Before and Ever Since by Sharla Lovelace
Berkley
Contemporary
ISBN: 978-0-425-25305-2
Reviewed by Vanessa




Do you ever wonder if the walls could talk, what they would say?  Emily Lockwood gets a chance to see her past from a new perspective, and to see how things played out and the humanness of people involved in her life.  However, she also gets to see where things went wrong, and realizes just what it could cost her to put it all right.  Will she take the chance to correct the wrongs from her past, or will she continue with the status quo?

Ben Landry was Emily’s one true love, but he walked away from her with no explanation years ago.  Now he is back in town and helping her mother to move on with her life.  Emily never counted on having to face the consequences of decisions she made when she was too young and scared, but now she realizes just what the repercussions for her choices may cost her, and she’s not too sure she wants to pay that price.

Before and Ever Since is a beautifully crafted, thought provoking story that engaged me from the first few words.  Emily’s life was slowly revealed, and I wanted to know what her story would be from the beginning when her ex-husband, who had hurt her so much, shows ups to the hot handy man that she sees later! The prose and the point of view that Before and Ever Since is told from has the reader experiencing Emily’s life as she experienced the revelations that are given to her.

Before and Ever Since showed that Emily’s choices were made from the perspective of the young who is lost, heartbroken, and scared at the time that she needed so much more than she was given.  Her story delves into her feelings and emotions about the choices and what she now must deal with in Before and Ever Since.  It fully showed that because of these choices that she made, many other lives are affected and possibly shattered.

Before and Ever Since is a story about the humanness of people, the fallibility that we all have, and the ability that we are gifted with to overcome some major obstacles in order to achieve the HEA that is very richly deserved.  I thoroughly enjoyed that Emily attempted to make the best of a situation and still persevered in trying to save the hearts of some that so didn’t deserve it.  The chemistry between Emily and Ben was sizzling hot, and I was quite enamored of these two attempting to work things out in Before and Ever Since that I could NOT put this story down until I finished it.  Therefore, I Joyfully Recommend Before and Ever Since!