Before Anyone Else

"Before Anyone Else is a wonder of a debut novel, a coming-of-age love story set in the fast-paced and often cut-throat Southern restaurant world, with flesh-and-blood characters that live and breathe. Bailey Ann Edgeworth is an unforgettable heroine, and Leslie Hooten is an immensely gifted writer. I can't wait to read the next one."--Amy Greene, nationally bestselling author ofBloodroot

"Like a good tasting menu Leslie Hooten's Before Anyone Else is full of delicious contrasts and dazzling surprises. It is also wonderfully suspenseful as we watch the fragile and intrepid Bailey make her way in the complicated world of restaurant design. Hooten understands so well how love and work are often intertwined. A splendid debut.--Margot Livesey, New York Times bestselling author of The Flight of Gemma Hardy

"Romantic and deeply moving, Before Anyone Else by Leslie Hooton, is a curl-up-on-the-couch debut novel that keeps the fire burning and the pages turning." --Lisa Barr, award-winning author of Fugitive Colors

"With Before Anyone Else, Leslie Hooton announces herself as a natural-born storyteller, a writer who can evoke character and place with such finely-tuned details that you find yourself pulled completely into the world that she has created. It's a sharp examination of work, how it defines us, how it consumes us, and how much it takes to find meaning beyond it. It's a beautiful book."--Kevin Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of Nothing to See Here and The Family Fang

"Before Anyone Else is the romantic debut we have been waiting for, a coming of age novel that is both deeply moving and creatively beautiful. With wit and dazzle, Leslie Hooton takes us through both a love story and also the cut throat restaurant business. With charm to spare, this novel is a powerful story with a dose of hostess gold woven in for good measure." -Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times bestselling author of Becoming Mrs. Lewis and The Favorite Daughter