A SWEET & SEXY STANDALONE CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE that will make you believe in love again, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Pact.I first met William McAlister when I was just a teenager.He was handsome, had a beautiful wife and was on the verge of success, having just joined my father as his business partner. Mr. McAlister was full of smooth charm, but back then he was barely a … back then he was barely a blip on my radar. Just a family friend.
Fast forward ten years: I’m 25 years old and a single mom trying to make things right for her seven-year old son. I’ve made some mistakes, grappled with my demons and now I’m back in the city of Vancouver, getting a second chance at a better life.
I’ve started by working for my father’s production company as an executive assistant. My first day on the job and I already know I could have a promising career there.
That is until I see Will McAlister for the first time in a decade.
Now recently divorced and as sophisticated as always, Will has gone from being my father’s friend and business partner to something so much more.
We’re both older, for one thing, and he just oozes this worldly confidence and stark sexuality. Combined with his tall, muscular build and sharp suits, strong jaw and bedroom eyes, Will has turned into one hell of a distraction.
A distraction I’m having a hard time staying away from, considering his office is right across from my desk and I work with him in such close proximity.
But it’s just a harmless crush, right?
It’s just an innocent fantasy of screwing him on his desk, right?
It can’t ever be more because he’s my father’s best friend, business partner, and my boss.
Right?
Wrong.
NOTE: This novel is a light-hearted, swoony read. It doesn’t contain any cheating but it does have ample amounts of sex and swearing.
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Will McAlister made me drool.
A romantic tale of second chances and forbidden love, Before I Ever Met You will make you swoon and sigh. I will read anything Karina Halle writes; she’s just that good!
I was recommended this book by BB, thank you so much because I enjoyed it a lot.
“How old are you?”
“How old are you?” I fire back. Can’t help myself.
“I’m twenty-five.”
“I am not twenty-five.”
She stares at me expectantly.
“Forty-one,”
Jackie Phillips (25), is a single mum who went through an abusive relationship. Now coming back home with her seven-year-old son Ty, Jackie moves in with her parents needing their support until she can move out.
William McAlister (41), recently divorced can’t wait to move on. He returns to his hometown Vancouver and joins work with his best friend Jackie’s father. Their back and forth banter was entertaining.
‘I’m drunk and I’m horny and I think I’m falling for my boss.’
Jackie takes on a position as Will’s secretary at her father’s office. Will has been in her family since forever. She had crush on him when she was a teenager, now grown up she sees age made him a sexy beast. She can’t resist the temptation of imagining him where she is yearning and squirming for him.
“Okay,” I tell her. “We don’t even have to have sex. We can walk the dogs. Watch a movie. Hang out. I’m one hundred percent okay with that.”
“Really?”
“Ninety-seven percent okay with that. And I can jerk off that three percent later.”
“I never knew percentages could be so sexy.”
Will is a funny, sweet, kind, generous man and he is hung as a horse (you know what I mean). Now sleeping with his best friends daughter is not okay but it doesn’t stop him from beginning a relationship with Jackie. Which was a platonic relationship turned into more. Both Will and Jackie had and abusive past from which one turned out to be a wonderful man and the other a strong spirited woman.
This is a forbidden romance with a lighter side of story and lovely liaison exotism. I highly recommend this.
WOW. This was so good.
From the prologue itself I wanted to read more and needless to say it was amazing. Will and Jackie have both been through quite the ordeal in their previous relationship and my heart goes out to both out them. When they meet again years later, they’ve (obviously) grown up and the attraction was undeniable.
Gosh, Will was just a sweetheart. I loved him from the start and despite the age difference Will and Jackie have quite the chemistry. It was hot, sexy and intense. I loved their relationship and how assertive Will was. I mean what’s not to love about a man who goes after what he wants in an earnest manner!!!
Talk about forbidden fruit. She’s my assistant. She’s my partner’s and best friend’s daughter. She’s 16 years younger than me. Yes, I want her! The same goes for her. He’s my boss. He’s my dad’s best friend and partner. He’s 16 years older than me. I want him!
