Overall the read was good but I don't think I enjoy "what if" books. I never really connected with the characters and I'm not fond of a love triangle. Loved the writing though.

Special thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of Before I Do. Talk about unpacking emotional baggage! There are numerous timelines also that can be difficult to keep track of. But I absolutely loved it.

"When you get off the wheel, you see everything in a whole new way, and the ride you're on-you stop taking it for granted."

"Seriously though, why would anyone get married in this day and age?
Because it's the biggest commitment you can make to one another. It's a declaration to the world that this is your person, the one you love, body and soul. It's saying that no matter what life throws at you both, you are going to be there, holding each other's hand every step of the way."

"When I imagine this person I hope they are kind, I hope they ae selfless, I hope they are happy to build you up and watch you shine, because, trust me, some people won't do that, however much they profess to love you."

Argh. I have conflicting opinions about this book. Let me start by saying I adore Sophie Cousens' writing - This Time Next Year was a five-star read for me and Just Haven't Met You Yet was four stars. This one is a solid three stars, mostly driven by my frustration with Audrey (and subsequent lack of a "rooting for them" feeling with the couple at hand).

Audrey is fanciful, has her head in the clouds, and can't commit to things - to a career, to a guy, to her sense of self. She thinks she's finally found the person she wants to marry: stable, down-to-earth financial analyst Josh - but on the day of her wedding, Audrey seems to get a million signs that she should not marry Josh. There are dead bats in the church, the bride figurine apparently jumps off the top of the cake, her ushers get food poisoning, and worst of all, Audrey's number one "what could have been" person randomly shows up to her rehearsal dinner. Audrey never wanted a big wedding - hell, she never even thought she'd want to get married. All of these signs seem to reify her doubts, give her cold feet, and make her want to hide in a linen closet instead of being present at her own wedding.

We all have a little bit of Audrey in us - full of anxieties, doubts, and second-guessing ourselves. But Audrey takes it to an extreme, and it feels incredibly frustrating to watch someone self-sabotage over and over. I found myself unable to relate to her and even wanting better for her love interest at the end of the day. She's also painted as a bit of a manic pixie dream girl, an effortlessly beautiful and thin and charming person whom everyone falls in love with immediately. Many of Cousens's protagonists are unfortunately like this. Oh - and the runaway bride trope is not a favorite of mine.

I think this book attempts to dispel the myth or rom-com stereotype that you have to have your life together in order to be deserving of love, and confirm that it's normal to have doubts and anxieties about making a big commitment. Of course, Audrey goes about all this in the most comical and bumbling way possible, but it's a positive message. Ultimately, this is a sweet message, but with my near-constant frustration and annoyance at Audrey, I couldn't give this book more than three stars.

Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC via Netgalley!

This was my first book by this author and I actually really enjoyed this title!

It had a strong start, though I felt it got a bit slow in the middle. But I still enjoyed the story and I felt that it had some good discussions on fate, soulmates, how we view the world, finding our paths, how our pasts impact our futures, and what it means to be in love. I was very happy with the ending and found it absolutely adorable. I had some doubts on who Audrey would end up with, but I am glad how it worked out. Super cute book and I'm excited to read more by this author.

This book makes it official. I love this author.

Before I do is about a woman who runs into “The One That Got Away” the night before her wedding & how he makes her rethink everything.

I loved how this book jumped back & forth between the past & present telling us about who the characters were then & how they became the people they are now.

This book was so funny & such a fast read. Which is good because when I ended it I wanted to start it all over again!

(Disclaimer: I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.)

I love Sophie Cousens and this book. Will be recommending this to all my friends. This was so heartwarming and cute. Cannot wait to get a physical copy!

