She’s the girl next door.
He’s the guy who’s loved her from afar.
They’re in for an unexpected tumble into love.
Title: Before Girl
Author: Kate Canterbary
Release Date: November 13, 2018
She’ll juggle your balls.
For Stella Allesandro, chaos is good. She’s a rising star at a leading sports publicity firm. She’s known throughout the industry as the jock whisperer—the one who can tame the baddest of the bad boys in professional sports without losing her signature smile.
But Cal Hartshorn is an entirely different kind of chaos.
He’ll fix your broken heart.
This ex-Army Ranger and now-famous cardiothoracic surgeon fails at nothing…except talking to a woman he’s adored from afar. Whether on the battlefield or operating room, he’s exacting, precise, and efficient, but all of that crumbles when Stella is in sight.
Cal always knows—and gets—what he wants, and now he wants all of her. His forever girl.
But Stella isn’t convinced she’s anyone’s forever.
Oh my manbrick!!! Where to start? If you don’t follow Kate Canterbary on social medial, first of all why not; second, you are missing so much goodness; and third, why the hell not. The beginnings of this book were posted in early 2016 as just little snippets. She claims they were a distraction as she was writing other books. But that’s all we got. About the equivalent of the first 4 chapters and then she was busy with other projects. For some of us these characters were like the shy new kids at school. We were dying of curiosity to know their story, but all they seemed to want to do is to lurk in the corner and watch us. Hence, the standoff began. We waited patiently (who am I kidding…try not so patiently) for these characters to speak to Kate again. I think you could hear a collective roar when we found out this book was officially coming out. Many of us fell in love with both Cal and Stella with just a few chapters, and we were DYING to know their story. That’s a lot of buildup, both on the author’s part and the reader’s part. I wanted this story so bad, but I was a little anxious about it too. Would I love the rest of their story as much as I loved the snippets? This book is EVERYTHING I hoped it would be and SO MUCH MORE than I expected! Cal and Stella are now some of my most favorite characters ever, both individually and as a couple. This book was well worth the wait.
Cal is shy and awkward; he’s growly and sweet; he’s an alpha male in the most unassuming way; he’s such a contraction of characteristics at times and that it makes him perfect. Stella is a kick-ass woman; she’s strong and in charge; she handles multiple balls in the air like a pro; she unapologetically knows who she is; she’s also vulnerable and sweet. She the kind of woman I want to be or at least be friends with. The two of them together are perfect. They both understand demanding jobs and accept that about each other. The chemistry is explosive and the heat can burn you from a mile away.
Not only do you get this amazing couple, but you get a plethora of side characters to fall in love with. If you read Preservation, you will know the dynamics of the Hartshorn/Acevedo/Emmerling friendship. They are 3 doctors that work at the same hospital and have become a tight knit group. They love to give each other a hard time and you get lots of that in this book. You also get a little more of Stremmel, a new doctor that came on the scene in Thresholds. He’s so grumpy and it’s amazing. I only hope that we get his story soon. We also get Stella’s assistant who are like bickering siblings and a problem client that’s more like an overgrown child wanting attention. The three of them are fascinating. We also get a mention of a new doctor, that if previous books are any indication, hopefully that Easter egg will be in other books. Many times a secondary character is just a way to move the story along. A blip on a radar and someone you don’t think about later. These secondary characters are definitely no blip. They grab you by the shirt and scream in your face to pay attention to them. Even if we only get a small glimpse, they are so intriguing and well written, you want to know more.
I know I’ve mentioned that some of the characters are in other books, but this is a complete standalone. You do not have to have read any of the other books to thoroughly enjoy this one. However, I have a feeling that you will want to go read the others after this one. This book should go immediately to the top of your TBR list. Wait…that’s not true. You should stop what you are reading right now and read this book immediately. Wait….still not true. You should stop all other reading until you’ve read every single one of Kate Canterbary’s books including this one, at least once. Yes, this is a book and an author who you will read over and over again. Once you’ve read them all several times, you’ll want to get the audio books so that you can listen to goodness as well.
Get this book! Get it now! If I had won that $1.6 billion lottery I’d be giving everyone this book and all the books from this author. Everyone needs Kate Canterbary books in their life, and you most especially need Cal and Stella’s story in your life.
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Kate Canterbary doesn’t have it all figured out, but this is what she knows for sure: spicy-ass salsa and tequila solve most problems, living on the ocean–Pacific or Atlantic–is the closest place to perfection, and writing smart, smutty stories is a better than any amount of chocolate. She started out reporting for an indie arts and entertainment newspaper back when people still read newspapers, and she has been writing and surreptitiously interviewing people—be careful sitting down next to her on an airplane—ever since.
Kate lives on the water in New England with Mr. Canterbary and the Little Baby Canterbary, and when she isn’t writing sexy architects, she’s scheduling her days around the region’s best food trucks.
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