Today Tonight Forever

by Madeline Kay Sneed

One wedding weekend means one dramatic reunion for two families in this bighearted ensemble cast novel about love and forgiveness

“A page-turner with heart.” —Alison Wisdom, author of We Can Only Save Ourselves

“Dazzling! Readers will love these flawed, tender characters.” —Deb Rogers, author of Florida Woman

When thirty-three-year-old Athena Matthias is asked, yet again, to be a bridesmaid, she’s not exactly enthusiastic about the idea. Still reeling from a messy divorce from her wife, she’s never felt less inclined to celebrate love. But Athena can't say no, especially to one of her oldest friends, and at least it's a destination wedding, which means three days of sun and sand.

As the wedding weekend commences on the gorgeous beaches of Watercolor, Florida, for the first time in ages, Athena finds herself surrounded by people who know and love her. There’s the bride, nervous about an old relationship; a groomsman grappling with a big mistake; Athena’s mother, ready to date again; and even a potential new romantic interest.

But just as Athena begins to feel herself opening up again, an unexpected guest from the past throws the entire wedding party into chaos. By the time the cake is cut and the ultimate betrayal is revealed, Athena must find the courage to forgive—both others and herself—and embrace the beauty of a chance to move forward.

“ Today Tonight Forever beautifully encapsulates all the ways people come together and break apart. This book is moving, sweet, funny, and I fell in love with its characters over and over again.” —Ilana Masad, author of All My Mother’s Lovers

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Queer, LGBT, Adult, Lesbian

304 pages, Hardcover

First published November 7, 2023

Reviews

[Kori Potenzone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Raise your hand if you feel personally victimized by Madeline Kay Sneed?

Gosh dang it, I hate when a book makes me cry. I suppose I should be grateful it’s happy tears and I didn’t stub my toe or anything.

I’m a ball of emotions and I think I might just have to call my mama.

I chose this book because I’m shallow.

I loved the cover and the title so I thought id give it a whirl.

Today, Tonight Forever, isn’t a book you zip through. Take your time, absorb all the details.

The narration is done by alternating six points of view. These characters are “imperfectly, perfect” and will have you rooting along side of them and pulling at your heart strings.

Check out this teaser :

When thirty-three-year-old Athena Matthias is asked, yet again, to be a bridesmaid, she’s not exactly enthusiastic about the idea. Still reeling from a messy divorce from her wife, she’s never felt less inclined to celebrate love. But Athena can't say no, especially to one of her oldest friends, and at least it's a destination wedding, which means three days of sun and sand.

As the wedding weekend commences on the gorgeous beaches of Watercolor, Florida, for the first time in ages, Athena finds herself surrounded by people who know and love her. There’s the bride, nervous about an old relationship; a groomsman grappling with a big mistake; Athena’s mother, ready to date again; and even a potential new romantic interest.

But just as Athena begins to feel herself opening up again, an unexpected guest from the past throws the entire wedding party into chaos. By the time the cake is cut and the ultimate betrayal is revealed, Athena must find the courage to forgive—both others and herself—and embrace the beauty of a chance to move forward.

[Samantha Parker-Zillich · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐
This book is like a deceptively strong drink, you think it's light and sweet, but it actually packs a big punch. On the surface this book is about a beach side wedding weekend as told from the various people involved. But underneath all the beach wedding vibes are complicated themes like divorce, infidelity, LGBTQ issues, and the problematic aspects of Evangelical Christianity. I enjoyed reading each person's perspective throughout the story, and despite some poor decisions, the way they each found their own happily ever after.

[Sidney Schubarth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written queer and Texan characters 🥹🥹 love

[Annine · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was actually not confusing even though there were several MCs and POVs. I do wish it hadn't jumped back in time when the POV changed bc it broke the flow of the story. Slice of life story.

CW: previous death of a parent, cheating, separation, previous toxic relationship

[Tessa Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a literary masterpiece but it was fun and real! I liked how everybody was a villain and nobody really got a happy ending.

