Before We Were Strangers: A Love Story

by Renee Carlino

From the USA TODAY bestselling author of Sweet Thing and Nowhere But Here comes a love story about a Craigslist “missed connection” post that gives two people a second chance at love fifteen years after they were separated in New York City.

To the Green-eyed Lovebird:

We met fifteen years ago, almost to the day, when I moved my stuff into the NYU dorm room next to yours at Senior House.

You called us fast friends. I like to think it was more.

We lived on nothing but the excitement of finding ourselves through music (you were obsessed with Jeff Buckley), photography (I couldn’t stop taking pictures of you), hanging out in Washington Square Park, and all the weird things we did to make money. I learned more about myself that year than any other.

Yet, somehow, it all fell apart. We lost touch the summer after graduation when I went to South America to work for National Geographic. When I came back, you were gone. A part of me still wonders if I pushed you too hard after the wedding…

I didn’t see you again until a month ago. It was a Wednesday. You were rocking back on your heels, balancing on that thick yellow line that runs along the subway platform, waiting for the F train. I didn’t know it was you until it was too late, and then you were gone. Again. You said my name; I saw it on your lips. I tried to will the train to stop, just so I could say hello.

After seeing you, all of the youthful feelings and memories came flooding back to me, and now I’ve spent the better part of a month wondering what your life is like. I might be totally out of my mind, but would you like to get a drink with me and catch up on the last decade and a half?

M

• ISBN10: 1501105787
• ISBN13: 9781501105784
• Publish Date: 18 August 2015
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Atria Books
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[Linda]

This review was originally posted on (un)Conventional Bookviews
Second chance at love *sighs* my favorite trope when it comes to romance, and in Before We Were Strangers, that trope was brought to absolute perfection!



I loved that most of the chapters in Before We Were Strangers are from Matt's perspective, and that I got a good look into the past and what he had with Grace his last year of college, and of his present, where not many things were going the way he wanted them to. After catching a glimpse of Grace at a metro station, seeing her recognize him, and desperately wanting to catch up with her, he finally found a drive to look forward. Scouring metro stations close to the one where he'd seen her, he ended up posting on Craig's List to see if she'd give him a call.

There were many intricate relationships in Before We Were Strangers, starting with Matt's colleagues - including his ex-wife and her new husband - or in the past his  interactions with Grace and their friends, as well as the complicated relationship he had with his family. I think what I enjoyed the most was that feeling of longing Matt had, wanting to see Grace again, and figure out where they had gone wrong when they were younger. And how he was a bit torn between wanting to keep the past in the past - because what they had was a beautiful memory to him, but at the same time, he couldn't help but ask himself if there was a chance of something more they could build together now that they were adults.

Without spoiling anything, let me just say that there are many more complications for Grace and Matt, and that a lot of what kept them apart had nothing to do with the two of them. When other people start to meddle, it's almost impossible to get to the bottom of things, and I remember well how difficult it was to actually find 'old' acquaintances before the internet existed. Written in first person point of view, past tense and mostly from Matt's perspective, Before We Were Strangers is a beautiful story of second chances, love, loyalty and dealing with betrayal as well. The writing is beautiful, I could have used so many quotes here, but I figured I needed to make a choice so there wold be something left for you to read when you pick it up yourself.



These are the things I pondered while sitting in my four-by-four cubicle at National Geographic. It hadn't felt National or Geographic since I had taken a desk job there a few years before.

"Scott, this conversation is wrong in so many ways. Let's just end it here, okay?"
"I'm your boss."
"Exactly."

New York has an energy that takes root inside of you. Even a transplant like me gets to know the different boroughs, like they're living, breathing organisms. There's nowhere else like it. The city becomes a character in your life, a love you can't take out of you. the mysteriously human element about this place can make you fall in love and break your heart at the same time.


The first time someone young and vibrant dies - someone you look up to, someone you relate to - it blows you back, right off your feet. Oh, fuck, we're all gonna die, nobody knows when, nobody knows how, you think. And in that moment, your realize how little control you have over your own destiny.

[Bianca]

You can’t re-create the first time you promise to love someone or the first time you feel loved by another. You cannot relive the sensation of fear, admiration, self-­consciousness, passion, and desire all mixed into one because it never happens twice. You chase it like the first high for the rest of your life. It doesn’t mean you can’t love another or move on; it just means that the one spontaneous moment, the split second that you took the leap, when your heart was racing and your mind was muddled with What ifs?—that moment—will never happen the same way again. It will never feel as intense as the first time.

— Beautiful. I've never felt more nostalgic.

