[]
Before Ever After
  • Published: 3 November 2026
  • ISBN: 9781804999875
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 304
  • RRP: $28.00

Before Ever After

Formats & editions
Paperback
3 Nov 2026
Audiobook
16 July 2026
Pre-order from…
Book Hero BookHub Fishpond Mighty Ape Paper Plus The Nile The Warehouse Whitcoulls Unity Books University Book Shop Find Local Retailers

A time travel romance with a twist, from the bestselling author of Water Moon

Three years after her husband Max’s death, Shelley is still adjusting to the silence he left behind. Then the doorbell rings.

On her doorstep stands a young man so like Max, it’s impossible to look away: same eyes, same smile, same age – and offering an impossible story. Paolo claims to be Max’s grandson, and that Max is not only alive and well, but unchanged by time.

Drawn in equal parts by hope and heartbreak, Shelley jets off across the globe with Paolo in search of the truth. Along the way, as Shelley recounts Max's stories of bloody Parisian barricades, medieval Austrian kitchens, and buried Roman boathouses, she begins to piece together the story of who her husband was and what these new revelations mean for her happily ever after.

Because not all stories end where they are supposed to...
  • Published: 3 November 2026
  • ISBN: 9781804999875
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 304
  • RRP: $28.00
Categories:

Also by Samantha Sotto Yambao

Water Moon
Love and Gravity
The Elsewhere Express
See all

Praise for Before Ever After

I was floored by the gutsy scope of this highly unusual love story. Before Ever After is one of those books that challenges the natural laws of fiction writing, and Samantha Sotto pulls it off in a frisky and highly entertaining way.

Anne Fortier, New York Times bestselling author of JULIET

I was absolutely enchanted by Before Ever After. It's a highly original and engaging mix of romance, mystery and magic that will challenge everything you think you know about happily ever after.

Jill Smolinski, author of THE NEXT THING ON MY LIST

A smartly written romance, mystery and historical adventure all wrapped up in a page-turner that will have you guessing until the very end.

Adena Halpern, author of THE TEN BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE

Exquisitely written and inventively told, Before Ever After is a beautiful, moving—and quite fun—exploration of what you think you know about your own life

Melissa Senate, author of THE LOVE GODDESS' COOKING SCHOOL

In Samantha Sotto's high spirited debut, a young widow travels to a remote and distant island to answer the question, what price do we pay for eternal love. It is a mesmerizing journey transcending time and continents, all to remind that there are many ways to live on forever and to immortalize a marriage. Note to readers: Curl up with jasmine tea and savor the warm, rich writing, as delectable as the recipes for love found within every enchanting page

Saralee Rosenberg, author of CLAIRE VOYANT