BookPeople Presents: Kaira Rouda - We Were Never Friends

Please welcome Kaira Rouda and May Cobb to celebrate We Were Never Friends!

This event is free and open to the public.

• Start time: 7:00 P.M.
• Run time: 45-60 minutes, followed by a signing line.
• Location: The second floor of BookPeople.

The author will be signing and personalizing copies of the book after the speaking portion of the event.

• To get a book signed, a copy of the event book or an item of equal value must be purchased from BookPeople.
• For high volume events, post-talk signing lines can become very long. For such events, we recommend arriving and checking in to the event early as that will get you into an earlier signing group.

Guidelines:

• Seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis and is not guaranteed.

• If you have any other questions, please visit our Eventbrite FAQ. If your question isn't covered in the FAQ, feel free to email us at [email protected].
• All event guidelines are subject to change.
• BookPeople reserves the right to cancel or postpone this event if necessary.
• There will not be a live stream or recording available.

About the book:

Beneath designer outfits and practiced smiles lie secrets that refuse to die in USA Today bestselling author Kaira Rouda’s WE WERE NEVER FRIENDS, a powder keg, high society thriller about four sorority sisters who reunite in Palm Springs despite what happened twenty-five years ago to celebrate what should have been a joyous occasion.

They've been summoned to Roxy's luxurious vacation home to celebrate the engagement of her son to Beth’s daughter. But the painstakingly refurbished midcentury estate is eerily reminiscent of the hotel where tragedy struck during Spring Break where six sisters became five. Long-simmering tensions and shocking secrets begin bubbling to the surface like bodies—because while the weekend was supposed to be about celebrating the future, it's not so easy to bury the past…

WE WERE NEVER FRIENDS is a thrilling toxic brew where five sisters vying for main character status will bring the house down in an unputdownable, riveting train wreck full of dark humor and bad behavior perfect for fans of Shari Lapena, Mary Kubica, and B. A. Paris.

Meet the sorority sisters of Theta Gamma Mu:

• Roxy Callahan Gentry, the ruthless former sorority president and current hostess who has painstakingly choreographed every detail of this weekend—even matching the cocktails to her couture—to prove that she remains their undisputed queen
• Amelia Dell, the widow drenched in old money and alcohol, with her big pot-stirring spoon and uninvited boy-toy in tow
• Jamie Vale, the double-legacy pledge, straight-A student with no sparkle, now a top cardiologist with a picture-perfect family—and a well-guarded bad habit
• Beth Harrison, the scholarship student who never quite fit in and was only admitted because her best friend Sunny insisted that the two were a package deal
• Sunny Spencer, the carefree and beloved friend to all, or so it seemed—until she wasn't

About the author:

KAIRA ROUDA is the USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of contemporary fiction exploring what goes on beneath the surface of seemingly perfect lives. SheReads has named her latest novel WE WERE NEVER FRIENDS a most anticipated mystery thriller for 2026. Her novels have been translated into more than a dozen languages, and have been selected by Library Reads, Amazon and Apple Books Editors as Best Books of the Month and Strand Magazine’s Best Book of the Year. She lives in Southern California with her family.

About the moderator:

May Cobb is the bestselling author of The Hunting Wives, The Hollywood Assistant, My Summer Darlings, and more. Her thriller, The Hunting Wives, is soon to be a series on STARZ, and her books have received attention from Book of The Month, The Today Show, and O, The Oprah Magazine. She has an M.A. from San Francisco State University and her essays and interviews have appeared in The Washington Post and Good Housekeeping. She currently lives in Austin with her family, where she has a love/hate relationship with the Texas summer heat.

By purchasing a book from BookPeople, you are not only supporting a local, independent business – you’re showing publishers that they should continue sending authors to BookPeople.

Thank you for supporting Kaira Rouda, May Cobb, and your local independent bookstore!

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