While the book isn't super believable (getting three more months with your dead mother) it was a tearjerker. I have read several of Sarah's books under her other pen name and this one packs a lot more heart than her other titles which are more romance based. This book will make you want to call up your mom!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my digital copy in exchange for an honest review. I requested this one because I liked the cover and I liked the sound of it. I really enjoyed this one for many reasons...not only did I like the story line itself but the life lesson that was kind of thrown in hit me pretty hard as well. We need to make time for the people in our life before they are gone...work is important but that will always be there in some shape or form...the people in your life will not. You will lose everyone eventually or they will lose you...people have forgotten what life is all about. You can't make it ALL about work...I was pulled in right from the beginning and I never lost interest or wanted to give up and do something else. I loved the story itself and I loved the characters and I loved the life lesson. I would recommend this to just about anyone, actually.

Sarah Echaverre's Three More Months is a novel with a beautiful premise and a universally understood premise - grief and what we would do with more time with those we hold most dear.

Chloe Howard is given the opportunity to spend three more months with her mom in this novel with a dash of magical realism. What unfolds from there is an exploration of family, choice, home, and love.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

In a Nutshell: Predictable, emotional, long-winded. Didn’t like the MC. Didn’t like the writing.

Story:
Chloe is a workaholic who spends all possible hours at her job as a pharmacist in a medical centre. Unfortunately, this means that she hasn’t the time to visit her mom who stays just a couple of hours away. After a chat with her best friend Julianne, Chloe vows to visit her mom that weekend. Unfortunately, her mom passes away that very night. Devastated, Chloe takes a break from work and goes home to help her younger brother Andy with the funeral arrangements. A few days before the funeral, Chloe wakes up to find her mother alive and well. She soon discovers that she has been transported back to March (the original timeline was in May.) Unsure of what to make of this opportunity, Chloe decides that she will save her mother at any cost. Can’t waste a second chance after all.
The story comes to us in the first person perspective of Chloe.

Where the book worked for me:
😍 The initial few chapters, right up to the chapter Chloe is taken back in time and a few paras beyond, hooked me to the story.
😍 Chloe’s mom is a Filipino, so there are plenty of references to Filipino culture and cuisine. I liked the representation pretty well.


Where the book didn’t work for me:
😒 This is a book that is fast in its pacing but slow in its proceedings. The writing is so repetitive. I felt like everyone was saying the same thing three different ways in every chapter. There are too many stretched-out scenes and loads of inner monologues. I hopped and skipped my way to the end after the timeslip occurs.
😒 The title is such a spoiler. The minute Chloe went back in time, I knew she had not the original death date but three full months with her mom. (I hate spoilers in general, but I hate it even more when the title itself does such a bad job of keeping a secret.)
😒 The book had so much potential as a ‘second chances’ story rarely focusses on parent-child relationships. Unfortunately, Chloe spends her new chance forcing her mom doing weird things she isn’t interested in – yoga, water aerobics, healthy eating seminars, and what not. I expected to be emotionally moved with the reunion attempt, but I just ended up irritated. The entire ‘three months’ period is mainly that of Chloe micromanaging her mom's life.
😒 I simply couldn't connect with Chloe. She comes across as domineering and wants everyone around to do her bidding but herself doesn’t follow what others suggest. She doesn’t understand that there’s a difference between mothering and smothering. When you don’t like your first person narrator, you don’t like the story. Simple.
😒 Why was the romantic arc needed after the timeslip? Wasn’t this a story about a mother and her daughter? Is a romantic HEA always needed?
😒 Since you all might have guessed that there is a funeral towards the end, this isn’t a spoiler. Chloe ends up delivering a long-winded eulogy. I felt like this was written just to make sure the reader cried – it was so over the top and needlessly melodramatic! I did cry, but for a different reason. I was crying tears of frustration and relief that the book was finally coming to an end.

All in all, I expected a greater emotional connect with the story but the roundabout writing and Chloe’s character didn’t impress me much. It is a “can-be-read”, not a “must-read”. If you give it a try, I sincerely hope it works better for you.

2 stars.

My thanks to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for the DRC of “Three More Months”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

The cover and the premise caught my eye. While the book kept me reading until the end, the middle definitely dragged on too long. There were way too many threads/storylines that didn't add to the story as a whole, while other pieces were left out or barely mentioned.

=====The premise is SO good!
What would you do if someone died and then came back? You would have a second chance with them. Extra much wanted time to spend in their company, to say anything you didn't get the chance to say.

This is just what happens to Chloe, she lost her mom Mabel on May 7th, and inexplicably Mabel returns and the clock turns back to March before Mabel died.


