Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC ecopy for my Kindle.
I have read several of Barbara Delinsky's books. Most, like this one, are "chic lit" and easy to read.
In "Before and Again," suffering a tragic loss of a child leads to divorce and separation from family members for the main couple in this book. The ending was what I expected, but not until other people and situations were involved. Even though this was not one of my favorite books by Ms. Delinsky, I liked the story.

Barbara Delinsky’s Before and Again is a dramatic story of regrets, sorrow, hopelessness that gives way to new starts, quiet happiness and most of all hope. It is a dramatic story that follows Mackenzie Cooper as she struggles to survive devastating events from the past. New events happen that bring all of that to light again as well bring others into the spot light too though the manipulation of the media.

I found this to be a gripping book that completely caught and held my attention when I began to read it. I feel almost bad for saying that since it seems rather morbid to read of all that Mackenzie had lost and stood to lose again. But after reading the prologue that was no way to even think about stopping. So very glad I did, since I give a thumbs-up to the way all worked out in the end, especially the romance

I’m not one for soap opera shows or books but if all were this compelling I would be. Before and Again is certainly worth reading. I will never think of the press in the same way now, instead wondering how much stage-managing is being done.

Thank you so much Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book.

Mackenzie Cooper is a wife and mother and a happy woman. Her world comes to a crashing halt when she is travelling an unknown road in a deep fog and misses a stop sign, we’ve all done it. Doesn’t turn out so well for Mackenzie, her five year old child is killed in the accident and Mackenzie is charged and convicted. The press coverage is brutal. Mackenzie sadly loses her husband, her friends and life as she knows it. Not only is she grieving for her daughter but her life.

With no other choices, Mackenzie renames herself Maggie and begins again in Devon, answerable only to a parole officer. The injuries from the accident have healed, at least the physical ones, she bears a huge hole in her heart for her husband Edward and their daughter Lily. While in the hospital she begins a new profession, it sounds odd, but she devises makeup for those who have had facial injuries or been born disfigured. It’s joyful and rewarding work that she does at the Spa.

Maggie has rebuilt her life. While she’s still on probation, this is not known to her new friends who also have no idea of her past. When Maggie’s best friend Grace asks for her help, without a second thought, Maggie is there to the rescue. Grace’s son has been charged with hacking into the spa’s private customers. Maggie accompanies Grace to the police station where their arrival is covered in the local press. Maggie’s probation officer see’s the picture is in the paper and there’s a question that she’s not following the terms of her probation by associating with an accused felon. What’s a girl to do? After all, Grace is her best friend and Grace has no one else.

A principled story, engaging and totally interesting.

A terrible tragedy turned Mackenzie Cooper's life upside down. Once she got out of prison she took a new name and a new persona. She has made a life for herself in Vermont as a makeup artist for a local spa. She owns a home she loves, she has made friends, and she has 2 cats and a dog that she rescued from the local shelter. Just when she is least expects it, her past comes speeding back to her.
I read almost this entire book in one sitting. I am not a fan of pure romance novels, but her novels are more captivating storyline and less romance, so they make great reading for pretty much everyone.

One of Delinsky's best yet! Definitely pulls at the heartstrings right from the beginning as Mackenzie is driving her daughter and accidentally drives through a stop sign which results in the death of her daughter. Mackenzie is beyond devastated. The Attorney General wants to make an example of her by charging her criminally and naming a law after her. As time goes by, Mackenzie watches her marriage crumble. Her family pulls away and the friends in her affluent neighborhood do not appear to be real friends after all. She divorces and moves to a new town to begin a new, quiet life. She changes her first name, goes back to her maiden name, and lives very simply. It seems that her main goal is to live quietly and never be happy again. This works for awhile. However, when her ex-husband comes into town, things begin to change.
I thought this book was beautifully written. I adored the main characters!

Before and Again is a beautiful story. The main character is Maggie Reid, who at point, lost everything. She moved to a quiet hamlet in Vermont and began again. Only to have two blasts from the past selfishly encroach upon her space. She is too forgiving, I think, toward her mother for the shabby treatment, but In the end finds peace and silences the demons. A great story.