3.5 rounding up. This was my first Sophie Cousens book and it did not disappoint. I love a good story about "what ifs" and second chance romance is my favorite trope so I was interested from the start. It gave "Maybe in Another Life" by TJR vibes in that it had multiple timelines and love interests and kept you guessing "who will she choose?" I think that's what made it unputdownable for me and I think readers will be able to binge this easily. I didn't love the main character but I absolutely adored the side characters so they completely make up for it. Pick this book up today and let's chat about it!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me access to an e-copy of Before I Do by Sophie Cousens to read. I was so excited when I saw I was approved for this book, because I have read Sophie Cousens before and I loved it.
I have to say, I loved this book of hers just as much as the one I previously read. From my own personal experience, I happened to connect to some parts of this story very much. I felt the portrayal of the main character's feelings, Audrey, was spot on. So much so that Audrey's thought process and the way she worked through her own feelings in the book made me cry. I was able to understand and feel so connected that I cried for Audrey, and for anyone else who goes through something like she did in the story.
I don't want to write any spoilers in this review, but I will tell you that Audrey and Josh are engaged to be married and this story takes place switching back and forth between a time Audrey didn't even like Josh, to the present day of their wedding. The other characters were just as amazing.
Not only did this book make me cry (numerous times, in a good way), but it also made me laugh! I loved the banter/friendship that Audrey had with her best friend, her "nactor"'s funny commentary, and even though many wouldn't agree with me... her Mother Vivien as well.
Thank you again for the opportunity to read this story... I hope everyone will decide to purchased it when it is published and enjoy it as well!

Sophie Cousens does it again! I love an author who can flawlessly go from past to present and weave a story. It was fun, yet had depth, and kept me intrigued. It took me a bit to get into, but once I did I really enjoyed it. Be warned though, it isn't as rom-com as I anticipated, and has some depth to it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

“Nothing’s over until you stop fighting for it.”

I struggled with where to rate this one for a while. I enjoyed it, but I felt like a lot of what happened was completely unnecessary, or shouldn’t have been emphasized as much, for the way the book ended.

In this we follow Audrey, who is getting married to Josh. The book takes place the day before, during, and after the wedding date. It also alternates chapters of being in the present and past. Audrey begins to have second thoughts about marrying Josh when someone from her past reappears, and that’s where the story starts.

I was looking for a quick romance read and thought this would be it, but it wasn’t. Not much really happened so at times it was difficult to keep interest, and the big “climax” didn’t happen until the end. It was a lot of build up for 75% of the book. Also, Josh was way too forgiving of Audrey during one scene.

The cast of side characters was great. They were lively and funny. Audrey and Josh however fell flat and I honestly didn’t really like either of them. Josh was kind of a prick actually and Audrey too reckless and immature.

The best thing about this book is the accurate representation of anxiety and panic attacks. As someone who has those, I thought the author did a great job of writing about them and the true experience that individuals have when they go through them. I also liked the writing style as well, but the anxiety representation is what really got me, hence why this book is rated a little higher than I planned. It’s also a common theme throughout the whole story and isn’t just in one specific area or scene.

“If you’re going to commit to anything in this life, shouldn’t it be love?”

TW: anxiety, panic attacks, sexual harassment, infidelity

This book really just took me for a ride. I loved the build up, the character development, and the writing. I would definitely read more from this author!

This book gave me so many warm fuzzies and I genuinely had no idea how it was going to end up. One of my favorite books of the year!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Before I Do is laid out in an alternating fashion - flipping between the present & the past - showing readers how the characters got to the places they did in their lives. I have to commend the author for her attention to detail on this flipping back and forth, that must’ve been A LOT of work & she laid it out beautifully! 😌 The characters were fairly well developed as well, which is a definite “plus” for this book.

However, generally speaking, this book fell flat for me. It seemed to be a lot of random details that sometimes mattered in the grand scheme of things and other times didn’t. The pace was fairly slow as well, which added to my lower rating of the book overall.

As always, just because it wasnt my favorite, doesn’t mean it’s will be the same for you! Everybody is different!