[Karringrington · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is really a 3.5 almost rounded up but I truly enjoyed this book. There was just a lot of smaller things that I was nit picky about that stopped me from seeing it as almost perfect. In terms of things that I enjoyed, I adored the scene setting of the beautiful destination wedding of Florida as well as the small call backs to Houston, TX. I also enjoyed the intense themes discussed within the book (religious trauma, grief, LGBTQ+ issues) and how real all of those issues were presented., they weren't sugar coated and changed our characters making them more real and relatable in turn. On the hand of things of disliked: the varying points of view were a bit of shock and took some getting used to, but were an awesome tool to take us through a weekend in the eyes of different people to fill about 300 pages. I also wasn't the biggest fan of some parts of the writing style. from the random time jumps, or random anecdotes not connecting to anything began to be a but frustrating, and sometimes made the book a little harder to read. But I can say that even with these small pet peeves I enjoyed the book all the same.

Starting with the positives, I have to acknowledge my favorite part which was the sheer amount of representation with the book. Now racially Sneed leaves us with more to be seen, since most of our POC are only "love interests" (Eli, Jason, Sydnee) and one is somewhat like our antagonist of the novel. However! This does not take away from all of the other marks that were hit. we have SO much LGBTQ+ representation that it was a nice pick for Pride Month (even including Trans representation). We also have some Jewish representation from our groom Daniel and Daisy going out of her way to involve his culture in their ceremony. But the LGBTQ+ part really impressed me because Sneed did not make this the main focal point of any of our characters, constantly having to remind us of their identities but instead worked it beautifully into their lives. For Deacon and his small interactions with those that didn't accept/understand his transition. Athena and Sydnee having their queerness and the way that other perceived them being a breaking point in their relationship.

I also enjoyed how realistic the novel truly seemed. I had somewhat spoiled it for myself and read a review where someone said they were happy the characters didn't all get a "happy ending". I was terrified going in but then pleasantly surprised by what they meant. In the real world we don't always end up with the person of our dreams or the one that got away. Even our near perfect weddings end up getting crashed (though not to the extent of Daisy's). But all our characters do come to the conclusion that life goes on and that we must go on with it or be left behind. And that a true Happily Ever After is always striving for tomorrow and your forever.

Now to lightly touch on these pet peeves of mine, because that's truly what they are, I have to talk about some of our random time jumps in the novel. As well as how they don't always relate to what is happening or hat may happen in the novel. The biggest example I have that really threw me off was when Leo had his flashback of him and Athena playing fairies when they were younger. We received this almost dragging anecdote and didn't even fully get to tie it into the present. This is a very common occurrence of the book, these long drawn out anecdotes and then we go literally nowhere with them. and the flashback or background was so long that you've lost all drive to read afterwards. It creates an almost choppy feel to the book, stopping a smooth flow. Now not all of the anecdotes are useless, but some just serve no real purpose and just drag and drag. It made the novel sometimes harder to read at some points. Especially if it lacked any new information or details about a given character or their situation.

However! I did finish the book! and it was wonderful, truly an enjoyable read for the most part. Had some wonderful themes and presented it all in a well rounded realistic way! I would absolutely look for any other books written by Sneed, if they're anything like this one.

[autumnbereading · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book was okay. i understand what the purpose was - using multiple pov’s to talk about different variations of how you handle grief & other important topics like queer acceptance, divorce, etc. i get it. however, the story was just kind of bland & extremely overly detailed. i loved the ending though.

[Stephanie Doyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whew! I knew nothing about this going in and for some reason thought this was a light romance and it was absolutely not LOL. It was a lot. Some heavy AF topics in here, people dealing with deep shit that felt a little surface at times because there was so much going on, to go in depth on all of it would have been like three books. I was not prepared.

I loved the introspection of each character and the bits of overlapping perspective in POV shifts. Also loved the Deacon and Mollie characters immediately and fiercely.

Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review

[Siara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Devastating, heart wrenching, and yet I’m crying over how much this book makes me love how love is. There is no perfect ends in real life, but this is as close as it gets, and it’s beautiful.

[Mary Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

quick read, honestly prose were beautifully written, but the plot was not engaging or fast moving enough to support the long character development tangents. also no closure with leo and daisy?

