I loved this book. It was a little hard to get into, but once I started I couldn’t put it down. A true love three sided love story without being sloppy. Perfect reading

I really enjoyed this book! It was a mystery and I liked how fast paced it was. I felt for the main character, Liv, ss she is trying to find out what happened to her bf, Kit and also comes to terms with how she is going to get married again. It was an interesting plot and I liked how it ended!

what a beautifully written book. i loved the writing because i couldn't put it down. the plot is one that i haven't read a lot yet which was refreshing. you should read this if you want a beautiful but heartbreaking love story.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.
I loved this book - once I started it was hard to put it down.
This book is about what happens when you find the one before the one.
Liv is given the chance to relive a week again in her life and change things, but in doing this it can alter her future.
When I read the premise of the book I was a bit sceptical- sometimes these books are more fluffy and romantically driven. However this book delivered on not much fluff - some would say just the right amount.
The only criticism is that I feel I wanted more about James in the now. He didn't get much attention in present day with Liv.

Premise: Liv's boyfriend never returned from a hike seven years ago, so she moved on (with his brother), and on the morning of her wedding, she time traveled back to one week before his disappearance.

The One Before The One is like if P.S. I Love You and One True Loves had a baby! It's reflective, it's hopeful, it's emotional, it's romantic, and it's mysterious, with a touch of magical realism. It'll keep you on your toes as you switch between alternate timelines and multiple POVs. You'll feel as conflicted as Liv as she decides who she'd choose to spend her life with. The end result is perfect!

What a great story! I enjoyed the magical realism and the thoughtful characters. Liv and James made such a great couple. I never got Kit. He came across as smug. I found the plot unique and man oh man did it pull me in during the middle section. I found it very hard to put down. I found the ending satisfying it pretty much tied everything up and gave us a look at the future. Fantastic story. I look forward to reading more by this author.

Wow. I think this is one of the best books I've ever read. I absolutely loved it, the twists to it, I had to go back and re-read as I was not expecting that! Really threw me, but in a good way! The characters were so lovable, and the plot line really resonated with me on the addiction side and seeing someone you love destroying their life, and the ones who love them.
Absolutely fantastic writing.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to the author, publisher and netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Magical realism is my favorite genre, but it's hard to get it just right. The One Before the One did some things really well and missed the mark in other areas. I'll break down my thoughts below.

The concept was fantastic. Just prior to getting married, Liv is transported back in time to the week her first love goes missing. She tries to stop him from going hiking that day, but every time she wakes up - nothing has changed in how the past unfolded. She realizes she cannot affect any change, so her mission becomes to find out what happened.

The story was good, but I didn't love the characters. They all fell a bit flat. James' mom's issues with him felt baseless. I couldn't imagine treating two sons so vastly different.

I felt like Kit's reason for going missing would have come up in a police investigation. The necklace with the engraving & note was convoluted. Overall this was just an okay read.

Thank you to Emma Cooper & NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Is it too early to announce I've found a favorite of the year? Because I've found a favorite of the year.

What's inside:

✳️time travel
✳️multiple POVs
✳️mystery plot
✳️wholesome romance

I'll be honest, I went into this blind, except shortly glancing at the summary and seeing words 'time travel' and 'romance' together, because that's enough to have me intrigued.

The One Before The One is a story
about Liv, whose boyfriend Kit goes hiking one day and never returns. Seven years later she is about to marry his brother, James, while Kit's shadow still looms over their relationship what with James and Kit's mother cutting off communication with them, and their friends and relatives secretly wondering if one or both of them settled.

With this premise, I expected her journey back in time to be that of self-discovery, a better understanding of her relationships with to two loves of her life. And it is that at it its core, but it's also so much more!

I was pleasantly surprised by the twists and turns of this journey and the mystery that unfolds 7 years in the past. It is a solid plot that made me forego sleep and keep turning the pages. Add to it a plot twist that I didn't see coming at all, and I was looking up Emma Cooper, wondering why I've never read this author before.

The romance plot was rather refreshing as well, in that it combines two tropes—love at first sight and enemies to lovers—with a resolution that is satisfying and wholesome.

I recommend it to everyone who is looking for a well-written novel that has heartfelt romance, elements of family drama, time travel, and all of it tied up with a very intriguing mystery plot. I'll be thinking about this one for a while.

Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I thought The One Before The One was incredible, it was simply, but beautifully written with twists and turns that I did not see coming, and had a light touch that prevented it from being melodramatic. It felt like an engrossing mystery novel with an interesting and important romantic element, rather than (what it was billed as) a romance novel with a mystery to be solved. I felt it was all the better for this. Despite being a romance fan, I was completely swept away by the mystery story and magical realism, and desperate to know what happened.

Liv’s relationship is quite different with each brother so the idea that she might have to choose between one of them seemed impossible to me. With Kit, it’s very free and fun and they spend a lot of time outdoors, whereas with James it’s more home-based with him cooking and tied to his boxing business. In the end, I was very happy with which brother she ended up with but both Liv and the reader are certainly put through the wringer first.

This was my first novel by Emma Cooper and I really enjoyed it so I’m looking forward to reading more, especially having discovered that she is a tutor for the excellent Jericho Writers of which I’m a member.

Thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the ARC, this is my honest opinion.

I was fortunate to receive a copy of this ARC from Rachel's Random Resources.

