the time line, while weaving through Minnie’s current life, we hear about New Years of the past since her birth and although this doesn’t always work for me.. it 100% did here! Parts of this story are a lot of fun! I really liked Miranda and would totally be her friend in real life!

The characters are layered. Sometimes there are moments of love and other times anger for their choices. The arcs, well drawn. The pace actually works for this. Cousens does a good job of setting up points in time by saying X hours, days, months, years before Audrey is supposed to say I do. Utterly charming, clever, and truthfully romantic, Before I Do is a breath of fresh air. Sophie Cousens’ books always surprise and delight.” —Lauren Ho, author of Lucie Yi Is Not a Romantic and Last Tang Standing

A book begging to be read on the beach, with the sun warming the sand and salt in the air: pure escapism. So, when Josh's sister shows up to the rehearsal dinner with Fred, Audrey's What If? guy--the man she met six years ago and had one amazing day with--Audrey finds herself torn. Surely Fred's appearance the night before she is due to get married can't be a coincidence. And when everything that could go wrong with the wedding starts to go wrong, Audrey has to ask herself: Is fate trying to stop her from making a huge mistake? Or does destiny just have a really twisty sense of humor?

With Minnie Cooper who is the lively star of this book This Time Next Year, I can’t quite believe that this is Sophie Cousens first novel, I’m now ready and waiting for book 2.

Before I Do

The narrator is Audrey (3rd person POV). She is on the verge of marrying Josh. When the guy she always thought about (Fred) shows up at the rehearsal dinner.

Overall: absolutely must read, honestly, smartly, beautifully written novel that I absolutely recommend! So funny enough I could have used this for a Cannonball 14 bingo because of the constant discussion of stars, who knew. But seriously though. This is the third book by Cousens I have read and they just keep getting better. Potential romance readers may be worried about the plot of this one and if this will work for them, but I promise you it will. It was lovely the whole way through. I called it a chaotic romance and it really is. And you are going to not like parts of Audrey sometimes, but you are going to be rooting for her while you read. I thought several times while reading this book that some characters were saying a lot of things I wish I had heard/known when I was younger. As Audrey is about to marry Josh, she starts having doubts. Is it Fred or Josh she wants to be with? Cue the drama!What would you do if, at your engagement party, your fiance’s sister brings your first love (and the one that got away) as her date?