It only takes one second of losing concentration and your whole life can change. This book shows both sides of this equation. Can you hide from the past or do it define us? Very good book, loved the plot and characters. Worth reading.

This women’s fiction novel starts with a tragic accident in which Mackenzie Cooper is fiddling with her GPS and misses a stop sign. The truck that runs into them kills her five-year-old daughter. The DA wants to make an example out of Mackenzie, so as if losing her only child wasn’t enough, her face is splashed over national news. The grief and stress of the spotlight leads to divorce and renders her unable to sculpt with clay.

Mackenzie starts going by a derivative of her first name, Maggie, and her maiden name and hides out in a small town in Devon, Vermont, where the only person who knows her secret is another artist who has a secret himself. Maggie now makes things like teapots out of clay in the morning and does people’s makeup at a spa in the afternoon. Sometimes she’s helping brides feel beautiful on their wedding day, sometimes she’s helping burn victims cover their scars.

When her best friend’s son is thrust into the spotlight for computer hacking a famous journalist’s social media account, Maggie’s secret and other people’s secrets are uncovered bit by bit. For a character-driven novel, this book had a nice amount of twists and turns you don’t see coming.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the opportunity to review this book.

I have read a lot of Barbara’s books but this one is incredible! I could not put this down for the last 150 pages! The story of loss,hurt and and renewal was amazing! These characters will stay with me for a long time, Highly recommend

Ms. Delinsky has written a very heartfelt book. While many of us have not experienced the kind of fateful accident that Mackenzie has, who of us has not had something gone wrong in our lives and had to overcome it. Ms. Delinsky does a marvelous job of writing how difficult it is to moved past a grave error and how it affects not just the person but all who surround that person. It was interesting to see how the Edward and Mackenzie drift apart due to the tragedy and yet find their way back to each other. I also like the way she addressed mother/daughter relationships as well as sibling relationships. It was the kind of story that you want to curl up with in front of the fire with a cup of tea on a rainy/snowy day and just delve into.

In typical Delinsky fashion, a young heroine is presented along with a killer love interest at odds in her usual contextual kind of way. A serious and seemingly insurmountable problem is presented and overcome with a neat and tidy ending. It is not representative of any but a small minority and one that doesn’t really need any representation at all. This is her formula in a nutshell. Nothing new here, nothing at all. Reading a Delinsky novel won’t enrich your life or make you a better person but I will say that it is a good piece of head clearing fluff. If this is your thing, enjoy it.

Maggie/Mackenzie Cooper Reid is hiding out in rural boutique Vermont along with her new posse of friends. She is hiding from her past and harbors a secret that no one must know about. When a close friend’s (who is also hiding an even bigger secret than Maggie) son is arrested for computer hacking, Maggies’s secret is threatened. Whatever will she do?

Maggie’s husband also shows up to take up residence in Maggie’s town and soon Maggie’s carefully constructed world threatens to blow apart.

Not really much else to say about this book. It’s largely about love and loss, mistakes and second chances and ultimately learning to survive life and whatever it throws your way and to go on living. These themes are all important ones and Delinsky fans may love it but with all the good books out there why bother with this one.

BRB Rating: Skip It.

Before and Again is a wonderfully written tragedy. Captivating and a treasure for any bookshelf.

Classic Barbara Delinsky....this book is full of love, loss, emotions and real life. Five Stars.

This is a book about forgiveness and family. It is very good and touches on a lot of emotions. Maggie is so incredibly hard on herself and I truly felt for her. I really liked it and I was sad when it was done. I am going to have to try more books by this author because now I am hooked!

Before and Again by Barbara Delinsky

St Martin’s Press
Women’s fiction, digital ARC
June 2018

Thank you to St Martin’s Press/NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

Sometimes life leads in directions that can’t be predicted. This was certainly true for Mackenzie Cooper, a dedicated mother, wife and sculptor. When she is held responsible for a fatal car accident which kills her young daughter, Mackenzie’s life is forever. The accident destroyed her self esteem, her career, her marriage and relationships with family and friends. changed. Unable to forgive herself and the the aftermath that follows, she moves to Vermont to reinvent herself.

