New suspenseful novel is out: ‘We Were Never Friends’

A new suspenseful novel, written by an Arizona author and titled “We Were Never Friends,” follows Roxy Callahan Gentry’s wild adventure.

Kaira Rouda, author of “We Were Never Friends,” joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss her novel.

Roxy calls her former sisters of the Theta Gamma Mu sorority back to her Palm Springs vacation home to celebrate her son’s engagement. Amelia is an old-money widow who brings her uninvited boyfriend to the reunion, Jamie is a cardiologist with a bad habit, Sunny is the carefree member of the group and then there’s Beth, whose daughter is engaged to Roxy’s son.

Roxy’s home is more than just a fun place to gather, as it’s eerily similar to a hotel that the sorority sisters visited decades ago during spring break when tragedy struck. Over the course of the weekend, tension spreads, suspense is unveiled and secrets will resurface for them all.

“As well all know…people closest to us can sometimes surprise us,” Rouda said, “…in this case, these are a group of four close friends, and now not so much.”

Rouda emphasized how fun it was to write a setting like the one displayed in this novel, as the story places this group of women in an elegant mansion.

“When people are very concerned about perfection, because we all know perfection is an illusion, so when people are too concerned about that, that’s all the conflict,” Rouda said.

Rouda had always wanted to be a writer, going back to when she was in the third grade, when she wrote a letter to her favorite author, Robert McCloskey. While McCloskey is an illustrator, he wrote back to her, which helped inspire him to stay within the literature field.

“I was speaking around the country, and telling women it’s never too late to live the life of your dreams,” Rouda explained, “…and someone in the audience in Austin said…’ have you done it’…kind of inspired me.”