Product Description

Emily Thomas is a successful New York attorney who enjoys a happy homelife with her beautiful partner. Beth Sayers was the childhood best friend with whom she shared big dreams as they grew up in Pueblo, Colorado. Inseparable by age nine, together they learned about life, each other, themselves, and most importantly love.

When Emily hears of Beth's death at the age of 34, after more than a decade of estrangement, she must piece together her tumultuous past and come to terms with the defining relationship in her life. Why had her friendship with Beth deteriorated and what part of herself had she lost with it?

First is Emily's journey back to Colorado, back to her childhood, and back to face the ghost of a woman who had captured her heart and never really let it go.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #280625 in Books
• Published on: 2006-04-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 248 pages

Customer Reviews

Tear jerker all the way through!
If you are looking for a good cry, this book is for you! First is not your typical feel good book. First paints a very realistic picture of friendship, love, loss, regret, and a peace that can only come from within. It shows just how two joined at the hip girls grow-up and deal with life's issues in a very different way. Beth--- full-force, no stopping or backing down, and you are who you are. While Emily was the otherside of that beautiful coin. Emily---insecure, focused on her future, loyal, and not yet willing to except who she is and to whom her heart belongs to. This book tells the story of soul mates that just can't be...
I really enjoyed this heart-wrenching story. The characters and the story itself are very believable. Kim Pritekel weaves this story between the present and a past that just may want to be forgotten. But your past is what makes you the person you are in the present!

First, Last, and Everything In Between
Warning: This book is riddled with regret, insecurity, and disappointment. But, it's also filled with passion, desire, self-discovery, growing up, love, memories, hope, and so much more.

Emily Thomas receives news that her childhood best friend, Beth, has died. Emily's current partner is immensely patient with her as she grieves for what never was. The story is a series of flashbacks to moments Emily and Beth shared over the course of their lives. It deals with their first kiss, their first semi-sexual experience, their first disappointments, their first real loves.

It didn't help that Emily and Beth came from very different home situations (Emily's stable and Beth's very much not), but the friends had an intense love for each other that Emily didn't understand until it was too late to share it with Beth.

This was wonderfully written and dealt with a difficult subject with grace. A truly talented writer, I know KP has written many more wonderful stories (available via fan fiction web sites), and hope to more of her work published in the future.

Unforgettable
The story begins when Emily Thomas receives a phone call to tell her of the death of her best friend, Beth. It is the story of these two women - of two souls connected by a bond that began in childhood and never really ended, though they have been estranged for ten years.

The story is well-structured with each chapter just drawing you into the next. It weaves back and forth in time as Emily relives her past with Beth, needing to understand what happened to her friend during those lost years they were separated.

Through her reminiscing we meet Beth. Stronger than just about anyone Emily has ever met, yet amazingly fragile in other ways. Beth, who loved her from the moment they met, but Emily was torn between her longing for her best friend, and her constant worry about what people might think.

This story-within-a-story is heart-wrenching but beautiful, reaffirming and unforgettable. It is erotic, passionate, romantic and full of that angst we all love.

The characters are far from perfect and sometimes aren't even likable, but are very human. They are characters that have lived their lives and have been molded by the harsh realities of their experiences.

I found it utterly stunning in its emotional impact.