After a messy divorce from her husband of 20+ years, Claire decides it’s time to make a change. She moves to Chicago, a place she always wanted to live, and works to discover who she is aside from a wife and a mother. With a fresh start and a list of things she’d love to do, the possibilities are endless.

I really enjoyed reading Brighter Than Before. The writing was funny and entertaining. I laughed several times while reading. Claire’s inner monologue is hilarious. Our main characters, Claire and Miles, are in their 40’s. They’ve both been married and have adult children. I liked the dynamic of their ages. I feel like it’s a less common theme for romance novels and I appreciated their journey through the story as they moved past the difficult things that happened to them. I loved their friendship from the start.

The side characters were a lot of fun. They were charming, friendly, and very likable. They were a great found family for Claire. The format of the book included Claire’s journal entries and I loved reading those parts. Along with keeping track of the list of things she wanted to do, Claire wrote about some of the things going on in her life. I loved her voice. Dating was one of the things Claire wanted to do, and her dating stories were very amusing.

Brighter Than Before was a great book! I was sucked into the story from the first scene. Claire was a great main character. She was realistic and relatable. I loved how the author was able to balance difficult topics with the hope of second chances in the story. I highly recommend you read Brighter Than Before!