When Jude proposes to Avery, secrets in her past keep her from accepting. After a family emergency, she returns home. A stowaway in the form of Jude’s daughter, travels with her. Together, they both learn to face their past, allow forgiveness, and open their hearts.

Part girlie road trip, part dark comedy, but always thought-provoking, I loved following Avery’s literal and figurative journey. After suffering major psychological and physical trauma, Avery has tried to move on and do the best for herself, but by burying her problems she has caused damage to others along the way. Through the unconditional love of family and a reluctant, moody companion Avery confronts her past in an attempt to rescue her future and discovers that anything is possible … when we let go.

If we hide a piece of ourself from the person we love, do they actually know us at all?

When we escape to save ourself, are we damaging the lives of others?

Is being a mother instinct or skill?

Just because you’ve experienced loss, does that make your loss greater than everyone else’s?

In protecting yourself from hurt are you missing all of the good?

Does the truth hurt or heal?

Does everyone deserve to be happy?

When We Let Go features Avery, a woman with deep wounds in her past, and Jude, a widower with three kids. Avery has hidden that wounded past from Jude so when he proposes, she freezes. Then her sister calls with news that her dad has been injured, and Avery goes home to face her wounds and her past.

I have never had to deal with the kind of pain Avery has so it is hard for me to understand her reactions and reasonings for doing certain things and hiding her true self from Jude. Not until her full past was revealed did I really get it. At times I found Avery hard to like because she just couldn't be honest, but overall the character carried the novel well.

The story centers on pain - loss, betrayal, dishonesty - which results in broken hearts and relationships. This is not a happy book, but it has moments of redemption and restoration.

Not family friendly due to profanity and adult themes.

1st story by this author, very good, emotional domestic drama…

Avery runs away from the most unimaginable pain in an effort to start again. This isn’t going to go smoothly though because she hasn’t come to terms with this loss but has involved a new partner and his children. When he proposes it sparks a new journey with an unlikely sidekick.

This is a great story of women coming together, mending bridges and growing in the process. Completely different than my usual suspenseful thrillers but still very satisfying. Interesting ending also which I’m not sure was needed but didn’t deter from the story.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Lake Union Publishing for a copy in exchange for a review.

This book is about grief, guilt, forgiveness, and relationships, particularly between mothers and daughters. Sometimes you're in the mood for a good cry, which is why I requested this book, and it didn't disappoint. The novel deals with a lot of difficult topics, but it does so in a thorough manner, allowing us to develop along with the characters in our understanding of them. It also includes a fantastic mix of side characters who help to drive the plot along in the right direction; Elle in particular holds a special place in my heart. I really liked how this book ended, and there were a couple plot twists that made me cry. The narrative is honest, and it demonstrates that facing your concerns full on is the greatest way to overcome them.

When We Let Go by Rochelle B. Weinstein was an enjoyable novel, focusing on the relationships between mothers and daughters and those in close relationships. Avery Beckett accepts a proposal from Jude Masters, who is a widower with children, who she met outside a class to deal with loss. She was going to walk in, as she was trying to deal with the loss of her partner and unborn daughter in a fire, but she went into a yoga class instead, so he didn't know that was why she was there. Their relationship blossomed into love, but she was afraid to tell him the truth.

After the engagement, she went home to settle things with her family, which had been strained, but wound up with a stowaway, Jude's teenage daughter who was rebellious and miserable. As they traveled together and spent time at the family farm, they worked together and built a friendship and relationship, becoming close. But was it enough to make Avery see that she could be a wife and the fire that killed her fiance was not her fault? Could she make amends with her family? And with Jude?

A wonderful novel...thank you to the author, Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for and ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Rochelle B Weinstein is an author you want to add asap! Her books are amazing and she is like having a pocket of sunshine you can always carry around with you! Her books are ones you want as soon as you see them pop up on Netgalley and the bookstores! Grab them asap you won’t be sorry!

Wow - does this story have all the feelings you can imagine. It's an intense story with child loss, spousal loss, family dynamics, love, mother/daughter stories, forgiveness, healing, more love, etc.