This book was so good!! I really just loved every second of it. Throughout the book I was so nervous to see how it would end since I love Josh so much, but I was very happy to see that it didn’t end easily either. I loved all the side characters and the funny things that happened at the wedding. It was just humorous and original and I really enjoyed it.

I really enjoyed the characters , the plot and the setting. The question facing the main character is ingenious and the author really did an excellent job working through the many obstacles she will face to get to the answers. #BeforeIDo #SophieCousens your go to for romance !

I enjoyed this rom-com! I was pleasantly surprised that it had some solid emotional depth to it, with Audrey spending the day leading up to her wedding reckoning with her past trauma and how it has affected her current view on relationships. This book has some extremely complicated timelines and the chapters alternate between different times in Audrey’s past and her present. It was masterfully done, though, and I had no problem keeping up with it. The only reason this was a 4 star for me rather than a 5 is that toward the middle I was feeling some severe second-hand embarrassment and a lot of “where is this going? Why are all of the things happening to everyone terrible?” There is some good comic relief to break up those feelings, though.

Before I Do was a really cute read. I really enjoyed the then and now perspectives. I was rooting for Fred until I read the full history of Audrey and Josh’s relationship. Josh was such a great character and I adored him.

I found myself a bit irritated with Audrey because she just couldn’t seem to let herself be happy. She did have some past trauma and her mom definitely did not set a great example for her.

Overall, I was happy with the ending and gave this one 4🌟 out of 5.

REVIEW FOR BEFORE I DO

4.5 Stars

Thank you to Netgalley, Penguin Group Putnam and Sophie Cousens for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is my favorite Sophie Cousens book. I enjoyed her previous two, but this one really resonated with me- maybe because I just got married so the memories were fresh, but I know how easy it was to have nerves that day. And your mind can play tricks for sure- and while I had no doubts about the person I was marrying, I can understand how it's possible, especially when you've been holding a torch for someone else for 6 years.

I really enjoyed Audrey's arc- I can tell she is super privileged but I could also tell that she wanted to grow and was truly remorseful for her actions. I also liked how the chapters were alternating, written in opposing timelines that covered the past and the present. I also felt terrible for Josh, and I think it's a testament to the writer and her ability to make you feel so many different things. I also feel like a different storyline could have been picked and had the same effect than the one that happened, but that's just me.

Overall, it was a beautiful story of appreciating what you have vs. coveting what you want. While the journey may not have been by cup of tea, the writing was beautiful and it sucked me in.

This wasn't bad, but it wasn't that great either. The first 75% felt like a slog, the last 25% redeemed this from being a 2 star (except that epilogue which was just unnecessary and saccharine and almost took it back down to 2). This is not a romance or a rom-com, IMO. Probably better classified as women's fiction or new adult fiction.

I did not connect with Audrey at all. I really struggled with her because she definitely had dysfunction and loads of mommy & daddy issues, but what really bothered me was that she seemed to be fully aware of her issues, and also fully aware she's making some really questionable choices and self-sabatoging. So much of this could have been resolved/prevented if she only had a couple of conversations. I think I'm just not a fan of the miscommunication trope, particularly when applied to wedding day what if shenanigans.

Thank you to @netgalley and Sophie Cousens for my ARC copy of Before I Do.

I'm a bit late in posting even though I read Before I Do a couple of months ago, but life has been crazy.

Audrey is about to marry Josh, her complete opposite, and is having cold feet, wondering if he really is "The One." Her life, and wedding day, are thrown upside down when Josh's sister shows up to the rehearsal with Audrey's "What If?" guy, Fred.

Before I Do bounces timelines between the present and when Audrey met Fred. I did struggle to get into this one, but once it got going I loved how heartfelt the story was. If you're like me and you aren't a huge fan of the love triangle trope, don't write this one off. Sophie Cousens did an excellent job of not following the script of your typical love triangle and second chance tropes and this story was a breath of fresh air in that regard.

I would definitely recommend this book!