Before I Go

One of the best books I’ve ever read!! It keeps you addicted flipping thru every page! It’s better than the notebook! I highly recommend reading this book!!

I read this book as part of a sponsored book club and received the book for free. The plot and characters pulled me in from the start. Ben Gamble is in a plane crash, his strong, yet heartbroken wife Abby is left to deal with grief again. Dr. Joel Keaton has a past secret that has caused plagued him with guilt his whole life. How these three characters come together, and the supporting characters of Abby’s sister Maggie, and Joel’s sister Rachel and nephew Brian and how everyone’s lives intersect and the changes that intersection brings is a delightful and fast paced story. The end is still with me weeks later and I am still thinking about what a wonderful story it was.

This is the first book that I’ve read from this author. I choose it because I too have lost someone near and dear to me, and thus the description resonated with me.

Abby, a 34 year old successful cosmetic entrepreneur, lost her husband Ben in an tragic airplane accident. Abby and Ben loved each other deeply and had suffered though considerable grief in their fifteen years together.

A year after Ben’s death, Abby still found it difficult to move forward with her life. But with continued support from her family, Abby finally re-engaged in her busy cosmetic empire. Although her family celebrated this victory, her sister Maggie continued to encourage Abby to start socializing again, and maybe even dip her toes in the dating pool.

Soon, Abby met Surgeon Dr. Joel Keaton. Their first date was at a Surgeon’s Convention with the topic of Gastric Bypass Surgery in which dinner was to be served. Although not an appetizing topic, both had a good time and they snuck out early. However, for over a year, they continued to play cat and mouse as both had their walls up for their own reasons. Joel had been punishing himself for a childhood accident including his older brother. Abby guarded her heart due to losing two of her closest people in her life. Did they even have a chance?

Meanwhile, Ben was trying to reunite with Abby. Was he still alive??

I loved this book. The characters were well developed and authentic, their love and losses transparent through their interactions with each other. Each chapter was intricately detailed and the emotions were palpable. It was like peering into the souls of each character as they worked to unravel their anguish and pain. I cried, I laughed, and cried again. I felt everything that these characters experienced. Could there possibly be any happiness to be had?

If you have lost someone you loved, had difficulties in a relationship, felt hopeless, been scared to confess your sins, grieved and thought you couldn’t move on, this book is for you. If you feel like your challenges are impossible to face, this book is for you. If you want to see the strength to overcome in yourself or others, this book is for you. Ever question your future and feel unsure how to restart from where you are, this book is for you.

Thank you to Author Brian Charles, JS and John Scognamiglio Books published by Kensington Publishing Company, and NetGalley for allowing me to review this ARC. All thoughts and moments are entirely my own.

Loved this book can’t wait till author writes another book!

This has became my all time favorite book! This was my first read by Brian Charles and it definitely did not disappoint. I will be reading more by him in my near future. Just when I thought I had the plot figured out the last 70 some pages threw so many curve balls that I was saying HOLY crap. Then…. It didn’t just stop with my jaw hitting the floor it had me bawling like a baby by the final page. I never thought a book could make my heart scream of joy then within seconds be totally crushed. Put this on your TBR folks because I assure you that you will not be disappointed ❤️

I really enjoyed this story. It was a quick read

Guys!! WHY is this book not everywhere?! This was SO GOOD and definitely in my top three books for the year. After Ben's plane crashes in the Pacific ocean, his wife Abby is left devastated. Working through her grief, she meets Joel, who helps bring her back to life again despite a past he can't seem to move on from. However, when Ben wakes up on a deserted island, determined to find his way back to Abby, just what will he find waiting for him? I don't really know what else I want to say other than I just loved this entire story. And that ending! My heart went out to all of the characters and what a journey we went on with them. I'm definitely going to have a massive book hangover after this one and I know nothing else will come close to being as good. Just do yourselves a favor a read this book.

This is a pretty good book! I'm not much of a book reader in general, but the plot makes you want to keep reading until the end to see what happens. I'm still a little confused by the end (as I know are some others), and I think the chapters could have been better put together (there was a lot of random jumping around between characters), but I'm still happy I purchased and read this book. I got through it pretty fast.

This was a very enjoyable quick read. Definitely recommend

Too depressing