If you are dealing with the loss of a spouse or a child, this may not be the book for you. Author Lolly Winston tells an accurate portrayal of both, Rudy who lost his beloved wife Bethany and Sasha, who lost her little girl who drowned at a neighbor's pool.

Rudy and Sasha both work at the same department store, Rudy as a piano player and Sasha as a salesman in the watch department. Sasha enjoys listening to Rudy as he plays, and he plays tunes that originated from Sasha's homeland. Rudy, the kind and gentle man that he is, enjoys pleasing Sasha with his song choices.

Winston throws in a lot of twists and turns, none which really add much to the storyline. Someone confesses to murdering Bethany, their daughter's marriage falls apart, Sasha's husband comes back to her after years of being gone, Rudy ends up in a psyc ward and the man confessing to the murder was lying.

I thought the characters were charming and I really hope that Sasha and Rudy get together! I think they deserve one another and it is apparent that Rudy is smitten with Sasha.

While the book may be a bit overdone, it would be an excellent choice for a book club. How people imagine or experience grief is unique to all, but there are some universals that would make a great discussion. There is a wonderful book club guide here.

Thanks for the copy, NetGalley!

This book just wasn't for me. I found it to be very depressing as it dwelled so much on the grief. It was well written and at least had a happy ending.

Me For You is an honest look at how Rudy grieves for his beloved wife Bethany. While some of his grieving process is extreme, I don’t think it is uncommon. As a pharmacist, I see many people who still break down at the mention of their loved one years after their death. I am glad Rudy had Sasha to help him get through the worst of times. Their blossoming love was a highlight in an otherwise sad story.

A story about the vagrancies of grief and healing. Rudy is devastated at the sudden death of his beloved wife and is barely coping with living. His one bright spot is his coworker Sasha. She is also suffering grief from the loss of her daughter several years earlier. They are drawn to each other and find comfort and healing in shared experiences and burdens. Eventually they become more than friends as they learn that with healing comes hope and new beginnings. The author uses great poignancy and compassion to deal with these issues. She has also imbued the story with lots of humorous moments where the characters are allowed to laugh at themselves to provide relief from the gravity of the situation. A well written beautiful book.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Gallery Books, and Lolly Winston for the opportunity to read her latest book. Her book, Good Grief, is one of my favorite books of all time on the subject of grief - I have bought it for people going through issues.

In this book, Rudy and his wife Bee are happily living their lives, even with a few stumbles along the way. Rudy lost his job and is working as a piano player at Nordstrom's. His wife is a hospital pharmacist. Both in their mid-forties, Rudy was beyond shocked and devastated to find his wife had died in her sleep. Through a coworker at Nordstrom's, Sasha, who is still grieving herself, he finds a way to move forward.

A good portrayal of grief as well as depression and mental illness. A sweet, emotional read.

The last thing Rudy expected was to wake up one Saturday morning, a widow at fifty-four years old. Now, ten months after the untimely death of his beloved wife, he’s still not sure how to move on from the defining tragedy of his life—but his new job is helping. After being downsized from his finance position, Rudy turned to his first love: the piano. Some people might be embarrassed to work as the piano player at Nordstrom, but for Rudy, there’s joy in bringing a little music into the world. And it doesn’t hurt that Sasha, the Hungarian men’s watch clerk who is finally divorcing her no-good husband, finds time to join him at the bench every now and then.

Just when Rudy and Sasha’s relationship begins to deepen, the police come to the store with an update about Rudy’s wife’s untimely death—a coworker has confessed to her murder—but Rudy’s actions are suspicious enough to warrant a second look at him, too. With Sasha’s husband suddenly reappearing, and Rudy’s daughter confronting her own marital problems, suddenly life becomes more complicated than Rudy and Sasha could have imagined.



My Thoughts: Throughout Me for You, the characters tell the story of a fifty-something couple, Rudy and Bethany, ready to enjoy their golden years, when the wife dies in her sleep.

Rudy struggles throughout this engaging story that reminds the reader to savor the moments.

Rudy’s daughter CeCe is annoying, but persistent in her attempts to help him. She even creates a dating profile for him, despite his objections, since he is involved in a unique friendship with Sasha. CeCe thinks he is moving too fast. However, there is something about Sasha that gives Rudy the joy he has been missing.

I always appreciate a story with characters that feel real, even those who presume to know what is best for others. Especially when they are the adult children. Could these characters remind me of people in my own life? Good characters are those that could be people we might know, so I couldn’t help enjoying the scenes playing out with these characters.

