A great read by Heidi McLaughlin. So much emotion. I love the way she writes and the story she tells.

Beautiful story, guarantueed to make you cry. You follow an amazing woman, who has no one to share her life with, and then realizes her time is limited. One guy she barely knows convinces her to start living before shes gone. This story is about love and loss and much more, its incredible.

Thank you to netgalley and the author for sending me the book in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first experience reading something by this author and it certainly won't be my last. This is a beautifully written, emotional story that will pull at your heartstrings and not let go. Be sure to have a box of tissues ready when you read this, because I guarantee you will need them. Growing up in a foster home, Palmer learned from an early age that you can't really rely on anyone else but yourself. As she got older she did well for herself and created a secure life. She had friends, but was always careful not to get attached or too close to them. She focused on her career and basically made work her whole life. After a health incident at work, Palmer learned she had cancer and only a short time to live and she opted for living those last few months instead of going through treatment. She made a bucket list of all the things she wanted to accomplish before her life was taken from her. Kent was the paramedic that responded to her emergency call at work and also later at home. When he treated her at home, he saw her list and decided he wanted to be the one to help her cross off those items. He barely knew her, but he felt a connection to her and felt this was something he was meant to do. As they spend her final days together, they became best friends and those feelings soon turned to love.
I knew from the start that this would not end with a happily ever after, but would be a sad and emotional story. No doubt, it certainly was, but it was also a beautiful story that brought home the fact that you should enjoy every single day of your life to fullest and make the most of each day. This book really put my heart through the wringer, but that's ok, because it was also very inspirational. This was a brilliantly written story with fantastic characters that were relatable and lovable and this is a book I am happy to recommend!
I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

I’ve read over a dozen Heidi McLaughlin books. And I think this one may just be her best one yet - it’s definitely my favorite of hers. To start with, you need to know this isn’t a romance where you get a happy ever after. But it IS a beautiful, heartwarming, heartbreaking LOVE story.

Abandoned at an orphanage when she was five, Palmer Sinclair has lived her whole life solitary, without family or close friends. When debilitating headaches turn out to be more than just migraines, she writes a bucket list of things she wants to see before her terminal illness ends her life.

Paramedic Kent Wagner has been a casual acquaintance of Palmer’s for years - he drops off his car loan payment every month in person at the bank where she’s a loan officer. When his ambulance gets called to attend to Palmer’s medical emergencies not once but twice, Kent learns of her diagnosis. And when his own world falls apart, he decides to help Palmer complete her list. After all, who better than a paramedic to accompany a person with a terminal illness as she travels around the country?

As someone who wants to see all the things in all the places, I’m inclined to enjoy stories about people going from place to place to experience the world. And I thoroughly enjoyed Kent and Palmer’s journey - even as they had to make adjustments as Palmer’s health declined. But what made me love this story so much is how Palmer and Kent perfectly met the needs the other had. It was as if two random puzzle pieces had been wandering around, at loose ends, until the trip helped them discover who they fit with.

But as I said, this story does not have a happy ending for our hero and heroine. Have the Kleenex ready because there’s nothing sadder than two people who belong together and made each other immeasurably happy, being torn apart by death. Especially after such a short time together.

Despite not getting the ending I wanted for Palmer and Kent, I absolutely adored the ending for Kent. It was the perfect amount of sweetness and hope I desperately needed to lift my aching heart after the heartbreaking end to Kent and Palmer's travels.

There haven’t been too many books recently that have touched me so deeply. This one is gonna stay with me for a long while.

* thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

This story was so sad and beautiful at the same time, the author really knows how to pull at your heart strings and remind you what is really important in our short life. The characters were relatable and kept me hooked the whole time. Grab this book and some tissues because you will need it!

Palmer has never needed anyone's help; successful loan officer but she is all work and no play. But when she becomes sick her future is looking blurred. Why did she think she could wait to really live her life. With time on her side now she makes a bucket list, enter Kent. Kent has dedicated his life to helping others, a paramedic and regular at Palmers bank. He learns about her bucket list, touched by it and need a distraction himself he decides to help her. with the list. Neither are prepared for the emotional toll ahead. What little time they have, but the friendship they find is what they both never thought they needed, might just be the heal both their hearts.

