone. As she finishes out her year at the family lodge, can Johan get her to fall in love with him again.

I really enjoyed this story, although I am not a big fan of the amnesia trope. Denise Hunter does a good job with this story and made me love both Lauren and Jonah. He stole my heart and I was so sad for him, thinking that he had lost Lauren. She was career driven and very good at her job, but I wanted her to either get her memory back or fall in love all over again. Jonah was so sweet and patient with Lauren, only wanting her to remember the happy times that they had. I liked that both of them had issues and past hurts that affected their behaviour before they fell in love, and that is what Lauren remembers. I loved the setting of the family lodge in the woods of New Hampshire. I also enjoyed seeing Lauren work with the family to build up their business. Jonah's family were wonderful to Lauren and had welcomed her to their family. I enjoy Denise Hunter's writing and this was another winner.

Such a sweet story of a man who loves a woman who doesn't remember that love. When Lauren falls off a ladder she doesn't remember that she loves Jonah. She only remembers her disklike for him at the beginning of the summer season when she met him. This is their journey back to each other.

Denise Hunter's books are always a favorite of mine. I alternated between reading and listening to the audio version. The narrator, Kim Churchill, did a wonderful job!

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Publication date: 10 October 2024

Lauren and Jonah have the perfect summer together and fall in love. Then Lauren gets into an accident and can’t remember the summer. She wants to return to her old life in the big city. Joanne has to try and remind her about their love. This was such a romantic story, I couldn’t help but for the characters and I really didn’t want this to end.

Everything is coming into place for Jonah and Lauren, until a traumatic fall takes Lauren's memory, and she can't remember their relationship at all.

A heartwarming romance, in a cozy small town setting, that deals with the different paths of life, and how you never forget true love. Jonah is a good man and does his best to support Lauren throughout, no matter what she chooses, giving her space and time as well as being ready in the wings when she needs him. Lauren struggles choosing between her dreams, and new one that is slowly unfolding. I liked how Lauren and Jonah have good friends to lean on, and how they trust God to see them through.

Overall, this was a heart bending, and heartwarming read, with endearing characters in a sweet small town!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
I really enjoyed this book. The book focuses on Lauren and Jonah's relationship, which is blown apart by an accident that leaves Lauren with no memory of her relationship with Jonah. The author tells the story of their relationship with dual storylines of before and after Lauren's accident; one timeline is present day, and the other timeline is the time their relationship was developing prior to Lauren's accident. Lauren and Jonah both had traumas from their childhood that were heartbreaking, and I appreciated reading a book where the main characters worked through their issues in a believable way. I found the book a compelling read, and was pleased how the author finished the book with an ending that wasn't predictable, but satisfying. I'd recommend this book to someone who wants to read something with a bit more depth than the usual "girl meets boy, starts as enemy, ends in love" type of storyline. Solid 4.5 stars, could've made it higher if Jonah didn't call her honey all the time, one of my pet peeves, lol

Before We were Us may be my favorite Denise Hunter book. It is a second chance love story, but not in your usual fashion. Their love story had to overcome obstacles twice due to amnesia. This was fabulous!

This book read like a really cute hallmark movie with lots of hope and aspirations. I loved these characters and this small town, and especially Graham the dog!

What a beautiful story.
The relationship and love between Jonah and Lauren was tested when Lauren had an accident and could no longer remember what they had shared. Jonah lived out the bible verse love is patient and kind as He helped Lauren fulfill her dreams even though it was tearing him apart as they no longer included him. However in the process He was causing Lauren to fall in love with him all over again.
Neither of them had an easy up bringing Lauren more so than Jonah so they both had pasts to deal with but found they belonged with each other. So well written and would highly recommend. Thank you to Denise Hunter and Net Galley for an ARC copy to honestly review.

I received a complimentary copy and all opinions expressed are mine.

Denise can do wrong in my opinion. The book follows Lauren who wakes up from a fall with no recollection of the last four months of her life and with no idea of who her boyfriend is and where her career is going. But Jonah doesn't want her to forget the last four months and he works to ensure she never forgets. I found myself rooting for the fictional man and that should say a lot and reflecting on the power of memories. Well written ,fast paced and intriguing!

A sweet book with a bit of bitterness. The challenges that Jonah and Lauren had me going a bit insane cause omg. Jonah was so understanding towards Lauren, it was so sweet. And how much Lauren grew all through out the book, how she realized that she still loved Jonah.

Denise Hunter's latest books are all ready to go straight to Hallmark. If Hallmark movies is your thing, then this is the perfect fall read for you!

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced review copy--all opinions are my own!

thank you netgalley for the e-arc. loved the setting of new hampshire, it made me want to visit one day. this book is pretty much a well-done hallmark movie and i hope to find more like this one.

Before We Were Us is a perfect blend of tenderness, vulnerability, and the bittersweetness of love that could have been lost. Denise Hunter’s fans will appreciate the novel’s themes of hope and renewal, and new readers will find themselves charmed by its relatable characters and emotional depth. This is a beautiful story about finding love, even when you've forgotten where you left it.

I loved this book!! Every single book that Denise Hunter writes just gets better and better. It was very emotional and inspiring. The MMC & FMC were perfectly written. The MMC was so caring and supportive. Thank you thank you thank you Denise for this amazing book!!!

