Before Goodbye

A RITA Award finalist, Best First Book.

Music means more than anything to high school student Cate Reese; it s also what unites her with Cal Woods. Devoted classical guitar players, Cate and Cal are childhood friends newly smitten by love until a devastating car accident rips Cal out of Cate s life forever. Blaming herself for the horrific tragedy and struggling to surface from her despair, Cate spirals downhill in a desperate attempt to ease her pain.

Fellow student David Bennet might look like the school s golden boy, but underneath the surface the popular athlete battles demons of his own. Racked with survivor s guilt after his brother s suicide, things get worse when tragedy darkens his world again but connecting with Cate, his sister s longtime babysitter, starts bringing the light back in.

As Cate and David grow closer, the two shattered teenagers learn to examine the pieces of their lives and, together, find a way to be whole again.