Have you seen this news? 😍😍😍 I can't wait to watch Matt and Grace on the screen. Congratulations Renee Carlino. ❤ The past doesn’t belong to us anymore, and the future is just a fantasy, never guaranteed. But the present is ours to own. The only way we can realize that fantasy is if we embrace the now.” Lying there beneath him, I felt more vulnerable than I ever had before. I wanted to ask him to stay, but how could I be so selfish? If I asked him, would he love me less, if he even loved me at all? I couldn’t take his dream away to make mine better. I wouldn’t do it. I wouldn’t destroy what we had created. The present is our own. The right-this-second, the here-and-now, this moment before the next, is ours for the taking. It’s the only free gift the universe has to offer.” a b c d Miller, Frank. "We Were Strangers (1949)". Turner Classic Movies . Retrieved January 21, 2016.

I loved it, and some scenes were very emotional for me, but I guess my expectations were little bit too high. The story is told in alternating past and present POVs from both Matt and Grace. I found both of them likable though I preferred Matt’s chapters a little more. While I anticipated some parts of the story, there were others I didn’t see coming and I appreciated t Time passes, life goes on, places change, people change. And still, I couldn’t get Grace off my mind after seeing her… Fifteen years is too long to be holding on to a few heart-pounding moments from college. Compelling and evocative. Matt and Grace's story will pull at your heartstrings while reminding you that true love can conquer the most difficult challenges. This is Renee Carlino's best, most poignant work to date. -- Vilma's Book Blog 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….Before We Were Strangers was a very pleasant surprise. I definitely under estimated how much this book was going to effect me. A book I simply thought would be a fill-in read till I figured out what I wanted to really dive into next. Turned out to be a huge punch to my heart. Anything that might be considered a "flaw" is wiped away by the pure beauty of Carlino's writing and by the way she will pull you into this love story. A book where the romance scenes are soul warming and the love feels authentic. Carlino takes us on an emotional rollercoaster of a read, and doesn't miss a chance at pulling at our heartstrings. Before We Were Strangers is the definition of "all the feels".

Crossing fingers I am gonna love this. If you have read this, am I gonna cry? I need to get ready with the tissues. After graduation Matt leaves for a summer internship for a few months while Grace stays in New York preparing for Grad school.The plan is to meet up again at the end of the summer...

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I read this pretty much in one sitting. This book was equal parts beautiful and heartbreaking... This will be on my top books of the year. It was just so damn beautiful. -- A Book Whore's Obsession Grace and Matt first met as senior university students- best friends turned lovers. Each a perfect half of one perfect heart, torn apart by time and fate but chanced upon each other by the same twisted fate fifteen years later! Does this mean a second chance for “the one that got away “or just a long overdue closure? Oh my feels! I got to a point where I was pretty mad at them. This wasn’t a scenario of life dealing them a bad hand of cards that led to their 15 year separation, rather their misery was the direct result of multiple poorly made decisions on their respective parts. I could literally give you a long list of things that I personally (if I was their friend) would have strongly advised them against doing that, in the end, was what led to their separation. It was miscommunications, wrong priorities, and the consequence of not thinking about what the result of your actions would do to someone else. I don’t like blaming it on their ages either because tons of people that age can maintain functional relationships. So I just found it frustrating because I was literally watching them mess up their own lives, even though they both did have very good intentions.

this book was chaotic and horrible.i usually am able to have some laughs but this book was so ridiculous, dear authors sometimes couples do not deserve second chances, especially with guys like matt. but i believe, for this story, it works for the overall plot. Matt and Grace made choices that had my eye twitching and wanting to slap the dog shit outta them. but i digressed. people make mistakes and love is messy. the ending couldn’t have been anything less than perfect. it was so tender 😭✨ This lady knows how to write pure romance and infinite love. She writes about seemingly real people with realistic plots. No fluff, no bull! Before We Were Strangers was sheer perfection! It is a timeless and epic love story... This book has it all. DO NOT MISS THIS ONE! Fabulous job Renee. You are one of the great ones! Keep going... -- Blushing Babes are Up All Night This quote is while they were giving blood platelets for money during those poor days in college. Talk about endearingly cute... The present is our own. The right-this-second, the here-and-now, this moment before the next, is ours for the taking. It’s the only free gift the universe has to offer. The past doesn’t belong to us anymore, and the future is just a fantasy, never guaranteed. But the present is ours to own. The only way we can realize that fantasy is if we embrace the now.”

Matt and Grace meet while in college. Matt is a photography student and Grace is a music major, a gifted cellist. Grace comes from almost nothing and struggles to pay her tuition, much less afford food. She fast learned how to make very little go very far. Matt is attracted by her inner strength, her positive attitude and they become fast friends. Matt's father is very wealthy so he doesn't much struggle for the things that Gracie does. He wants to help her...her pride be damned. years later, they see each other on a subway platform but don’t have a chance to speak. Matt decides to write a “Missed Connection” post on Craigslist as he has no other way to get in touch with Grace again. Sidenote: My friends and I used to read missed connections as a form of entertainment in college — I will say, 10 years ago, most of the ones we read were much grittier than the note Matt writes. The story draws on events that occurred as part of the political violence that led to the overthrow of Cuban dictator Gerardo Machado y Morales in 1933. In 1932, a violent opposition group, the ABC ( abecedarios), assassinated the President of the Cuban Senate Clemente Vazquez Bello. They had constructed a tunnel to reach the Vazquez family crypt in Havana's Colón Cemetery and planted an explosive device there, anticipating that Machado would attend the funeral. The plan failed when the family decided to bury Vazquez elsewhere. [1] 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........ From the time you’re born, you have no control; you can’t choose your parents, and, unless you’re suicidal, you can’t choose your death. The only thing you can do is choose the person you love, be kind to others, and make your brutally short stint on earth as pleasant as possible."

A dazzling and heartbreaking story of missed connections and the possibility of a second chance at love. Epic, emotional, and stunningly beautiful... It's easily my favorite book this year and one of my all-time favorites. -- Nestled in a BookYou 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. 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.” Kitty’s into you. You should give that little hottie what she wants. You know there’re rumors about her.” I usually like to read about “perfect” relationships, connections I know in real life one in a million has it, I love to leave my fantasy through characters. Amazingly I never knew until this book how much I appreciate and love to read about relationships that are realistic and still quite amazing. Matt and Grace’s relationship was that eye opener for me, from the start of the relationship to their difficulties and how they reunited years later, it reminded me of all the amazing love stories that are not perfect that surround me. My mom and that, great age difference, amazing love, but not a happily ever after, my dad died but even 18 years after my mom still loves him and has never married again. My uncle and aunt a second marriage, a relationship at a long distance, never could have kids but my aunt raised my uncle’s kids for the first marriage as if they were her own. The love of this near people is certainly to perfect or fairy tale like, but still hugely powerful and swoon-worthy. What I am trying to say is Before We Were Strangers reminded me, love doesn’t have to have a perfect course and it can be realistic. Matt literally stole my teenage heart, I really wish I am able to find a love like that in my college days. Someone real with flaws but that respects you, is open about their feelings and loves to be with you. Granted sometimes he was an ass, like when he opened the door of Grace’s room and stared at her while she changed, or perhaps that he never fought as hard as he wanted her to fight for him when they separated ways. But also someone like Grace, with an adventurer side, someone who doesn’t mind doing weird activities. I seriously fell in love with so many scenes of them together. Crowther, Bosley (April 28, 1949). "We Were Strangers (1949)". The New York Times . Retrieved January 21, 2016.