In Vermont, Maggie Reid is able to live a simple life in Devon where the residents all seem to have their own reasons for moving to this quaint town. Trying to maintain a low profile until her probation is complete is a mandatory requirement. Michael Shanahan, her probation officer, makes frequent visits to ensure she maintains compliance. She manages to keep her past a secret working as a makeup artist at an upscale spa. The spa becomes a refuge for the broken hearted who work through their grieve working at the spa. Maggie forms many close relationships which don’t require reliving the past.

Maggie befriends Grace who has moved there as a massage therapist with her teenage son, Chris who is eventually accused of a major hacking incident. This brings a media spotlight that slowly unravels a town which values their privacy. It seems Maggie is not the only resident with a past she’d rather forget. Risking her own probation, Maggie continues to support her friend while trying to avoid the media attention.

This novel explores how it’s possible to find redemption and reconciliation with the past. Before one can truly move forward it is important to reconcile with the past, again. This necessary experience can allow healing and resolution of guilt which ultimately prevents living one’s best life.

Another brilliant novel by a beloved author with complex characters and rich storyline.

I struggled to relate to Before and Again. Mackenzie Cooper makes a dire mistake while driving her little girl, which results in both the ending of her daughter's life and the end of her marriage. In response, Mackenzie moves out of state, changes her name, and seeks out a new life under a new identity. I find it difficult to believe the authenticity of the emotion in this novel. I hoped to see more wrestling with what had occurred in Mackenzie's life. It seemed rather easy for her to lose everything and start again. This book was not bad, I just do not believe it was for me.

I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a must read. Great story with relatable characters. I was completely engrossed in this story full of both heartbreak and hope. Highly recommend Before and Again. I can’t wait to read more by this author!

What an outstanding portrayal of the stages of grief we experience! Even though the first half of “Before and Again” was somewhat slow and tedious, it’s obvious by the second half that Delinsky was showing us how our protagonist, Maggie, dealt with the depths of despair she was experiencing. After having tried all the avenues the moderns would advise (without success), she found that the only way to move on in life was to hide, isolate herself and build emotional barriers to protect her fragile re-invented self. And yes, she was successful with that.

But in her self-absorption, she failed to see how others near and dear to her were also desperate to work through their grief and to find answers to how to recover and live their own lives.

And of course, this was reinforced in the sub-plot of Grace and Chris.

The story, itself, was good but entirely predictable. In this case, that was not a negative. For anyone who has experienced the depths of despair from loss or guilt or rejection, this beautiful confirmation of feelings is a message of hope.

There was excellent characterization and excellent plotting. I highly recommend this book.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this complimentary book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Maggie was in a car accident 5 years ago which left her daughter dead and her marriage in shambles.

% years later she h=is living in a small town with a new identity. Suddenly her past is coming back to haunt her: her ex husband shows up as the new owner/manager of the inn where she works and her best friend's teenage son is accused of hacking.

With the media/press descending upon the small town her support of her best friend puts her new life in jeopardy. The fear of her identity being exposed has her torn between helping her friend and considering fleeing.
As it turns out her best friend's past is revealed and Maggie is conflicted because the terms of her bail make supporting her friend in jeopardy.

Maggie is conflicted about whether her new friends will support her if they learn about her past.

A very good book, the story progresses at a fast clip and the hacking scandal brings it in today's headlines/news..

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and although not a fan of the author, I did read it and must admit I truly loved this book. Not what I was expecting - it kept me turning pages to see where the story was going. Imagine driving along the road with your five year old daughter in the back, taking your eyes off the road for one second - passing a stop sign and crashing with another vehicle.

Not only does your daughter die, but you are brought up on charges....the nightmare begins. MacKenzie cannot see her life getting any better, but alas she does move away (after her husband divorces her) and begins a new life in Devon, where no one knows of her past.

But there is something about the past that just creeps up on you again, this time mixed with some drama happening in Devon.....each chapter only gets better and better as you feel the love, hate, sorrow and healing of the family. Put this one on your TBR list - due to be available on June 26, 2018.