From USA Today bestselling author Marni Mann comes Before You, a new contemporary romance and a devastating examination of the things we find, the things we make, and the things we lose. It was supposed to be a typical work trip. New York to San Francisco, window seat, exit row. Maybe a mimosa.Then, seat 14B sat down. When our eyes met, the flight became anything but routine.I could pinpoint … became anything but routine.
I could pinpoint the moments in my life where everything changed forever.
Meeting Jared on that flight was first.
Falling in love with him was second.
Discovering the secrets he kept was third.
Putting my broken self back together and forgetting what I learned would be difficult. Forgiving Jared would be impossible.
He said, before me, nothing mattered. But after him, nothing would ever be the same.
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Mind. Blown! One of the most unique and cleverly written stories I have read in a LONG time!
Before You by Marni Mann. I am always surprised as to which kind of story Marni will write. It really doesn’t matter because I know I will enjoy the story and she did not disappoint. Once I started this book I knew which type of story she was writing so I knew I was going to have my mind blown. As we go on the journey of Jared and Billie we also get a glimpse into the life of Andrew and Honey. Billie and Jared met on a plane to San Francisco from New York. They strike up a conversation that suddenly turns into terror. The accident changes Billie and Jared feels compelled to help her deal. Sit back, keep your eyes peeled and enjoy the ride. If you know anything about Marni you know what. If you haven’t read her books before, start. She tells a story like no other. By the end my mind was blown. I was totally satisfied and ended with a smile on my face. 5 stars for me.
WOW!! If ever there was a book you just need to pick up and dive into, this is it!!!
Marni Mann lures us into a Unique, Fresh story that will leave you in a tailspin of emotions and an overloaded Heart filled with emotion and Love!!
Right from the beginning your mind and heart is looking for answers, which we get while being trapped by the unfolding magic within the pages of utterly beautiful brilliant writing.
This book is told in dual pov’s and i had no difficulty falling in love with each and every character.
Without giving anything away, we get mystery, emotional turmoil, soul deep love, heartache, passion, and free flowing tears with each step of the puzzle. I can say that everything i thought was right, came to be, yet i was also so so wrong, and i was totally floored and left in complete awe!!
oh yeah and did i mention I FREAKING LOVED IT???
This is definitely MUST MUST!!! READ!!
I just finished reading Before You by Marni Mann and I’m blown away!
What an AMAZING read that will keep you turning those pages well into the night..be prepared to lose sleep over this one ladies..
It’s soooo freaking good!! Eeep..I can’t wait to hear what you think!!
Truthfully I would go in blind..cuz you know that’s my favorite way to go. Don’t read anything because it’s going to make your experience to fall madly in love with this book much more and you will definitely fall MORE in LOVE with Marni’ s words!! Holy heck this woman can write..she leaves me speechless when I’m done…EVERY.TIME!
5 “Mann blew me away again” Stars!
Thank you for writing Marni Mann…I’m such a fan!!
I can’t figure out if it’s a personal mission or her innate abilities but Marni Mann is definitely in the business of hurting my heart, breaking my spirit, and then loving it back even better than before…
“… before you.”
I can’t even select the correct words from the log jam of thoughts in my mind to tell you how monumental this quote is. How life shattering, mind blowing, and utterly devastating while also heartwarming in the worst possible moment.
Marni Mann has worked her magic again. She used her intoxicating words to lull us into these lives. She gave us love abounding. She gave us intriguing details and left us to stew in our own chaotic brain’s paranoid ramblings. She gave me a mystery and dared me to put the clues together. I can’t tell you how wrong and right I was. I can tell you some of my craziest were my most right while others were straight wrong! I think she gets a kick out of the twisted way she manipulates our thinking because I have a feeling no one and I mean NO ONE saw all that coming. (Deep breaths, in and out)
I freely admit that I embraced my tears, shouted at Marni (in my head and possibly through messaging), and just dissolved into a mess. I do not hold Marni Mann at fault for my break down (I was told by legal to say that. [I lied. She wrecked me!])
Lol. My lunacy aside, Before You is a love story that will change you. The deep story with a heartbreaking situation. A look on life that most don’t encounter…
I wrote before Before You that I was afraid. I had every right to be. Before You challenges the reader. It forces you to make a decision. As you pull on the threads of this woven tale, don’t blink because you will be done and sitting with your mouth open- trying to breathe through the tears. Happy ones at that!
Oh and did I mention….I freaking loved it!
A Weariful Read
It Seems Author Marni Mann has set out to bring these Romances with intertwined destines, I first began this story knowing she would leave me drained from this journey however this became more as we where gifted 2 love stories.
While in context both hold a Happy Ending it didn’t stop there, after one raw experience and a survival in the other, both meet showing that destiny can’t be avoided once it has decided it’s time for soul mates to find one another.
