The One Before The One by Emma Cooper is an emotional, heartwarming, and beautifully written story about love, fate, and second chances. The characters are so well developed that they feel like real people, and the mix of humor and heartbreak makes for an unforgettable read. Cooper’s writing is captivating, and the story kept me hooked from start to finish. If you love contemporary romance with depth and emotion, (and a little bit of magic) this one is a must-read!

Not sure what u was expecting, the cover had me leaning more towards a standard chic lit type book but this was an unexpected surprise. Won’t give any spoilers away, but overall i really enjoyed it and liked the different elements it had!

This story was absolutely captivating, taking me on an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish. It shattered my heart and then pieced it back together beautifully. I'm eagerly looking forward to diving into more works by Emma Cooper.

I highly recommend it!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

#TheOneBeforetheOne #NetGalley

I really enjoyed this one! It has an interesting premise that I felt was done well.

What I liked about it:
-The premise - like I said, it was interesting and had me hooked from the synopsis! I thought that this was going to be a messier story than it was but it wasn't really. I like the way that the plot unfolded.
-The pacing of this book was easy and Liv's parts flowed together well (more on that below). I felt like I flew through the last half of the book because I just needed to know more.
-The ending was done well. I felt like I really was Liv because I got such a calm sense of closure with all of the choices she made and the events that unfolded.

What I didn't like:
-I think the timeline switching between Liv and James was meant to be mysterious and have the reader guessing what was happening, but it was overall just a bit confusing to me. Eventually I got it, but I felt like James' parts pulled me out of the story that I was so invested in when reading Liv's parts.
-The first little bit was hard because I didn't get the love she had for James and it felt like everything was too much about Kit. However I did get a better feel for their relationship as the story went on.

Overall I really enjoyed this book! It was a lot less 'fluffier' than I anticipated it to be, but that ended up still being really good. It has a magical element of time travel which I always tend to enjoy. This was a great read while I was cooped up inside during a February snow storm!

In a Nutshell: A romantic mystery with timeslip elements. Fabulous potential, but the execution didn’t work well for me. However, to readers who enjoy emotional dramas, this book might work better. Mine is an outlier opinion.

Plot Preview:
Seven years ago, the love of Liv’s life, her boyfriend Kit, disappeared while on a hike. It took her many years to get over her grief. Now thirty-two, Liv has moved on, found love with James, and is ready to take the next step of their relationship. However, on the day of their wedding, when Liv opens the door of her hotel room, she finds herself in the old flat she shared with Kit. Worse, she has somehow travelled back in time, to six days before Kit’s mysterious disappearance. Has Liv been given an opportunity to find out what happened to Kit? Perhaps to save his life? But if she does end up successful, how will it affect her future? Should she go back to the one – James, or the one before the one, Kit?
The story comes to us in a dual first-person perspective.

I am not much into romances these days. However, the time travel element of this book made me curious. Unfortunately, the trope didn’t work well for me. This is a tough book to review without going into spoilers, so I will keep things mostly vague.

Bookish Yays:
😍 Rarely does a book cause me to go “Wait, What?!” with a twist. This book managed it.
😍 The title – quite clever.
😍 The descriptions of the location – beautiful.
😍 Mac. Great character. Would have loved to see more of him.

Bookish Mixed Bags:
😐 James is Kit’s brother. (Not a spoiler as this is revealed in the very first chapter.) I usually avoid such triangles because it can get predictably awkward. The book handles it fairly well at the start, but later reactions seem unrealistic.
😐 Romance fans might be disappointed at how little romance there is in this book. It has much more emotional drama than romance. But I didn’t pick this up for the romance anyway, so not a major problem for me.
😐 Too many secrets and miscommunication. Works in some cases, annoys the rest of the time.

