*I received a copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this opportunity.*

TWICE IN A LIFETIME is on of the unique books that easily spans across multiple genres. The element of unexplained semi-time travelling places it solidly into science fiction, but sandwiched between the SciFi is a really beautiful and moving love story. This story is not a fluffy, easy romance-- Isla (the leading lady) suffers from debilitating anxiety and depression, and is struggling to recover from the death of her beloved mother. While Ewan (the love interest) plays a massive role in helping her cope, the work Isla does is real and it's not an example of being miraculously healed through love.

What I loved most about TWICE is that it's as much of a love story about Isla and Ewan as it is about Isla and herself. The story, at it's root, is one about loving yourself as you are and giving yourself the freedom to be loved.

This book will not be everyone's cup of tea, it's a lot heavier than your average romance, but it's such a rewarding read and will leave a lasting imprint if you embrace it!

Wow! What a premise! This book was such a great surprise!

Imagine knowing someone you are meant to be with because you slowly fell in love with them through daily phone calls but the one problem is you haven't met them yet and when you do, they will not know you at all. Isla is a shy anxious individual who mostly keeps to herself until one day she tries to correct someone who thinks he's her husband. He knows so much about her and the more she talks to him the more she begins to believe she is talking to someone from her future. Now she is in the tricky situation of knowing who she is supposed to fall in love with but not sure how to get there. And then if she does manage to figure that out how she can change the future so she keeps her happiness and does not endure the hardships that put her in this situation in the first place. I loved this story. It was gripping, emotional and I didn't want to put it down.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book. Anyone who likes The Time Traveler's Wife or You've Reached Sam will enjoy this book. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

This time slip story has a little bit of a vibe of the Sandra Bullock Lake House movie, a bit of The Butterfly Effect, and situations that show that changing the future has consequences.

Twice in a Lifetime is not exactly a time travel story, but more of an exchange of messages from one time to the other, which is what reminds me of Sandra Bullock's movie The Lake House. The rules set by the author give consequences for changing the future. I liked the whole premise. There are also serious themes of traumatic brain injury and depression that are well presented.

Megan Tusing does a good job with the narration, and I liked the conclusion.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from Dreamscape Media via Netgalley. My review is voluntary and my opinions are my own.

This book was beautiful and I absolutely adored it! This book is an incredible debut. One of my favorite reads of 2022. A beautiful heartfelt story. I really loved Isla, and as someone who just moved to Missouri, it was fun to hear about places that Isla explored that I have recently explored as well! This book is fantastic and I cannot recommend it enough! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

It’s difficult to put into words how I felt about this book. There are definite TW such as suicide and depression; but I feel there was so much more than that. The time travel aspect really toned down the severity of the seriousness, but still stayed true to its message.

I really did adore this story arc. If you’ve ever struggled with self doubt, insecurities, and depression, this story might resonate with you. It was so much more than a love story of second chances.

Thanks so much NetGalley and Dreamscape media for the ARC.

I am a huge fan of time travel and multi-timeline stories and so was intrigued by the premise of Twice in a Lifetime. I am not, however, a huge fan of psychotherapy disguised as fiction, and I warn readers and listeners not to jump in unless they're prepared for a lot of depressive recriminations and navel gazing. There was a "trigger warning" at the start of the novel, and there is information at the end encouraging anyone suffering from depression, suicidal thoughts, etc., to seek help. Technically I can see how the book qualifies as a "romance," but it does not at all qualify as escapist fiction. The narration was overly dramatic, and I don't foresee myself searching out more work by either this author or this narrator.

How often do you get the chance to make things right in your world? Isla has anxiety and suicidal thoughts she doesn't do well in large situations and 2nd guesses a lot of things. She decided after the loss of her mother to move to St. Louis to have a better life a simple life and not be surrounded by lots of people. Then one night she gets a text from someone who claims to know her and who said he was her husband. This is a joke right? Then he starts sending pictures and things he couldn't know.

