I definitely felt "in five years" vibes from this one, and I mean that as a compliment. It was a sweet story, of course heartbreaking. I felt the ending left some questions, but I realize that may have been intentional. I will definitely recommend this to other readers.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Muse for this book!
I rate In Every Life 3.5 stars. The first half was a slow start for me and I found some aspects repetitive. The second half of the book was a faster pace and I enjoyed it more. The art show tribute at the end was favorite part.

I absolutely loved this novel about Ben and Harper as they navigate his cancer diagnosis and literally "wait" for him to die! But journalist (and old flame) Liam suddenly appears to do an article and Harper is thrown back into her unresolved feelings for this handsome man. As a high school art teacher, Harper has thrown herself into work and caring for her husband and is shocked and somewhat delighted to see Liam but also unsettled by the newest "condition" Ben has put on her. Told in a "then" and "now" format (and even a "what if" one), the novel documents this beautiful love story that still has me teary-eyed in its emotional impact.
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

I really loved this book. The emotions it made me feel and the storytelling were beautiful. I felt for all the characters and would definitely reread when I want something to have me in my feels!

what a beautiful, inspiring story. a story about love, about loss, about learning how to follow your dreams every moment of your life.

the execution is really well-done, and the book is infused with a variety of endearing characters. to be honest, I was prepared to not be swayed by Liam as a character and instead focus more on Harper’s husband, Ben. that went out the window when Liam first stepped onto the page, because of his compassion, kindness and invalueble insight. you can’t help but love him!

I think the most interesting part of this book is Harper’s journey and self-discovery. she learns how to come to terms with Ben’s diagnosis, with the decisions she’s made throughout her life and how they shaped her present. it’s a fascinating transition, made all the more compelling by the manifestation/spiritual elements scattered in the story.

the ending wraps everything up splendidly, and I was left with a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. definitely recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of In Every Life.

This isn't the first book I've read with a similar premise; when a sick spouse decides he or she wants the remaining spouse to find someone to be with or something in that vein.

But, as I was reading, I realized the narrative wasn't what I expected.

First, the tropes bothered me; Ben and Harper and Liam are both hot, and so talented and successful in their chosen fields. It's corny and unbelievable but this is a book.

There are many things in a book that would never apply in real life; still, it bugged me.

Second, the reason behind Harper's time traveling was...hard to take seriously. I'm a spiritual person and believe there are all forms of worship and rituals but this was a bit too woo-woo for me.

Third, I'm not sure what the point of the time hopping was.

Did Harper learn a lesson? Was the time hopping supposed to teach her to be happy with what you have?

Or maybe there is no lesson.

I do understand Harper's reluctance to accept the reality of being an artist, at the work that comes from doing and being who you want to be.

Many times we're not ready to be who we want to be.

Acceptance (and sorrow and regret) comes from life experience and hardships and learning from our mistakes.

I didn't like or sympathize with anyone, especially not with Harper. I found her irritating and boring.

She wasn't compelling and lacked a strong personality.

I know I'm an outlier for not liking this book, maybe I'm too cynical, but the premise was too corny and hard to suspend disbelief for.

And I usually say the latter for ridiculous premises in thrillers.

I’ll be honest. I almost DNF’d this book at 20% because I didn’t want to be the first to write a not 5 star review. I could tell just that soon that it wasn’t going to be what I was hoping based on the synopsis. I’ll try to avoid spoilers by saying this book was far too unbelievable and inconsistent. Ben, the MMC with stage four cancer has to be the healthiest cancer patient I’ve ever heard of. Unless it’s an [im]perfectly timed dramatic collapse, Ben is really out living his best life. One of the small things that drove me crazy was the mention of Ben’s allergy to the sun early due to the weakened immune system and treatments and such. This was mentioned very early on in the story but he spends so much time outdoors after this I don’t understand why that line wasn’t erased. At one point he’s standing on a bridge and with the ‘sun shining on his face’ and guess what? He was perfectly fine. There were a lot of inconsistencies like this that kept pulling me from the story. I skimmed a lot in the middle because nothing happening was helping to move the plot. The ending was absolutely rushed with no explanation. I wish things were tied together a little more. I don’t feel like I got whatever the message the author was intending with this.

