Almost Strangers

Almost Strangers is the beginning of Jacob Decker and Pria Walker’s love story. Jacob and Matt are at the college book store when Pria catches Jacobs eye. He instantly knows that she is the one for him. Pria isn’t so sure that he isn’t crazy, but eventually becomes his friend. Pria has a lot going on at home and has always been home schooled. This semester of college is her chance for a normal life outside of the craziness of her household. Jacob and Pria fall in love hard and fast. They’re only together for a short amount of time before Pria disappears and Jacob is left heartbroken. This book is aBout finding your first love and experiencing your first heart break. I felt awful for both characters and I’m looking forward to reading the next book to see how their story plays out.

The beginning of this duet took me a bit to get into but I think I was just resisting the angst I knew was going to come. These Deckers are a gut punch you don't see coming.

Jacob and Pria absolutely broke my heart in a way that I thought even the happiest of happily ever afters wouldn't help me get over it. The first part of this duet made me insanely happy that I could dive right in to the conclusion.

After listening to and loving Claudia Burgoa’s “Unexpected Everlasting” Duet, I was looking forward to return to the amazing Decker world she created and to hear Ansley’s brothers’ story. Each duet features a different Decker triplet and stands on its own, but the siblings and their parents appear in each other’s book and while you need not have to have read the other’s books, I think it is best that you do. Not only are they amazing stories, but timelines overlap and knowing the other’s back story is beneficial, beside seeing them again is like seeing an old friend. This book is the start of Jacob and Pria’s story and wow, what a story it is, it is one not to be missed and I can not wait to start the next book in the duet, so happy it is already available. This story had me right from the start, grabbing my attention and captivating it straight to the end. After being homeschooled their entire life, the two Decker brothers were off to college and ready for the entire college experience. I love the camaraderie amongst the triplets and these two together are hilarious without even trying to be with their back-and-forth bickering, also loved how they are missing their sister, the more responsible one of the three. Cipriana “Pria” Walker, a freshman at UW, she is going to make the most of her time in college, for however long that may be. Her parents are always looking for the best places in the country for treatment for her sister, Maeve, who has Cystic Fibrosis. Her demanding overprotective mother asks a lot of her too, including being the caregiver for her sister, who she loves dearly. When Jacob throws the worst pickup lines on her, she just blows him off, but their paths cross again and he is persistent and will not give up on her. It was great to watch these two get to know each other and see it morph into young love, one that was supposed to be everlasting. Except Pria needs to go back home and knowing he is destined to be a big rockstar one day she makes a foolish decision to let him go. He does not except that and it turns out to be disastrous for him and when she realizes she made a mistake, she finds out he was gone and it she was too late. This is a beautifully written and plotted story of first love and heartache, the emotions pour off the pages and straight into your heart and you can feel every single one. Claudia Burgoa, thank you for this exceptional love story and emotional rollercoaster ride.

🎧📚🎧 And for the fabulous narration, Joe Arden and Stephanie Nemeth-Parker do an amazing job bringing these characters to life, and did so with a complete understanding of each of their personas. I loved how they took each role, ran with it and made it their own, sounding natural in that role and believable. Besides nailing it in the lead roles, both were just as fabulous performing the roles of the secondary characters too. You could hear how much heart they put into their work as they capture all the character’s emotions and project them into their performance, making you feel every single one. These superbly talented narrators are entertaining storytellers and versatile voice artists. Thank you for another exceptional listen, it is always a pleasure to listen to your performances.