This book was a little difficult for me to like mainly because of the protagonist Lauren who loses her memory and clings on to what she remembers. She literally makes no effort to talk to people around her who care about her, look at texts or photos. Poor Jonah, He is pretty nice guy, yes he started off treating Lauren badly due his insecurities, but he was the one who reached out with an Olive branch. His romancing of Lauren is so sweet.

I listened to the audiobook, which was well done. I did not have any issues following the dual timelines.

#netgalley #BeforeWeWereUs

This book, the storyline and the narrator are all a 10/10.
Lauren and Jonah are headed for a happily ever after until a freak accident takes away Lauren's memory, and with it their chance at happiness?
Set in New Hampshire at a peaceful family resort, Jonah is working toward his dream of running the family business. It's been his dream for as long as he can remember but that plan comes to an abrupt halt when his parents hire a temporary manager while Jonah completes business school.
In walks Lauren. She is the exact the type of woman he is trying to avoid and what makes it worse, she's really good at her job.
This second chance romance isn't your typical romance as we see Lauren and Jonah's love be suddenly taken away with a freak accident. Denise has the reader hoping right along with Jonah as we wait to see if Lauren will regain her memories of the love they once shared before she needs to make a decision about her future.

Before we were us is a sweet Christian romance that weaves the faith of the characters delicately throughout their experience.
Thank you to Denise Hunter, Thomas Nelson and Zondervan Fiction Audio for the chance to listen to this early. I've loved getting to meet Jonah, Lauren and Graham. All thoughts and reflections are my own.

This story follows couple Lauren and Jonah who work at Jonah's family resort of cabins in New Hampshire. Lauren has a fall and forgets the last several months. She still thinks its within the 1st weeks of arriving for the new job and her and Jonah are still at odds. She doesn't remember them falling in love. And is in no hurry to remember it cause how could she fall for this guy? The book goes back and forth from before the accident and the summer of falling in love to current time line.

I felt bad for Jonah often because it felt like Lauren was WAY too harsh on him. No matter what he did or tried she wouldn't give a inch. When she finally did she would take 3 steps back. I felt the middle could of been shorten and he end flushed out a little more.

I description of the town and the cabins was wonderfully written felt like I could picture it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this audio arc in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with this advanced reader copy. In this book we meet a young woman who’s just starting out on a career in hospitality management. She manages to get a job with a prestigious firm in Boston, but it won’t start for nine months. In the meantime she’s offered a temporary management post at a New Hampshire lake resort. She begins a relationship with the resort owners’ son and the adventures begin. This is truly a “grandmother/teenage girl” rated book. It’s sweet.

4.5 stars! Serving as the temporary manager of the family-owned Pinehaven Lodge, Lauren’s big city demeanor and aspirations rub Jonah Landry, the owners’ son, the wrong way. As a result, he spends his time making her time there a living nightmare—until he realizes that there are sparks between them. Too bad Lauren doesn’t see them—until she does.

Against all odds, Lauren and Jonah Landry fell for each other over that beautiful New Hampshire summer. But when Lauren has an accident that leaves her devoid of several months of memories—the very months during which they fell in love—can Jonah win her trust and love again?

This was such a great story! It’s my first book with memory loss in the story line and it was done so well. I was invested in Lauren and Jonah’s stories—both as a couple and their separate backstories. I love that this was an untraditional dual-timeline. We got to go back to the beginning of the summer and moved through the timeline while seeing how Jonah and Lauren worked through things present-day. And it was such a layered story! I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend adding it to your fall list!

Thanks to Thomas Nelson for providing me with an advanced listener copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

A refreshingly sweet ride — I rooted hard for Lauren and Jonah through this book. While the plot itself isn’t anything groundbreaking, the characters and their relationship as they try to come back from an accident felt so real that I couldn’t help but keep going in order to see things get better. They’re flawed, and for that, I loved them. For fans of romantic films of the early 2000s, this book might just be up your alley. While this book isn’t my favourite of all time, I thoroughly enjoyed it and found I couldn’t put it down — and when I did have to, I couldn’t wait to keep going. I am knocking a few points off, only because I found the dual timelines confusing to keep track of in a few points, and because I would have liked to spend more time in the flashbacks watching their relationship develop the first time around.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the early copy of this book — I really did enjoy this quick, sweet story!

4.25 stars! A beautiful and heartwarming story of love gained, lost and then found. Jonah made Lauren fall in love with him twice. I mean…how sweet is that? The patience and the dedication he has is out of this world. I also absolutely loved the imagery and the setting of a small resort in the upper east-impeccably well done by the author. The single female narrator did a great job, although I do think that I would have had an even more enjoyable experience had it been dual male/female narration, as the story is told in a dual, third person point-of-view.

