I received a copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. Every Time You Go Away was an okay book. I found it very predictable. I loved the title but I didn’t think the book followed through.

A sad and yet uplifting story about coping with loss and grief. And fighting through the sadness to continue living. Not everyone will appreciate the paranormal aspect but I thought it added to the storyline and it was well done. A sensitive and lovely book. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc. All opinions are my own.

3.5 stars

Every Time You Go Away is my first book by Beth Harbison and was an interesting first read. It follows Willa as she goes back to her beach house to prepare it to sell. What she doesn’t plan on is encountering her deceased husband’s ghost while she’s getting the house ready to sell.

Ben, the deceased husband, has been given leave to visit Willa and help her move on. Between this and her best friend Kristen, she finally begins to heal and she works on the house.

I can’t imagine what it’s like to lose a spouse, especially so you and with a teenage son to raise. However, I did have a hard time with the fact that after 3 yrs Willa still hasn’t dealt with his death. Her son Jamie has also had to go through high school without a male figure, but seems to be managing okay as he deals with normal teenage angst.

The book was good, but just didn’t resonate highly with me.

Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 starsA novel of love, grief and survival
ByMaggieon July 28, 2018
Format: Kindle Edition
Like the rest of Beth Harbison's books, Every Time You Go Away hooks you into the emotional life of it's characters. In this moving novel, Ms Harbison examines grief, the possibility of spirits after death; spousal and filial love. Lots of synopses of the plot, I won't bore you...but I enjoyed this book a lot, it made me think, and certainly diverted my attention from the heat wave ;)

Beth harribson never disappoints. Her books are fun, sweet and great reads. Her characters are great to get to know and her writing is out of this world.

Thank you Netgalley for this charming story of widow, Willa and her gradual assent from dispair of loosing her husband to learning to enjoy life without him. Her relationship with her son, Jamie also goes through stages that are relateable and convincing.

Every Time You Go Away
Beth Harbison

Beth Harbison’s latest, Every Time You Go Away is a love story and a modern day ghost story complete with a haunted house and a friendly spirit, a bit atypical for her usual light women’s fiction but its also very personal and that emotion is evident in every heartrending page. It’s about a family fractured by death, a mother and son who’re struggling to go on living without the man who meant the world to them. The dual POVs Willa’s 1st person and Jamie’s 3rd is the perfect way to tell this tale. Its not all dark but also filled with light, hope and full of this author’s iconic humor and wit that will bring both tears and laughter from her entranced audience. The conversational dialogue and vivid narrative bring to life the seaside backdrops and the wonderful soundtrack, plus the characters all rock especially Willa, Jamie and the ghost, but it’s the comforting outlook on the afterlife and how the haunting by her late husband helps Willa’s healing albeit she’s kicking and screaming the whole way that are the real stand outs. Harbison’s fans plus fans of the genre will devour this in one sitting and I personally hold her responsible for having “Every Time You Go Away by Paul Young on a non-stop loop in my head!
SUMMARY:
In the three years since the untimely and totally unexpected death of her husband Ben, Willa Bennett stopped living too. Oh she gets up every morning and teaches English during the school year, buys groceries etc… but that’s only existing. She should have been being a good mother to their then fourteen-year-old son Jamie who, hello lost his father and then his mother too. Well enough is enough, it’s time for a fresh start and first thing on the agenda is going to their beloved Ocean City MD beach house, the place where Ben died in his sleep. Clean it up, clear it out and sell it. But then she starts getting haunted by her dead husband, or maybe she’s just finally lost it completely.
Meanwhile back home in Potomac Virginia Jamie now seventeen has his own drama-filled life to deal with. Unlike other kids he’s mostly left alone by his mom and it’s his slightly psycho girlfriend who hovers, a girlfriend he’s finally had enough of but trying to dump her is proving to be a bit on the difficult side. As far as his mom goes, he knows she was hit hard when his dad died, they were devoted to each other and as a kid he felt like they had the perfect family, but he kind of lost her too and he’s not sure if he wants her back or if it’s too late to try. What he does know is that he does NOT want to go to the beach house and help her pack up a place that holds so many good memories for him.