The reader will feel the guilt along with Chloe when her mom dies, even though they talked often on the phone, Chloe put her job above spending time with family. She kept saying she would visit her mom and brother next weekend or in a few weeks. Until time ran out.


This book was so emotional, of course death and funerals are always emotional, but there were happy and laugh out loud moments as well in this book.

The sense of family, a strong family was also present in this book.

I really enjoyed this story of second chances, strong family bonds, the love and even the spats involved.
The story really makes one think what are our priorities? What is truly important? Tomorrow really isn't guaranteed for anyone, no matter what their age or circumstance in life.

This was my first read from the author but she has written other books which I will seek out soon and devour like I did with this book.


Who this book is for- people who enjoy family stories, emotional reads, second chances and a well written what if sort of women's fiction.

My thanks to NetGalley, the author and Lake Union Publishing for the complimentary e arc in exchange for an honest review.


4******


review posted @ NetGalley, Goodreads, Wordpress and amazon.

This was a touching novel about family and second chances! Chloe’s mother died. But then she wakes up and her mother is still alive and it’s three months before. Chloe is determined to spend this new time with her mother. She wants this new time with her family to be special and get to know each other more. They all have little parts of their lives to share with the others.

This book was amazing! First time reading a book by this author and I look forward to reading more by them. I highly recommend this book!

Happy and sad and happy and sad. This book was a whirlwind of emotions. Having lost my own mother this past year, it made me wonder and wish for another three months myself. Ultimately, family is the most important thing and I appreciate the way the author was able to make this alternate reality happen. This book was a bit predictable in parts and long winded in others, but it was a well written story and I truly enjoyed the characters. I will certainly be looking for more books by this author!

Thank you, NetGalley for offering this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a touching novel that is heavy in grief and what could have been. Get the tissues ready!

REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!

How many times have we lost someone and said “If Only” or “I wish I had more time”. Chloe has worked hard to get to where she is in her career, at the expense of spending time with her family and carving out an outside life for herself. She makes plans to visit her Mom, only to get a phone call that her Mom has suddenly passed away. She’s devastated. While she is making funeral plans, she wakes one morning to find her Mom very much alive. Chloe vows to change, just not her life, but plans on helping her Mom get healthy.

Have tissues handy! If you’ve lost a loved one, this book will hit home. You will love Chloe’s dedication and choices, the bond between mother, daughter, son and extended family members of this tight knit Filipino-American family. Everyone should be blessed with a best friend like Julianne. Here’s to the single moms who have to do it all and never give up. Towards the later half of the book, it did slow down for me, but not sure if it was the writing or me feeling comfortable thinking I knew where the author was taking me. Then BAM, she hit me all over again. Ugly cry. I lost my Mom in 2020, so this hit home…big time! This was a new author for me and I look forward reading her again.

Thanks to Sarah Echavarre, Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone.

I wasn't in the right place for this- no fault of the author. It's an emotional story of familial love, grief and guilt. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I'll pick it up again in a while.

This book was definitely personal to me as my mom passed a way a few years ago. The author did a great job of writing about grief and guilt that comes with the passing of a parent. The family in this book is wonderful so if you don't have a good relationship with your family some of it may not land with you. But overall recommend if you are looking for an emotional read about the power of family and relationships and the importance to telling loved ones that you care.

I have to say as so one who lost her own mother very suddenly which also left me without a goodbye I would have given anything to have the second chance that Chloe is given but alas that doesn't happen in real life. Making this book bitter sweet but still good. Have tissues handy.

This book really stays with you. Think about what would happen if you could spend more time with a loved one before they died. Not a day but Three More Months! That's what happens to Chloe. She was always working so hard and let her relationship with her mother slide. After her mother's death, Chloe wakes up and suddenly time has gone in reverse and her mother is still alive. This book is about second chances and makes you think what's really important in life.

This book pulled at my heartstrings. I’m at that point in my life where I know my time with my parents is limited. I think about how I want to make the most of my time with them while we still have it. Inevitably though, time spent with them doesn’t go as how I to imagined it to go.
Chloe’s mom, in Three More Months, tragically dies but then inexplicably Chloe wakes up to have her mom right with her. Chloe is given a second chance with her mom and she doesn’t want to take it for granted. She wants to make things better for her mom, fix past mistakes, and be closer to her. Of course, things don’t go exactly how Chloe would hope. In her efforts to help her mom be “healthier,” it drives a wedge between them and it’s frustrating for them both. I’ve felt that frustration too with my mom. The family dynamics are so relatable even though I even had moments where I thought “Chloe, relax a bit.” But it was all very understandable and we’ve all been there where we think what we’re doing is right but it doesn’t pan out that way. Even Chloe wanting to learn her mom’s cooking. I did the same with my mom and it did not go how I envisioned. I did not learn that recipe.
Do Chloe and her mom get that close bonding time during this crazy parallel second chance universe she’s living in with her mom? I’ll just say simply that I thought this was a beautiful story and I did need some tissues handy.