As the story moves back and forth in time, I am caught up in everything about them. Even the mysterious news brought to Rudy by the police detective.

How will Rudy find his new path, and what must happen first before he can finally move on? As the story took us through the changes in the characters’ lives, I was eager to join them on their journey. 4 stars.***My e-ARC came from the publisher via NetGalley.

This one was just okay. Rudy woke one morning to find his wife, Bree, had died in the night beside him. I wouldn't wish that upon anyone. The first part of the book tried to make this into a murder mystery but then seemed to just let it dissipate somewhere. Rudy falls into a depression and a year later is working in a department store as a pianist and Sasha works there and they start a romance. Sasha has an abusive ex-husband and there is apparently a story there that falls apart also. Too many subplots and ideas that don't take off. Overall, though, it is a lovely healing story that shows there is life after grieving.

**Received this ARC for review from the publisher via NetGalley**

I enjoyed this book & how it was told through the eyes of someone experiencing grief. Rudy is a sweet middle aged man who lost his wife suddenly in her sleep & is suffering from post-traumatic stress & survivor's guilt. Sasha is a Hungarian woman that works at Nordstrom with him, which is where he plays the piano part time (has since being downsized from his job a while back). They had been friends before his wife died & become closer after. She has suffered the loss of a child & an unhealthy marriage. The story of their journey, especially Rudy's with grief, is worth the read. I did think it ended rather abruptly (or maybe a little strangely) but enjoyed it all the same.

I would rate this 3.5 stars. This is the story of two people grieving a profound loss in their lives. I was particularly appreciative of the author writing about Rudy receiving care in an inpatient psych facility for his depression. Often times, I think people just try to manage their loss on their own when they actually need help managing their loss. I also enjoyed Sasha as she was such a warm hearted genuine person. I was glad that Rudy had Sasha to lean on and vice verse. Sweet story. Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for my review.

Thank you to Touchstone and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. I loved the premise of this book but this just didn't work for me. I thought that Rudy's grief over the loss of his wife was relatable and accurate and I enjoyed reading about the initial slow build of Rudy's relationship with Sasha. Unfortunately, a lot of new elements were introduced a little later on into the story and it all turned from a charming story about a widow to a lot of absurd ideas that I just couldn't connect with or that felt very realistic.

I loved Good Grief and Happiness Sold Separately so I was thrilled to get a chance to read an ARC of Me For You. Sadly, the novel just didn't work for me. I thought the opening was great--Winston has always excelled in being realistic about the ways unexpected death hit--not just the agony of it, but how we're still human in it as well. Like Rudy's agonizing over if he should ride in the ambulance and how and where he should go to the bathroom even as he hates himself for thinking about it.

And Rudy and Sasha, in the beginning, were sweet--two people who lost the person they loved the most slowly taking their friendship to the next level. But then Winston throws in a stay in a psych ward for Rudy, his daughter's marriage falls apart, Sasha's almost ex-husband comes back to cause problems and Rudy's wife might not have died in her sleep but been murdered. It's too much, way too much and takes what could have been a charmingly sweet and funny story into absurdist territory.

This book could have been quite charming, but unfortunately, it was a bit repetitive and clunky. I loved the premise, but the book just didn’t deliver. While there were some heartfelt moments, a large part of the book was just depressing and sad. Just an OK read.

Rudy wakes up one morning to find his wife, Bee, dead. Now a widow at only 54, he's unsure with what to do with his life and how to move forward. He is downsized from his job in finance and decides to go back to his first love, music. He gets a part-time job as a piano player at Nordstrom where he meets Sasha, a woman with her own tragic backstory. They form a bond and begin a relationship when unexpected hardships hit them from all angles. Can they make it through and find love once again?
I enjoyed this book although I wanted to learn more about Sasha's backstory. Winston speaks very honestly and eloquently about grief and the process of moving on.
Thanks to Lolly Winston, Gallery Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this book!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Its a charming story about a middle aged man who wakes up one morning to find his wife dead besides him. Don't worry its not a thriller but rather a story of how Rudy handles his grief and learns to adjust to the new normal.
Eventually fate has him fall for Sasha, a fellow co-worker who he has always had a thing for. But Rudy experiences some guilt and emotionally struggles with his feelings for Sasha.

There is some back story to Sasha, but I feel that it wasn't enough and I wish some of the questions I had were answered.