Bookish Nays:
😒 The time travel content: Not Groundhog Day, but Timeslip. Cause: unexplained. Purpose: Unexplained. Impact on the future: None. So I didn’t see the point of this timeslip at all.
😒 Liv’s first-person POV gets very repetitive. Loads of inner rambling on the same topics over and over. I was especially fed up of her repeated comments on her weight and body size. She's also inconsistent as a narrator, constantly contradicting her earlier words and actions. Plus, she breaks the fourth wall in the initial chapters and speaks to the readers directly, which didn’t make sense for the plot at all.
😒 This sentence: "I would drink his blood if I could…" – What the heck!? In what world is it okay to say such a thing to express the extent of your love for someone? (And no, no one was a vampire or a vampire fan in this book.)
😒 The two love interests. While I did like one much better than the other, both took such stupid decisions that it was tough to root for either.
😒 The love triangle. One half of the book is heavily tilted towards one character and then it switches to the other side. The balance is missing.
😒 The remaining secondary characters except for Mac – bare minimum detailing, though a couple of them had great potential.
😒 The use of the past timeline relies a lot on Liv’s crystal-clear memory of every day in that week from seven years ago. Who can have such incredible recollection skills that even include knowledge of what was eaten all those years ago on that specific day?
😒 The reason for Kit’s disappearance. It fell quite flat after all the build-up. Utterly dissatisfying!
😒 Everyone is a bit too forgiving after the above reveal, which is unrealistic. There should have been a lot more anger along with the relief.
😒 Many loopholes in logic, especially connected to Kit’s disappearance. One thing I simply didn’t understand was why Liv didn’t use social media to look for the people who could provide her with some answers. The past was in 2016, not the pre-Internet/SM age! It takes hardly a second to click on “View Profile” from FB Messenger once you see a message.
😒 The ending went the only way it could have, no surprises there. Plus, it had too much of an infodump.
😒 The epilogue was too perfect for such a plot.


All in all, I expected a greater emotional impact from this book, but as I couldn’t connect with any of the characters nor empathise with their quandary, I was disappointed. To me, the blurb is much stronger than the execution.
That said, the other reviews and ratings clearly prove that I am an outlier in my opinion. I’m often a Grinch when it comes to melodramatic plots as well as mysteries, so it would be better if you read other opinions and take a more educated call on this novel.
Recommended to those who enjoy emotional women’s fiction with a strong element of mystery. Not to be picked up if you want a time-travel or groundhog day story that ends with a learning experience for the characters.

2 stars.

My thanks to Boldwood Books for providing the DRC of “The One Before the One” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. Sorry this didn’t work out better.

What a fantastic book! I could not put it down, the storyline was amazing and kept me so engaged throughout. I love how we kept finding out more and more about Kit, James and Liv. I was constantly guessing what happened to Kit but I never guessed right!

I would definitely recommend this book.

I UGLY CRIED AND BAWLED AT THIS BOOK OMG I LOVED IT SO MUCH!!! AND LET ME TELL YOU THE OTHRT PERSONS POV SURPRISED THE F OUTTA ME!!! go in blind- PLS you’ll thank me, the perfect mix of love, angst, second guessing/choices, finding what you want and seeing things for what that are - not through rose colored glasses!!!!

all opinions and reviews are my own - arc provided by netgalley and publisher for my honest opinion.

This book is so beautiful it pulled me in and under and I experienced every emotion that Liv felt. The loss, the confusion, the anger, the heartbreak. The plot twist was totally unexpected! At first I thought the disappearance narrative was Kit's story, meanwhile it was James. Even the birth certificate discovery at first I thought it was Kit, then I realized it was James. Just makes me realize that things unfold as it should, no matter how painful or difficult it is at the time. But I'm so glad that not only Liv but James could have a second chance at love with each other.

This was a beautifully written book! Such a unique concept that makes you wonder… how far would you go to save someone you love?

What a journey with Liv, Kit, & James.

Emma Cooper has written a beautiful, emotional enemies-to-lovers novel that has characters overcoming major obstacles. On the day of her wedding Liv is suddenly taken back 7 years time. Will she be able to change the past? What truths will she uncover? What is Kit hiding?

I loved every second of this book, but especially the journey of Liv & James' relationship. And I can't forget to mention Mac and how he was redeemed. The villain of the story being Kit & James' mother. I do wish there was more there calling her out for the way she treated her son. Why was Kit always hailed the hero?

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 Boldwood Books 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰.

