Had I continued till I finished it, I would not know how to give her my feedback without being dishonest or worse, hurting her feelings. For the first 2 days, I read the first 50 pages and I stopped. Today is exactly one month after I bought and started reading Samantha Sotto’s first novel, Before Ever After. As she relives Max's stories of bloody Parisian barricades, medieval Austrian kitchens, and buried Roman boathouses, Shelley begins to piece together the story of who her husband was and what these new revelations mean for her 'happily ever after.' And as she and Paolo get closer to the truth, Shelley discovers that not all stories end where they are supposed to. She and Paolo jet across the globe to track Max down if it is really Max and along the way, Shelley recounts the European package tour where they had met. And he is alive and well.Īs outrageous as Paolo's claims seem how could her husband be alive? And if he is, why hasn't he looked her up? Shelley desperately wants to know the truth.

Paolo tells her that the man in the photos, the bearded man who Paolo says is his grandfather though he never seems to age, is Max. He introduces himself as Paolo, an Italian editor of American coffee table books, and shows Shelley some childhood photos.

Standing on her front step is a young man who looks so much like Max same smile, same eyes, same age, same adorable bump in his nose he could be Max's long-lost relation. Three years after her husband Max's death, Shelley feels no more adjusted to being a widow than she did that first terrible day.

Before the ever after book