What if this is real. How is her past talking to her future and what happen for him to be able to talk to her. She soon learns something happen and this could be a 2nd chance to correct the future. Once something changes she can't contact him anymore and now its up to her to make sure she gets the future they deserve.

in the beginning of the book I wasn't into the story and trying to see if it went from texting to will they meet? once she goes on her own path of things changed I was interested in the outcome. I thought Isla is someone we can all relate to and they don't sugar coat what she's dealing with. Ewan does seem to perfect don't get me wrong I enjoyed him but no one can be 100% perfect.

Once we got to the last 30% of the book I feel back into how I felt in the beginning of the book. And Its like how many chances do you get and the one page it was trying to figure out the past to fix it again to know what dates she needed to do things. It felt to easy to get what you wanted for the end of the book.

Thanks to NetGalley for this Audio Arc in exchange of my honest opinion.

I've been all over the place with what I've wanted to read lately, and was unexpectedly drawn into the synopsis of this novel about a woman finding love while coping with crippling anxiety.

TWICE IN A LIFETIME features woman named Isla who has fled the city for small-town Missouri, in the wake of a painful and exhausting year. With her anxiety at a fever pitch, the last thing she expects to find is a genuine romantic prospect.

I thought the mental health representation of a character struggling with very real circumstances was so relatable, and I really enjoyed the twist of time travel in this romance. The audiobook was narrated by Megan Tusing, which I thought did a great job at getting both POVs across while reading.

*many thanks to Dreamscape Media and netgalley for the gifted copy for review

Isla moved to a beautiful cottage house that could be a respite for her when her anxiety got too hard and she could work remotely after her mother's death. Her magical oasis turned more so when she received a text message from someone claiming to be her husband from a future date and information to support his claim. Before their timelines reconnect, Isla finds herself already captivated by Ewen and makes it her mission, also at his request, to find him in her timeline.
A different kind of time-travel romance, this book took an honest look at mental health from the perspective of the those who struggle with their mental health as well as those who love them all while exploring wormholes of time, and the consequences of messing with it. While I wasn't convinced of the story at first, the end made me glad that I had continued to read.

#netgalley
#arc
#twiceinalifetime

I do want to start by saying that I personally could not enjoy this book to the full extent because it had such good representation. Her anxiety and thought spirals heightened my own, and caused me a period of high anxiety and stress. That being said, the representation was fantastic, and showed just how crippling anxiety can be for those of us who have it chronically. I really appreciated that. The premise was great, and I loved the talking to the past/future. I continued to root for the relationship, and the ending felt like the perfect one. Thank you for the opportunity to enjoy this.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance audio of this book. This review is wholly my own.

I will admit that when I requested the book, I was fully ready for a sweet rom-com. That was not the case here. Sure, there was the romance aspect, but this book also tackled A LOT of heavy issues that I was not expecting. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but if you go into this story hoping for something lighthearted, go a different direction because it's not just lighthearted sappiness.

The book was well-written, but this one just did not click with me. I do have experience with a lot of the issues that the main character deals with, but it still did not resonate well with me.

I feel like this is one of those that you will love or you will hate and each person will be different. I do recognize that while it was not for me, others may enjoy it. I would not personally recommend it, but wouldn't steer anyone away from it either.

I adore The TIme Traveler's Wife and loved the combination of magical realism, anxiety representation and romance in this story. Second chance romance is my favorite trope and this story delivered. However, I had a hard time with the POV switched to a dual narrative and got a little lost in the plot. Otherwise this was a very enjoyable read!

An interesting story with some time travel and magical realism. At times this is a difficult read, so look for trigger warnings if you need to. The characters and their intense love story really gripped me and pushed me through this difficult novel. It's a beautiful and heartfelt novel.

