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    Before the Storm
    Before the Storm
    Before the Storm
    Audiobook13 hours

    Before the Storm

    Written by Leslie Tentler

    Narrated by Amy Melissa Bentley

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    When she closed her eyes, she was back in that apartment again-shivering, shards of glass around her, her hands stained with blood . . .

    Six years earlier, Trina Grissom disappeared, on the run for her life. Now living under an assumed identity-as Samantha Marsh-she still struggles with the dark secret she harbors and the fear she might one day be found. When she moves to the coastal town of Rarity Cove, South Carolina, to open a cafe, a handsome widower begins to chip away at the walls she's built to protect herself.

    Mark St. Clair lost his wife two years ago in a tragic accident. Head of the grand St. Clair resort, he distracts himself from his lingering grief by running the family business and caring for his troubled young daughter . . . until a beautiful restaurateur sets up shop in town.

    As Samantha and Mark begin a hesitant courtship, double perils emerge. Someone from Samantha's lurid past comes calling, threatening to expose her. And a powerful hurricane is forming in the Atlantic with the small beach town in its path. Trapped in the storm by the brutal man who wants vengeance on Samantha, she and Mark must fight for their lives.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateApr 30, 2019
    ISBN9781400120949
    Before the Storm
    Author

    Leslie Tentler

    Leslie Tentler worked in PR before writing fiction. Her first manuscript won multiple RWA chapter contest awards, including the prestigious Maggie Award of Excellence. Leslie is a native of Kingsport, TN. Growing up, she was an avid reader, first of Nancy Drew novels and then surreptitiously devouring her mother’s historical romances at probably too young an age. Her reading interests later moved to dark, contemporary romantic thrillers, which she writes today. She lives in Atlanta.

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    Reviews for Before the Storm

    4/5

    126 ratings13 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I like this author. her books are quick moving, with events happening. I think I may have read the sequel to this one before. But I am going to give it another try now that I now the backstory. Basically there is a fire at a dance where many have been injured or died. The search for the arsonist destroys families and friendships and the reveals secrets.
    • 2/5
      It was a solid 3 stars until the ending - too much happened too fast and some threads were not resolved at all.
    • 5/5
      rabck from HI77; Laurel moves to Seashore resort topsail island with her husband. Isolated after the birth of their daughter, she spirals into depression and they separate, with him taking the child with him. Laurel finds a drinking buddy with her brother-in-law Marcus. Surely, wine coolers can't hurt her pregnancy with child #2, until Andy is born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Now 15, intelligent but limited, he helps the kids escape a deadly church fire. But did he have something to do with the fire? Jamie, Laurel's husband died 7 years ago, apparently taking secrets with him. Marcus, now sober, has been helping Laurel with the two kids, now teens, but he has secrets of his own. What really happened the night of the church fire? The book keeps you guessing until the end.
    • 5/5
      Another winner by Diane Chamberlain! Similar to the controversial topics of Jodi Picoult books (have read all her books) and being Diane is one of my favorite authors, could not wait to dive in. I had to get up at 5:30am to finish it as could not wait for the finale!

