Claire's Story: Strength

She thought she knew what friendship meant. Then her best friend taught her what betrayal felt like.

Claire Dixon thought Valerie Mulroney was her sister in every way that mattered.

They'd been best friends since childhood, inseparable through braces and heartbreaks and late-night confessions. When Claire went off to UT Austin with her boyfriend Diego and her best friend by her side, she thought she had everything figured out.

She didn't know that everything was about to fall apart.

Now Claire is back in Glenn Lake, living with her grandfather, working as a house cleaner, and pretending she's fine. She tells herself the past doesn't matter anymore. She tells herself she's moved on.

Then Mandy assigns her to clean the Mulroney house. For a graduation party. And a baby shower.

For Valerie.

Who is pregnant with Diego's baby.

Suddenly, all of Claire's carefully constructed walls come crashing down. She can keep running, or she can finally face the truth she's been hiding from. But when an unexpected crisis throws her into Valerie's path, Claire discovers that strength isn't about holding grudges or pretending the pain doesn't exist. Sometimes strength means staying when everything in you wants to leave.

A moving story about betrayal, healing, and the complicated nature of forgiveness, Claire's Story: Strength is the fifth book in the Finding Herself series.

Books can be read in any order, but best for characters development to be read in order.