4.5 stars rounded up

This was a quick read that kept me engaged from the first page to the last. I enjoyed the time-travel aspect and loved all the twists and turns the story took. The characters are well-developed, and I loved the way their faults were explored with some very relevant topics being covered.

A great beach read, or a perfect cosy read on a winter's day. I'll definitely be recommending this book to others and look forward to reading more by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley, Boldwood Books, and the author for an ARC for review. All opinions are my own and my review is left voluntarily.

I devoured this one! Loved the semi love triangle, the brothers, the time travel. This one has all the elements of an epic love story and a big ole mystery that needs solving!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC copy of this book in return for an honest review!
This book started off strong for me with so much unknown coming into the book but it gradually felt drawn out with not much to keep the reader engaged and wanting to know what happens. 75% hit and I debated DNF’ing because I lost interest in the book, I found the ending anti climatic. Unfortunately not a book I would recommend.

An early favorite of 2025!

The One Before the One is an enchanting, emotional and heart wrenching romance with a touch of magical realism and mystery.

Seven years ago, Liv thought she had found her forever love. However the life she once thought she would have was destroyed in an instant when her long-time boyfriend, Kit, disappeared without a trace on a hike. Over the past seven years, Liv had to learn to live again and even found love in an unexpected place.

On the morning of her wedding, Liv steps through a doorway and ends up in the old apartment she shared with Kit, six days before he disappeared forever. She now gets the chance to live these six days again and try to determine why Kit left, where he went and how to stop him.

Liv is left to experience the lead up to the most tragic period of her life, constantly pondering what saving him will mean. If she succeeds, how can she possibly choose between her first love and the man she loves now?

The twist and turns of Liv’s story will leave you breathless and wanting more.

Thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for providing me with a digital review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Oh a time slip/magical realism/what If story!!! Yes please.

When Kit disappears on a hike girlfriend Liv and brother James search endlessly, until they find a way to love again – with each other. Then on the morning of their wedding Liv finds herself seven years in the past with a chance to find out what really happened to Kit.

I loved the mystery of this book.

Told in alternating chapters I found myself deeply invested in both sides of the story and unravelling the mystery. When the mystery was revealed I was excited to find it wasn’t what I expected.

Overall the question of can Liv save Kit and ultimately would/should she if she could kept me hooked until the end.

Liv wakes up on the morning of the day she's to marry James, and walks through a door that takes her back 7 years to before her first husband Kit disappeared. Will Liv get a second chance with Kit? Can Liv find out what happened to Kit and change her fate?

I loved the mix of time traveling with very realistic situations in this book. I read the description on this one before diving it, and I was very intrigued. This book lived up to what I was expecting! This book had it all...romance, mystery, emotion, unexpected reveals, and a touch of magic (time traveling). I was pulled in from the first page, and, right up until the reveals towards the end, I was unsure what Liv would decide. The characters were well developed, and I felt as though I knew them all. I was right there with Liv in the pages as she worked to figure out what happened to Kit and put the pieces all together. There was so much mystery in tis story, but the plot developed in a way that allowed me to feel all the emotion without being bogged down by the mystery. Such a well crafted story. This was my first read by this author, but I'm looking forward to reading more.

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

I’m really enjoyed this book. I like the plot and the characters. It was interesting plot and like the way it played out. It what if storyline made it was compelling to read and it was so interesting and entertaining. Definitely would recommend to other to check it out ! Hope you all enjoyed it to !

The One Before the One was good! Liv and Kit's love story kept me reading and wondering what would have happened if he had not disappeared that day. It made me wonder what was going on in their lives that he could just vanish. And though the book did not concentrate on her pain of that loss, you knew he was her first love.

I definitely did not see the twist coming. Was happy for the twist in the timelines and story which bring her to her true love.

It was a good read!

I actually thought this was a rom com not some time traveling lost love sort of deal.
On the day of her wedding liv gets sent back in time to find out what happened to her then boy friend Kit.

I really liked this book. The premise was unique for me, and the author wove the story SO WELL!!!

She wrote it in such a way that you knew exactly what we happening. Imagine my surprise when I didn't really know. That knocked me for a loop, but it was a loop I enjoyed.

I would recommend this book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.