Review: Before We Were Strangers by Renee Carlino

Before We Were Strangers by Renee Carlino

Blurb from Goodreads:

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?

My Review:
  I loved this book!!  To be honest, the first two movements (you'll get why they're called that when you read the book) were amazing (five star) but the big reveal disappointed me a bit.  It's one of those things that can DNF a book for me so it is a testament to the rest of the book that I am still rating this 4 stars!  And I still LOVE LOVE LOVE Grace and Matt!  Seriously, my new OTP.  When they first fell for each other -- it just made my heart burst.  I loved them in college together, so very much.  

I definitely recommend this for anyone that likes second-chance romance -- this is better than most!  I know I will re-read this one with relish.  I also was reminded of one of my favorite bookS of all time, How To Kill a Rock Star by Tiffanie DeBartolo, while reading this book (especially the first two "movements") so you know I couldn't given this book a higher comparison!

Before We Were Strangers comes out tomorrow, August 18, 2015, and you can purchase HERE!

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 our life.  It doesn't mean you can't love another or move on; it jus means that one spontaneous moment, the split second you took the leap, when your heart was racing and our 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.  At least, that's the way I remember it.  That's why my mother always said we memorialize our past.  Everything seems better in a memory.