Before Ever After: A Novel"A smartly written romance, mystery and historical adventure all wrapped up in a page-turner that will have you guessing until the very end." – Adena Halpern, author of The Ten Best Days of My Life Three years after her husband Max's death, Shelley feels no more adjusted to being a widow than she did that first terrible day. That is, until the doorbell rings. Standing on her front step is a young man who looks so much like Max--same smile, same eyes, same age, same adorable bump in his nose--he could be Max's long-lost relation. He introduces himself as Paolo, an Italian editor of American coffee table books, and shows Shelley some childhood photos. Paolo tells her that the man in the photos, the bearded man who Paolo says is his grandfather though he never seems to age, is Max. Her Max. And he is alive and well. As outrageous as Paolo's claims seem--how could her husband be alive? And if he is, why hasn't he looked her up?--Shelley desperately wants to know the truth. She and Paolo jet across the globe to track Max down--if it is really Max. Along the way, Shelley recounts the European package tour where they had met. As she relives Max's stories of bloody Parisian barricades, medieval Austrian kitchens, and buried Roman boathouses, Shelley begins to piece together the story of who her husband was and what these new revelations mean for her "happily ever after." And as she and Paolo get closer to the truth, Shelley discovers that not all stories end where they are supposed to. |
Contents
Section 1 | 1 |
Section 2 | 3 |
Section 3 | 7 |
Section 4 | 28 |
Section 5 | 49 |
Section 6 | 59 |
Section 7 | 69 |
Section 8 | 79 |
Section 17 | 194 |
Section 18 | 212 |
Section 19 | 221 |
Section 20 | 231 |
Section 21 | 242 |
Section 22 | 255 |
Section 23 | 259 |
Section 24 | 273 |
Section 9 | 106 |
Section 10 | 118 |
Section 11 | 130 |
Section 12 | 141 |
Section 13 | 148 |
Section 14 | 158 |
Section 15 | 173 |
Section 16 | 188 |
Section 25 | 281 |
Section 26 | 284 |
Section 27 | 287 |
Section 28 | 294 |
Section 29 | 295 |
Section 30 | 297 |
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Common terms and phrases
Abbot Thomas Adrien Altinum Antoine arms Austria baked eggs barn Basilisk Bee Gees believe boat Boracay Brad Brad's Brother Aidan campers cheek chest chickens closed Communards Dex asked Dex's door egg timer eyes face feel felt fingers Five Years Ago Gestrin grabbed grinned hair hand head Herculaneum inside Isabelle Isabelle's Jonathan Josef Julien kissed knew lips live Livia Ljubljana LJUBLJANICA Marcus Marija Max's Maximus Miren morning never night nodded Nonno okay pain Paolo Paris Commune Pavel Père Lachaise PHILIPPINES pulled remember river Rose Sari SCHOTTENSTIFT Shelley asked Shelley looked Shelley thought Shelley's shoulder sighed Simon asked sleep Slovenia smiled soup stared stood story Swiss Swiss mercenary sword tears tell thing told took Torcello tour turned Uri's Veneria Venice Viktor voice waiting walked wanted watched wondered