This was a great book about dealing with heartbreak, loss, and the uncertainties of life. It tells the story of Abby, who went to school for marine biology and has a passion for all things oceanic. When she meets her future husband Dennis, however, her life takes a turn she hadn't expected or planned for. Years later, after having lived and worked in California for a while, she is back in her hometown and struggling to face the things in her past that she never made peace with. The story goes back and forth between the present and the past, and I really enjoyed how it all came together by the end. Definitely recommend this book!

*Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and the author for this ARC! :)

I enjoy this author's writing style. It's hard to explain but it just flows so easily that you feel like you know the characters. The one thing that keeps popping up in my mind when I think of this book is Abby is a Marine Biologist. She makes some choices about her career for other people and puts herself on the back burner. This decision digs a hole in her soul and she is desperate to get back on the water. Life with Dennis is anything but exciting. The love of her life is comfortable in the little town they grew up in but doesn't realize the anguish Abby feels working at a bank so they can pay bills. She yearns for a life of freedom and finds Eli a bank customer who is a professional photographer who travels the world who can provide conversation to draw her back to where she wants to be. Abby's choices affect more than herself. I loved the characters the author created of her best friends Chrissy and Nick. Everyone should have friends like them to help get us through the most difficult aspects of life.
Thank you to NetGalley and Lakeside Authors for this ARC of this story.

This book is an amazing story about love, loss, the beautiful and messy parts of relationships, and finding yourself. If you are looking for a compelling women’s fiction novel with the perfect dose of romance, then I highly recommend this book! The use of alternating timelines between chapters built suspense as you read to see how main character Abby’s past has led to her current situation of feeling lost and as though all of her past relationships she had left years before have unfinished business. Author Jennifer Gold does a fantastic job of writing perfectly flawed characters who show the raw realities of what loving someone can really look like, and of showing that no matter how far someone has gone from their path in life that people are worthy of second chances and finding love again. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

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Synopsis from the publisher: Five years ago, marine biologist Abby Fisher made a mistake that cost her everything. Rather than face the consequences, she fled home to start anew—and built the career she’d always dreamed of. But when her research program runs out of funding, she’s adrift once again and decides to return to the safe harbor of her family and friends. Except nothing at home is how she remembered. Her friendships are strained, her normally affectionate parents seem distant, and her once-great love story is now just a painful memory. What’s worse, she keeps running into the people she hurt years ago—and they aren’t ready to forgive her. Abby is determined to atone for her mistakes, but she can’t seem to move beyond her guilt for a chance of future happiness. Can Abby learn to sail through the storm, or will she remain lost at sea?

⭐️My first book of 2020!⭐️ And also my first 5⭐️ star read of 2020! Thanks to @cometreadingsblogtours for the novel - you should not miss this one by @jennifergoldauthor. ⁣
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Keep Me Afloat tells the story of Abby, a woman who has returned home after the research project she was working on has ended. It’s clear at the beginning that Abby is tentative to come home for a lot of reasons, and the way Jennifer develops the story makes it a complete page turner as you’re looking to find out what the true story of Abby’s return home is. There’s elements of struggle with her love life, family, job, and more - but the end of the book was what really surprised me. ⁣
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Make sure you add this one to your 2020 TBR list!

I really enjoyed reading this book by Jennifer. I was part of a Book tour as well for this book and I am glad I got to be a part of it. Keep me Afloat by Jennifer Gold talks all about friendships, relationships and mistakes you make in life and how you manage to get through them. This story, Abby returns to Virginia after losing her research grant but not only is she returning because of that but also because she needs to fix some things in her life. It was a really good and interesting story and you could tell that Jennifer really put meaning into writing this book.

Jennifer Gold has written another heart stopping novel in Keep Me Afloat. The story takes place beginning in 2000 and also in 2018, the present. It weaves seamlessly from past to present and back to the past again in the life of Abby and the love of her life, Dennis. I found it very hard to put down and also very emotional, especially toward the end. I felt anger, sadness, peace, fear and joy nestled in the pages of this lovely novel. I knew Abby’s love of the sea aboard the whale watching boats where she worked. It all began with one drop of sea water, she says, and I as a reader, felt alive as the whales breached and dived by the boat. This was an excellent novel. The characters were so real, their emotions so well portrayed. I highly recommend Jennifer Gold’s Keep Me Afloat! Thank you to the author and Net Galley for an advanced copy of this book.

