Before We Were Strangers

Brenda Novak

Dec 2018 · Harlequin Audio · Narrated by Ann Marie Gideon

About this audiobook

Something happened to her mother that night. Something no one wants to talk about. But she’s determined to uncover her family’s dark secrets, even if they bury her.
Five-year-old Sloane McBride couldn’t sleep that night. Her parents were arguing again, their harsh words heating the cool autumn air. And then there was that other sound—the ominous thump before all went quiet.
In the morning, her mother was gone.
The official story was that she left. Her loving, devoted mother! That hadn’t sat any better at the time than it did when Sloane moved out at eighteen, anxious to leave her small Texas hometown in search of anywhere else. But not even a fresh start working as a model in New York could keep the nightmares at bay. Or her fears that the domineering father she grew up with wasn’t just difficult—he was deadly.
Now another traumatic loss forces Sloane to realize she owes it to her mother to find out the truth, even if it means returning to a small town full of secrets and lies, a jilted ex-boyfriend, and a father and brother who’d rather see her silenced. But as Sloane starts digging into the past, the question isn’t whether she can uncover what really happened that night...it’s what will remain of her family if she does?

Ratings and reviews

NARRATOR: Ann Marie Gideon Oh I liked this book, a thread of tension was running throughout the whole story and you never knew quite where it would end up. Sloane is a top model who had left her small town home as soon as she could as her Mother disappeared one night when she was 5 years old and she has always suspected her Father of killing her. So now she's back in town to solve the mystery once and for all. Her Father is a really vile, controlling man and her brother not much better and they don't want anyone investigating her Mother's disappearance and are willing to bully everyone in town into supporting their side of the story and not Sloane's. When Sloane arrived in town she stayed with her ex-best friend Paige. Paige was a real loose canon, supposedly an old 'best friend' of Sloane who chased and married Sloane's ex-boyfriend Micah and had a child with him. Unfortunately Micah never really loved Paige as much as Sloane and the marriage eventually ended, but Paige doesn't seem to want to let go. So when Sloane comes back to town and Paige is pretending to be her friend but actually isn't, there are major tensions bubbling under the whole time and it was only a matter of time before things erupted. A definite love triangle and Paige was definitely a psycho! The story builds throughout the book, with twists and turns, was her Mother murdered and if so who murdered her? Secrets are slowly revealed, with a twist! Riveting read.

About the author

New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak has written over 60 novels. An eight-time Rita nominee, she's won The National Reader's Choice, The Bookseller's Best and other awards. She runs Brenda Novak for the Cure, a charity that has raised more than $2.5 million for diabetes research (her youngest son has this disease). She considers herself lucky to be a mother of five and married to the love of her life. www.brendanovak.com