      The book takes you through the lows of Laura –postpartum depression, alcoholism, and (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder) FASD and the consequences of losing her children for a wakeup call and her struggles to find her way back. Along the way two brothers (Jamie and Marcus), best friend Sara, and the disability of Andy (her son) whom she lost years ago and a daughter whom she was not there for in the first years of her life. Combine it with arson, secrets from the past, and affairs---a page turner with a lot going on. Diane has a way of keeping the suspense coming throughout the book! I have purchased Secrets She Left Behind (Before the Storm #2) and look forward to the this powerful sequel.
    • 5/5
      This is the first book I read by Diane Chamberlain. I should have reviewed this as soon as I finished reading it, because now I have lost the feeling you get when you close the book.Throughout the book I was impressed with the story, but couldn't see where it was going. I realized more than half way that the story wasn't just good but it started to move quicker and I was captured by it. A book I was happy to say I read.
    • 3/5
      Another very unrealistic story but yes, even though it is unrealistic, it is still fun to read.
    • 4/5
      What a story the author has woven. I was amazed at all the twists and the turns that have come and gone in this book. When you think you know where it’s headed, there’s another curve thrown at you.This is the second book of Diane Chamberlain I've read. Again, not a disappointment. This book is told from each main character's point of view and done very well. It does not get repetitive. The book focuses on the social problem of fetal alcohol syndrome (FASD) and was interesting with small facts about FASD. Alcoholism (obviously) is another problem in this book, but not only with the mother.The characters are all very strong and poignant in the plot. If I was asked to pick a favorite it would be really tough, but I would have to choose Maggie: a seventeen year old girl, getting ready to go to college and feeling very independent. You can see that she is ready to be on her own and an adult. She is very sweet and caring towards her brother and has a tattoo signifying one of her qualities that is very similar to her dad.Get ready for weaves and turns and twists all the way to the very last page. It is quite a ride.
    • 5/5
      This is a gripping tale about Laurel, a single mother of two children. Laurel has turned her life around after a long bout of depression and alcoholism. But, things fall apart as 15-year-old Andy is accused of arson. As Laurel struggles to protect her son, who suffers from FASD, from the criminal justice system, she has to deal with her daughter's affair with a much older man and recently discovered secrets from her deceased husband's past.Diane Chamberlain is a very good writer. She's been compared to Jodi Picoult, and it is easy to say why. Both write from multiple first-person perspectives and both present characters with a lot of depth. Diane Chamberlain also delivers a page-turner...I couldn't stop reading this story.
    • 5/5
      I'd already read and loved "The Lost Daughter", so I'm really glad this wasn't a let-down. The characters really get under your skin, because Chamberlain has such a fascinating way of making them all seem very human and ever so slightly imperfect, although in my head they are all supermodelishly attractive people. I accidentally discovered whodunnit by reading the blurb of another of Diane Chamberlain's books, but even knowing what I wasn't meant to know didn't spoil my enjoyment of this one. The cover of the book I read says that you should read it if you like Jodi Picoult. I'd recommend leaving Jodi Picoult in the library or the bookshop and reading this instead.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book! Diane Chamberlain writes so fluidly that I just found myself going with the flow of the book and reading it at every possible opportunity.The story is about Laurel, a woman who drank when she was pregnant with her now 15 year old son, Andy. As a result he has Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, which has affected his growth and development. Laurel has always put all her energy into looking after Andy, giving the majority of her love and attention to him, rather than his older sister Maggie, who has always been able to look after herself. However, when a fire breaks out at the church where Andy is attending a lock-in with friends, after initially being the hero who got the other kids out, the suspicion of arson points to him. Laurel has to try to protect Andy, but realises that she also needs to protect Maggie too.This book is a fabulous read. Diane Chamberlain is always likened to Jodi Picoult and I can see the similarities, but I find Diane Chamberlain's work a much easier read, although just as hard-hitting. In this book, she tells the story from various different perspectives, and I liked the way I could understand the events from the view of different characters. It worked very well, and was not at all confusing.This is a real page turner - highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      Laurel Lockwood lost her son Andrew for the first year of his life due to Post Partum Depression and alcoholism and when he wqs returned to her she was determined to be the best parent that she could to him. Andrew is mentally disabled and Laurel is maybe a bit over protecitve of him but she lets go enough to let him attend a social in the local church hall and that is a decision that teriifies her when the church hall is consumed by fire. Andrew leads many of the children in the hall to safety and is a hero for a time, until witnesses come forward with the suggestion that Andrew himself may have had something to do with the starting of the fire. But all is not as it seems in this town and in this family and there are many hidden secrets. Laurel's daughter Maggie for one is hiding secrets of her own. This book is told from the point of view of many of the characters and does jump forward and back but I did not find it difficult to follow and found it to be an engrossing story as it revealed more of the present and past stories and struggles of Maggie and Andrew, Laurel and her husband, and the other main characters. The characters were well developed and I cared about them. I liked the way the investigation proceeded and the stories were gradually revealed. a very good read. I intend to try another of her books.
    • 4/5
      I just got the sequel to this book to review so I figured I should read the first one. This was about a recovered alcoholic with two teenagers. Her younger son Andy has special needs because of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and the older daughter is pretty much left to herself because the mother is so wrapped up with Andy. Anyway, after a fire breaks out at a school dance, Andy becomes a hero when he leads many of the kids to safety -- but then later, clues point to him as the one who started it. Enjoyable read.
    • 4/5
      Should you measure your life by the mistakes you’ve made? Or whether or not you let those mistakes define your life? “Before the Storm” by Diane Chamberlain is a gut-wrenching tale of mistakes, forgiveness, and endurance. This story made me cry. No, not just cry, but sob. This is NOT a happily ever after tale. This is a getting through and learning to live with what life throws at you tale. There’s so much more that you’ll just have to read the book to understand, but I’ll do my best to give you an idea of what to expect.This is the story of Laurel. She met the love of her life in college. Jaime. Jaime who was more saint than sinner. Their life was happy until she bore their first child Maggie and was stuck with a serious case of post partum depression which went untreated but left Laurel unattached to Maggie and feeling like a complete failure…at everything! During a separation, Laurel was pulled from her loneliness by Jaime’s brother Marcus. Marcus was the black sheep to Jaime’s golden boy. He deadened his pain with alcohol, and unintentionally taught Laurel to do the same. Their relationship changed one drunken night, but both agreed NEVER to think about it again. Jaime and Laurel got back together…just in time for Laurel to find out she’s pregnant again. Still depressed and spiraling out of control, she continues to deaden her pain with wine coolers—and gives birth to a child with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. That’s Laurel’s wake-up call to turn her life around.Fourteen years later Laurel is a survivor. ’s life is about to fall apart all over again. She survived Jaime’s death. She survived single parenthood. But now her life is about to fall apart all over again. Her beloved and special son Andy is accused of setting a fire that killed three people, hurt countless others, and destroyed a church. Now she’s fighting to save her son. But there are still secrets to be discovered and the more Laurel learns, the more she wonders if she really knows any of the special people in her life, especially her children.This novel is written mostly in first person, so if that bothers you, you’ve been warned! The story moves between time and perspective. From Laurel’s early life, to Andy’s view of the world, to Marcus’ efforts to be involved, to Maggie’s heartbreaking efforts to become a woman—they’re all here and each characters words drive the story and plot to its inevitable conclusion. The reader feels the pureness of spirit behind Andy’s actions, the enthusiasm and naiveté of Maggie, Laurel’s desperate attempts to atone for her earlier actions, and Marcus’ efforts to become a better man for all of them. I keep deleting parts of this review so as not to give too much away, but it’s so hard. Even with the time and voice changes, I didn’t get confused. Ms Chamberlain has a talent for pulling the reader INTO the story. So many times I found myself wanting to comfort one character or warn another. I felt the small-town ties and the burdens of everyone knowing too much about everyone else and how actions of youth in a small town can and do follow you forever into adulthood. The bias of have vs have not, old-timer vs newcomer, normal vs not normal, family vs family, religion vs religion and all those other things that pretty much define small town America. If I keep writing I’ll just give too much away. So if you’re looking for a sweet, pleasant read, then you should just move on along. If you’re looking for a book that will make you think and worry and cry and laugh and likely hug your loved ones a little harder…then please find a copy of “Before the Storm” by Diane Chamberlain. It’s an emotional, yet cathartic read about life, relationships, and learning.