this is my second book by sophie cousens and her books have definitely become must reads for me now! I absolutely loved just haven’t met you yet [one of my fav rom coms this year!] so I was looking forward to before I do and it was just as wonderful!

though I typically find myself rooting for one person or the other in love triangles, I truly couldn’t decide who I wanted her to end up with in this one! I would have been content with whoever she’d chosen, but I did find that there was a “switch” for me towards the end of the book and I adored the outcome!

Audrey is in quite the predicament.

The day before she’s supposed to marry Josh, a great guy who she’s known for years, she gets hit with a blast from the past in the form of Fred, someone she spent a wonderful day with 6 years ago and then never saw again until he shows up at the rehearsal dinner as the date of Josh’s sister.

This obviously brings back memories…some sweet, some bitter. As the wedding gets closer and closer with hours to spare, Audrey can’t stop thinking about the past…and can’t help but wonder if she’s making the right decision to get married.

This was such a wonderful book. Author Sophie Cousens does a phenomenal job of going from past to present and back again, keeping this reader intrigued. I had no idea who Audrey was going to end up with until almost the end, and that kept me flipping the pages well into the night.

This is a sweet rom-com that also has some depth…not to mention some fun characters who keep the plot fresh and lively.

Every now and then, I need a palate cleanser after reading so many psychological thrillers, and this one fit the bill perfectly.

Thank you to G.P. Putnam’s Sons and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Now available.

I enjoyed Before I Do and found it entertaining and thought provoking. Do we always make the right decisions? How can we be sure? I liked the main character and was pleasantly surprised by the choices she made through the story. I recommend this book to romance and women's fiction readers.

I'm behind on my book reviews! Yikes..
I read this while on our quick trip to Florida.
Before I Do by Sophie Cousens
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I have read several books by this author and she always has the best, cute but quirky characters.
Thanks @netgalley for the early release copy. This book is out now and you can grab it!
Audrey is about to get married and a great "love" shows up as her soon to be husband's sisters date. This takes her down the road not traveled. Through a series of chance meetings, Fred and Audrey share a connection and we see this in different time lines. The author takes us easily from present day wedding to the past. We see the angst that Audrey has of what would her life have been like and throw in a series of bad omen disasters on her wedding weekend and she's just not sure what she wants and needs.
Told with such a great touch of humor, you will be laughing one minute and sad the next. Super cute book!
#NetGalley
#BeforeIDo
#crazybooknerd
#bookstagram

You guyssssssss, UGH I LOVE SOPHIE COUSENS! I love how her stories are the cheesy rom-coms I need, but also have depth! I’m always so surprised by her writing!
✨
Before I Do, Cousen’s newest, is no exception. Audrey, a millennial struggling to find her niche in life, is getting married to practical, organized, has-his-life-together Josh. But is her her soulmate? Cousens explores this question by jumping around in the timeline of Audrey’s life, piecing together all of the moments that got her here. When someone from her past suddenly reappears in her life, Audrey is sent spiraling all while her “I Do” moment quickly approaches.
✨
I’ve been in a slump lately so an extra thanks to Cousens for getting me out of it! Her writing and the pace of her chapters hooked me and I couldn’t put it down. Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam Books for an advanced copy! I absolutely loved it!

Before I Do, by Sophie Cousens, is the classic story of the one who got away. It’s the idea of leaving behind your past, and letting go of the baggage you carry with you, in order to make the best choices for your future.

The story begins on the eve of Audrey’s wedding when her past crush shows up unexpectedly. They had an instant connection after a quirky meeting, and then a missed encounter back when something more could have developed. Fast-forward to her slow-building relationship with Josh. There was no spark originally, but over time and persistence, something more began to grow. With some bad omens occurring at her rehearsal dinner, and the appearance of Fred, her one time potential love, Audrey questions if she’s making the right choices.

I enjoyed this story, but also felt conflicted because I wasn’t necessarily convinced of the love between Audrey and Josh. I felt sad over the loss of opportunity between she had Fred, and infuriated and heart-broken over the horrible choices her mother repeatedly made and the affects on Audrey. The author does a nice job of keeping you guessing as to the outcome, and all of the elements tie together nicely. The beginning was a bit slow, but overall it was sweet and moving, just not quite all I hoped it to be.

Audrey is about to get married when her "one that got away" Fred shows up at her wedding rehearsal. Is she marrying the right man?

I have liked Sophie Cousens' books before but this one was just painful. I found both Audrey and Fred not very interesting or likable, as well as this book. At least it's so forgettable that I won't remember how bored I was.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy for review.

Sophie Cousens is a master at keeping readers guessing. I love a good, predictable rom com as much as anyone, but I loved that this one WASN'T predictable! I wasn't sure who Audrey would end up with, even at around 80%! I loved the "what if" throughout the narrative, but I am also delighted with how the story ended. "What if" is not always satisfying. The side characters were very well written.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. I enjoyed this book. I struggled to get into it, but once I did, I couldn’t put it down. Loved how this was interwoven and how it ended. A good read!

