Willa has never moved on from the sudden and unexpected death of her husband, and it has caused a rift between her and her teenage son, Jamie. After putting it off for 3 years, Willa finally decides to get the beach house where he died prepped for sale. The majority of the book is set at the house, and it is told from both Willa and Jamie's perspectives. Willa is visited by Ben's ghost, and Jamie is struggling to free himself from a horrible high school girlfriend. The book was nicely written, and the characters were likable, but I felt like I kept waiting for something momentous to happen, and that moment never happened for me. Even on the last page, I was hoping for an epilogue.

Every Time You Go Away by Beth Harbison

BROOKE’S REVIEW

Beth Harbison’s Every Time You go Away is an emotional turn for the author that explores the life of a family dealing with the loss of a father and a husband. Willa never recovered from the loss of her husband, and her teenage son Jamie is dealing with his grief in his own maladaptive way. They each long for connection, but they are struggling in the wake of Ben’s unexpected death from a heart problem.

Enter the beach house. The beach house was always a place of connection for the family. After a couple of years, Willa realizes it is time to come and settle her affairs at the home so that she can begin to move on. What she doesn’t expect is to encounter the spirit of her late husband.

With a touch of the supernatural, Harbison creates a feel-good summer read with an emotional edge about love and loss and the value of family. It debuts on July 24, 2018.

AUTHOR

Beth Harbison is The New York Times bestselling author of One Less Problem Without You, If I Could Turn Back Time, Driving with the Top Down, Chose the Wrong Guy, Gave Him the Wrong Finger; When In Doubt, Add Butter; Always Something There To Remind Me; Thin, Rich, Pretty; Hope In A Jar; Secrets of a Shoe Addict; and Shoe Addicts Anonymous. She grew up in Potomac, Maryland, outside Washington, DC, and now shares her time between that suburb, New York City, and a quiet home on the eastern shore.

Every Time You Go Away by Beth Harbison

A sad story about moving on after losing the love of your life. This is a touching, slightly supernatural love story. It might make you remember the movie "Ghost". The story has great characters and descriptive settings. I could hear the hurdy gurdy sounds of the boardwalk, smell the fried food and salt air. The outcome came as no surprise, but it was a quick and entertaining read. I am not into the supernatural thing and this was mostly what the book was about. That said
it is a easy read that you can just breeze through. Kept me interested enough.
I would like to thank St. Martin's Press, Beth Harbison and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a quick, good read that tugged at my heart strings. While the story was truly a work of fiction, I enjoyed getting a glimpse into the relationship between Ben and Willa. Character Willa was well developed and I was able to feel her pain while she relived her husbands death. While I was satisfied with the ending, I would have a liked a prologue that tied up the loose ends, such as, Kelsey and Bens relationship, a future marriage for Willa or more depth into passing characters Phillip and Kyle. All in all, I enjoyed the story.

See my review on goodreads.com

This was a quick and easy read - definitely predictable but still enjoyable. It's a great beach read for those who want something a little deeper than traditional chick lit. It did end a little abruptly - I would have liked an epilogue set in the future with an update on Willa, Jamie and Kelsey.

A haunted beach house. A mourning woman. The stage is set. This is basically a time traveling love story.
Maybe a good summer read, but not enough substance for me.

I liked this book. Every Time You Go Away is the story of Willa who has lost her husband. (Not a spoiler, it happens before the book begins.) Beth Harbison does a good job of taking us through Willa's process of dealing with the loss, raising her teenage son and struggling to move on. While this is a heartbreaking situation, it still is an enjoyable read.I loved Harbison's descriptions of the setting, a cottage and a beach town. I read this book in two days.

This is a great book to read sitting outside on the deck in the summer. The book is well written and the plot moves at a good pace. I enjoyed it.

Dealing with loss is hard for everyone, but Willa has never even begun to heal from the sudden death of her Husband. She struggles to get her life back on track and completely disconnects from her son Jamie. Jaimie is just a child and can not fully grasp what is happening.

Willa finally makes the decision to sell their beach house that holds so many memories for the couple. This is where they met, where their romance began. As soon as they arrive they realize the house needs increadible amounts of work and decides to reach out to her best friend Kristin who also brings her daughter Kelsey with her to join them. Willa is struggling not only to handle the past, but struggling dearly to let go of what is no longer there. She feels like her dead husband is attempting to talk with her. Will she ever be able to let go of the past and rebuild her life with her son?

How do you go on after the death of your husband? How do you raise your son? After 3 years of just going through the motions, Willa has made a decision. The summer home they bought together, she plans to sell. This is the journey of cleaning out the house, updating the decor to get it together to sell. Her best friend Kristin has come to the shore to help her. Eventually her son Jamie and Kristin's daughter Kelsey also come to the shore. It becomes a summer out of time. When the house is ready, can she actually sell it?

4.5 Stars for this emotional read. Not sure I’d recommend it as a beach read, cause the ending had me ugly crying!

Emotional, heartfelt and relatable (to a point) read. Willa is still trying to recover from her husband’s death. To the point where her grief is affecting her relationship with their teenage son, Jamie. Fast forward to a visit to their beach house where Ben died...and he comes to visit with her.

I am a sucker for a good romantic, family read every now and then. Add a visit from beyond. This hit the spot! Memories of Ghost but throw in a little teenage drama. Another plus for me was the setting...Ocean City, MD, a place a visited many times. The author describes this beach town to a T.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone.