[Jordyn L · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was cool. Everything happened over a span of 2 days which I feel like is a short amount of time for.a book of this length. I’m a fan of multiple POVs but this book had SIX. That was definitely overkill. There were too many opinions to consider on one situation and everyone felt very strongly about everything. I did like how the book touched on religious trauma, death, queer and familial relationships. You could see how one decision affected multiple people and drastically changed people’s life course. At a certain point in the book, it was starting to drag out and the story tied up somewhat decently.

[Tara - runningnreading · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though the pace of this novel is a little slower than I'd anticipated, I thoroughly enjoyed this beautifully written story and each of its delightfully complicated characters! I often struggle with multiple characters being introduced at once but the author did a fantastic job of separating them quickly so that I could move along with the narrative. Another tricky element - multiple narrators - was deftly handled, as well; in fact, I appreciated the way in which the author provided multiple perspectives on significant moments of the story. While grief is often a heavy topic, and easily mishandled, Madeline Kay Sneed writes lovingly and beautifully about the struggles and heartbreak of these characters. I enjoyed this novel so much more than I'd expected and will be thinking about it for months to come!

[Karen Geiger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Today Tonight Forever features an ensemble cast of characters that grew up together and have reunited at a wedding. Numerous narrators flash back and forth to reveal past tensions, culminating in a LOT of drama in the span of a weekend, somewhat at the expense of character development. I appreciated the normalness of the LGTBQ representation. This would make a good beach read, but it's not much more than that.

[Melissa Pennise · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish. Quit at 40% when absolutely nothing has happened yet.

[Allison Coffing · Rating 2 out of 5]

slow, boring, no plot, unsatisfying ending

[Trudie Barreras · Rating 5 out of 5]

There was a time when I would probably have given up on reading this book because it would have annoyed me that the characters seem to be determined to work against their own best interests. However, life and experience have definitely mellowed me, and I believe I really am developing a deeper empathy for the pressures and traumas of the human condition which may not require major external crises. There are no real heroes or villains, but rather authentic people striving to find themselves and one another amidst life’s vicissitudes.

This novel is set in the intensity of a wedding party taking place in Watercolor, FL. It is the second marriage of Daisy, whose now-terminated relationship with a “Youth Pastor” of a very fundamentalist Christian sect began with elopement and ended in divorce when she finally realized the spiritual and psychological abuse required by total submission to her husband and his church was smothering her. She is now going to marry Daniel, a “nice Jewish boy”, and has so far broken away from fanatical fundamentalism that she plans to follow the wishes of her husband-to-be’s family for a wedding under a chuppah on the beach, performed by a very liberal Rabbi.

There are six main protagonists in this novel, each of whom is followed in one or more chapters: the Bride, Daisy; her brother, Deacon, who is transgender; Athena, a lesbian who is best friends with Deacon, and resumed her friendship with Daisy after the latter broke away from her fanatical husband and his church; Athena’s brother Leo, a would be actor who was/is in love with Daisy; Sydnee, Athena’s ex-wife; and Mollie, Athena and Leo’s mother. Peripheral characters include the Groom, Daniel; Daisy and Deacon’s mother Diana; and Mollie’s husband Jason who, while deceased several years previously, has a major emotional impact on the relationships of the characters even in the present. Also in the mix is Alex, Sydnee’s “plus one” who is a present focus of Athena’s trauma, and other bridesmaids, including Katie, a yoga instructor who has a more-than-Platonic interest in Athena.

The interactions are complex and fraught as the emotional turmoil of the wedding catalyzes the resentments and angst of the past and the hopes and fears for the future. More really can’t be said without getting into spoiler territory, but although the real “action” in the narrative is minimal, the emotional intensity definitely carries the story.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Going into this book just based on the description, I could see that it would be drama filled but I figured it might be on the more light-hearted side. It’s clear from the start that there are some serious issues dealt with in this book and a lot of very big hurts that everyone in the large cast of characters handle. A marriage is taking place with Daisy marrying Daniel on the beach in Florida. What follows is all the love, drama, hurt, and buried emotions that every single character is going through as they attend this wedding.

Athena is newly divorced after she’d been cheated on and is hoping to avoid her ex at the wedding. Leo had a thing with the bride Daisy that never really went away for him. The bride was married to a controlling Christian youth minister, and she still deals with all the trauma from her marriage. Athena’s mother is ready to move on after the sudden death of her husband. Deacon feels like he caused Athena’s marriage to fall apart due to his small part in it. There are a lot of messy connections and emotions between everyone and it was enjoyable seeing how their pasts led to the current situations.