BEFORE WE WERE US is a sweet romance between a city girl and a small town boy. Lauren and Jonah meet when she accepts a short term assignment to manage his family’s New Hampshire resort. They fallin love over the course of the summer and Jonah is ready to propose until Lauren suffers a catastrophic fall. When she wakes up in the hospital, she can’t remember the past five months, including her love story with Jonah. Can Lauren and Jonah recapture the magic or is their love fates to disappear like Lauren’s memory?

I didn’t realize this was marketed as a Christian romance until I finished the book and was surprised. There were a few references to prayer, but strictly in a conversational manner. Denise Hunter wrote a closed door, emotional romance that tugs on the heartstrings.

I enjoyed the small town, relaxed vibe of this novel. The characters were easy to like and there was a cute rescue dog. This was a good choice for reading on a beautiful fall weekend.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction for the advance copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

Lauren Wentworth wakes up in the hospital to be told she took a bad fall from a ladder and hit her head. Fortunately, she will be okay. Unfortunately, she can't remember the past several months of her life. She's told that she's in a serious relationship with Jonah Landry. What?!!! All she can remember about Jonah is her great dislike for him when she came to work for his parents at their resort in New Hampshire. This is her first job out of college to give her some experience so she can go back to the city and have her dream job at Glitter that is waiting for her.
Jonah's parents and his sister, Meg, are all very warm towards her so she must have had a close relationship with them, but she can't remember any of it. She's not sure she wants to remember as it can jeopardize her dream job. Better to keep distance between everyone here. Especially, Jonah. Understandably, Jonah is devastated, but tries to give her space and hopes and prays her memory will return.
Lauren has abandonment issues. Jonah was adopted by the 'parents' who raised him and has insecurities that they truly want him to run the resort. Surely, they want 'blood' to be the one taking over upon their retirement.
Great story by Denise Hunter, one of my favorite authors! Wonderful characters! Her description of the resort makes me lont to visit it in New Hampshire!
I was given an advance ecopy by the publisher, Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. I was under no obligation to leave a positive review.

I’ll cheerfully admit to being a fan of pretty much anything Denise Hunter ever wrote. She’s one of the first Christian contemporary romance authors whose careers I’ve followed, and I may-or-may-not have read every title!

Romance authors love to play with tropes, and amnesia is a time-honored plot device that can lead to a wide variety of stories. It isn’t the first time Denise Hunter has explored amnesia (see The Goodbye Bride for another variation).

Where the relationship is when the amnesia occurs, which character it happens to, and what’s at stake for both continuing to forget and for the return of memory can make the stakes very high. At any rate, there are a lot of options to play with, and this story is an example of the trope well-played in the hands of a master.

Denise Hunter can be counted on for a solid romance story where all the pieces tie back in satisfactorily. I’ll admit to being a little skeptical when I read the first chapter, where a lovey-dovey couple is hanging out together, and you know the hero has an engagement ring in his pocket and plans for a proposal any minute now. I could almost hear the dramatic, foreboding music! Something is going to go very, very wrong any second now.

And… it did. This isn’t a spoiler, as Lauren’s fall and subsequent amnesia happens very early in the story, leaving us with a heroine who can’t remember falling in love with “that guy.” She couldn’t even stand him, the last she remembered from a few months back! As for Jonah, he’s still in love with her. Of course, he is! Imagining the torment and turmoil for him as he tries to learn how to step back and give Lauren’s memories space to return was, well, torture for this reader, too.

Lauren was adamant NOT to look through her texts and photos. People might tell her she’d been in love with Jonah, but she didn’t even want to remember. I found that part a bit hard to believe, honestly. It’s played that she’s so mired in what she DOES remember (avidly disliking Jonah) that she doesn’t even want to remember how he won her over. Obviously he’d played to her sympathies somehow, and she won’t let that happen a second time. I cannot imagine pretending texts from the person I supposedly loved and photos of us together didn’t even exist. Every story requires an extension of disbelief, and this is where Before We Were Us stretched mine!

Also, I generally count on Denise Hunter for a very solid faith message in one of her romances. This one was particularly light in that regard. As an author myself, I understand that not every set of characters and every journey they’re on is the same in regard to faith depth, but still, I wished this one had more spiritual content.

Do I still recommend Before We Were Us? Definitely. As far as I know, it’s a standalone, so it’s a great introduction to Denise Hunter’s works.

If you enjoy contemporary romance that tugs at your heartstrings, you’ll want to reserve your copy now!

What happens when you can't remember falling in love? I enjoyed reading Before We Were Us by Denise Hunter. In the story Jonah and Lauren don't get off to a great start until they finally find their way to one another and then fate intervenes. Will Lauren remember her love for Jonah or will she pursue someone else? This was a good read and I enjoyed the journey with these characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of Before We Were Us in exchange for an honest review. This book is available now.

4.5- The story sucks you in. I loved the characters, the romance, the setting... Because the story goes back and forth in time, it was a little tricky to keep track of if the chapter was pre-amnesia or post-amnesia. The chapters have dates at the top, which helps.

Overall, definitely worth a read!

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

This was a cozy family-forward second chance romance that you wouldn't be scared to share with your religious aunt. At times it felt repetitive or lacking some big momentous energy, but overall it was a sweet easy read that made me want to pack my bags and visit a cute little resort.