Before We Were Us

by Denise Hunter

From the moment Lauren Wentworth arrived at Pinehaven Resort and met Jonah Landry, they were at odds with each other. Lauren was hired to temporarily manage the small resort of eight cabins to help out the owners for 9 months as they transition into retirement. It is an opportunity to prove her worth to Olivia, the owner of Glitter, a top of the line corporate event planning organization in Boston.

Lauren, a product of the social services foster system, had a hard life growing up and feels she has a lot to prove. She is creative, a hard worker, and talented. Jonah is the son of the resort owner and is finishing a college degree in business with an eye to take over the resort when his parents retire. He has personal baggage also as his former girlfriend broke his heart to move to New York City. He sees Lauren as another “princess,” but is surprised to find her quite capable and unafraid to get her hands dirty.

An accident waylays their growing romance as Lauren loses her memory of four months of her life and their relationship. Jonah has to begin wooing her again.

A strong character-driven romance, Before We Were Us, moves back and forth between current events and what happened in the relationship before the accident. The reader is invited along as Lauren and Jonah struggle to find the compromise that will lead them both to a happy future. Will it be together or will Lauren pursue her dream job in Boston while Jonah manages Pinehaven Resort in New Hampshire preserving his family’s heritage? Does either one of them have sacrificial love for the other? 

A nice touch and integral to the story is the renovation of an old barn on the property that Lauren wants to turn into an event center for weddings and other events. Imagine a rustic barn with fresh paint, fairy lights, and tulle. The barn project is just one of many successful ideas Lauren has to bring more money into the resort. Another fun part of the book is Lauren’s adopting of a stray dog, part Jack Russell. She names him Graham (Cracker) and he adores her.

I enjoyed this book and wanted the best for Lauren and Jonah. At times Lauren and Jonah seem “hard” and unfeeling, but there are reasons for their distancing themselves. There are certain plot lines that I would have enjoyed the author exploring more—Lauren’s mother; Carson, an intern at the hospital; and the community opening of the barn event center on New Year’s Eve.

Also, both characters have friends who support them, and it would be interesting to learn more about them.

Jonah proves himself to be a great listener and uses that skill in choosing gifts for Lauren. Have as much patience as Jonah and in the epilogue you will discover the sensitive meaning behind the book’s title.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Rating: 4/5

Category: Fiction, Romance, Women’s Fiction

Notes: standalone; clean

Publication: September 10, 2024—Thomas Nelson

Memorable Lines:

What if she was no good at this job? At life? What if she wasn’t meant for anything more than the trailer park from which she’d come? What if all the people who’d told her she wouldn’t amount to anything had actually been right?

“Sweetheart…we need to talk.” A weight dropped like a cement block in her stomach. Nothing good ever began with those words. She should’ve known better. This thing between them was too good to be true.

The feelings roiling through her were as powerful as a riptide. But undertows were dangerous and so was love. It was seductive and spellbinding. It held the power to drag you away from what mattered most.