It's a lovely book. My HEARTT!! Words will fail me. This book did something to me. My heart exploded about a million times whilst reading it and I cannot express how much I loved it! How much I'll continue to love it. It was expressive, imaginative, and absolutely beautiful.
It was filled with so much emotion and passion and it really felt like I was living the events in this book along with the characters. Overall this story was truly beautiful and brought out a lot of emotion in me, I was very pleasantly surprised by this book and will definitely be reading it again in the future! Absolute freaking perfection!!! I now have a new favourite author!

Abby Fisher is adrift, lost in life for the second time in five years. Keep Me Afloat begins with the protagonist driving from California to her hometown in the Pacific Northwest. Five years  ago, she hit the self-destruct button on her marriage and fled to California. The research she was doing has been stripped of funding and she's returning home, hoping to fix what she broke. 

Through a back-and-forth style of storytelling, we see Abby in the present and in the past. Present-day Abby is reeling from her choices and mistakes and trying to get her life on track. We learn how she met her former husband, Dennis, and observe the rise and fall of their relationship. As present Abby's life begins to fall into place at last, past Abby's life is coming apart.

Jennifer Gold does a good job at keeping details from the reader without flat-out lying, so that when the twist comes, it's an utter gut punch. I, for one, didn't see it coming.

At first, I had a hard time relating to and empathizing with Abby. It seems like all of her problems are the result of choices she made, and that her resentment is due to the decision she made to forgo pursuing her dreams in favor of staying back with her husband. However, as the book unfolds, it becomes clear that while she made her choices, there was outside pressure that influenced her. 

The characters were likeable and had depth to them, with the exception of Jackie, Dennis's sister, who seemed one-dimensional. Her traits were defending her brother and disliking Abby. Abby showed excellent growth throughout the book, and the imperfect characters in her life were realistic. 

The setting is what really brought Keep Me Afloat to life, with beautiful descriptions of the scenery and whales. I felt like I was on the boat witnessing the super pod of orcas. 

The book switches rapidly back and forth from past to present. For the most part, this keeps a good pace. At times, though, when it switches after just a couple of pages, it can be jarring. 

Overall, this was an incredible read that I flew through. Despite a couple of flaws, such as Jackie's portrayal, there is very little to complain about with this book. Keep Me Afloat is a story about redemption, coming to terms with and owning up to the part you played in what happened in your life, recognizing that others are human, and learning how to move forward towards happiness after loss. I would recommend it to anyone and think it will be met with success upon release.

Keep Me Afloat was a first Jennifer Gold book for me and I loved it. Ms. Gold wrote a wonderful story which drew me right in, making me forget everything else and did not let me go until I turned the last page. This is a book about learning to forgive yourself and so much more. You must face and deal with the past to have a better future. This book was very well written, the characters were well developed and believable. The descriptions were very vivid making you feel you are right there in the Pacific Northwest watching the whales and hanging out with the characters. This is a heart-wrenching, tear jerker book that will have you with tears in your eyes. Make sure the tissues are close by. This book told in both the present and the past. The unexpected twists and turns will have you turning the pages and keep you fully engaged. I loved this book and will have to go back and read her book “The Ingredients of Us”. I am excited to see what she has in store for us next! This is a must-read for book!

This well written story tugged me in from the start! The main character, Abby, narrates her story from the past and present perspectives. This was a strong way for the author to tell of the events of Abby’s life. After she returns home to The Seattle area, broke and homeless, she tries to get a new perspective of her life, and finds her way to forgiveness of herself and others. There are several twists you don’t see coming! The author also provides interesting facts about marine habitat through the job Abby takes on a whale watching tour boat. This is definitely a book I recommend. I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

Love all her books but this one was definitely a top fav!! It will leave u up thru the night reading and begging for coffee in the am! Totally worth it!!

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 ok stars

This book started with so much promise however a third way through it lost its way I think.

The writing style is simple and writing by numbers; overly descriptive of every action and way till detailed spelling everything out to the reader.