It took me a while to warm up to Avery - but as the story progresses, you know why. After a devastating loss, she packs up and heads to Florida - there she starts healing and moving on, but not letting go of what happened. An accident calls her back home to North Carolina and she has an unexpected passanger. Then the real healing beings, and forgiveness and finally letting go.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a temporary, digital ARC in return for my review.

Rochelle Weinstein’s “Before We Let Go” is a novel about loss, grief, becoming (and unbecoming) a mother, and finding love through it all. Avery Beckett leaves behind all that she knows in North Carolina after an unexpected accident and moves to Miami, Florida for a new start. She stumbles into a cardiologist named Jude and falls in love with him despite her unresolved problems from the past.
One thing that caught my attention was the use of elements in crafting Avery as a woman who desires to be a mother. Her first love with Oliver focuses on images of sparks and fires to characterize their love for each other. Avery even says on the first page that love is a fire she cannot tame. When she accidentally sets the cabin that she and her first love are staying at on fire and has a stillbirth as a result, she falls into a deep grief and blames herself for the whole thing. Told in the first person, Avery’s doubts about becoming a mother thereafter are all about focusing on her job as a horticultural assistant in Miami.
The elemental then shifts to the woman who desires to be a mother and portrays her as a gardener of her desires. Avery does not necessarily mean to plant the seeds of love and does not expect to fall in love with Jude, but she does. Yet when he proposes, there are issues from her past that she must consult. That and her issues about becoming a stepmother to three children, one being a troubled sixteen-year-old named Elle.
With her knowledge on the earth and gardens so dense, Avery does not have a lot of room for emotions. Her sister, Willow, though counteracts this and helps Avery see and recognize where her emotions are stemming from. Willow acts as a surrogate mother in the novel, as told in the exposition of the backstory, and has a vibrant, takes-no-prisoner attitude when it comes to people. She is the emotional fire in which Avery has built her ideas of motherhood around.
However, when the reader learns that Avery feels betrayed by Willow because she had put her in a psychiatric ward for her depression, the sentiment of the first person is lost. The reader does not understand why Avery is so defensive about being abandoned and betrayed by her surrogate mother. As a result, the reader follows Avery not to see if she does become a [step]mother, but to see if she eventually does come to terms about the emotional baggage that she carries.
It is not until after Jude comes to North Carolina to pick up his daughter when Avery and Willow talk about how Oliver had died in the fire. This omission at first caught the reader off guard, but then the plot and Avery’s emotional response to the inciting incident makes sense; she and Willow talk about how she was mourning both her daughter and her fiancé which Elle overhears and runs away from the farm, screaming about how Avery is a cheater and doesn’t deserve her dad.
This reader would have appreciated a symbolic thread of dreams. In the beginning, there is some mention as well as at the climax and the resolution, but there was not much in the rising action that signified that the characters have their own dreams for the future. The reader often guesses what they have in mind for the future. There is some dialogue about what each character dreams for each other, but maybe a softer focus on the figurative dreaming would have made the reader more invested in the characters.
This novel’s main strength is the dialogue. Each character has their own unique voice; Elle, with her youthful, rebellious, often profane language. Avery and Willow with their mother tendencies. Jude with his self-control and discipline. There are so many heartfelt emotions conveyed in the dialogue in important scenes that makes the reader emotional to witness.
The setting is just as magical as the dialogue. The southern landscape in both North Carolina and Florida reveals a duality of magic and realism in which is inescapable to a more practical person like Avery. Even she notices how the land has a mysterious beauty; the way that Weinstein is able to write magic into the landscape of both these states creates a surreal yet almost motherly care for the land.
In conclusion, this novel was a great, exhilaratingly emotional read. I cried more times than I could count. The happily-ever-after may have been a little cliched, but I think Avery deserved to be healed and recovered from what she lost in the fire. I think Avery deserves the second chance to become a mother once again and to say yes to the man that she loves.

This one was heartbreakingly beautiful and I loved the main character Avery. She was a broken yet strong woman and also the element of mental sickness was an amazing idea. I really though for a few pages that he was real.
And how she connected with Elle instead of Jude was also a pretty intriguing point in the story. Overall I really liked it.

When We Let Go
A Novel
by Rochelle B. Weinstein

An emotional tale of mothers and daughters, loss and acceptance, When We Let Go is about the lessons that come from heartbreak and the healing it takes to embrace the joy of a second chance.