I do love how Winston approached grief management and how Rudy overcame the loss of his wife. This was a inspiring read, even with the few glitches

I loved Good Grief when I happened upon it in the library years ago, and I was delighted to see another book from Ms. Winston.

This book tells the story of unexpected widower and now single father to his adult, married daughter Rudy, who is waiting out retirement working as the piano player at Nordstrom. After living with his grief for some time, Rudy begins to notice the clerk in men's watches, who has always been a friend, may start to become something more.

Sasha, the clerk, however has issues of her own with the loss of her daughter, a horrible husband, and a second job as a cleaner of a fancy gym.

In addition, a mystery starts to surface about the death of Rudy's wife.

I enjoyed the realistic view of grief, the great dialogue, the sweet love story, and Ms. Winston's humor. I would definitely recommend this book.

I'm conflicted with this book. The characters are built beautifully and emotionally, but the rest of the element of the book felt flat. I'd like to give this book 2.5 stars.

While I haven't been faced with grief similar to the main character of this book, I think the author portrays Rudy's grief amazingly. There were a couple scenes in which Rudy snapped at someone, recognized he was taking his emotions out on someone else and realized it was wrong, but couldn't fix his actions. He felt bad but didn't do anything about it the moment. The characters in this book feel real and I had no issues connecting with them, understanding them and feeling with them. This book falls flat in the plotline, though. The description mentions that the wife is suspected of being murdered, however you could remove that entire element from the book and I don't think the dynamic of the book would change at all.

I was a little disappointed by the end of the book because I was invested in the characters but I felt empty. Nothing really happened outside of the death, grief and learning to move on. I expected more.

I received Me for You by Lolly Winston as an ARC from NetGalley. This was the first book I've read by Lolly Winston but I'll definitely read her other books, Rudy wakes up one morning to find his wife dead of a heart attack lying next to him, The book following Rudy through his grieving process and finding love with someone else, I enjoyed this book and the characters as they explore their emotions,

I really wanted to love this book. I really enjoyed Rudy and Sasha and their story, however there was just something missing for me. Cece’s marriage and the detective/murder storyline seemed very random and thrown in. There wasn’t enough to them to make them seem like they actually belonged in the book. When I break down to just the Rudy/Sasha parts I’d give the book a 3.5, but the random other storylines bring it down to 3 for me.

I thought this book strarted out strong had a particularly engaging open. I liked Rudy and felt for him as he navigated life after his wife’s death.

But the second half of this book lost me. It was all over the place and it just didn’t work for me.

Book #3 "in the books" for the Booksparks Winter Reading Challenge! #WRC2019

Eek. I'm not having the greatest luck with these Winter Reading Challenge selections. Sorry!

Caution: there may be some spoilers as it's challenging to share my thoughts on this one without some more detailed discussion of the plot.

Me for You is a charming 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. Of course he freaks out, calls 911, and tries to revive her but there's nothing that can be done to save her. Fast forward a year later and 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 lovely coworker who he's had a mild crush on for years (yes, even while he was married) and a romance begins to develop. But, 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 medical/psych ward at 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 it kind of pivoted in a completely different direction. There was this detective mystery angle in the beginning when Rudy's wife's death was being investigated as a murder and then it was like the author just gave up on that idea and said "scratch that... I changed my mind." The whole murder subplot disappeared into thin air which I found really odd.

Then there was this back story with Sasha's previous marriage to an abusive husband and the tragic loss of her daughter. While I understood how Sasha's struggles helped Rudy to navigate through his grief, I still felt like there were a lot of unanswered questions with this particular plot line.

I guess what I'm saying here is that there were a few too many plot lines and, honestly, not a whole that transpired in the grand scheme of things. Many of the subplots were introduced but never really felt resolved or fully addressed.

My favorite part? That Rudy's wife was a hospital pharmacist! So fun to read a story about a character who shares my job. But if that was my favorite part, that's not all that promising.

While I think this book had a ton of potential and I appreciated the author's attempt to write a book about the painstaking journey through the grieving process (with a powerful message about overcoming tragedy), the execution was really off for me. The author incorporated a few too many ideas that didn't really come to fruition in my opinion. That being said, I always say that no two people read the same book. So if you have a particular interest in grief management or need an inspiring read about overcoming tragedy, I would encourage you to give it a try.

-I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Lolly Winston, and Gallery Books for the opportunity to review.-