[Lynn]

After reading the blurb I was intrigued. The result? Before We Were Strangers is one of the best books I've bought/read so far this year. I've never picked up anything by Renee Carlino before and definitely need to rectify that fact.

Warning: Tears may fall whilst reading.

http://norwayellesea.blogspot.no/

[Cocktails and Books]

This review was originally posted on Cocktails and Books

This is my first Renee Carlino book and will not be the last. This book had me in a death grip from page one. There are times in our lives when we wished we would seize an opportunity, a moment and run with it. We wish we would have made different decisions. We look back on the past with a heavy heart and a feeling that things just weren't finished. All of that is this book in a nutshell.

This book is about two people that remember the past fondly and wonder what if. What if you had the opportunity to reconnect with someone who meant the absolute most to you. What would you do? Would you do everything in your power to find them...see what is there...what might happen? How far would you go if you saw that one person from a distance in an overpopulated city and no idea how to find them?

This is the premise of Before We were Strangers. I read that Renee Carlino saw a Missed Connections on Craigslist and put pen to paper. New York is the backdrop. Matt and Grace meet while in college in their dorm. Matt sees Grace and is immediately enamored a bit. He is a photography student and just wants to take pictures of her. Little does he know, Grace is his next door neighbor and a gifted musician. Grace comes from almost nothing and struggles to pay her tuition and just survive. She has such a positive attitude and it is infectious. They become fast friends. Although Matt's father is very wealthy, he doesn't want to use his money and he and Grace find ways to earn money and even get free food. There is a slow build to their relationship and I adored it. Sometimes New Adult books can be a bit much with all the college drama and angst. Their relationship seemed real and the day to day life was dead on. They are both extremely lovable characters and you root for both of them from the beginning. You know the happiness can't last and it doesn't. Matt is given an opportunity he can't pass up and he leaves for the summer. Grace prepares for graduate school and waits for Matt but then the bottom falls out.

Flash forward to the present and Matt sees Grace on a subway platform in NYC. Too many years have passed but the feelings are still there. What happens now...how will Matt find her...will they reunite. This is why you read the book. Pick it up and find out. You will not put it down. This story shows how imperfect life is but you never know what twists and turns it is going to through you. The twists and turns Renee Carlino wrote for Matt and Grace are fantastic to read...dive in to this page turner.

Reviewer information can be found under the Tags section of the post on our site.

[whisperingchapters]

This 4.5 stars review was first published on Latte Nights Reviews on August 3, 2015.

I will start off by saying that I wasn't expecting this to be as good as it was. I haven't read anything by Renée Carlino so I didn't know what to expect but this was not it. I was pleasantly surprised because I ended up adoring this book, adding it to my 2015 favorites and to my wish list.

This story was told in dual points of views, both set in present and past. I enjoyed reading about Matt's and Grace's past: when they met, their time in college, their friendship and lastly, what drove them apart. Their friendship was instantaneous, they clicked immediately and I loved reading how close they were, how much they trusted one another. Fast-forward to the present and they aren't close. They don't know anything about each other or where they are until one day, they see each other for one second and that's all it takes for all the memories to come rushing back full force. I felt for both of these characters because life dealt them a very ugly card, which lead to their separation.

The friendship was immediate but the romance took time to build, which made it all the more realistic. We have Matt who comes from a wealthy father and Grace who comes from a very poor family that has left her to deal with life on her own. What I liked about this story was that nothing was rushed. Everything was set to happen on it's own as it would happen in real life. Matt and Grace are both very determined characters for what they want and they go for it. They deal with so many things that they are made to feel so real to the reader and it's easy to connect with them.

I was in the middle of the city I loved, back in her arms again, but we were strangers. I was still hanging on to the past and I didn't know why.

I'm glad Matt kept thinking of the past because this drove him to figure out why Grace and him had fallen out and his answer was a bit surprising. Not only that, Matt gets a surprise that he wasn't expecting (I was in between of expecting it and not) and he was crying while I was trying to hold back my tears because my emotions were going crazy. Seriously, I think that specific part made it more emotional to me. I was glad to see that these characters had grown and matured so much over the years (15 years!) and they were mature of the situation and everything that they were dealing with. The only downfall for me was Grace's best friend, Tati. I liked her but I just disagreed with her on so many things and she would frustrate me a bit sometimes but she also did some character development in the story and I ended up liking her more.

When I finished this book, I just stood there with a grin on my face because the last chapter has another point of view that had me so happy and emotional. I wanted more of this book. I didn't want to say goodbye to the characters that really grew on me. I can see myself re-reading this book in the future, which is why I need to buy it as soon as it comes out in paperback!