5/5 Stars
I love this author’s original writing style as you never really know where the story will lead you. This one of those books that you will continue to replay in our head as the feelings describe on the pages are so raw and at times relatable.
The storyline is unique and captivating. The twists are brilliant and unpredictable. The book is divided into two stories that move in parallel. One of them in the 1980s. The plot alternates quickly between the two stories as you constantly try to guess what the connection between the two stories is. We meet Honey and Andrew. Then we are introduced to Billie and Jared.
Jared is a 47-year-old security specialist with a very successful business. Billie, 30, is a food reviewer and has a very popular YouTube channel. In horrible circumstances Jared and Billie cross path. He saved her life. One thing leads to another and they fall in love. The attraction is immediate. Jared and Billie are great characters who have an instant chemistry between them. A chemistry that Jared tries to fight. I don’t want to write too much in the fear of spoiling the plot. Essentially, it’s about forgiveness which just seems impossible after learning what’s happened but this story proves you can’t help who you fall in love with. A spell-binding, gut-wrenching tale of love, secrets and redemption.
This book absolutely blew my mind – a perfectly twisted tale of love and loss. If you need to shed some tears, break your heart and piece it back together again, this is the book for you.
I’d give this one more than 5 stars for sure! Loved every page of it!
Where do I start!?! Like all Marni Mann books, this one had me guessing until the very end! I love the depth of her story webs and how you’re only given little nuggets of information to leave you guessing and suspecting. I literally had to write down my theories as I listened to this story because I wanted to figure it all out so badly.
Before You put me through the emotional ringer. Between Honey and Andrew’s love story with major struggles and Jared and Billie’s flight, I was drained!
The plot twist got me. Didn’t see it coming and certainly had no idea how the author was going to pull a miracle out at the end of the book. I honestly didn’t know if I wanted the hero and heroine together by the end. I was so confused as to how much could be forgiven and what was considered too little too late. I was so pleased with the epilogue and how the author chose to resolve the story. It was just enough for me.
The audiobook version of this story was incredible! The narrators portrayed the characters perfectly. I thought Jacob Morgan really brought out the maturity and gruff nature of Jared’s character. Ava Erickson and Virginia Rose were exceptional in their narration of Honey and Billie.
I was provided with an audiobook of Before You by Valentine PR for review.
This book does contain some heavy content and may be considered triggering for some readers. Keep scrolling for potential trigger topics.
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Infertility / pregnancy loss, death of a loved one, PTSD
Brilliant story, it hooked me up from the start, the story is told in dual pov and you fall in love with it all, it was refreshing and the characters are perfect. I am not going to lie it’s very emotional and you will be dragged into a turmoil of emotions, but definitely is a story that will be with you forever. The audiobook was narrated by Ava Erickson, Jason Clarke, and Virginia Rose and they all did a fantastic job portraying their characters and each emotion was felt throughout it all, I will recommend getting the audiobook version instead because it was very well done, the editing and sound was well balanced and you will enjoy their voices.
This book from the very beginning had me asking so many questions. What happened to Casey? Why was Honeys point of view so important? Why doesn’t Jared just sleep with Billie? What secret is Jared hiding and whatever it is can Billie handle it? This book wasn’t dark or twisted. It was heart breaking, heart string puller, the romance that makes you realize everything was done to protect Billie. Absolutely loved the romance between Billie and Jared it made the sex scenes feel so real and raw. Worth the read! I wanted more and really wished this book was longer.
Before You by Marni Mann is a contemporary romance standalone.
This is my first read by this author and while I loved the story-line…. I just needed more. The story was well written, the story-line flowed ok, the characters were likable and there were some really hot sex scenes.
After Billie Paige (a food vlogger) and Jared Morgan (owner of Morgan Security Industry) meet on a flight to San Fran, their lives will never be the same again. Throughout their story I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop…and it finally dropped at like 89% into the story.
I went with four stars because, for me, I would have loved to have less of the Honey/Andrew story and more of the Billie/Jared story. The ending was so rushed that the huge elephant that followed them throughout the story was simply brushed aside. Their story needs to be finished.
This is my third Marni Mann book and I am hooked.
Billie and Jared meet on a plane and their lives changed forever. There are 2 stories being told, Billies and Jared and Honey and Andrew’s. Now Honey and Andrew’s story is one that’s intriguing and you just need to go in blindly and listen and be open to their story too. I felt myself trying to figure out where they fit into the story and then BAM…Marni Mann hits me it the gut! That is one thing I can say about her books, they are all thought provoking and emotional. I listened to the audible and maybe in public, at times, not the best idea. The tears leaked out at times and hopefully no one noticed.
As always, Virginia Rose, Ava Erickson, Jason Clarke portrayed these characters flawlessly.
Before You is a unique and unpredictable book with a mystery that kept me guessing up until the end.