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for copy of this book for my honest review.

This book is gut wrenching and heavy and leaves you heartbroken. It’s a story about grief, illness, commitment, love and patience and so much more. Palmer was such a strong character pushing through the pain and suffering to experience joy in the end of her life and to complete her bucket list. And I really liked Kent who was by her side all the time and supported her. Sadly, I didn’t feel that connection with the story that I hoped for. It took a while for me to get emotional invested in the story. I also felt like there were some details that was left out and not fully discovered, like Kents story. The book was overall nice and I recommend it to anyone who likes emotional reads.

Before I’m Gone was the first book that I have ever read by Heidi McLaughlin. It was both heartbreaking and incredibly inspiring. Before I’m Gone was a beautiful and believable love story between two of the most deserving people. All of my emotions were impacted beyond my expectations by this book. I cried a lot but I also smiled and even laughed at certain things that occurred. It was a book that I continue to think about even though I finished reading it.

Palmer Sinclair had chosen her own name when she aged out of the children’s home she grew up in since she was four years old. Her early years of her childhood were sad and lonely. From a very young age, Palmer realized that she had no one else to rely on but herself. She became very independent and capable. As she grew into womanhood, she secured the position of senior loan officer at a prestigious bank. Palmer was good at her job and everyone she worked with respected her and seemed to like her. She never allowed herself, though, to form any real friendships with the people she worked with. Palmer preferred her solitary life.

Recently Palmer began to experience headaches. She treated them by changing her diet. When that seemed to stop working, Palmer visited several doctors but nothing they gave her worked for long. Then one day while she was eating lunch in the bank’s employee lunchroom, Palmer suffered a slight stroke. One of her colleagues called for the paramedics to come. Kent, a customer at the bank, who Palmer had a secret crush on, was the paramedic that responded to the call along with his partner. They took Palmer to the hospital. The doctor who admitted Palmer decided to run several tests on Palmer. During that visit to the hospital, Palmer learned that she had an advanced form of cancer on her brain and only had about six months to live. She was told that treatment might extend her life a little but her cancer was not curable. It was too advanced. Palmer decided that she did not want to receive treatment. She did not want to live the last months of her life feeling sick from the treatments she received. When Palmer got home to her apartment, she sat down and started to write a bucket list for herself. It included all the places she wanted to see and all the things she wanted to do before the end of her life.

That night, Palmer experienced another debilitating episode. Again the handsome Kent and his partner responded to the call. While in Palmer’s apartment, Kent noticed Palmer’s bucket list on her desk. After reading it, Kent was determined to be the one to take Palmer on this journey and help her cross off as many things on her list as time allowed even though they barely knew each other. First Kent arranged to take several months off from his work as a paramedic. The hard part was going to be convincing Palmer to let him do this with her. Fortunately, Palmer finally agreed and their journey began. Over the course of their journey, Palmer started falling in love with Kent and Kent began falling in love with Palmer. It was beautiful and sad at the same time. They became each other’s best friends as well.

From the onset, I knew that this book was not going to have a happily ever after ending. I knew it was going to be sad and it was. It was also inspiring how Palmer persevered and never gave in until she had to. I loved the relationship that developed between Palmer and Kent. It was beautiful and so believable. Kent was the most attentive, caring, loving and supportive man towards Palmer. He was the perfect person for Palmer. This book taught me that everyone should try to enjoy every moment of their lives as if it might be their last. I felt so happy for Palmer that she was able to cross off a great many things from her bucket list and experience them with the person she grew to love. Before I’m Gone was about choices, living life to the fullest, experiencing true love, loss, grief, acceptance, coping and being able to move on with one’s life after losing a loved one. I loved everything about this book and highly recommend it.

Thank you to Montlake Publishers for allowing me to read Before I’m Gone by Heidi McLaughlin through Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

-Tear Jerker
-Bucket list
-Road-trip
-Terminal illness

Wow. This one left me deeply emotional & heartbroken. Beautiful writing and characters that will stay in your heart.

I wanted to like this. I think the premise sounded great. However, the writing left a lot to be desired. The whole book read as someone robotically telling you what happened in unnecessary detail. The reader should have felt so much for the FMC but the writing made it so I didn't care at all about either character or their story. The dialogue was awkward, everything was unrealistic. It wanted to be an adult A Walk To Remember and it totally missed the mark.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to receive this book for an honest review.

This is a heartfelt story of Palmer a bank manager and Kent a paramedic. Kent is a regular customer of Palmers but then he finds out that Palmer has an inoperable tumor. Kent finds Palmers bucket list or " Before I'm Gone list. and decides he wants to help her fulfill it.
This is a real tear-jerker so get your tissues ready, your going to need them.

Thank you to NetGalley, Montlake and the author for an ARC of Before I'm Gone for an honest review.

Before I'm Gone is a nonconventional love story between Kent, a paramedic, and Palmar, a banker. Kent meets Palmer at the bank and soon becomes the EMT on site when she has a medical emergency. I was drawn into this book right away, but as it went on I got bored with it.

We know from the start that this love story isn't going to be a typical love story, that it will have a sad ending. The book talks a lot about a bucket list and living your life to the fullest. However, none of that happened for Palmer until she received some devastating news. There were parts to this story that I think were added in as a shock factor but then weren't elaborated on.

While reading this book I realized that I don't like those stories where you see the tremendous wave that comes upon you throughout the plot and you can't do anything, and that makes you more anxious, nervous, expectant and you end up having a bad time.

Don't get me wrong, this story is BEAUTIFUL. But it has that kind of plot where you ALREADY KNOW what's going to happen and everything that happens in the middle is just adding a grain of sand to the pain. I'm like that, it's something totally personal and not at all against history; On the contrary, the author did an excellent job.

The characters are huggable, lovable, empathetic and you become attached to them.

The story is hard, sad, and at the same time hopeful and leaves us with great messages.

I'll just say prepare to cry.

Thanks Montlake for the ARC I read on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

BEFORE I’M GONE by Heidi McLaughlin is a contemporary, adult, story of love and loss focusing on thirty-seven year old, bank manager Palmer Sinclair, and EMT Kent Wagner.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from omniscient dual third person perspectives (Palmer and Kent) BEFORE I’M GONE follows thirty-seven year old Palmer Sinclair as she endeavors to complete a bucket list of things before she dies. For weeks Palmer had been suffering with debilitating headaches and migraines but a diagnosis would prove she didn’t have much time to live. With the help and love of EMT Kent Wagner, a man suffering in the wake of heart breaking betrayal, Palmer and Kent would set off one final adventure, an adventure that would end all too soon.

BEFORE I’M GONE is an emotional, heart breaking and raw story line of pain and suffering, tragedy and loss, acceptance and love. Palmer Sinclair knew her time was limited but want to experience as much as she could, in a small amount of time. The character driven premise is honest and edgy; the romance is tender and fated; the characters are broken but moving forward. There is NO happily ever after but Kent is living his own life and dream with someone else.



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Absolutely beautiful book!

I loved this book, from beginning to end. It's one of those where despite the reader knowing what the inevitable end will be, you keep rooting for the characters and hoping against hope for a surprise ending. Keep the tissues handy, you will need them as you travel along with Palmer and Kent as they fulfill their bucket list.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book, but my opinions are my own.

I tried so hard to get into the story but I just couldn’t. The first thing that bothered me what how the CT scan was described, that was the perfect description of an MRI machine and not a CT. For most readers this will not faze them, but as someone who has been through a lot of both it really pulled me out of the story. It felt like the author didn’t research much into that and made me question how much of Palmers condition had been researched. Then the sudden refusal of treatment without the character really looking into the treatments or the effects bothered me. It felt like the description for her refusal was based off normal perceptions of chemotherapy when in reality every chemotherapy will be different depending on the drug itself. It just felt like a cookie cutter reaction you expect and would have been better if you saw the character learn all the details and research before deciding it was best to go without. The timeline of things also didn’t really add up because Palmer was waiting for another test and within hours was home. It felt like the beginning was too rushed.

 As someone who watched their parent be diagnosed with terminal cancer and given 14 months her lack of even bothering to try, just bothered me too much. I know everyone is different on how they face a diagnosis and decide on treatment, and while this is a fictional character, I couldn’t enjoy the book or stay interested without getting angry. My mom lived 7 years on 14-month prognosis and in the end, it wasn’t the cancer she passed away from so my personal experiences ruined some of it for me. Also having known a few people with bad prognosis with brain tumors that beat the odds with surgery and treatment, my life experiences just didn't let me enjoy this one enough to finish it.

I think I may enjoy this story in another year or two but with only having been a year since I lost my mom, I think its just not a good fit for me. I picked it because the bucket list story, but I didn’t expect the beginning to really turn me off of it. My rating and review may change in the future but for now I have to mark it as a DNF and walk away. Which makes me really sad because Heidi’s novels usually keep me in them better than this.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Palmer is a bank manager and Kent is a paramedic. Palmer only knows of Kent because he’s a customer at her bank and their friendly chit chat. Until one day, Palmer has a medical episode at work, which leads her to a visit to the Emergency department, and a diagnosis that changes her entire life. Kent is exactly the dreamy male that every girl wishes she has.

The beginning had my attention right away with the medical aspect. Although, I think some research into the medical parts should have been a little bit more researched. As being in the medical field I was really attached to that.

It also seemed a little too choppy with parts of the story, in the beginning especially. It needed more smoother transitions or for a thought to be introduced or completed with details. I found myself flipping a few pages back to see if I missed something. I also think I missed something at the end? If you’ve read this, help a girl out!!

Overall, it was a heartfelt romance that pulled on your heartstrings. Very emotional.

Side note: I stayed in the same hotel in Las Vegas that’s mentioned. So I thought that was kind of cool!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for a DRC. Before I’m Gone is available now!

A devastating story about living life to the fullest, finding love when you don't expect it and the unfairness of life.

When there's a 'right person, not enough time' trope, it's bound to rip your heart out and tear it to shreds. This story is extremely sad from the very start and it took me a few days to read it because I kept avoiding it for my own sake. I would advise you to check the trigger warnings because this is not an easy read.

Although the story is hard to swallow, the writing is engaging and easy-to-read. I loved both main characters, and how their struggles and desires were portrayed. Their journey is bittersweet but so heartwarming. The only aspect I was kind of unsure about was how quickly they became comfortable with each other, but then, if it's the right person, you just know and let go, right? I loved seeing their bucket list grow and things being crossed off, and I liked Palmer's attitude, no matter how utterly sad her story is.

I would love to read more from this author and would highly recommend this one, but only if you're comfortable with the topic.

Beautiful and heartbreaking. I loved Palmer and Kent and how their relationship developed and grew into a romance in the worst possible situation. I appreciated their joys found in the midst of struggles. Thanks #NetGalley #Montlake

J’avais ce livre depuis un moment et je me suis enfin décidée à le lire! Autant vous dire que j’ai eu envie de me mettre des claques car ce livre est une pépite même s’il faut un paquet de mouchoirs à côté de vous pendant votre lecture!

Nous allons suivre Palmer Sinclair, une employée de banque sans histoire qui, à la suite d’un malaise sur son lieu de travail, va être diagnostiquée d’un cancer cérébral avec une durée de vie très limitée… Elle va décider de faire une liste des choses à faire avant de mourir même si elle ne pense pas la réaliser mais c’est sans compter l’arrivée de Kent Wagner dans sa vie et qui décide de l’accompagner réaliser ses rêves…

Comme je le disais en introduction, je tardais à lire ce livre car je me doutais que j’allais pleurer et j’ai pleuré pendant le tiers final du livre tant il était magnifique et triste… Cette histoire m’a prise aux tripes dès les premières pages et je n’ai pas lâché le livre avant d’avoir atteint la fin. L’histoire est pleine d’émotions, de justesse et de tendresse! Les personnages de Palmer et de Kent sont extrêmement touchants et ils risquent de me hanter encore un moment

En bref, si vous voulez un livre qui vous fait pleurer, ce roman est fait pour vous!