BEFORE WE SAY GOODBYE by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

4 stars

Touching, heart-warming emotional stories that where diverse characters travel back in time to resolve unfinished emotional business. This fourth novel in the series Before the Coffee Gets Cold, but my first read, features a magical café in Japan, Café Funiculi Funicula, that enables patrons to travel to their past. Strict rules apply: such as no changing present outcomes, staying in the time-traveling chair, and time is limited to getting back before their cup of coffee cools.

Four people get a chance at time travel: a husband who needs to apologize to his wife who’s currently in a vegetative state; a woman needing to say goodbye to her beloved dog who died while she was sleeping, a woman who declined a marriage proposal, and a daughter who in her youth after her mother’s death drove her father away from her.

The whole time reading you find yourself mulling over if you could go back in the past to talk to someone – what would you say and why would matter so much to you. From lost loved ones to deep regrets, the powerful possibility of saying goodbyes or righting emotional wrongs has powerful resonance.

Thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

Stacy DeBroff

Stacy DeBroff, founder and CEO of Mom Central.com and social and digital consultancy, Influence Central, is a social media strategist, attorney, and best-selling parenting author. A sought-after expert for national media, she trend-spots regularly with national brands and speaks frequently to national and international audiences on a wide range of subjects, including influencer marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, and consumer trends. A passionate cook, gardener, reader, and tennis player, she adores this new chapter of post-college-age parenting.