I really enjoyed listening to this book. My heart broke for Jonah but I admired how he let Lauren do things she wanted and respected her current headspace. I couldn’t have imagined being in Lauren’s position and trying to piece my life back together. My only complaint was the constant back and forth in the timeline. Because I was listening I would miss the present day/past announcement and be like “wait, what?!” But I enjoyed it overall

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins Christian Publishing for the ALC!

Before We Were Us is a charming and heartfelt small town romance.

Told in flashbacks and present day, the story explores the impact of Lauren’s memory loss on her relationship with Jonah. I thought it was a beautiful commentary on the way relationships can shape our hopes and dreams for the future.

The story was well paced, and the narration captured Lauren and Jonah’s emotional experiences and growth, seamlessly moving between past and present.

Thank you Harper Collin’s Christian Publishing and NetGalley for this book. Opinions expressed are my own.

Before We Were Us is a sweet Christian romance! Lauren and Jonah have spent a summer falling in love. Things are about to turn serious in their relationship when Lauren suffers an accident leaving her with partial amnesia! She forgets the last couple of months and her romance with Jonah. The book flashes back to their past as they fell in love while in the present they are both dealing with the fallout of her memory loss. The romance was adorable and the plot was really intriguing! I would highly recommend this book as I enjoyed it very much! This was my first Denise Hunter read and I can’t wait to try more! I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley in trade for my honest opinion. My thoughts are my own.

Lauren’s life changed after her accidental fall from a ladder and the lost of the memories for the last four months. Jonah, her boss at the lodge she works as a manager, claims he is his boyfriend but the only she remembers is their animosity. In three months she is due to ga back to Boston and her dream job. But the more she interacts with Jonah the more her heart yearns for him. But her insecurities and her past keeps her from really falling in love again and give up the future she thinks she wants. Can Lauren fall in love twice for the same man? Kim Churchill makes an excellent job narrating all the emotions and feelings in the story with her beautiful voice.

Before We Were Us is a Hallmark Movie in novel form. If you’re in the mood for an easy read and predictable story line you’ll likely enjoy this book. Unfortunately I was not. Centered on the amnesia trope, I found the book to be boring and tedious. The prose is unimaginative with so many cliche descriptions and analogies I was rolling my eyes by the end of it. It’s not even funny but it is sweet and there’s certainly a market for that as I’ve read many positive reviews for this book. I thought the narrator did a good job although I listened on 1.75 speed to get through it as I was not enjoying the story or writing.

City girl Lauren finds herself working at a rural resort and falling in love with the owners son Jonah until one day Lauren falls from the ladder of a hay loft and forgets all her memories from the beginning of the summer. What does she remember? The early days on the resort where everything Jonah did got under her skin, but we all know there is a thin line between hate and love. Now Jonah is tasked with letting Lauren go or making her fall in love with him all over again.

My favorite message in this book? One should not underestimate the power of an apology.

I rated this book 3.5 out of 5 stars. Thank you NetGalley for my ALC.

The story of "Before We Were Us" is heartbreaking. I had a tough time with how much this couple had and lost in an instant. The story is told by alternating chapters, one set in the present and then one set in the past telling the story of how they came to be a couple and fall deeply in love. My total sympathy was with Jonah and his fight for the woman he loves above all else. I was not a fan of Lauren who didn't want her memory to return at all because it might impact her cast in concrete decision to leave Pinehaven and Jonah to take her "Dream Job" in Boston when her contract with Pinehaven is up. The narrator for this book, Kim Churchill, was wonderful navigating the stoic Jonah and the prickly Lauren. She brought their story to life. The moral of this story: Let Go and Let God, came through loud and clear.

Lauren Wentworth has been driven her whole life to be successful. As a product of the foster care system, she only had herself to rely on and she is determined to keep it that way. At an early age she settled on the hospitality industry and decided to be the best and work with the best. She took a position at Pinehaven Lodge to put management experience on her resume, not to fall in love and be derailed from her pursuit of her dream job. But falling in love has a way of making future plans go up in a smoke and Lauren changed in the months she was at Pinehaven and she wasn't the driven Lauren when she took a tumble from the hayloft only to awake with months missing from her memory.

For Jonah Landry and Lauren Wentworth, it wasn't exactly "Love at First Sight". Jonah resented that his parents thought they needed a city girl with a brand spanking new hospitality degree to run the family lodge. He also resented his attraction to her after getting burned badly by another woman who was just using him as a waystation on her way to something bigger and better. He tried to stay out of Lauren's way but came to admire her work ethic and then fall in love with her.

