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First Comes Love  By  cover art

First Comes Love

By: Emily Giffin
Narrated by: Emily Foster,Catherine Taber
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Publisher's summary

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A pair of sisters find themselves at a crossroads in this dazzling new novel from the author of Something Borrowed, Where We Belong, and The One & Only. First Comes Love is a story about family, friendship, and the courage to follow your own heart—wherever that may lead.

Growing up, Josie and Meredith Garland shared a loving, if sometimes contentious, relationship. Josie was impulsive, spirited, and outgoing, Meredith hardworking, thoughtful, and reserved. When tragedy strikes, their delicate bond splinters.

Fifteen years later, Josie and Meredith are in their late thirties, following very different paths. Josie, a first grade teacher, is single—and this close to swearing off dating for good. What she wants more than the right guy, however, is to become a mother—a feeling that is heightened when her ex-boyfriend’s daughter is assigned to her class. Determined to have the future she’s always wanted, Josie decides to take matters into her own hands.

On the outside, Meredith is the model daughter with the perfect life. A successful attorney, she’s married to a wonderful man, and together they’re raising a beautiful four-year-old daughter. Yet lately Meredith feels dissatisfied and restless, secretly wondering if she chose the life that was expected of her rather than the one she truly desired.

As the anniversary of their tragedy looms, and painful secrets from the past begin to surface, Josie and Meredith must not only confront the issues that divide them but also come to terms with their own choices. In their journey toward understanding and forgiveness, both sisters discover that they need each other more than they knew—and that in the search for true happiness, love always comes first.

©2016 Emily Giffin (P)2016 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“An engaging story of sisterly love . . . Illuminating and engrossing.”—People

“Giffin delivers another emotionally honest work. . . . First Comes Love is a heart-stirring novel about the many layers of sibling rivalry.”Associated Press

“Kudos to Giffin for it takes a talented and resourceful writer to create a wealth of characters and have them all be fully described for the reader to understand and enjoy. . . . Two years is too long to have to wait for a new Emily Giffin book, but First Comes Love brings her back with a vengeance. Tales of sisters have been at the core of other great novels, but Giffin turns that relationship upside down and makes her view a fascinating one.”Huffington Post

What listeners say about First Comes Love

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Not her best.

I'm a huge emily giffin fan. This book was a disappointment. Story felt disjointed with no clear resolution. Characters were unlikable, it made it hard for me to root for them. The plot was drawn out, a little over dramatic at times, seemed pointless and was a bit muddled. I'm so sad because I've read and loved every book she's written up to this one. The narration really ruins this book, the performances were almost whiney, which made the characters annoying beyond how the story dis serves them.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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Surprisingly disappointing

Emily Giffin is one of my favorite authors and loved all her books until this one. If you're looking for a feel good book, this isn't it. First Comes Love started out sad and I kept waiting for it to get better. It never did. In fact, the loss and heartache just piled on top of another. The one good news in the end wasn't quite beneficial for all, as donor and recipient were involved with other people and stayed that way. I didn't really see the point. It's a let down Ms Giffin. I even pre-ordered this book.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Really Bad

How could the performance have been better?

Remove the kids comments.

Any additional comments?

This book is very similar to the last book, The One and Only. The writer has lost her spark. The story drags way too long.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Typical Emily Giffin

I have read or listened to every one of Emily Giffin's books and this one does not disappoint. You don't read Giffin if you are in the mood for "fine literature" but for her genre (solid chick lit if you ask me) she and this book are great. My only criticism of this book would be the Meredith character. Talk about a negative Nancy!! It might just be me but OMG did this girl annoy the heck out of me!!!! (I am pretty sure that was the point though!) :-) Anyway I am certain that any fan of Giffin's will enjoy this work as well...

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8 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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Easy listening - not that engaging

Every now and then I like books like this one - harmless, easy to pick up and put down, and ... Forgettable. In this case, I feel like it could have been more - it seems a little phoned in. Too tidy an ending, too many opportunities lost, and no real connections.

Also. Can someone PLEASE tell readers that they don't need to try to sound like the opposite sex or children??? We can use our imagination. When the narrator does Harper in this book (or Nolan) my skin crawled. Blech.

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5 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

The Performance Ruined the Story

I stopped listening because I couldn't stand the narration. Maybe the story would be ok in hard copy. It wasn't so compelling though that I could tolerate the narration so I don't think I will take a chance and waste more money by purchasing a hard copy.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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Disappointing

I kept expecting the story to get good and it never did. It just dragged on and on and the “revelation” was treated as some epic betrayal by the characters when in fact it was a small footnote in their remote history.

Also does anyone really pronounce “Isla” as “Ees-la”??!!! So annoying.

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3 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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Easy read except the voices

Nice easy read/listen. The voices drove me nuts! When they would do the kids voices it was like nails to a chalkboard. The story was predictable... But that is the style of these kind of books. If you are looking for a no-brainer, easy, fun read go for it!

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3 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Narrator note

Catherine Taber’s performance is brilliant. She manages to capture the character’s accents and emotions beautifully. Unfortunately, in my opinion Emily Foster did not. She emphasized ever fourth word- it distracted from the story. I imagine that another actress was booked for the job and couldn’t make it so they booked Foster last minute.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Not my favorite

This book was not my favorite book by Emily Giffin. As much as I loved Something Borrowed, Something Blue, Baby Proof and Love the one you're with I couldn't get into this book. The girl who narrates Meredith has an annoying voice and I felt like the book dragged on without giving closure on the 2 sisters stories. Josie was a self centered, irresponsible character with superficial observations and statements. I wouldn't read again. Glad I didn't buy this book in paperback because I would have sold it or it would have sat lifeless on a shelf like the dialogue it contains.

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1 person found this helpful