I don’t even know where to begin. I loved this book!! This is a story about Willa, a widow, who needs to learn how to move on with her son after her husband passes away. The book takes place three years after her husband, Ben, dies at their beach house. Willa has been going through the motions and hasn’t been living in the present. Her relationship with her 17 year old son is strained. When Willa decides to sell the house where Ben died, she enlists her son, her best friend and her best friend’s daughter’s help to clean up the house to make it sellable. It is during this that Willla learns how to move on.
This book made me laugh and cry. It made me want to race the next chapter. I couldn’t put it down. The characters were well developed. The story flowed well. My emotions were on a roller coaster. I can’t say enough about this book. It really showed how love transcends time and space.

Great story. This is my first book that I've read by this author. I will definitely read more. Very emotional story. Highly recommended.

When Willa's husband been dies she is devastated and feels unable to function without him, even though they have a son Jamie........Jamie feels like he has lost both of his parents, his mother is still there but not functioning! After a few years Willa decides that she wants to clear out the beach house and sell it as there are too many memories there and so she enlists the help of Jamie.... who really doesn't want to do it.... and her best friend Kristin and her daughter Kelsey..... but are there too many ghosts in the house and how will Jamie get on with Kelsey

A good storyline with a lot of emotion and you can't help but feel for Willa with her grief, but as a mother shouldn't she be thinking of Jamie first, but still an enjoyable read

3 years after the loss of her husband Willa decides its time to get the beach house ready to sell. She and her son Jamie have not dealt with the loss of Ben well. They are having trouble moving on. Going back to the beach house where Ben took his last breath is going to be difficult. The unexpected happens and Ben helps here move on.

It seems like it's been a while since I've read Beth Harbison, so it looks like I have some titles to catch up on. And maybe a re-read of some old favorites like Hope in a Jar and Shoe Addicts Anonymous. This story is more in the realm of women's fiction than chick lit, which is not always my preferred genre, but good writing is good writing and I found that I didn't need the romance hook to draw me into this story.

Our heroine of this story is a grieving widow raising a teenage son. Willa lost her husband unexpectedly and way too soon, and for the last 3 years she has been lost in her grief, feeling sad and alone. She has lost touch with her teenage son, Jamie, who seems to be acting out in teenage rebellion. The story sees Willa returning to the beach house where her husband died, and they had many happy memories as a couple and family. Getting the house ready for sale is a kind of torture for Willa, especially when she begins seeing her dead husband, Ben, as emotions run high.

Willa was a sympathetic heroine, and though I couldn't relate to her, my heart certainly went out to her. I thought she handled the sightings of Ben well, and didn't go off the rails thinking herself crazy. I loved the Ghost feel to the story, and even could easily see Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze as lead characters. Ben's character alone added something unique to the story, and I liked the aura of peace he conveyed about the afterlife, and his surety they would be together again.

The POV for the story switched between Willa and Jamie. We see Jamie go from a rebellious teen to a more mature and understanding young man. I liked the person that he became. Watching he and Willa repair their relationship and come to terms with their grief was nice.

Overall, this story was in turns melancholy and uplifting. It was a well-written portrayal of grief and healing, that appealed to even me, a self-professed romance junkie. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from the publisher, St. Martin's Press.

This book did not do it for me. There is a lot of internal monologue and not a lot of dialogue, and for this, the book felt drawn out. While reading on my phone, I swiped three “pages” of Willa explaining how she was brushing her teeth. Seems a bit much to me. The book could have been shorter if the nonsense information was left out.