Billie and Jared’s relationship is told in alternating first person points of view, and I enjoyed the way their story unfolds. We know fairly early on that Jared is lying to Billie, but I had no idea what secrets he was hiding or if he was even a good guy.
Where the book suffers is in the disjointed integration of an additional storyline. Honey’s story is one long flashback and I had trouble keeping up with the jumping timelines. Unlike the rest of the book, this storyline is told in the third person. I felt unconnected to Honey and Andrew and was always anxious to return to Jared and Billie’s story. The prologue also threw me because while it seems to add to the mystery, it is only thinly connected to the plot and really rather unnecessary.
Two strong main characters, an age gap romance, some action-packed moments, and an intriguing puzzle make up the backbone of the book and are the main source of appeal.
Recommended for fans of:
Age gap romance
Mysteries
Food critics and foodies
This book blew me away. A brilliant, heartwrenching story you need to read right now!
Another great read from Marni Mann. I’m excited to read more of her books.
It’s hard not to compare to “When Ashes Fall” since I loved that book so much. Did “Before you” end up being as good or even better? No, but it was definitely a great read.
There are some really big twists and turns you won’t expect by reading the blurb. One of them happens really early on in the book and it’s definitely a game changer for both main characters.
Their relationship starts off slow, mostly because Jared is holding back. You’ll find the reason why at the conclusion of the book so I can’t give anything away. You just have to slowly figure it out while reading.
Another thing I liked a lot about this book is that you are not reading one, but two love stories. It’s for you to figure out what connects both of them. The secondary story is very dear to me because they are dealing with something I’m going through as well. This is the first time I’ve read about this topic in a book and I think it’s well portrayed.
“Before you” was my first book of Marni Mann this year and damn she was wonderful in this book.
This is why she is one of my favorite authors.
She can capture your heart and soul in everything she writes.
Jared and Billie story was perfect. Since the beginning I fell in love for this two, but Jared was the only one who stole my heart the same way he did with Billie.
I love when a author can create a mysterious man who can capture all my insides (sorry for this comment, but Jared is super hot).
Billie have a survival spirit. Wow I’m a huge fan of survival girls, because they are strong women.
This is book is a well written contemporary romance. You will not be disappointed with this one.
Pick her books readers.
This is a Marni Mann book so you know you are going to get something amazing! Marni has never let me down and Before You is another example of how she will take you, twist you up, keep you up all night long, and then oh so slowly let you return to your real life.
You will get so engrossed in the world that Marni builds. From chapter one, I just had to know what is going to happen, where is Marni going to break my heart, and break your heart she will (I sound like Yoda, lol). Never miss a Marni Mann book, but if you are looking for a place to start, Before You is great intro as to how Marni will absolutely change your life!
5 Stars!!
Before You has been one of my most anticipated reads of the year and it did not disappoint! I was glued to my Kindle from the very beginning to the end! I absolutely loved it! Every single word hit me right in the heart and I felt everything under the sun.
These characters and their journey truly consumed my thoughts! I couldn’t sleep until I’d read it all. This is one of those special books that had me hugging my kindle after finishing. I’ll never be able to fully put into words the kind of mark this story and it’s characters left on me.
Ms.Mann has created one of the most realest, unforgettable, and one of a kind books I’ve ever read with Before You! It’s definitely become one of my all time favorites!
*I volunteered to read and review a Copy of this book from Social Butterfly PR /the author*
Before You by Marni Mann is a story that shows us that we make our own fate. One night changes everything and nothing will even begin to look the same again. Ugh this book…this is author has been known to tear me up bit by bit and this book is no exception.
I was really struggling to under the dual couples and dual timelines but omg what a fantastic twist. I didn’t see that coming at all. Then there are these characters and oh man, did my heart hurt for them, even when I didn’t grasp everything that was happening.
I highly recommended this book and I think you should pick it up right away! You will not be disappointed!!
“I came to tell this one how much I still love her.”
If I could give this book a thousand stars I would. Gripping, captivating, beautifully written and very emotional story. Before You stole my heart, broke it into many tiny pieces and put back together.
There are books you read then put on your shelve and go on with your life. And there are books which grab your attention, change your perspective and make you think. Books you will never forget.
Before You is a story told from different points of view. A story about unconditional love, heartbreak, hope, finding closure and forgiveness. Billie has never thought than getting on a plane and sitting next to a very handsome stranger will change her life, forever.
Marni Mann is a new author to me. At first, honestly, I had a hard time to get into Before Me, but with every chapter, I got invested in this book. I started breathing it, experiencing every encounter between heroes, every laugh, intimate moments and tears. I wasn’t prepared for this story and what at first I did not understand at the end made a perfect sense for me.
Before You in a unique and unexpected story. You won’t regret reading it!