This is told from alternating points of view, so you really get an in-depth, emotional look at everyone’s past interactions and ultimate hurts. There really isn’t one main character in here; it’s this wide network of friends and their families that have been tight for years so it’s one big extended family at this point. I listened to the audiobook and it was very hard figuring out who was who and what their connections were to everyone else for quite a bit of this book. I did really enjoy listening to it and the narrator was superb, but it was really confusing trying to connect the dots.

This modern take on a bit of everything that families are dealing with today, including death, grief, divorce, unrequited love, LGBTQ+ issues, and just the way our lives are tangled for better and for worse with everyone around us. Madeline Kay Sneed handled all of these issues with grace and humility, and made it all entertaining and woven seamlessly together.

(Book received for free from Publisher in exchange for my honest review)

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley, author Madeline Kay Sneed, and Harlequin Trade Publishing- Graydon House for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

What a fascinating read! I love books that take place over the course of one day with the perspective of all the many characters, and Sneed knows exactly how to write one! I was intrigued by the premise already, but when I started and saw that it featured multiple LGBTQ+ characters AND the characters were from Houston, I was sold. I have really enjoyed lately reading books set where I live or with characters from where I live, and seeing that Sneed lives in Houston herself adds a layer of authenticity throughout. I don't think this book will fully appeal to everyone because being fully transparent, pretty much every character is either unlikeable or does something unlikeable. However, it adds a layer of humanity to them. I appreciated how candidly Today Tonight Forever tackles so many issues, from grief to love to friendship to religion and more. My favorite character was Deacon, and I would have loved to see even more of him, but what I loved the most was the extensive friendship and friendly love all of the characters had for each other. Even though the setting is over the course of one day, everyone has years of shared history that flows throughout the story and sets the stage for every event unfolding. I definitely look forward to checking out more of Sneed's work!

[Krissy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and Graydon House for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review

Athena Matthias is 33, freshly divorced from her wife, and asked to be a bridesmaid in her childhood friend's wedding. She is still very hurt from her divorce and the infidelity that caused it, and being asked to be a bridesmaid for the upteenth time in her life is the last things she wants to be doing.

Being able to escape her monotonous Texas life for a weekend on the beach and sand's of Florida is hard to pass up, and being able to be surrounded by her friends and family, and support her oldest friend in her happily ever after into a healthy marriage. Over the weekend many guests, and Athena work through obstacles holding them back and finding ways to also step into a new chapter.

The writing in this novel was beautiful, it was a short one but it really packed a punch. The characters were so fleshed out and dynamic. The journey the characters went on felt fully explored and the development of the plot was wonderfully paced. I just had an issue connecting to the characters, but that is not a fault of the author in any way, it was a me thing.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to first thank Graydon House Publishers for the free advanced copy of the book.

This novel, which takes place over the span of a single weekend, is amazing. There isn't a single main character in book, and there are many subplots running throughout the book. In only 293 pages, Madeline Kay Sneed fleshes out multiple characters and makes every single one of them the main character.

I have seen authors try to do this before, and they usually fail miserably. At the very least, they can't accomplish this without at a minimum of 5 books. Every character in this book is fleshed out.

I would like to add a slight trigger warning for religious trauma. I had to set it aside for a bit and take some deep breathes, since I knew people who went through the same situation as Daisy. Except they didn't leave. Anyway...


I definitely think all the characters in this book should get their own stand-alone novels!

[Leigh Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved Sneed's first novel and couldn't wait for this one. A wedding brings family and friends back together for the first time in long time. Athena is a bridesmaid coming off a messy divorce. Her ex wife is invited to the wedding with her plus-one who also happens to be the woman she cheated with. Leo is forced to watch the bride, for whom he still has romantic feelings, walk down the aisle for the second time. The bride's ex, a conservative Christian youth minister, insists upon imposing his views on gender & sexuality in the midst of it all. This was an entertaining story about what it means to love & be loved no matter your gender or sexual orientation. It's about not just the family you're born into but the family you choose and make for yourself in this crazy life. There's something for every reader in this novel.

[Aubree (mnreadingmama) Cheadle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved Sneed’s debut novel, The Golden Season, so I was thrilled to get my hands on her follow up novel. Though she is relatively new to the writing scene, Sneed writes with such eloquence and skill, you’d swear her books were written by a much more seasoned author.

Set over the course of one wedding weekend and told from multiple perspectives, this book develops characters and their backstories that are real, raw and relatable. The story is compelling and full of thoughtful and poignant commentary. I grew to absolutely love the characters and I really enjoyed the book from start to finish.

Sneed has definitely found her way onto my list of auto-read authors, and I can’t wait to see what she comes out with next!

Thanks to @graydonhousebooks and @netgalley for the free egalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Katy O. · Rating 4 out of 5]

(free review copy) I'm so happy I stumbled upon this book on Edelweiss, and I'm bummed that it hasn't gotten more publicity at this point. It's such a thoughtful look at found family, queer communities, and religion's ability to do both good and harm. Set over the course of one wedding weekend, the story moves slowly and is told through the viewpoints of many characters, which gives a well-rounded view of tragic and monumental events over the past years. I have a few quibbles with the pacing, but overall impressed with the unique lens through with this story was told.

Source: digital review copy via Edelweiss

[Kathleen Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Know that you, like me, might have a bit of trouble keeping everyone straight (no pun intended) in this big generous novel centered around the wedding of Daisy to Daniel. It's told by her friends and relatives- by Athena, newly divorced from Sydnee, Leo who loves Daisy, Mollie, Deacon, and the rest of the families. Sneed manages to capture everyone's back stories and move things forward in a pastiche of sorts since no one character (not even Daisy) dominates. That said, you might pick a favorite just as you might want to know a bit more about one or two of them. The representation is terrific. Thanks to the publisher for the arc. A very good read.

[Sarah Bowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a beautiful thing when you find a family that you aren't born into but mean so much to you as if they were.

Athena is a bridesmaid (again) and has to deal with her ex wife bringing as her plus one, the one she was cheated on with. Leo is carrying a torch for the bride and has to watch as she marries another.

I love the lessons that these characters learn about themselves and about who they love. Love is so important and what we need in our lives and I loved seeing it play out in this book.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew nothing about this book going in. I knew I wanted to broaden my reading horizons and read something specifically for Pride, so I perused the list that NYPL had put together. This was the book I chose.

It was beautifully written. It’s about a family, and how they endure after loss and trauma and grief - of all kinds. To say a lot more I feel would give parts away. I enjoyed the chapters devoted to different characters, it wasn’t difficult to keep track of at all.

A solid 4 ⭐️ read from me. Would recommend.

[norah · Rating 3 out of 5]

thanks to NetGalley for the eARC that I was sent literally last year and haven’t read until now

⭐️=3.5 | 😘=4 | 🤬=3 | 17+

summary: a bunch of different people involved in a wedding idk how to describe it

thoughts: this is good. it’s pretty okay. I dunno. there’s so many different POVs and stories happening all at once and I don’t know if I love all of them? like they weren’t treated equally but also everyone can’t be the main character. so. but it was still interesting? but also?????

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

My top word for this book is "beautiful". I bookmarked about 20 pages with beautiful sentences to come back and read again, or save. It just kept delivering insightful, reflective messages from the characters that felt raw and/or relatable.

It was accidental (happened upon this book while browsing at the pub lib), but this book also furthered my exploration of queer identities and religion, specifically Christianity.

[Ginny · Rating 5 out of 5]

God I loved this more than I expected. To be honest, I wouldn’t have picked this up based on the description. But I loved the author’s other book, The Golden Season, which I count among my life changing reads, so I had to give it a chance. It surpassed my expectations. Messy, real characters living messy, real lives and wonderful casual queer and trans representation. So good and definitely not the fluff I thought it might be. I never should’ve doubted Madeline Kay Sneed!

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed much about this novel and found it a good read for vacation - though I was distracted at times so maybe didn't give it my full focus. The plot is enjoyable and for the most part I found the characters and the situations they are in believable. I think I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, but now a week or so later I hardly remember the novel hence 3 stars. Maybe if I'd reviewed it right after reading it would have scored higher.