This book has it all!
It is heartwarming,yet sooo very heartbreaking that it will stir all your emotions.
Now add some time-hopping to keep one guessing and you have a touching, novel that I had to finish in a day..
Can you imagine being on your honeymoon and finding out your new husband is terminally ill?
When Harper asks Ben what is on his bucket list, he has a wish that she cannot imagine or believe.
The story continues as a bit of magic comes in to play.
There is love,acceptance, drama, tears and so much more that I truly enjoyed this story and as always Rea Frey has done it again!
Thank you to @NetGalley and to @Harper Muse for this ARC and allowing me to read and provide my own review.
Excellent!

Wow this was a poignant read, it not only deals with the ideas of loss and illness but where do we go from there. It brings up questions of what ifs and what is next, beautiful read.

Thank you so much, NetGalley for the chance. Could not put this book down! I was immediately drawn into the creative storyline and the author’s smooth writing style.

Harper is such a strong yet vulnerable heroine. There are several creative twists that had my heart bending for both loves of Harper. One of the most tender love triangles I have ever read.

If the synopsis left you intrigued, just wait until you get into the novel. Unputdownable!!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧, 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐍𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐝. 𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫.

Five hours after starting this book, here I am.
I'm having a hard time thinking about anything right now.

I was just looking for a book to read on Netgalley.
I didn't expect to find a favorite. Ironically, this favorite broke my heart.
This book broke me in such a beautiful way.

Ben and Harper have just gotten married when the bad news comes : Ben has cancer, stage 4, and he has little time to live.

Illness is a sensitive subject whether we are faced with it or not. And this book makes us feel it because the words that Rea Frey gave us are simply magnificent.

And that’s when I tell myself that pain has a certain beauty. A heartbreaking, striking beauty.

Ben loves Harper more than anything, but he wishes she could have someone else before he dies. He wishes her to fall in love with someone else before he dies.

And again, it hurts.

One of the reasons this hurts so much is because this situation can and probably has happened in real life. It’s a situation that’s entirely likely, that’s where the pain lies.
It hurts because it's easy to imagine being in Ben's place, wishing the love of our life to move on, to continue living.

Ben and Harper's relationship is beautiful. Their love is magnificent. I truly believe that this type of love that exists and never dies.

Then fate invites itself. The journalist supposed to interview Ben about his life happens to be the man Harper loved intensely - for a week - more than ten years ago, when she still dreamed of making a living from her art.

From there, we alternate between present and past. The past which allows us to discover this love which only lasted a week.

Perhaps this is where my heart also alternated between “joy” and pain. The past allowed me to detach myself from the present, from the present of Ben and Harper.
But as soon as Liam and Harper's past ended, my heart had to face the inevitable.

The writing style is absolutely perfect. If that hadn't been the case, I wouldn't have loved this book the way I do.

This book is not all pain, far from it.
Like I said, pain has a kind of beauty. Just like the uncertain.

What if? What if Harper had never left Liam? What if she had succeeded in becoming the artist she wanted to be?

After all these questions, we find ourselves in a completely different reality. Harper never left New York, and she never left Liam. And it’s a whole other life that we discover.

I really loved this part. It was a breath of air before reality caught up with Harper, before it caught up with me.

I cried, I cry. And I think my heart will always sink when I think of this book. Because the inevitable has happened. But it arrived in a beautiful way.

"𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐈 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭." 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐞. "𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠."

I didn't expect this ending. I didn't want to see this ending. But it came, it broke me and it made me smile. It was so beautiful.

"𝐍𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬, 𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐝𝐚𝐦 𝐅𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭."

This book is about love, illness, lack of time, second chances. But it also talks about finding yourself, giving yourself time to move forward.

Harper loves and always will love Ben.
Harper loves and always will love Liam.
But Harper loves and will always love herself as well.

I loved reading this book. I don't regret spending the whole night reading it. This is a book I won't forget and will buy as soon as it becomes available for purchase.

Thank you Rea Frey for this masterpiece, and thank you Netgalley.

Here's some of my favorite quotes.

—
𝟕. 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐫, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞.
𝟖. 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞.. 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡.

"𝐈 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮."

"𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞," 𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬. "𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞." 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭.

"𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐋𝐢𝐚𝐦 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡, 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬, 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝, 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦."

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐫,
𝐈𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮.
𝐋𝐢𝐚𝐦.

"𝐈𝐟 𝐰𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥," 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐞𝐚𝐫. 𝐌𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐞𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞. "𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝." 𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐬 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞, 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐋𝐢𝐚𝐦 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞.

"𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠"

"𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭, '𝐁𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐫: 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞?"

"𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞"

"𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨?"
"𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐫."