Before We Were Strangers by Brenda Novak

 

This is the third book I've read by Brenda Novak and it was so good. Like, seriously, could this woman please spare some talent for the rest of us? It is very rude of her to hoard it all to herself, please and thank you. That said, if she keeps writing gothics and historical romances and dark small town romantic suspense novels, maybe she can keep at least a little all to herself, because holy shit, this was good.

BEFORE WE WERE STRANGERS is a second chance romance set in a toxic Texas town called Millcreek. Sloane is a famous model who has taken a break ever since her father figure/agent got sick. Plagued by questions of something disturbing she saw as a child, she goes home to find out whether her father really did murder her mother, as she's suspected all along.

Her father is the mayor of Millcreek and doesn't take kindly to the prospect of being implicated in old crimes, especially from the estranged black sheep daughter who ditched her boyfriend when she left, causing him to turn to her ex-best friend. Now he's a cop and a father and an ex-husband, who's more than still half in love with Sloane. Enough that he'll probably help her with an investigation if she asked, which is a big NO as far as her dad is concerned.

This was just so deliciously messy and the suspense was really well done and blended nicely with the romance. Honestly, this was perfectly paced, with some great twists, and as always, I appreciated how realistic and fleshed out all of the side characters were. Paige, Sloane's ex-BFF, did some terrible things but she was never a cartoonish villain. You could see why she did what she did even if you kind of hated her for it. I also literally never read cop romances, so the fact that this won me over to a trope I normally avoid speaks so much in its favor. Like, job well done, Ms. Novak. Seriously.

I'm so glad that I could buddy read this with my friend, Sarah. She joined me on my other two Novak adventures and we're three for three in solidly good books at this point. 

4 to 4.5 out of 5 stars