Quick question: what would you do if 'the one that got away' turned up the night before your wedding? Would you be able to keep calm and carry on? Would it bother you? Would you start having the most subtle meltdown you could physically manage? Or would you be a full blown, Julia Roberts-level runaway bride? That’s the dilemma head-in-the-stars Audrey faces in Before I Do by Sophie Cousens, a heartfelt romantic comedy from the author of Just Haven’t Met You Yet that had me deep, deep in my feels. (See, you can tell, because I haven’t used the phrase “in my feels” in years.)

Our heroine, Audrey, is on the cusp of marrying safe, down-to-earth Josh, who by all accounts appears to love her to distraction. Though they’re polar opposites — Josh has worked in the same finance field for years, while Audrey is still figuring out what she wants to do with her life — something about them clicks, and they have a healthy, stable relationship. But isn’t romance supposed to be full of fireworks and spontaneity? That’s what the movies teach us, anyway.

Audrey’s sudden doubts about Josh being The One are further compounded when their wedding in a small English village encounters problem after problem: apocalyptic thunderstorms, frantic mother-in-laws, dead bats, ominous proclamations from Josh’s grandmother . . . the list goes on. But the cherry on top arrives in the form of Fred, a handsome photographer who Audrey met six years ago and had just one incredible day with, until he disappeared. But now he’s on the arm of her future sister-in-law and making her question everything she thought she knew about her relationship with Josh . . . and her mother . . . and her dad . . . and, and, and.

Audrey is going through it.

Frankly the description of her character is one that would typically drive me up the fucking wall — the nonstop waffling, the unwillingness to face reality, the near-pathological inability to appreciate what’s right in front of her. But to Cousens’ credit, Audrey is a well-rounded, realistic, and surprisingly relatable character. I wasn’t prepared for how deeply her revelations about life and love would resonate with me.

I got married earlier this year after seven years of dating my now-husband, Justin. Although I’m not all that much like Audrey, Justin is very much like Josh: tall and dark-haired, yes, but also unwaveringly kind, dependable, and sturdy (both physically and emotionally). And though I love him more than any word in the English language could ever properly convey, there were scattered moments pre-wedding when I, too, felt myself pondering those annoyingly resilient What Ifs: what if I’d fallen in love with someone while I studied abroad in London? What if I’d downloaded Tinder a month later and ended up dating a musician? Or a CEO? Or, like me, a writer? What if I’d somehow met the guy who seductively chops logs on TikTok for a living?

But What Ifs aren’t reality, no matter how real, or how tangible, those fantasies might sometimes feel. And I think something as monumental and as life-affirming as marriage, like Josh mentions in the novel, is the type of rare event that can genuinely shake your foundation enough to have you asking those questions.

I really liked this book. Sure, it has its downsides — for instance, I will never, ever be on board with cheesy grand gestures involving musical performances. (I un-humbly request authors strike them from any drafts they might have laying around.) It’s not spicy, if that’s a romance necessity for you. Audrey also tap dances dangerously close to manic pixie dream girl territory, and there were elements of the ending that didn’t feel right. (Though to explain them would spoil things, and this is not a book you want to spoil for yourself.)

But it’s well-written and the author has an excellent handle on the multi-timeline structure, which seemingly unfolds with ease. (I can’t imagine how complicated plotting a book like this can be.) So, at the risk of putting even more of my thoughts in parentheses (I love parentheses), I’ll just say that Before I Do is a swoon-y read worth getting your hands on whenever you can.

Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Aww, this was a very sweet story. One of the rare instances in which a love triangle is actually done very well. I think I may have enjoyed it more than This Time Next Year.

It actually went a completely different direction than where I thought it was going from the first few chapters, and I really liked the direction it took.

The story jumps back and forth between the present, Audrey's story with Fred, and Audrey's story with Josh. It took a bit to adjust to the different timelines, but it worked really well for the story it was trying to tell.

Recommend for a sweet romcom.

I love all of Sophie Cousens books. However this one just fell flat for me. It’s a good story that I think many people will enjoy, i just didn’t vibe with the book being about a wedding.

My ⭐️⭐️ review is not a reflection of Sophie Cousens or her writing! Personally, I just could not get into this book. I found 2/3 main characters rather annoying. I was only invested in Josh - I wanted him to get the happy ending he deserved!

This book ended the exact right way!! I am so glad Sophie ended it how she did! I am also glad I finished it. I just wish I had enjoyed more than the last 5 chapters.

Due to personal experience, I just could not get on board with all the doubts on her wedding day and a man trying to break up a couple!

Love is a verb. In the end, Audrey figured that out. I just wish she could’ve gotten there sooner!!

I will still keep reading books by Sophie Cousens because overall I really do enjoy her books!!