Wow, this one got me right in the heart. Tissues and letting the past go, so the future can begin. It is never too late to begin again. I read it twice.

This book was so amazing!! I’m so glad I was able to receive this eArc

Brief Synopsis:
When Jude proposes to Avery she wants to be happy and say yes but her past secrets hold her back and she realizes she just cannot marry him and she must go back home to the family farm to face her past. While driving home she finds that Elle, Jude’s daughter, has stowed away in the car with her to make the trip. Together they will spend a summer growing and healing on the farm

My thoughts:
- Avery’s past was so tragic and you went through all the emotions with her and her as it was revealed.
- I loved Willow her sister. She was always there for Avery and everyone around her and didn’t give up when it got hard
- I live on a small farm so this book touched me how the family farm helped both Avery and Elle heal and overcome their struggles
- The author did so great developing the character and their relationships

✨Overall this book was raw, emotional and heartwarming. I highly recommend you all check it out in May!!


Thank you @netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for this eArc in exchange for my honest review!

Love this story! Avery is such a great main character and it was interesting to discover the life she left behind and how she has to go back to move forward. Elle on the other hand was a tough one to like at first but she grows on you. Great story with the perfect ending!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a free e copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
I have to say, what drew me to this book was the cover! It is beautiful, and I am a sucker for anything with florals on it. I was not really sure what I was getting into, going into this book... but I was pleasantly surprised! This book is about relationships, mothers, daughters, family, guilt, love, and forgiveness. This book is heavy, and it will really provoke some emotions out of you. I loved this book! I highly recommend.

This book is quite the tear jerker. Loss is at the center of this engaging novel. Jude proposes to Avery, his girlfriend of several years. He is expecting her to say yes, but is floored when she can't accept. Unbeknownst to him she has been keeping a huge secret that will color her life forever, unless it is shared with the man she loves

This book delves into contemporary issues about grief, blended families and honesty. Great fodder for book clubs. Recommended for all public libraries.

This book was so wonderful! It hooked me from the first chapter and KEPT me hooked the entire time. 10/10 would recommend to lovers of all genres.

This was the first book I’ve read by this author and I loved it! I’m definitely going to find more of her books to read. I curled up on the couch with a blanket, a fire in the fireplace, and a cup of tea during a snow storm and finished this thriller in almost one sitting. Lots of twists and turns that kept me guessing and definitely entertained!

After reading This Is Not How It Ends, I jumped at a chance to read another book by Rochelle Weinstein and When We Let Go did not disappoint.

This story of love, loss, heartbreak, redemption, and reconciliation kept me reading until the literal last page. The characters were well thought out and added to the story, the plot was not unrealistic, and I thought the story ended well.

I can't wait to read another book by Weinstein. Thank you @netgalley and @lakeunionpublishing for the chance to read an ARC of this one!

Wow... This was a breathtaking story. I'm so happy that I read it!

Traumatic grief does awful things to people, to how they view themselves and their place in the world. Avery and Jude both are handling their losses in their own ways, and neither chooses the healthiest coping mechanisms.

But when these two lost and wounded people find one another, as much as they want the pieces to fit seamlessly together, they just don't. Not when they each are bringing other people to their relationship too. For Jude, it's his dead wife. For Avery, it's her dead fiance and their unborn child.

It's only as they each seek their own healing and come to terms with their losses that they can finally make room in their lives for each other and to learn to live again.

This story grabbed me personally since I have been through traumatic grief too. My miscarried child's name was Avery Quinn, and there just happen to be two characters in this story, a mother and child, who share those names. And I could see myself in each of the responses to loss, as well as in the commitment to opening themselves up again, even though that meant risking pain again.

What a powerful story on so many levels! I couldn't put it down!

I really enjoyed this novel, it was full of complex relationships and the pain that both Elle and Avery were in was heartbreaking to read. And as you read on you realised that everyone around them had suffered in some way or another, Jude, Willow, pops. It was beautiful to see Elle and Avery begin to let down their walls very very slowly and to let people in and let themselves be loved again. A story that was both utterly fascinating, and absolutely heart breaking. And no, I didn’t see the twist coming at the end!!
Would absolutely recommend