I loved "Good Grief" by this author but this one is a miss for me. It is somewhat a relatable story but it kind of fizzled out. I was disappointed. Hopefully her next book will be better.

This novel is told from the alternating perspectives of two sad characters. Rudy is in his 50s when his wife dies suddenly, so he is struggling with grief while working as the piano player at Nordstrom. His colleague Sasha sells watches at Nordstrom; she is a Hungarian immigrant still struggling over grief from the death of her young daughter several years before, and her deadbeat husband has left her. As their friendship starts to bring them back to life and maybe love you think you see where this book is going - until (slight spoilers ahead) Rudy spends most of the second half of the book on the psychiatric ward for his grief related depression.

So, this was a strange one for me - I liked the start but just did not expect the book to go in that direction and still am not sure why it did. Nor do I understand why there were just a few flashback chapters from the perspective of Rudy’s dead wife. Or why briefly there was a plot line introduced about whether Rudy’s wife was actually murdered that never was really developed and then just abandoned.

Many years ago, I read Lolly Winston’s book Good Grief and absolutely loved it, but this one just fell kinda flat for me.

This is one I got from Netgalley years ago and never got around to reading, so I decided to borrow the audio version from the library that way and I’m glad I did. The narration by Cassandra Campbell and especially George Newbern is terrific and definitely helped enliven a not so great book.

After losing your wife, how soon is too soon to fall in love again? Rudy’s wife passes away suspiciously, he is downsized from his job and now working as a piano player at Nordstrom where he meets and connects with Sasha, another employee there.

I was invested in Rudy’s story and wanted to see where things would go with Sasha, but I found the book hard to get into and it didn’t always hold my interest. It took me longer than normal to finish because of this.

** spoiler alert ** I have started this book so many times and this time I was determined to finish it. It is a sweet book about a man who has lost his wife suddenly and is struggling with overwhelming loss. He manages to learn how to deal with his grief when his daughter admits him into the hospital in the psych ward. Eventually he begins his life again and realizes that learning to love someone else does not mean he no longer loves his wife.
What I didn't like about the book: to be completely honest, I think I've just been surrounded by death so much in real life that I didn't want to escape into a book where death is also present. The book also seems to really go slow. This also sets the mood of his depression though.
What I liked about the book: I like that the psych ward is perceived in a good light. It's true that the patients are not "nut jobs" but ordinary people that were dealth hard blows in life and just needs a little help managing it all. I also liked that it portrayed that even people that we view as perfect, have their own battles. And that love can come twice in a a lifetime.

Emotionally charged. This book is about loss, grief, and second chances.
The strong female character is a strong point in this book. Though it took me a few tried to engage with the story.

A story of moving on and second chances at love.

When Rudy wakes up one morning and realizes that his 54 year old wife died in her sleep, he's mad at the world. He had just taken his wife, Bethany, to the doctor the day before and she was sent home with gas meds. Now Rudy is trying to navigate his life without his wife. Having recently been downsized at work, he now plays the piano at Nordstrom part-time. There he has a work friend, Sasha, who is trying to move on after filing for divorce from her alcoholic husband.

Sasha knows grief and can relate to Rudy's loss. She lost her daughter when she was a just a child. The bond they have now has brought them closer than ever. Changing their relationship from friends to more.

Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review. This was an enjoyable book.

I was looking forward to reading this book. But, unfortunately, it could not hold my interest. It felt all over the place and I quickly lost focus. There was not much story and it just fell flat. I wish there had been more character development.

Such a great book. Makes for a wonderful read. I can not wait to read more from this author. I love books like this.

This did not hold my interest. I tried a few times and could not get into it. I decided not to post an online review.

I was looking forward to reading this book. But, unfortunately, it could not hold my interest. It felt all over the place and I quickly lost focus. There was not much story and it just fell flat. I wish there had been more character development. Even if a story line is not great, if the characters are fleshed out well, I find I may still enjoy the book. Oh well! Sorry it just did not work for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

August is the month where I plan on tackling my tbr focusing on ARCs. I decided to start with a contemporary romance called Me for You by Ms. Lolly Winston. I’m super proud and happy that I can take this one off the list and submit feedback since it’s been almost a year and 5 months since I got this ebook. (Yes it's embarrassing to admit that length of time but better late then never). This wasn't my only time trying to read this book though. I picked it up 3 times before but could never make it past the first chapter without moving on to another book.

It was nice reading a story about an older couple who start off as friends. It isn't easy finding books where the characters are in their 40s or 50s. The thing is that the plot isn't too original. A woman leaves a man who is no good to her and a man is a widow who still isn't over his wife's untimely death. They meet at work and soon something develops between them. There is a bond of moving on from the loss of a family member for both of them, and it was nice that they could share their grief with each other without the other feeling like they weren't moving on or living in the present. Mourning their loved one actually bought them closer together. The problem was that I felt most of the characters weren't flushed out enough.