Will and Jackie have all the reasons in the world to never happen but that does not stop them from longing, from lusting, from loving. It’s not easy and the fear of being found out is crushing. Jackie’s past is not a pretty one and her choices have been abysmal. She did one thing right though, her seven year old son Tyson. Will too has his regrets but having Jackie in his life has given him a new lease, hope and happiness. Keeping it real takes work but it’s worth it.
***4 ‘All In’ Stars***
I don’t know how Ms. Halle can give us a book (or duet in this case) that falls dark, gritty and smexy spectrum and then totally switch gears and give us a book that falls on the sweet and swoony spectrum, though still just as smexy (dear LORD is it smexy) but she does and does it well. This book is all kinds of sweet and swoon worthy with a good dose of drama/angst to keep things interesting and characters that you’ll fall in love with while praying that they get their sh&t together and see what’s right in front of their noses.
I really liked Jackie even though she drove me a little batsh$t crazy. She’s an amazing mother and I loved how she wanted to show everyone that she had learned from the missteps of her past and is most definitely not the same person, and she accomplished that and more in my eyes and on top of that she is an amazing mother. But that same desire had her making choices out of fear that had me wanting to have a ‘come to Jesus’ style conversation with her.
Will was simply all kinds of nummy deliciousness. He exuded an almost old world charm that had you wondering just what truly lay beneath the surface, because you know that there is so much more to the man than he was showing. And what was underneath it all was all kinds of smexy alpha male goodness with a heart of gold.
Their road to their HEA had so many bumps in the road: The whole boss/employee thing. Parents friend thing. The age thing. And then you just add in their own issues into the mix and it would seem like they’d never get out of park to get things going. But despite all of that, Will and Jackie do find their way and it totally worked for me because they simply worked. It was easy to forget the age thing with the way they interacted with one another. There was a ease to it that allowed them to show each other who they really were and become more and the sexual chemistry between them was explosive. Then adding Tyson into the mix simply solidified what their future could be if they took the chance.
This was a fun read filled with sweet and smexy moments. While there is some drama that goes on between Will and Jackie it doesn’t get too angsty. The supporting cast of characters were all well written, a couple I wanted to gut with a spoon, but I really liked how they all helped to make Will and Jackie more three dimensional. Tyson was simply adorable and I loved Alyssa and though this is a standalone, I’d love to see her get her own book one day down the road.
~ Copy provided by the author & voluntarily reviewed ~
I really liked this. It was pretty straight forward with some humor and lots of steam. It was a slow burn to start but I think that really add to the essence of the characters relationship. There wasn’t a lot of drama which worked perfect and I really loved the single mom dynamic that went on. Ty was a great addition to the story. I would have loved to have seen Him and Will interact more then the few times they did. Overall it was a cute read. 4 stars #2OCCjD
Before I Ever Met You was my first Karina Halle novel and it was absolutely amazing! Will and Jackie’s story was phenomenal and I loved reading every single page of it. I really enjoyed Karina’s writing style and I thought she did an excellent job with this book. I haven’t read many office romance novels before, but I do love the trope, and this one was certainly unique and highly entertaining.
Will and Jackie were wonderful and very likable main characters, and I loved reading the story from both of their perspectives. I really enjoyed their personalities and the chemistry between them was sizzling hot. Will was sixteen years older than Jackie, but they were both very mature and I never thought their relationship felt awkward or weird. I loved the deep connection they had together and was very pleased how their relationship progressed from friends/co-workers to something more intense and romantic. I loved the banter between Will and Jackie, and many of the things he said/did were extremely swoon-worthy. It definitely made me jealous of her on more than one occasion! Many of the secondary characters were wonderful as well, especially Jackie’s son Tyson and her mother. I did not like Jackie’s father very much, but he wasn’t so bad towards the end. There were parts of the book that felt a little slow and were slightly annoying, but otherwise I was highly entertained throughout. I really loved the concept of the story and I liked that it was set in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. I haven’t read many books that were set outside of the United States, and even though I wasn’t familiar with the area, it was a nice change of scenery.
