Book Review: You Make My Heart Stop
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Author: Becky Hunter
Publisher: Forever. @readforeverpub

You Make My Heart Stop explores an intriguing and emotional premise—what happens when your soulmate exists only in the space between life and death? With echoes of Jojo Moyes and Kirsty Greenwood, Becky Hunter crafts a poignant story about love, fate, and impossible choices.

Emery, living with a life-threatening heart condition, finds herself caught between two worlds: the life she has and the love she can only reach when her heart stops. Nick, the soul guide who exists beyond the veil, is her perfect match—but he can never be hers in the real world. As Emery teeters between life and afterlife, she must decide whether to embrace the unknown or seize the future that’s still within her grasp.

The book shines in its portrayal of Emery and Nick’s bittersweet connection, offering beautifully written moments between them. However, the rest of the story doesn’t quite hit the same emotional depth. Emery’s interactions with her family and friends, particularly her best friend Colin, often feel forced, making those sections less engaging. While her relationship with her sister Amber gains traction toward the end, some aspects of their dynamic—like the implication that Amber raised her—feel inconsistent.

Despite its potential, You Make My Heart Stop falls a little flat in execution. The concept is unique, the themes of love and loss are compelling, but the emotional impact is uneven. Readers who love slow, contemplative romances with a touch of the supernatural may still enjoy this one, but for others, it might not fully deliver on its promise. That said, Becky Hunter continues to tackle rare and thought-provoking themes, and I look forward to seeing what she writes next.

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Such a more than magical novel. It will tug your heart on every page as you learn about Emery and her heart disease which causes her to die and resetate over and over through her life. In death, she has a guide, Nick, who becomes a friend to her as he is present every time she dies. In her life, she struggles to find her place away from an over caring parent. A do not miss novel.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I picked this book up because of the interesting premise of a person dying over and over again throughout their life due to a heart condition. I didn’t know that this book would eventually wreck me, but in the best way.

Emery has a heart condition where stress can make her heart stop at random times. When she dies, she ends up in a mysterious in between place where a man is there to “guide” her. His job is to help people accept their death and move on, but Emery is the first person he’s encountered that returns multiple times. We follow her life and all of the instances where these two meet in the in between. Emery’s journey of finding herself and finding her place in this world despite having a piece of herself in the in between is so compelling and will keep you desperately wanting more.

This story addressed mortality, loneliness, guilt, and belonging in a way that was intriguing yet refreshing. I absolutely loved it and will carry this story with me for a long time. Be prepared to be emotionally drained at the end but in a way that leaves you feeling satisfied. Thank you Becky for such a thought-provoking book.

Thank you so much to Forever Publishing for access to the eARC of this book!

Thank you NetGalley and Hackette books for giving me the opportunity to read this arc.

Spoilers:

This book was very original. It spans the life of a woman with a heart condition where she intermittently dies. It is told in snippets of her life and deaths.

It was heartfelt and there is a lot of character development in both the primary and secondary characters.

I wish we could have had a little feeling and romance between Emery and her love interests. The depth just wasn’t there and I feel like we miss a lot of what gets the couple together besides proximity to each other through out their lives. It felt flat. This might be by design as she loves two men in different “worlds” so she may not be able to give herself fully to either.

You Make My Heart Stop” by Becky Hunter is an interesting take on love and mortality, blending romance with a touch of the supernatural. The premise—where Emery, who has a heart condition, repeatedly meets Nick in a liminal space between life and death—is unique and has moments of emotional depth. However, while the concept is intriguing, the execution feels a bit predictable at times, and some characters could have been more developed. Overall, it’s an okay read—enjoyable for those who like heartfelt, slightly whimsical love stories but not necessarily a standout in the genre.

This was ok but wasn't my favorite. It missed the mark a bit.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

You Make My Heart Stop had me crying like a baby by the end. Emery, with her heart condition that causes her to enter a purgatory-like state, is a complex, deeply human character. While her illness isn’t real, her struggle with life and death feels painfully authentic. Becky Hunter did a great job making her both frustrating and endearing. As readers, we’re torn between wanting her to live and wishing she could join Nick, her “ghost man,” in the afterlife. Their connection is beautiful, heartbreaking, and honest, and the ambiguous ending, while painful, felt incredibly real in a strange, afterlife sort of way.

Thank you to Netgalley and Forever Publishing for letting me read this amazing story and allowing me write a review.

I literally could not put this book down. The first line of the book captured my attention. Yup if a book grabs my attention like that, I will find a way to read the entire book in one day. Yes, I admit : I did not tend to all the adult duties that I was supposed to do today. I just had know what journey Emery was going to go on. It was that good of a story! So good! So powerful! So real!

I laughed, I whooped and I did get teary eyed a few times. It's a heartfelt story of life, choices, living, love, grief and coping. It was amazing, magical and a tad scary (if you want to see it from that perspective). I loved the trials and relationships that Emery navigates in. You could just feel everything from her.

I am definitely getting a physical book for my collection! Plus the cover is gorgeous! I am so thrilled and lucky to have read this story. Thank you again to the author, Netgalley and Forever Publishing!

I was really looking forward to this one from the description as I love when romance and women’s fiction meet. Unfortunately it was not a success for me. I didn’t find this to be romance at all and it left me feeling uncomfortable which is really hard to do as I don’t have any triggers.

I felt like this book didn’t know what it wanted to be. I felt the prose was choppy at times and it just didn’t flow. Maybe it was a “me” issue as someone who lives with chronic illness. Having a completely made up disease for entertainment value just doesn’t sit well with me and I find it ableist.

