Before We Were Strangers

Intense second chance romance with a great mystery. Sloane left her home and everyone she loved behind, building a successful career as a model. When a major part of that world dies, she realizes she needs to face the old demons she walked away from and returns home to find out what really happened to her mother when she was 5 years old. Being embraced by her old best friend Paige is unexpected. Paige married Micah, the man Sloane loved and left behind, but they are divorced. Seeing Micah again brings back all the old memories & feelings but Sloane works to keep her distance knowing she won’t stay. Micah is blown away when he sees Sloane again. He wants to hate her but can’t, that love never died, just laid dormant. Sloane’s task of solving her mother’s disappearance puts her in direct contention with her father and brother. This won’t be an easy road to unravel the mystery given that her father wields a lot of power in town. The complexity of the relationships adds another dimension to the mystery. I love that parts of the story are told from different characters letting us know each one’s true motivations. I got completely drawn into this story constantly wondering what really happened while wondering if love would really get a second chance.

Sloane McBride was 5 years old when she woke up and heard her parents arguing again. Then she heard a loud thump. The next morning her mom was gone. All her life Sloane thought her dad may have killed her mom. When she turned 18 she high tailed it out of town, leaving her family, her boyfriend, Micah, and her best friend, Paige to get away from it all. During her time away, Micah ended up marrying Paige and they had a son. Now they have been divorced for 2 years because Micah was still in love with Sloane. Sloane went on to become a highly successful model and is very well off. It's been ten years since Sloane left Millcreek, TX but now she is determined to find out what happened to her mom. As Sloane starts digging into the truth, weird, interesting facts come to life. Since Sloane's dad is the mayor of Millcreek, she is not getting much help from local people...they are all too afraid of her father. Imagine her surprise when Micah steps forward and offers to help her. As they spend more time together, their feelings for each other are even stronger. Together they finally unravel everything that had happened to her mom. Sloane is in for a big surprise when she finally ends up learning the truth. Throughout the way, she starts to realize that people that seem like friends, really are not and that people she thought were enemies were actual friends. This is one of those stories that has wonderful characters, is beautifully written and keeps you in such suspense that you cannot put this book down. Just when I would think the story was going in one direction, it changed directions into something else. After all is said and done, Sloane and Micah will get their very deserved happy ending!

This was a wonderful romantic suspense story that kept me guessing all the way through. The story has lots of twists and turns with a great blend of mystery and romance. The characters are strong and well developed and the story flows beautifully. Sloane McBride left her hometown of Millcreek, Texas ten years ago. She simply couldn't live with her father any longer. So she left him as well as Micah, the only man she's ever really loved, behind and started life fresh in New York City. Now she's returned and she's determined to get to the bottom of her mother's murder. I highly recommend this one.