While I was reading this book, I couldn't help but feel like something was missing, and I had trouble putting my finger on it until I was almost at the end. And that was because I realized it wasn't just one thing--it was a lot of things.

I can't say this book was difficult for me to read or get through--in fact, I actually read it in a day. But I think that's because I am always here for the *drama*, and this story definitely had plenty of that.

Unfortunately, I really didn't care for the main character, and it's not common that that happens for me when I'm reading. I love flawed characters, but Audrey was incredibly selfish and childish and constantly hurt the people around her, and that made it very difficult to root for her.

The synopsis of this story sounded so interesting to me, but in execution, the conflict in this story didn't actually make any sense. It was told between past and present, jumping from the wedding day back to Audrey meeting her fiance, Josh, and when Audrey met Fred, her "what-if" guy.

Audrey being with either of these guys made no sense to me. First, with Fred, she knew him for one day. They crossed paths at a photo booth and ended up with each other's pictures, went on one date, and then through some miscommunication, lost touch and didn't see each other again until Fred appeared at Audrey's wedding as a plus-one six years later. And immediately, his presence makes Audrey question everything with her fiance because she starts to wonder if Fred was her soulmate all along, and it even turns out that she's been carrying Fred's photo booth pictures in her wallet for the past six years.

With Josh, her fiance, there was no chemistry between them at all. And then we'd jump into these flashbacks of them meeting and dating, and the chemistry was even worse. I didn't get how they had anything in common, how they even got along at all, much less how they fell in love with each other. Audrey would remind herself and think to herself about how much she loves Josh and how great he is, but her actions didn't prove that at all, and even her memories didn't line up with that.

The conflict was also just not strong enough for me. Audrey was supposed to be torn between these two guys (for some reason), but she has very few interactions with Fred and spends most of the "present" chapters running from Josh. There's also added conflict of everything under the sun going wrong on their wedding day, and it became actually ridiculous just how long that list was. It was difficult to suspend my disbelief at a certain point.

And the ending was incredibly cheesy. It was the book equivalent of those cringey tumblr stories that all end with "and then everyone on the plane clapped" and aren't remotely realistic.

Unfortunately, in all, I just wouldn't recommend this book.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

LOVED this one! This is my favorite book by Sophie Cousens. I actually did like Josh but could see why she picked James. What a beautiful book that I recommend to any romance fan!

I haven't read any Sophie Cousens' books but this one won't be my last! Before I do was a great story with a dual timeline. Wedding bells are ringing for Audrey and Josh....until Josh's sister brings Fred to the wedding. But was isn't know to most is that Fred is the one that "got away" and Audrey is in complete shock seeing him after so many years. She questions the fact that she sees him and has feelings and if she should even continue to marry Josh. Audrey, Josh, and all their extended family and friends are such great characters. I alternated between sad heartbreak, and laughing out loud. Audrey’s indecision about her school, career, and everything else in her life, is so relatable to me. And every character seemed to have quirks that just stood out and made it all seem special. 4.5 stars

Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons & Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this Digital ARC

4 stars!

Great story, with great characters (even when they make bad decisions!), tons of banter and humor, and a story that poses a terrific question to readers! Loved it. I was a little uncertain where it would all end up, but luckily, what I wanted to happen happened! I finished this book QUICK! Thoroughly enjoyable read. I definitely want to check out Sophie Cousens' other books.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sophie Cousens, PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, and G.P. Putnam's Sons for providing me with an ARC copy of this book! All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated for my review.

I really liked this story! I loved the flow of the days, hours, minutes leading up to the wedding. How we got from right before the wedding and cold feet, to how Josh and Audrey’s story began.⁣
⁣
Anything and everything that could be a bad omen for their big day happened making Audrey unsure if Josh was truly the one or if fate was intervening. ⁣
⁣
This is one of those stories that was beautifully written and hit on some topics of how different relationships in your life mold how you view relationships yourself; as well as has you question all the what ifs in life. This was a quick, bingeable read, that I really enjoyed and a unique kind of love triangle because of the what if’s. ⁣
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Have we made the right choice? Is this the man of our dreams? Did I miss out on my chance at happiness with that other guy? Some things go wrong at the wedding rehearsal and on the wedding day, so now Audrey thinks perhaps she isn't meant to marry Josh. To make things worse, Josh's sister brings a plus one no one was expecting. It's Fred, the guy Audrey had an amazing whirlwind romance with, but never heard from again. Now, does this mean dump JOsh and get back with Fred? Of course, we get to go through the past and see how Audrey could possibly feel this way about her chances at love and relationships in general. I would have preferred Audrey to .. .. YOu know what? You decide. Read this book and let me know what think Audrey should have done.

Sophie Cousens did an amazing job with this book. I found it so funny and I definitely would have felt like Audrey if this had been my wedding! I loved the way the author went back and forth in time to tell the story. It was perfect and made the story so much better. Thank you @prhaudio for the complimentary audiobook in exchange for my honest review. Thank you Netgalley for the advanced release copy.