Oona Out of Order and The Time Traveler’s Wife are two of my favorites so I knew I would love this book. Isla recently moved to a small town in Missouri. One day she receives a text message from a man claiming to be her husband from three years in the future. She thinks it’s a hoax but Ewan seems to know everything about her. Then he sends a photograph of them on their wedding day. This book was much darker and more emotional than I thought it was going to be which I loved. Please check trigger warnings if you need to prior to reading. It’s a very heavy read. I recommend this for readers who enjoy a little magical realism in their romance, time travel/time loop stories, grief stories, and mental health rep. I loved seeing Isla’s character development. Ewan was very swoon worthy. I was rooting for them the entire book and on the edge of my seat. This is a great debut novel from Baron and I’m excited to see what she does next. Thank you to the author, Netgalley, and Dreamscape Media for an advanced audiobook.

What an awesome book! The narrator was interesting and I found the plot to be exciting and exhausting in the best way. I enjoyed the ending especially because it just tied together well. I will be looking forward to more books by this author.

This was a really hard book to read. I was expecting a cute romcom and it definitely isn't that at all. It was hard to read so many chapters of her deep sadness. I did appreciate her working through her anxiety and starting to build some friendships and a life she was happy with. I think the anxiety and depression representation is essential. However, the description and cover didn't prepare me for the content of the book and that made it harder to enjoy because I wasn't ready for the themes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the opportunity to review this book ahead of publication. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

Oh my heart this book.
What a beautiful look at second chances and how perspective can be so life changing. If we could all have a magical cottage in St. Louis.

There are moments you will laugh, cry, scream, and moments that will crush you and big moments that will hug your heart and make you smile. It is such a fabulous ride.

Perfect choice of narrator.

Thank you for the opportunity to review.

From the outside this one looks like a romance with some time travel twists but it was so much more! I loved the mental health rep in this and found the characters incredibly endearing. The narration was perfect and the audio was bingeable!
Thank you Dreamscape Media for the ALC of this one!

2.5 stars

A messy time travel book about love, suicide, & disability. I’m still not sure how to express exactly how I feel about this book, but it was pretty problematic for me.

[What I liked:]

•The main reason I read this book was because it’s set in the St. Louis area, & I love reading about familiar places! And how often does Missouri show up in novels? Not very! And it was really fun reading about the MC going to places like the zoo and the botanical gardens & spelunking (& going to Hannibal—this book has a weird obsession with day trips Hannibal 😂 I mean it is a cool place, but I know few St. Louisans who go there bi-monthly)

•Some of the art stuff was kinda cool. I enjoyed the mural painting stuff.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•Was the place name dropping & art enough to save this book? Hell no, not for me! Part of it is that I’m usually not into time travel/time loop stories, so I probably should have just passed on this. But that’s not the main problem I have with this book (though I did find the time stuff annoying).

•It felt really creepy (though neither MC did anything wrong?) how first Ewan texted Isla out of the blue & declared himself her husband in the future, & then he stopped knowing who she was but Isla knew & orchestrated their meeting. It all felt manufactured & icky.

•Much worse than that, though, was the whole central plot point of trying to avoid a future death by suicide. I don’t want to ruin with spoilers, but it felt very ableist & icky to me, including in ways I’m not sure how to articulate.

CW: terminal illness (cancer), mental illness (anxiety/panic attacks), accidental death, suicide

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

Wow...where to start. This is not your typical romance love story. It's so much more. It's messy, emotional, complex, heartfelt, triggering (for those who might be triggered by mental illness, anxiety, and suicidal ideation), thought provoking, tear producing, and funny at times. I wasn't sure what to expect, and by the initial description, I felt like it might be more like a cross between The Time Traveler's Wife and Groundhog Day. Aside from the romance aspect, the subject matter in this story isn't one that I would intentionally gravitate towards, however, I loved everything about it. The characters are human, flawed, real, emotional, and you cannot help from routing for and encouraging them on, every step of the way. The narrator for the audiobook did such a fabulous job with bringing all their complexity to life. I kept glued to this one to see what would happen next and how it would end. I definitely recommend. Thanks so much to Melissa Baron, the publisher, Dreamscape Media, & NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ARC audiobook.