The premise of the story was good, and with the above issues resolved, I think I would have liked it.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

This was a very touching and emotional read. There was quite a bit of supernatural activity that I wasn't expecting, but I actually didn't mind it at all and felt it was very well done. It has been three years since Willa's husband Ben died of a heart attack in their beach house. In those three years she never went back to that beach house but finally decides it is time to go there and get it ready to put on the market. She goes there alone, her seventeen year old son Jamie refusing to go with her, and almost immediately upon arriving feels Ben's presence around her. Many, many things need to be done in the house, repairs, cleaning, and painting that she begins to feel overwhelmed. And she is also a little freaked out about actually seeing Ben's ghost in the house. Eventually her good friend Kristin arrives to help her as well as her son Jamie, and later Kristin's daughter, Kelsey. There are wonderful memories for all of them of summers spent together at that beach house. And even with the her son and friends there to help Willa, she continues to see and have conversations with Ben. The scenes between Willa and her husband Ben's ghost are uplifting and sad at the same time. Why is he there? Is he trying to get her to move on with her life without him? Will she be able to sell that home with all its beautiful memories?

I enjoyed this book very much. It dealt with the unbearable loss of a loved one, coping with the grief, and finding the strength to move on. There were some humorous moments as well that brought some lightness to the story. I thought this was a beautifully written book that I just couldn't put down.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance review copy.

If you are looking for the perfect beach read for 2018, this is it! Although the story centers around the grieving process after losing someone unexpectedly, there is still a feeling of warmth and love throughout. I'm sure the beach setting contributed a lot to this.

Not only is there warmth and nostalgia, but the heart wrenching feeling of loss is constant throughout but not in a depressing way. There is a little bit of paranormal or ghost story involved but definitely not one that I rolled my eyes at - not even once. Beth Harbison sets a scene that the reader just falls right into. I felt as if I was a character watching everything unravel as it happened. And not only that, but I felt a sense of peace wash over me as well.

I will carry these characters with me for a couple of days now after completing this book. I might even start looking for a beachside summer home near a boardwalk that I can spend summers at with my family and friends because I want to recreate how the book made me feel.

I can tell you exactly when I lost my will to live. A great start to Every time you go away by Beth Harbison. Enjoyed the storyline the only complaint I had was I wanted more at the end. But the writing and dialogue was great. Hope there will be a sequel in the future. Look forward to reading more by author.

This was an emotional and sad story about a woman dealing with grief and ignoring her also grieving son in the process. Willa knows she needs to do better and decides a summer at the beach house where her husband died is the best place to reconnect with the Willa she used to be.
The story was well written and I can find no fault with it really, but still I didn't connect to the story or feel much of anything for the characters, aside from their son Jamie. There are some supernatural elements but they were benign enough that it didn't bother me.
It dragged in places but I think that was to convey the grief so I'm not knocking off any stars or parts of stars for it.

Willa’s husband died three years ago. It seems that she has just been going through the motions since, not being able to be the person she was and mother to her teenage son, Jamie. She now goes to the beach house that she hasn’t been to since Ben’s death with the intention of selling the house. The house needs work and she is flooded by memories of Ben. She starts to hear Ben’s voice and finally is able to see him. As she works on the house, she is joined by her best friend, Kristen, Kristin’s daughter Kelsey and her son Jamie. All of them reflect upon their current situation and their memories of happy times at the beach. Willa and Jamie both need to heal from their loss and make decisions about their futures. I found this a beautiful story.

This will be reviewed under the name IrishEyes430 on Amazon, B&N, and Kobo and Goodreads under the name Robin Lee.

Every Time You Go Away is the first book I have read by this accomplished author. Beth Harbison gives an emotionally intense story of loss, grief, disconnecting then follows it up with reconnection, fond memories and second chance. Not at all what I thought from reading the blurb and seeing the cover.

Well written plot that pulls you in to the past and the present as memories are revealed and shared. Much like the abandoned beach house, Willa needs to repair and rebuild so much that overwhelming grief has left in disarray. Every Time You Go Away is a compassionate and thoughtful book with a special twist.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy from St. Martin's Press for my unbiased opinion of the book. I loved this book. I could not read it fast enough. Beth Harbison is one of my new favorite authors I discovered last year. This is a story of Willa and her son who are learning to move forward after her unexpected death of her husband Ben. It was a very moving story about dealing with a loss of a loved one and how to move forward with your new normal and not so normal. I do not want to give it away, but you will enjoy this book from cover to cover!