Will and Jackie had both dealt with difficult and heartbreaking situations in their pasts, but I loved that they found each other and were able to start fresh. They both had plenty of up and down moments throughout, but all of it was worth it in the end, and I was very happy to have gone on this journey with them. The ending was absolutely perfect and even better than I expected it to be. I truly couldn’t have been happier with the conclusion to Will and Jackie’s story, and Before I Ever Met You will definitely not be my last Karina Halle book!
“Life is short. And when you find what makes your heart beat, your soul sing, then you have to hang on to it.”
I tend to avoid reading office romances, and if I do give them a chance I either love or hate them. I was really excited about Before I ever Met you because one it is written by Karina Halle, two it is a single parent romance, and three there is a 16 year age difference between the main characters: Jackie is 25 and Will is 41. As mentioned in the blurb this is a “light-hearted swoony read” so don’t expect angst. I had faith in Karina to come up with a different office romance, something that hadn’t been done a million times already. I was glad to see she didn’t turn to cliches (which I can’t stand).
“How is it that life can be so crazy, so chaotic, so scary, and yet one kiss from you and all of that goes away.”
She did an amazing job with Will, he wasn’t your typical workaholic cocky boss. He was very professional, charming, generous, kind and easy to talk to. Even though Jackie was 16 years younger than Will, she acted very mature. Never did I get the impression that these two weren’t on the same wavelength. The development of their relationship was very organic, and it had a great flow. They were attracted to each other but never crossed any lines. Also I enjoyed reading how Will interacted with Tyson, Jackie’s seven-year-old son. Before I Ever Met You is a great contemporary romance with amazing characters. Expect some very steamy and dirty sex scenes, I just couldn’t get enough. I highly recommend this book if you are in the mood for some light and sweet romance.
Feel good, heartwarming, slightly forbidden romance that made me smile!!
~~~Erika, Book Haven Book Blog
“When you find what makes your heart beat, your should sing, then you have to hang on to it.”
It’s no secret that I’m a Karina Halle fan and I’ve also made it very clear that I’m a sucker for her darker romances. I’ve enjoyed EVERYTHING she has written but her dark books call to me. So while I was super excited to read Before I Even Met You and I knew I was going to like it, I didn’t know I was going to love it as much as I did. Yet again, Halle delivers us a heartwarming and all consuming story that grips you from the start.
Jackie made some poor choices when she was younger but the best thing she ever got out of that was her son. She’s recently moved back home to Vancouver and working for her father’s company and just so happens to be his partner’s new assistant. Her father’s very handsome and alluring partner who is sixteen years her senior. From the moment she laid eyes on him on her first day, the attraction was strong.
Will is fresh off a divorce and back in Vancouver starting his life over. He’s starting to settle back in but he lays his eyes on the now adult Jackie and he’s a goner. He knows that they shouldn’t be together but he knows what he wants and he goes for it.
I liked Jackie. There were times that I wanted to strangle her and force her to accept what is in front of her but her past makes it clear why she does the things she does. While it’s frustrating at times, it makes sense. She’s super strong. Stronger than she even knows and Will is the perfect person to help her see that.
And then there’s Will. Sigh. Dreamy Will. Jackie may be his dream girl but Will is my dream guy. EVERYONE NEEDS A WILL IN THEIR LIFE! God, I couldn’t get enough of him. He knew what he wanted and he didn’t hold back. He communicated his feelings and made sure that Jackie knew where he stood and how he was feeling. He fought and will always fight for his true love. Plus, he gets bossy at just the right time! 😉
The last 10% of this book had my stomach and heart in knots. I was so emotionally involved. And for me, that is a huge testament to Halle. I don’t normally get that emotionally involved unless the book is full of angst. While there is a little bit here, it isn’t anything close to what normally makes me fully connected that emotionally. Yet, it happened here. Will and Jackie just crept into my heart and held on tightly, never letting go.
Overall, I really loved this book. The writing is effortless with just the right amount of description that keeps the flow smooth and welcoming. If you are looking for a taboo(ish) love story that will grip you from the start and warm your heart, then this is the book for you. You can’t go wrong with Halle.