REVIEW: Before I Knew by Jamie Beck

Before I Knew by Jamie Beck: Colby is looking forward to a fresh start. After two years of mourning both her best friend Joe and her husband Mark, she’s ready to take on a new challenge by opening a restaurant. She has spent her life taking care of everyone else in her personal life and for her clients when she was a lawyer, so now she wants to focus on her new adventure. She’s looking forward to making her restaurant successful in order to buy out her brother and dad and truly call the shots.

But to make that happen, she desperately needs an executive chef. While her former childhood best friend, Alec, is more than qualified for the job, Colby isn’t sure they can work together. Their lives were torn apart by Joe’s death and their friendship never really recovered. Alec was an incredibly successful chef and ran an award-winning restaurant until he couldn’t deal with the pain and grief of losing his brother Joe.

Alec needs this second chance as much as Colby does. While he wants to help them both move on, they have a rocky start with very different visions for the restaurant. It’s also different for Alec since he’s always wanted Colby. She may be single now, but there is so much baggage and secrets between them.

In a voice as soft as a summer breeze, she uttered, “I don’t know much, but I do know that there’s no such thing as a perfect man.”
Everything in him rebelled against the door she’d just closed. “That sounds like a challenge.”

Colby isn’t quite the fearless girl she used to be. She’s used to always placating others, but now she’s trying to walk that line between compromising and not sacrificing herself for others. While they may vow to leave the past in the past, that’s not so easy to accomplish with their own family dramas. Alec once again becomes a safe haven while also reminding her that she’s an attractive woman as an undeniable attraction develops.

Colby shrugged. “Let’s order pizza.”
“No.” He scowled. “I won’t be defeated.”
“Alec, there’s nothing here.”
His eyes lit at the challenge. “Refill your wine. I’ll have something ready in twenty minutes.”

Before I Knew is an emotional friends to lovers story. Jamie Beck intermingled the past and present with angst, drama, heartbreak, and understanding. Ms. Beck created a solid cast of characters that should be entertaining to revisit as this series continues. Fans of T.J. Kline and Tracy Solheim will enjoy Before I Knew.

Book Info:

Publication:  August 22nd 2017 | Montlake Romance | Cabot #1

Author Jamie Beck returns with an engrossing series about family, friendship, and starting over. In this first Cabot novel, a legacy of secrets tests old friends seeking a second chance at life and love.

On the second anniversary of her husband’s suicide, Colby Cabot-Baxter is ready to let go of her grief and the mistakes made during her turbulent marriage. Her fresh start comes in the form of A CertainTea, the restaurant she’s set to open along Lake Sandy, Oregon, with help from her family. But when her executive chef quits just weeks before the grand opening, Colby is pressured to hire old family friend Alec Morgan. His award-winning reputation could generate buzz, but their friendship has withered since her husband’s reckless dare cost Alec’s brother his life.

Distracted by guilty secrets concerning the tragedy that changed his and Colby’s lives, Alec self-destructed and lost his famed restaurant. With his career in tatters, he’s determined to use this opportunity to redeem his reputation and to help the woman he’s loved from afar find happiness again.

But secrets have a way of coming out. When Alec’s do, they might destroy the new life he and Colby have rebuilt together.