We Were Never Friends
Sisterhood is a lifetime commitment. Survival is not. The sisters of Theta Gamma Mu are reuniting for a glamorous getaway that is about to turn deadly.
The guest list is packed with secrets. There is Roxy, the ruthless former president hosting the weekend to prove she's still queen bee. She's joined by Amelia, a wealthy, perpetually buzzed widow looking for trouble, and Jamie, a flawless cardiologist hiding a dark habit. Rounding out the group is Beth, the former outsider, and the looming memory of Sunny, the beloved friend they lost to tragedy.
They've gathered at Roxy’s Palm Springs estate to celebrate the engagement of Roxy's son to Beth’s daughter. But the sprawling mansion feels terrifyingly similar to the Desert Sunrise hotel where their Spring Break shattered twenty-five years ago. As toxic resentments and secrets surface, the women are about to learn that the past refuses to stay buried.
- Beth - Celeste’s mother, Theta Gamma Mu sister
- Celeste - Zach’s fiancée, 22
- Zach - Celeste’s fiancé
- Roxy - Zach’s mother, Theta Gamma Mu sister
- Ryan - Roxy’s husband
- Jamie - Greer’s wife, Theta Gamma Mu sister
- Greer - Jamie’s husband
- Amelia - Theta Gamma Mu sister
- Brett - Amelia’s boyfriend
- Sunny - Theta Gamma Mu sister, deceased
- Kat - Ryan’s girlfriend, resembles Sunny
- Beth, Jamie and Amelia are unsettled by how Roxy and Ryan’s desert house reminds them of the Desert Sunrise hotel, where their friend Sunny died years earlier during spring break.
- Sunny was dating Ryan when she died.
- Sunny was found in the pool at the Desert Sunrise. She had a head wound, so the coroner concluded she fell, hit her head and drowned.
- The night Sunny died, Ryan was having sex with Beth in her hotel room.
- Brett goes outside during a dust storm and is found facedown in the pool. Jamie attempts CPR, but it’s no use, he’s dead.
- Ryan announces that he and Roxy are getting a divorce.
- The night Sunny died, Roxy put roofies in her drink to get her out of the way so she could hit on Ryan. Amelia saw Roxy do it and has been blackmailing her to keep quiet ever since.
- Amelia forces Roxy to tell everyone about drugging Sunny.
- Roxy says she got the drugs from Brett, who dealt drugs in college, and that Jamie was one of his customers.
- Jamie stole money from the sorority to fund her addiction.
- Sunny found out and planned to turn in Jamie and Brett after the spring break trip.
- Jamie admits she has been an addict since Sunny’s death.
- A tree crashes through the roof of the house.
- Jamie admits to putting potassium chloride in Brett’s Gatorade to kill him because he threatened to expose her addiction if she didn’t sleep with him.
- Beth, Roxy and Amelia agree to keep Jamie’s secret if she seeks treatment for her addiction, but Amelia plans to blackmail her anyway, just as she did Roxy.
- Ryan tells Beth he has a hidden memorial room for Sunny in the house.
- Amelia killed Sunny because her family had gone bankrupt and Sunny was about to expose that she was no longer wealthy.
- Amelia saw Sunny wandering by the pool. Sunny tripped and hit her head, and Amelia held her under the water until she drowned.
- Amelia thinks she sees Sunny’s ghost, rushes away from the house, crashes her car into a tree and dies.
- It isn’t a ghost, it’s Ryan’s girlfriend Kat, who dresses up like Sunny to make him happy and has been hiding in the house this whole time.
- Zach flies home to Chicago, and Celeste goes to stay with Beth for a few days.
We Were Never Friends by Kaira Rouda is a slow-paced read told through short chapters and a few different character POVs. For a good chunk of the book, it feels repetitive with not a lot going on, mostly just characters cycling through the same thoughts and dwelling on the past. However, I did enjoy hate-reading Amelia's perspective, though I wish Zach and Celeste were a bigger part of the actual story rather than just existing for plot setup. Even with the slower, repetitive moments, it delivers some solid twists at the end but nothing jaw-dropping. This is a good book for anyone who likes a slow read, friends reuniting after many years and secrets being revealed.
- Brett - Dead - Poisoned with potassium chloride by Jamie
- Sunny - Dead - Drowned by Amelia
- Amelia - Dead - Car accident
- Ryan - Alive - Living in his desert house with Kat, who resembles Sunny
- Beth - Alive - Happy to put the past behind her
- Blackmail
- Death
- Drug addiction
- Car accident
- Infidelity
- Stalking
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
ISBN: 9781464266904
Publication Date: February 3, 2026
Note: Details are for the original edition. Other formats, editions, and audiobook versions may be available.
