Brighter Than Before

I enjoyed reading Brighter than Before, a low spice contemporary romcom with women’s fiction themes. The story opens with Claire making an impulsive and ridiculous decision that becomes the catalyst for her choosing to take control of her life. She leaves Colorado and rents a cute apartment in the Chicago suburbs.

Claire is on a self discovery journey and she’s seeking genuine friendships with honest people. She spent the previous twelve months in survival mode, struggling to cope with the brutal way her cheating husband of twenty-three years ended their marriage and convinced their friends to abandon her. Their young adult daughter is overseas, studying in the UK.

Miles is a business owner and landscape gardener who lives in Claire’s apartment complex. Their meet cute is hilarious, ridiculous, and embarrassing for Claire. I loved how Miles became Claire’s friend and helped her create a new life in Chicago. Despite their mutual attraction, he friend zones Claire and teams up with Claire’s daughter, using an online dating app, to set Claire up on a series of first dates.

Claire and Miles challenge each other to deal with their emotional baggage and take a risk on love. I recommend Brighter than Before to contemporary romance readers who like low spice friends-to-more romcoms with depth that include second chances, dating mishaps, and found family themes.

Many thanks to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. All opinions expressed in this review are…