When Lauren wakes up with no memory of their love and that she had given up her dream job Jonah has his work cut out for him to make her fall in love with him again. This is going to be a tough hill to climb as Lauren wants nothing to do with him, the resort or any plans they may have made. But, Love Will Find a Way. 3 1/2-Stars

My thanks to the Publisher and the Author for providing a complimentary digital Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this novel via NetGalley. This is my fair, honest and personal review. All opinions are mine alone and were not biased in any way.

I absolutely loved this audio book! I listened while on my morning walks and it felt like spending time with a close friend. Perfect for summer & fall mood readers. Just when I felt like I was predicting the plot it went for another twist. LOVED THE ENDING!!!

The night that Jonah is going to propose Lauren falls off a ladder, hits her head, and wakes up not remembering the last few months. What she does remember is that she HATES Jonah and finds him obnoxious. Jonah is heartbroken but gives Lauren the space and time she needs hoping her memories will return.

This is a beautifully told story of the complexities of love and perseverance. It's an emotional journey with two timelines (the "missing" months and now). As Jonah tries to help Lauren to remember their relationship. Lauren wants nothing more than to NOT remember.

The narrator of this audiobook does a fantastic job and I will be adding Denise Hunter's books to my TBR list.

This book is perfect for someone who loves romance books without the spice. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Jonah and Lauren's love story.

Thank you to Netgalley, HarperCollins Christian Publishing, and Denise Hunter for this ARC audio copy.

Thank you Netgalley for this advanced audio edition of Before We Were Us by Denise Hunter.

This is what I can say for sure about this book. It's a very clean romance. So if that's your jam, there you go. It's got no sex, no swears, it's fairly God-centric. It's incredibly sweet, so go nuts.

For me, maybe a bit too sweet, I was left with a toothache. Lauren, despite being raised without actual parents, is essentially perfect, her only flaw being that she works too hard. She loses her short term memory and can't remember the man that she's apparently in love with him. Except she does remember him, and that guy's a jerk! Now Jonah is terrified that he's not going to get her back, and even more terrified about what Lauren will do when she learns more about the last few months.

This is another example of how there would be no story if two people could just have a conversation, even if it's uncomfortable. Where on earth were all of the people in her corner who loved her? I don't know. I didn't necessarily dislike this book, I would happily live at the resort where it's primarily plotted, but there was too much about it that didn't land, at least not for me.

Lauren and Jonah work at Jonah's family resort of cabins in rural New Hampshire. Jonah is ready to pop the question when Lauren a fall that leads her to forgetting the last several months. Unfortunately, in losing her memories of the last several months she loses the good memories she's made and only remembers the rocky start she had with Jonah. Can he make her fall in love again? Or will she forget everything and go back to her original plan to return to the city and her dream job? The descriptions of the resort made me long for a fall in New Hampshire!

There were points in the book that I got super frustrated with Lauren but I guess that's part of it. This was excellent on audio thanks to the narrators!

Thank you Netgalley & Thomas Nelson and Zondervan Fiction Audio for this audio ARC.

Happy Publishing Day! Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of the audio.

Basic premise of the story is the FMC suffers a TBI and loses her memory. She doesn’t remember her boyfriend nor how she nice she was prior. It’s very Hallmark-ish. A good palate cleanser after reading a heavy novel. Easy to read. Charming and heartwarming. Definitely a sweet and relaxing book to read.

3 stars!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you NetGalley, HaperCollins Christian Publishing and Denise Hunter for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was lucky enough to get the ebook and audio book. I read the first 25%, listened to about 50% and read the rest.

The narrator did a good job and was pleasant to listen to.

Lauren has overcome a lot and is extremely focused on her career and securing her dream job. She just needs to get through a 9 month temporary position at a small family run rustic resort.

Jonah has had his heart broken by someone leaving him for a job in the city. He and Lauren get off on the wrong foot and he keeps pushing her buttons. It takes months to get beyond their contentious relationship.

Fast forward to them being happy and Lauren loses her memories from the last several months in an accident. She has no idea why Jonah is “suddenly” being nice to her. Johan is devastated that the woman he loves not only doesn’t remember their love but essentially wants nothing to do with him.

I enjoyed this book and was so glad it didn’t go down the love triangle road I thought it was going down. It had me in my feelings but also had some humor. I generally prefer at least a little spice but it wasn’t that noticeable that there wasn’t any.