I did like the flash back style of chapters however the Eli big reveal wasn’t so big; nothing really happened. Abby completely over reacted. As did Dennis.

The info about whales etc were interesting but over detailed and didn’t really add to the overall story.

It was however all tied up nicely at the end.

Thoroughly enjoyed Jennifer’s latest novel, Keep Me Afloat. Loved the descriptive setting of the Pacific Northwest coast and the emotional storyline. Will highly recommend this book and look forward to Jennifer Gold’s next project.

I was very disappointed with this book, which I found trite and stale. The main character, Abby, a grown woman of 35, is still having trouble negotiating life and love. The parts of the story that focused on marine mammals, whales in particular, was well researched and made important points about habitat and behavior. The rest of the story I thought was weak and contrived.

I received this book as an ARC from the publisher and NetGalley.

This is a beautifully written story of finding ones redemption and forgiveness.
Abby , a marine biologist, makes a mistake that costs her everything. She returns home after a five year absence to heal.
This is my second book by this sighing and it is a beautifully written book. You can see the whales and head the ocean and I recommend it !

This is a beautifully written story about a woman who strives to be a marine biologist and at the same time tries to be fully there for her love. Balancing life with family and a career can be challenging. The main character has made some mistakes which brought on some emotional baggage. Returning home to the beautiful Pacific Northwest to face the past from which she ran from has her seeing changes for her family, seeking redemption and forgiveness, and opening up to a second chance at love. I loved the description of the marine wildlife throughout the book. The beautiful setting for this book is great for nature lovers and for readers of humanness stories.

Jennifer Gold's Keep Me Afloat is fantastic! At its very basic this is a story about learning to forgive yourself, but it's so much more than that.

There are whales and lots of other marine life that I learned quite a bit about, wonderful descriptions and characters that make you want to be their friend. Of course there are one or two I'd like to shake, but such is life.....

Abby is a sweet, but flawed character who tries hard to be everything that others need, even when it isn't a good choice for her life. When she returns home, nothing is as remembered and her journey of discovery was one I greatly enjoyed. Abby's finding of herself while still trying to stay true to her passion is heartbreaking yet sweet and inspiring.

If you like women's fiction, small town settings and just sinking into a beautiful story, Keep Me Afloat is the read for you.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an ARC at my request. My thoughts on this are my own and happily given because I love this story!

I saved Keep me Afloat, by Jennifer Gold, to read during my winter break. The break just started and I already finished it. Its been almost a year since I read Gold's debut novel The Ingredients of Us, and as soon as she released the advanced readers copies of her new book, I was so ready to "dig in". Jennifer has a way with describing people's emotions and places that gives me all the feels. This book takes place in the Pacific Northwest, specifically in Port Townsend, where Jennifer Gold grew up surrounded by the magnificent ocean, mountains, and all the wildlife that she grew to love. I could not "resist" the cover of "The Ingredients of Us", with the mouthwatering cake, and Keep Me Afloat cover makes me want to board the next flight to Washington.

In the book, we meet Abby Fisher, a marine biologist, who is returning to her family and hometown of Port Townsend, because the research project she was working on in California fizzled out. She fled Washington five years earlier to pursue her dream of becoming a marine biologist, but it is clear from the outset that she left some demons behind her five years ago. The book alternates back and forth in time, from her escape to her return, and Gold traps you, so that, you just have to keep reading.

Abby is the main character, but there are some others that are lovely: her parents, Chrissy and Nick her childhood friends, Dennis Abby's husband, Eli, Zach the barista, Robin Abby's new boss, and Marie and her daughter Becca, AND most importantly, according to Jennifer Gold, there are THE ORCAS, those magnificent killer whales that take your breath away.

There is so much to love about this book. Thank you #netgalley for the e-ARC. 5 stars for #keepmeafloat, Pick it up, 03/03/2020!

I really enjoy this story of wonderful characters and I fell in love with the setting of the book!! Highly recommend

This book wow’d me, I couldn’t put it down and I was a ball of emotions throughout it. Beautiful story of life and what we go through- life is life. I could’ve kept reading this for much longer than it was. Loved this book!