I was very excited for this one as I love Emma's books!

This is such a cleverly plotted and written book. Time travel, but with ease. Liv is set to marry James, but what about Kit? My jaw dropped in the first chapter which was a good start, and then there were some other twists which I thought were excellently done. I was torn between who I wanted Liv to be with. Can you be sure The One is definitely The One, and what do you do if they're not?

A very thought provoking read ahead of Valentine's Day ❤️

My favourite quote:

"It was the first time I hadn't woken feeling like my skin was covered with the mosquito bites of Kit's loss."

This book turned out to be so much more than I expected it to be! I actually loved most of the characters and thought there was a little twist that had me flipping back chapters at one point. My first by this author but hopefully not the last!

Wow! What a read! Originally when I saw the title and cover of the book, I was right away drawn to it, but thought it would be a light, fluffy, heartfelt read. It turned out to be exactly that AND MORE. The book is filled with twists that you never see coming. I could not put this read down!

I absolutely loved it!

Having read The First Time I Saw You, I knew I was going to fall in love with The One Before The One.

Cooper writes wonderful, heartwarming, emotion strewn fiction. Some books really should come with a box of tissues as standard.

I read the book across two sittings, any more would have been disrespectful. It wasn't a book I could leave half read, the story was too good, plus I needed to know the who, wheres and whys, and needed to know them immediately!

Cooper's characters were so easy to become emotionally invested in and I loved the whole time travel thing, suspending disbelief and going with the flow.

A highly enjoyable and engaging read.

🌟🌟🌟🌟✨

Wow. This book was such a surprise in the best way possible! I went in expecting a sweet, nostalgic romance, but what I got was a thrilling blend of mystery, magical realism, and even a touch of sci-fi. And honestly? I loved it.

Seven years ago, Olivia lost Kit - the love of her life - when he went on a hike and never came back. Grief brought her closer to his brother, James, and over the years, they fell in love. Now, on the morning of her wedding to James, Olivia receives a note that suggests Kit might still be alive- and that James may have known all along. Before she can even process it, she’s thrown back in time, a week before Kit’s disappearance, with a second chance to uncover the truth.

Told through multiple POVs, this book keeps you guessing at every turn. The "now vs. before" timeline shift was so well done, making the unraveling mystery even more addictive. And let’s talk about Olivia-- FINALLY, an MC who *asks the right questions* and makes smart choices! No frustratingly dumb decisions here, just a woman determined to get to the truth.

And the ending? Sooooo satisfying. No spoilers, but let’s just say everything wraps up in a way that feels both right and earned- even if I had feelings about where certain characters ended up. But that’s the beauty of this story: it’s about love, loss, and the bittersweet journey of moving forward.

If this isn’t already on your radar, it should be!!!

Big thanks to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for the e-ARC - this one’s going to stay with me for a long time.

#TheOneBeforetheOne #NetGalley

Great story - both heartwarming and heart wrenching at the same time. Unique and surprising, "The One Before the One" captivated me from start to finish.
This was my first book by Emma Cooper, but it certainly won't be the last.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC publication for an honest review.

This was more than I expected! So good...

Liv's boyfriend Kit disappeared 7 years ago, and now she is marrying his brother James. On their wedding day, Liv finds a necklace hinting that Kit is in fact alive and that James knows...and then she is transported to the past, days before he goes on that fateful hike.

Right from the start of the book I was drawn in. You can see how far Liv has gone from a state of grief to fully living again. James and Liv felt authentic in their love story. Ava was a rockstar best friend! You could see the emotional support both James and Ava had given Liv to bring her to this point.

Now Liv is transported to the past and has a chance to figure out what happened to Kit (and perhaps save him.) There is such a tangle of emotions, balancing her past love of Kit and her current love for James. James in the past was not a fan of Liv. What would happen to their relationship in the future if they didn't have the bond of loss in the past?

The unraveling of the backstory, family history, and mystery kept me invested. And the twist!

I have to say, I loathed the way James mother treated him (and Liv). I wish we had more of James on the page but was happy how things turned. out. While this book could be labeled technically as a "love triangle" there really wasn't a true love triangle, Liv made her choice perfectly clear!

4 stars

This book was a pleasant surprise. Fans of Rebecca Searle's book In Five Years will appreciate the similarities between the two stories.

Some aspects of this book were predictable, however the story unfolded in a reasonable way. The premise of this book was incredibly captivating—a complex tale of love, betrayal, forgiveness, and the pursuit of happiness.

Well worth a read.

I really wished to love the book, I came across on netgalley and thought yes a sad but heart warming book. Didn’t know it will have some time travel/time slip vibe and unfortunately it’s not my favourite. Don’t mind too much of back and forth between present and past but that special trope it’s not I prefer because I never read a book where it was well done. And again same thing happens it’s dragging and we missed the connection between the time slip/time travel. And no explanation was given about why she could go back to change the events. And the romance between James and liv felt off maybe because we get a lot of they are in love but no back story for it, the poor James feels more like a second character than the actual MMC

This is a wonderful twisty read. On Olivia’s wedding day, something weird happens and she ends up seven years in the past. Seven years ago her boyfriend disappeared one day while on a hike and was eventually declared dead. Now she gets a chance to see if she can figure out what happened and determine what she wants to happen if she can get back to her wedding day.