This is a sweet and touching, slightly supernatural love story. Filled with witty dialog, great characters and descriptive settings. I could hear the hurdy gurdy sounds of the boardwalk, smell the fried food and salt air. The outcome came as no surprise, but it was a quick and entertaining read.

I loved this book! It was a storyline that hasn’t been done in a while and it was done perfectly! This is a must read!!

If you are looking for a Beach read, you could do worse. The story takes place in Ocean City, Maryland and the author clearly knows her setting. She evokes the sights, the sounds and smells of this summer vacation spot. The twist here is that the narrator returns to her beach house not for summer relaxation but to put it up for sale after her husband's unexpected death at age 40. She has been grieving for 3 years and barely providing support for her teenage son who is naturally enough struggling with his own grief.
The twist to this story is that her dead husband periodically appears to her (and only her) to provide support and comfort and remind her of their shared love story. The book would have been more fun if the narrator weren't such a dope. Too often I found myself impatient with her decisions and the amount of time spent rehashing the same old issues. The most unbelievable aspect of the story was the ease with which she renovated that abandoned house. Of course, being a Beach Read you know it will all work out at the end so I can't be too hard on the cast of characters living or dead.

This is a touching tale of a woman who lost the love of her life and a son who lost his father too soon. It was an easy read with a summer beachy vibe.

The book begins with Willa recovering from the loss of her husband, who died unexpectantly while getting their beach house ready for a visit. Willa decides to get the beach house ready to sell because she can't bear the thought of keeping it without her husband. Her son doesn't want to accompany her, so she goes alone.

When she arrives, she's immediately met with some strange occurrences. The dog won't go into the house. A small boy seems to disappear in front of her eyes.

Her son eventually comes to help her and she discovers some surprises about the home that finally allows her to move on.

Very touching read.

This was the first book I've read by Harbison, but I will definitely look for more.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving a free copy. WOW! A great book. Willa and her son, Jamie, have been dealing with the death of her husband, Ben. The time has come for her to return to their beach home, where Ben died. This book shows the struggles that a grieving family must deal with and how they struggle to move on! I loved this book!

I adore this author and was quite pleased to be given the opportunity to read this book. I loved the premise so dove in immediately. I got a few chapters in and had to put it down. I found Willa to be annoying, incredibly irresponsible and maybe just a little more than normal amount of crazy! She completely abdicated her parental responsibility and was barely living. And really, who has ever found a house that they all but abandoned for 3 years and finds it basically fine. I, like most of us read fiction as a get away and initially found this a little hard to take. I put it down for a few days and went back to it and I am so GLAD I did. This is a story of recovery, learning to move forward and taking back your life and all that goes with it. We all have a little bit of Willa in us. Who wouldn't want someone we loved with every fiber of our being to come back to us? She obviously needed a push to get back to the real world and be the mom and woman she was capable of being and with the help of her beloved husband did just that. I truly enjoyed this book and hope that you find it as uplifting as I did. If you start it and get a little stuck like I did, push through. It is absolutely worth it. It’s a lovely sweet read that is filled with heart.

🏖Beach Read Alert! 🏖
I read this while at the beach with my kiddos and it was the perfect beach read! Its even set at the beach so it was the perfect reading locale. In Beth Harbison's newest, we meet Willa. Willa lost the love of her life suddenly and can't seem to recover. She's been trying to hold it all together at home and for her son Jamie, never going back to their beach house where he passed away. Now the time has come to clean it up and put it on the market, putting the past behind them for good. Until she arrives to the beach house and is overcome with memories and emotions, even being visited by the spirit of her deceased husband Ben. She spends the summer cleaning up the beach house, saying her final goodbyes to Ben, and improving her relationship with her son. With her best friend joining her, as well as her best friends daughter, they enjoy one last summer at the beach. I enjoyed this light, east read. This is a perfect book to curl up on the beach or by the pool with! For me, Every Time You Go Away was ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars. Thank you @stmartinspress for this advance reader in exchange for my honest review. This book hits shelves July 24th! ☀️

I received this book "Every Time You Go Away" from NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own. The description on goodreads is exactly the book I read. This is a very emotional story. Willa and Ben are married and Ben suddenly dies in their beach house. Willa and their son Jamie have not been to the house in a couple of years but it is time to sell now. Willa goes there herself to get the house ready for sale. Ben who has been gone about 3 years seems to be everywhere in the house. Memories... wait! not just memories! Ben is there, well not there but his spirit is. I liked this book and it was a fast read. Very heartwarming.

A pleasant enough way to pass a few hours, but there wasn’t a lot of “meat” to this story.

Years after the sudden death of her husband Ben, Willa hasn’t fully recovered. She finally decides to return to the beach house where he passed. It’s time to move on and put the Ocean City, Maryland house on the market. But will she be able to put aside those memories and do what needs to be done?

Have you seen the movie Ghost? This is what this book reminded me of. Yes, Willa sees the ghost of her husband while at their beach house. If you find this sort of thing unbelievable, silly this book isn’t for you. I don’t believe in ghosts, but I thought it a nice touch to this story. It was a way for Willa to put aside some of her grief and begin to heal.

I’m a meat and potatoes girl and this book didn’t have a lot of either. It dragged and was repetitive in places, but I enjoyed the characters enough to want to see them through until the end.