Rudy and Sasha feel like coworkers that I talk to at work and can share a little bit of personal information with but we probably wouldn't keep in touch much once they left. After over 300 pages this isn't how I want to feel! It's even less with the side characters. I only cared about them because they were important nostalgic moments for the main characters but didn't know too much about them except what was shared in flashbacks. We got a few chapters of flashbacks from Rudy's wife, Bethany, but they didn't really add anything to the story. They honestly felt like filler that could have been better used to make us care more about the other characters.

If someone was to ask me how the best way to read this book was then I would definitely suggest the audiobook. This is a slow paced book that focuses more on emotions and thoughts of the two main characters than actions taking place in their lives, which is going to make it difficult for some readers to care about the story after a while. Personally, the only way I could retain my interest in the story was by adding the audiobook as Mr. George Newbern and Ms. Cassandra Campbell added depth to the characters that wasn't super present just reading off the pages. I don't feel like the plot was super memorable but the narration performances help buoyed the story along.

Me For You is a well written, lovely and bittersweet story about two people whose lives are sidelined by unimaginable tragedy, but who meet and come together to survive in spite of their sorrow.
I absolutely loved this book. It was a wonderful read and I highly recommend it to anyone. Thank you to NetGalley, the author Lolly Winston, and the publisher Touchstone Gallery Books for the delightful experience of reading an ARC of this book. I recommend this book.

I will not be reviewing this book. It is a book that I typically would gravitate to, however, for some reason my timing is off, and it has not held my interest. instead of giving it a poor review, I will read and review at a later time. thank you.

Me for You by Lolly Winston is a story of a man named Rudy who wakes up one morning to discover that his wife passed away in her sleep. He tries to save her, but is unsuccessful. Rudy is still dealing with his grief when he meets Sasha, who works in the watch department of the store he plays piano at.

Definitely an emotional journey following Rudy and seeing how he tries to live life and still be true to his beloved wife.

Lolly Winston never fails to deliver a heartfelt emotional story! Loved Me for You and can't wait for her next book.

Rudy spoke to his wife Bethany for ten minutes before he realized she was dead. It was a Saturday morning and both were off.Rudy was a part time piano player and Bethany , a hospital pharmacist.

What an emotional roller coaster Me For You was! One morning Rudy wakes up to find that his wife Bee has died in her sleep. He tries to resuscitate her, but to no avail. He is then forced to return to his job as a piano player in a high-end department store. He befriends Sasha, who works in the watches section of the department store. But one day Rudy begins to have delusions that his name is being called over the PA system. This leads him to fall into a deep depression and eventually his daughter convinces him to check into the medical psych department of the hospital. As he begins to deal with and heal from the sudden loss of his wife, he also begins to have feelings for Sasha. Me For You was an emotional journey that had me feeling high, then low, then hopeful all over again. I absolutely loved this book and will recommend it to anyone who will listen!

Me For You is a well written, lovely and bittersweet story about two people whose lives are sidelined by unimaginable tragedy, but who meet and come together to survive in spite of their sorrow.

Fifty six year old Rudy wakes up one morning to find that his wife has died in her sleep. He is beside himself with grief and guilt. But life continues and Rudy returns to his job as a piano player in Nordstom, where he and Sasha work part time. Sasha is a Hungarian immigrant who has endured the drowning death of her young daughter Stefi, and her drunken, abusive husband's abandonment of her for a younger woman. Their friendship is a life raft of sorts for both of them and when Rudy is hospitalized for depression, Sasha's nightly visits help to cement their attraction.

I absolutely loved this book. It was a wonderful read and I highly recommend it to anyone. Thank you to Netgalley, the author Lolly Winston, and the publisher Touchstone Gallery Books for the delightful experience of reading an ARC of this book. This is my sincere opinion.

Me for You is a story of a middle aged man named Rudy who wakes up one morning to find his wife lying beside him dead, having passed away in the night. He tries his best to revive and save her, but nothing can be done. A year later Rudy is still trying to navigate through his grief and figure out how to move on from losing the love of his life. In walks Sasha, his coworker who he's had a mild crush on for years and a romance begins to develop. Despite his feelings for Sasha, he still struggles emotionally with grief, depression, and survivor's guilt which lands him a first class ticket to the hospital for some targeted therapy.

I think I enjoyed the first half of this book more than I enjoyed the second half. It showed a lot of promise early on and I liked where I thought the story was headed. And then all of a sudden there were too many plot lines happening at once and it threw me off. It had a lot of potential, but the numerous plot lines left it scattered and not a lot actually transpired.