When a loved one dies, do you ever wish you had just one more day? Or longer? This book pulled at my heartstrings and it kept me totally engaged! It grabbed me from the very first page and I had a hard time putting it down. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for this release in exchange for my honest review.

Workaholic Chloe gets the chance to re-do, with her Mom, the 3 months leading up to her Mother' death. Mend fences, spend more time together, Oh my, the possibilities! Really enjoyed this story and don't want to give any spoilers..

Chloe Howard is a busy woman. Her work, as pharmacy residency program director at a medical centre, takes up all her time, leaving her unable to make time for her mother, Mabel, and younger brother, Andy. Her mother constantly berates her for over-working, and Chloe agrees to take time off work and visit her mother.

But the night before the visit, Mabel suffers a cardiac arrest. By the time, Chloe gets home in the early hours of May 7, Mabel is dead. Chloe and Andy give way to grief, but for Chloe, the grief is compounded by guilt, at not having spent more time with her mother.

Two days before the funeral, Chloe wakes up to find her mother alive and well. What’s more, it’s March 30. Grateful for the second chance she has, Chloe decides to spend more time with her mother, to do more things as a family.

Her therapist thinks the change in the timeline is merely Chloe’s worst fears manifesting themselves and appearing real. But Chloe knows she must use the time to heal the rift between her mother and her sister, and work on her mother’s health issues. She plans ways to get her mom to eat healthier, and spend more time in meditation and exercise.

The second chance is a lifesaver, offering many people the chance to make good. But Chloe, and we, can’t help waiting for the shoe to drop. Something’s gotta give, and it does, in a small well-executed turn of events.



The book is written in the first person present tense PoV of Chloe.

Mabel is a Filipino immigrant, so there is a smattering of Ilocano words and phrases throughout the book, besides the mention of various foods from their cuisine. There was only one error here. Chloe’s aunt, a staunch Catholic, asks Chloe about Mabel, whether the latter used to “accept” Communion. The right word is “receive.”

There’s far too much back story in the first chapter. I almost gave up reading. For instance, Chloe’s best friend, Julianne, is described as having shoulder-length light-blonde hair and normally pale-pink lips shellacked with ruby-red lipstick. Then her mother’s lips are described as normally shellacked in bright-red lipstick. Again, mom’s hair is shoulder-length raven-hued hair. For some strange reason, the author kept describing the hair of various minor characters. These details did nothing but add to the word count.

In another instance, the narrator over-explains what her mother’s perfume means to her. After her sudden death, the perfume is comfort and torment all at once to the daughter. The phrase hits home and needs no explanation, but Chloe goes on to tell us exactly why it brings both comfort and torment, thereby nullifying the effect achieved by the phrase.

There was a lot of repetition in the dialogue and characters told each other things they ought to have known. The writing could have been better style-wise, but the emotions that the author highlighted were relatable.

I could feel the pain of Chloe at the loss of the woman who had raised her singlehandedly after her deadbeat dad gave in to an alcohol addiction and abandoned the family.

The characters were all likeable. It was nice to see the bond between Mabel, Chloe and Andy, and to see Andy’s girlfriend, Hannah, and Chloe’s best friend, Julianne, pulled into the loving embrace of this family.

This book would have been better if the middle portion had been cut down. There is too much detail about Chloe's efforts to help her mom get healthy.

I've always been a sucker for grief books. When I read this book's blurb, I knew right away that it wasn't just a coincidence that I stumbled upon this book. I was meant to read this and that's what actually happened. To be honest I really set expectations for the story. While some of them did actually meet what I thought, most of them didn't. For instance was the dialogue between particular characters. Sometimes it's just too cheesy and it would make me cringe (dunno, maybe it's just me). However, it didn't stop me from appreciating and loving the simplicity of the storytelling and smooth pacing. The story line worked for me and I loved the Filipino culture representation. Though this story didn't make me bawl my eyes out compared to what I anticipated, still it managed to move me and made me feel different kind of emotions. This book will definitely work for readers who are fun of alternate realities or looking for heartbreaking but somehow heartwarming read.