I’m going to leave it at the above as others may find it enjoyable. I am thankful to have gotten the ARC for free from Forever Pub through NetGalley to read which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars and I rarely round up.

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

Based off the blurb of this book, I was very excited to dive into this story. I love the premises behind it and the plot idea in general, but unfortunately I think it was a miss for me. I couldn't even get behind the relationship between the FMC and the MMC mainly because of the way that they met. They first met when she was only 5 years old, and because of that I got grooming vibes and I immediately got MAJOR ick. I couldn't even try to enjoy the book after that.

However, anything that I didn't like about the book had to do with the main characters themselves and not the authors writing style. Besides the timeline being a little too jumpy at points, the story did flow well, the side characters were loveable, and the ending was satisfying. I just could not get behind the main characters relationship after the first impression I got.


Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was so unexpected. It is so emotional as well. It made me think of mortality. I got attached to the characters and I cried on the last chapter!! I can't wait to tell everyone I know about it when it's published.

A story that revolves around a young woman, Emery, who has a condition, a heart condition that she has had for a while, which affects her in various ways, with one of those ways where she dies, but for only a time.

There is also a bit of a somewhat confused / confusing love story, one that seems to be somewhat one sided, until things change.

At times, Emery is sweet and lovable, while other times, she doesn’t seem to know what she wants, or perhaps she knows what she wants but doesn’t want to invade Nick’s life, and so she tends to avoid him at times.

A somewhat sad and unusual story, overall, of a young woman whose life was changed, and the people in her life.


Pub Date: 22 Apr 2025


Many thanks for the ARC provided by Forever (Grand Central Publishing) / Forever

I loved the concept of this story and kept and keep thinking, "How Cool would this be if it were true and we could actually go and come back."
This is definitely a different book and though a bit repetitive, it is a neat plot.
I would actually categorize this as a fantasy and if you enjoy a good fantasy, then this is for you!

Thank you to @NetGalley and to @Forever(Grand Central Publishing) for this ARC and giving me the opportunity to read and provide my own review.

Not going to lie this one was one depressing Rom com. To me this one more a love story than a romance.

I loved the concept of this story. Everyone always questions what happens after we die and I felt like this was a creative answer. The chapters with nick were great, loved the connection between them, and also the angst. I enjoyed the fmc's determination to live a normal life, refusing to shy away from risks out of fear. Overall, this was a pleasant read.

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


I was excited to read this novel after loving Becky Hunter’s previous novel, ONE MOMENT. However, YOU MAKE MY HEART STOP, did not hit the mark for me. I found myself only enjoying the chapters where Emery was with Nick. In the other chapters, the characters and their interactions felt forced. I am not sure if this was intentional, if the reader is supposed to feel that way toward the rest of Emery’s family and friends, but I found myself rushing through the chapters that involved them.

I did love the emphasis on Emery’s relationship with her sister, especially by the end of the book. However, I did find it strange that there is not that large of an age difference between the two sisters, and yet, at times it seemed like Emery was giving Amber credit for raising her. I do understand that their relationship with their mom was pretty much non-existent, but it felt off.

Even though this particular novel was not for me, I look forward to reading more from this author in the future. I like the fact that the topics she writes about do not come up often in other novels.

This book wasn’t a bad book but it was not necessarily what was promised in my opinion. This book is not really a romance but rather a family drama with a supernatural and a romance element to it, at least for me. I did think it would be a little like The Love of My Afterlife (which it said in the blurb), but it was not, it was quite different and to give the author credit, therefore more original and not too similar to other books. I appreciated that in the end. The characters were interesting, but Emery, the female lead character, was a bit difficult to connect with right away. The story starts when she is a small child and hence the instant relationship with a character was a bit difficult. Emery as a younger adult was very rebellious and not very understanding of her family who worried about her and her condition. In the end she matures though and that was good for her as a character. Nick, as a 2nd main character was mysterious and interesting and his characteristics I’d describe as friendly and calm which added to his role in the book. I think all in all I would have enjoyed the book more if I hadn’t had that premise of expecting a romance due to the promotion of the book as a romance.

So the premise of this book was amazing but it fell flat. The FMC has a heart condition that makes her heart stop and when it does she goes to a kind of purgatory and meets this ghost guide guy and falls for him. But she only gets a few minutes with him every time. She puts her life on hold, and basically pushes away anything that would make her live life. Collin her best friend that is in love with her is the ultimate second choice to ghost boy. I feel so bad for him. He was always there for him and in the end she just kind of stays with him because she can’t have her other pick. I didn’t love this but it had good bones.

I was gave an arc and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.
Thank you to NetGalley and Forever Publishing.

Wow, I was sucked into this story in a way that I haven't been in a long time. An interesting arc and storyline. Will read more from this author!

You Make My Heart Stop made my heart stop because I cried like a freakin’ baby at the end!

Emery— dear, sweet, conflicted Emery— is so very human and realistic to me. While her condition isn’t real, I think she is just as lost as any other human can be when faced with a life-altering illness. Becky Hunter did a wonderful job of making her both frustrating and endearing all at once, because while we’re rooting for her to live, we also kind of, maybe, want her to die so she can spend her afterlife with her “ghost man” - Nick.

The connection between Emery and Nick was beautiful, and sad, and honest. The ending hurt me so much, because as much as it was ambiguous, it was also realistic in some weird, afterlife sort of way.

I loved all of the family members and friends who were part of Emery’s life. I loved how she took risks even if it meant she might not make it through. I really appreciated how she didn’t feel a sense of disappointment at not having the same life as everyone else— but made her own even if it was later than the rest.

Thanks so much for Forever and NetGalley for the eARC of this book!