All the feels!

This is a book for those who believe in love at first sight. But it's not only about it, it's what happens after, when it's not the right time to be together, but it's a soulmate love. I rooted so much for Emma and Mabel in those four years. Their summer love was beautiful to read, but their growing up was what I needed to read as well.

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🏀🍻🌈🌶️

I loved this book. Emma and Mabel are everything. This book was everything. Thank you so much Hannah Safren for writing your love story for the world to see.

Emma and Mabel meet in the summer of 2008. They hit it off immediately, and have a wonderful summer fling. However, with Mabel not out yet, and going off to college, things don't work out.

The story follows Emma's POV over the next 4 years, detailing romances, jobs, basketball games and life dreams. Every so often over the four years, Mabel comes back into her life, but of course, nothing works out due to their current relationship with other people, and the fact that Mabel is still studying.

I loved the way we read about Emma's feelings. Her confusion, hurt, and longing for Mabel. I loved how everything panned out, and how the whole 'absence makes the heart grow fonder' saying is SO true in this story. I also loved the loving friends and families. I loved everything about this book.

Thank you Netgalley, Bella Books and Hannah for a copy of this ebook. I have left my review voluntarily.

College seniors Emma and Mabel meet at a bar one night and feel an inexplicable pull towards each other. Mabel breaks up with her boyfriend the next week and the two of them start seeing each other in what will become an ideal summer for them both. Mabel is still figuring herself out though so at the end of the summer they end too. Emma moves on as best as she can but over the next 4 years keeps running into Mabel, both of them feeling the same pull towards each other but circumstances never being quite right.
This was a very consuming story, I was so invested in the HEA for them both. I really liked the idea that you may meet your match before being ready but still be able to work it out in the end. The book is told from Emma's perspective so we see a lot of her daily struggles and growth as a young adult during a tumultuous time. I really liked that the marriage equality movement that really picked up speed around this time was included as it was. Emma's family was amazingly supportive and it was so nice to see them encouraging her throughout her journey. I really liked the format of this book, being told in short snippets of Emma's daily life, with little poems from her journal in between. I also really loved the note from her mom and what she does with it once she opens her brewery. This was a great book and I'm looking forward to future books by Hannah Safeen.

Emma and Mabel have an intense summer, by the end of which Emma is ready to go all in on their relationship. Mabel however is still figuring out her sexuality and leaves at the end of summer to go back to her school leaving behind a devastated Emma. 👀

This was a simple enjoyable second chance romance. The initial start of the book is about the summer when they first meet, all told from Emma’s POV. While the short quick chapters are indicative how quickly the summer passes by while intensifying all that Emma is feeling, it did feel very fast but I think that was done deliberately, which in hindsight worked out.

Once that was out of the way, the narrative settled down to a much calmer pace and it’s a slow churn towards Mabel and Emma orbiting each other - never quite able to get over the intense feelings they have for one another, but at the same time trying to overcome whatever event / circumstance is holding them back. The story unfolded naturally and I enjoyed going on Emma’s discovery of her passion and the evolution of her relationships. As a sidebar - There is a LOT of drinking and talk about beer…so if you enjoy beer, you are going to appreciate this even more.

Overall a sweet and interesting story from new Bella Books author Hannah Safren.

Thank you NetGalley and Bella Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A summer fling is usually just that when you both attend different colleges. Emma and Mabel meet in the spring of 2008 and experience the perfect summer romance. By the fall they separate with more questions than answers about their fling and feelings. There is one thing that stays consistent throughout the story and that is that neither one can stop thinking about the other. 

Safren uses Emma’s journal entries which adds heartbreaking poetry to the novel. The use of the entries takes us deeper into the character of Emma than any chapters would. We feel her raw pain of separation from Mabel.

In Mabel and Everything After we are gifted with a heartwarming story of Emma and Mabel’s circuitous journey to each other. Safren has a distinctive voice with her writing style. She displays a depth and maturity with this being her second novel. Her storytelling reflexes have been honed to perfection.

This is by far my favourite novel of 2022. Release date is November 22 with Bella Books.

I received an advance review copy from Bella Books and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I LOVE love stories that take their time. I'm a big fan of realism, and sometimes you meet the one but the timing is all off. But with stories like this one, you also get to see such growth of the characters, and that itself is a beautiful journey.

This book is told entirely from Emma's POV, and I thoroughly enjoyed her as a character. She was sweet and real. She had normal thoughts about her life and loves, so I could relate to her. I also loved Mabel "Mae" through her eyes. And in the end, you knew they were meant for each other, once life settled down.

Overall, this book was a keeper.

We start with Emma and Mabel meeting in the summer of 2008 and saying goodbye at the end of it. From there, we follow as they flit in and out of each other's lives over the years. I flew through this one in a single sitting. Really loved reading about Emma and Mabel, I felt genuinely emotional about these two.

I was truly affected by Emma and Mabel's journey anxiously awaiting the HEA and wasnt disappointed. The use of journal entries interspersed with the first person narrative amplified this feeling. Even the four year timeline added specifiness that strengthened the overall plot.

The cutest thing ever tho is that the author's dedication let's the reader know that their own summer fling romance inspired this story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bella Books for providing an eARC for a sincere review.

A sweet New Adult book. Emma June Sloane meets Mabel Ann Pickett and spends a memorable summer together before returning to their separate colleges. The story follows Emma over the next four years as she graduates, experiences new relationships and begins her career. But always in her mind is Mabel and what could have been if they’d been together at a different time. Their paths do cross a few times and the author does a good job of showing the longing from both even though everything is from Emma’s POV. At times the lack of reaching out or staying in touch is frustrating but I was rooting for them in the end.

The chapters headings give the dates of the book going from May 2008 until November 2012. Some chapters are just short journal entries. And I appreciate mentions of the passing of various Marriage Equality Acts happening during the timeframe. I’m not usually a fan of main characters have other romantic interests once they have met each other. It works here because they are still discovering themselves and most of the time they are not in the same location. The author includes a lovely dedication to her wife who made her wait four years after their summer fling.

Emma met Mabel in the summer of 2008. Over the course of the season, they basked, soaked up and connected with the other on levels neither expected of a summer fling. After parting ways, Emma spent the next 4 years drifting, growing and ultimately learning to fight for her love.

With the story told from a first person’s narrative; through timelines and journal entries, it was easy to go with the flow and feel what Emma experienced. With the chain of events over the months and years, sometimes you‘ll smile, at times you wonder and other times agonise over some of the pair’s choices. I thought that the storytelling was unique and spoken from the heart. With the habit of reading a book’s acknowledgments and dedications section, I found it awfully sweet that the book mirrored the author’s own life story and she found her happily ever after with her person.

I just reviewed Mabel and Everything After by Hannah Safren. Thank you NetGalley and Bella Books for the ARC.

This was a surprisingly fast read for me. I loved the formatting of this book, of chapters intermixed with the characters journal entries.