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Before I Knew Her
She wasn’t supposed to fall in love…
Iris Patel is back in her hometown, Rosehill Mississippi, but this time, as her true self. She has her dream job teaching art at her old high school, following in the footsteps of the woman who changed her life. She's determined to keep her head down and focus on being the best teacher she can be.
Football star turned coach, Nate Wesley, is a distraction she can't afford. He's persistent, he's charming and he's unexpectedly gentle. He could ruin everything.
Because Iris has a secret she can only keep for so long. How will the traditional southern gentleman react to finding out that she is transgender? Will it bring them closer than ever or shatter the new life she's trying to build?
As love begins to grow between the unlikely pair, family secrets and buried relationships begin to surface. And in a town where prejudice still lingers, love might not be enough.
Book 1 of Rosehill Hearts
Content This book contains mentions of transphobia, homophobic language, sexual assault, physical violence, alcoholism, anxiety and panic attacks, as well as consensual sexual content. While this story centers on love and growth, it also explores difficult themes that may not be for everyone. Please use your own discretion and take care while reading.
Iris Patel is back in her hometown, Rosehill Mississippi, but this time, as her true self. She has her dream job teaching art at her old high school, following in the footsteps of the woman who changed her life. She's determined to keep her head down and focus on being the best teacher she can be.
Football star turned coach, Nate Wesley, is a distraction she can't afford. He's persistent, he's charming and he's unexpectedly gentle. He could ruin everything.
Because Iris has a secret she can only keep for so long. How will the traditional southern gentleman react to finding out that she is transgender? Will it bring them closer than ever or shatter the new life she's trying to build?
As love begins to grow between the unlikely pair, family secrets and buried relationships begin to surface. And in a town where prejudice still lingers, love might not be enough.
Book 1 of Rosehill Hearts
Content This book contains mentions of transphobia, homophobic language, sexual assault, physical violence, alcoholism, anxiety and panic attacks, as well as consensual sexual content. While this story centers on love and growth, it also explores difficult themes that may not be for everyone. Please use your own discretion and take care while reading.
340 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 5, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 22, 2026
LGBTQIA+/ forced proximity/ small town/ he falls first/ slow burn/ workplace romance/ OW drama/ HEA
Trigger warning: death of a loved one/ transphobia/ homophobia/ SA/ violence/ alcoholism/ anxiety/ panic attacks/ bullying/ assault/ public
This was good but something felt off. I also didn’t love how long the MCs were broken up. Sometimes it felt like the MCs spent more time apart than they did together.
It also didn’t feel fair that the FMC blamed the MMC for her getting outed when it wasn’t really his fault. With his ex knowing her secret, it most likely would have come out regardless. Outing someone is never ok and the chapters following that were hard to get through but the FMC reacting to the MMC and saying he ruined her life over something that was completely out of his control made her a bit unlikable.
Trigger warning: death of a loved one/ transphobia/ homophobia/ SA/ violence/ alcoholism/ anxiety/ panic attacks/ bullying/ assault/ public
This was good but something felt off. I also didn’t love how long the MCs were broken up. Sometimes it felt like the MCs spent more time apart than they did together.
It also didn’t feel fair that the FMC blamed the MMC for her getting outed when it wasn’t really his fault. With his ex knowing her secret, it most likely would have come out regardless. Outing someone is never ok and the chapters following that were hard to get through but the FMC reacting to the MMC and saying he ruined her life over something that was completely out of his control made her a bit unlikable.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 17, 2026
Maybe more of a 2.5 ⭐️ but I’ll round up because I did really like Iris and Alex, our MMCs brother. There were a lot of great moments, a lot of powerful and important ones too, but a lot of it was derailed by Nate - our MMC who wasn’t awesome 🫤 there were seriously so many red flag, toxic moments with him. The ick was strong!
And it felt like yoo much was being included but not fully explored in the story. I wish things were more fleshed out, given a bit more depth.
Loved reading about a trans FMC though! Will definitely search out more with trans rep going forward ☺️
And it felt like yoo much was being included but not fully explored in the story. I wish things were more fleshed out, given a bit more depth.
Loved reading about a trans FMC though! Will definitely search out more with trans rep going forward ☺️
June 4, 2026
ME ENCANTOOOOOO 🫶🏼 hacía rato no disfrutaba tanto una lectura 🥺
July 4, 2026
I wanted to like this more than i did. i think i would have liked a bit more explanation between what happened after high school for Iris because they just packed up and left not trying to explain anything to their family, then came back so many years later and the fam are just like - oh your a woman now. cool. i feel like we missed a few steps there.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews