Echavarre, Sarah. Three More Months. Seattle: Lake Union Publishing, 2021.
ASIN: B08V4RS595 | $4.99 USD | 319 pages | Women’s Fiction
Blurb
What if you woke up one day and the loved one you’d lost was suddenly, inexplicably alive again?
Chloe Howard’s devotion to her job has come at a cost: spending time with the most important person in her life—her mother. Vowing to change, she plans a trip home. Sadly, hours before she arrives, her mother passes away, leaving Chloe without a goodbye and riddled with grief and regret. But maybe…maybe it’s not too late.
Just days before the funeral, Chloe finds her mother unaccountably alive and well. And it’s no longer May; she’s been transported back in time to March. No one—not Chloe’s brother, friends, or colleagues—understands why Chloe is so confused. How can she make sense of this? It’s impossible. But Chloe is going to make the most of it. She’s going to do everything differently: repair family rifts, forge new bonds, tell her mother every day how much she loves her, and possibly prevent the inevitable.
This is a second chance Chloe never saw coming. She’s not wasting a minute of it.
Review
3.5 stars
I received an early copy of this book through Amazon First Reads.
I was excited to hear that Sarah Echavarre Smith was releasing a women’s fiction book, Three More Months, as Sarah Echavarre. Given the heroines and their backgrounds have always been what stood out for me and the romances were often elements I could take or leave (the most recent being unbearably bland), I was optimistic I might enjoy this one.
And to an extent, I did. Echavarre does a good job of infusing the Filipino cultural elements, as usual. And one thing I’ve always loved is her characters frequently have some sort of tie to Hawaii, whether living there currently or as a part of their backstory.
And I did really feel the emotional punch of it. Chloe’s grief in the wake of losing her mother, and then inexplicably getting a do-over was generally well-conveyed. I liked the sense of her actively working to do things differently. And the fact that there were consequences to her getting this second chance was also well done.
However, I did find the pacing a bit too slow at times. It meandered, and I feel like it could have been a tad shorter, more concise, and still effective.
This is a heartwarming (and sometimes heartbreaking) read, about the importance of the relationship between a mother and child. If that appeals to you, I would recommend picking it up.
Author Bio
Sarah Echavarre earned a journalism degree from Creighton University and has worked a bevy of odd jobs that inspire the stories she writes today. When she’s not penning tear-jerker women’s fiction, she writes sweet and sexy romcoms under the name Sarah Smith. She lives in Bend, Oregon with her husband.
Buy links
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