Review: Alone Before You by Claire Scott

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Before You #1
Release - May 31, 2017
Genre - Contemporary Romance
Heroine POV - 1st person
Heat - 3.5 out of 5
Length - 362 pages

With her past haunting her, Gwen Taylor shut herself off from every relationship she ever had.

But her lonely existence comes to an end when she moves to Beauforde, a small mountain town in Colorado. And when she meets Colton Underwood, a businessman and amateur boxer.

Their attraction is consuming, and soon even Gwen can’t deny her growing feelings toward Colt or the fact that their affair is anything but casual. But, even as she comes alive for the first time in years, her past threatens to destroy everything.

Drowning with guilt over a something she cannot change, Gwen must face her fears before it all catches up to her.

Find your copy of Alone Before You here:
Goodreads | Amazon

MY REVIEW

3.5 "Me Before You" stars

You know an author’s talented when you can hate the narrator but still enjoy the heck out of the story. I couldn’t stand Gwen Taylor. Aside from my sympathy for the past abuse she endured, my patience didn’t run high for her. She was inconsiderate, rude, and her reactions were too exaggerated. I get that she had an abusive past. Shoot, so did I. Granted, that scene in the beginning wasn’t something I could relate to, but I was lost as to why she took the precautions she did when there wasn’t any existence of a threat. Well, not right away anyway. The perpetrator was in prison and she was free to live her life. But she didn’t. In fact, she was so against living a ‘normal’ life and so steeped in her unrealistic guilt, that she was completely unrelatable to me. However, I loved this story. I enjoyed the premise of the plot, the side characters were entertaining, and I found myself increasingly interested in watching how things would unfold for Gwen. I think the major contribution to my interest was Colt. Even though nothing gave me any true insight into his character, he came across as sweet but dominant, warm and understanding, and sexy as all hell. I would have greatly appreciated his perspective on things because there were many instances in which the story seemed one-dimensional. It could be because I didn’t feel the connection to anyone. I’m hoping the next book, Forsaken Before You, will change my mind ;)