Susan Weidener crafts a well-paced, engaging and believable memoir about love, loss and starting over in Again in a Heartbeat. I was immediately drawn into her story by her clear and honest voice as she recalls her first meeting with John, the man she will marry and have two children with. By weaving in the small details that matter, she brings John and their love alive on the page. This is not a sappy love story but a raw review of her life experiences with John, including the not-so-pretty parts of dealing with his mother who one day shows her disapproval by lunging at her with a saber she had pulled off the wall. When John is diagnosed with terminal cancer we share in the terror of losing someone we love. Her portrayal of the challenges inherent in dealing with this is gripping. We feel the frustration and pain of unspoken feelings. As a nurse practitioner, I want to reach out and tell them both to share their feelings with one another. We feel her angst and fears and see how they take her to uncomfortable places like being attracted to other men out of desperation for her own unmet needs. With honesty and courage, she pours out her wide range of feelings in a confessional fashion. This memoir goes beyond a love story to provide a realistic guide for anyone who is facing the potential loss of a partner through illness. She brings us through the crisis of losing John and begins to move on in her life with her two sons. Leaving us with a sense of hope and renewal, she shows us that despite this profound loss, she would “do it again in a heartbeat.” Her memoir is a testimony to the love she and John shared and to the hope of moving on after a loved one has died as well as a guide for anyone who has loved and lost.