Brighter Than Before by Courtney Walsh

 

As Brighter Than Before by Courtney Walsh starts out, Claire Karadec feels like a failure. Her marriage is washed up after publicly finding out her spouse had an affair with a younger woman. To try to make sense of her hurt and sadness, Claire goes to therapy. The therapist encourages her to make a list of her dreams in her journal in response to being asked, What do I really want? As a result, Claire decides if she wants a new start in life, she needs to act on her list to start a new story.

At first, I wasn't sure about Brighter Than Before. It started off quite a bit different than this author's other books. But as I went along, it grew on me, and by the middle of it, I was cheering Claire on with the rest of her new friends.

Then there is Miles who lives in Claire's apartment complex. I genuinely liked Miles from the start. . .I wanted him to let go of his fears too so was also cheering him on. I always love that Courtney Walsh gives me a HEA ending too. This is a clean, kisses only book.

Brighter Than Before is full of themes of redemption, hope and personal growth. I liked that Claire is an older main character--as are many of the characters in this book. I loved seeing Claire face her fears and take steps to make her dreams come true. She also makes friends and I loved her friends in this book. I also love that when she faces setbacks, her friends come through for her.

As someone who also journals and processes her thoughts on paper, I loved seeing Claire journal and that her journal helped her grow personally. Brighter Than Before could be an encouraging book to give someone who is also forced to start over after a divorce they really didn't want. Actually, it could inspire anyone that wants to make some life changes.

Release date: June 9, 2026, now available for pre-order

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.