What if you were meant to be someone else? A more confident, lucky and positive version of you?
In #thistimenextyear, a man, Quinn (who believes you make your own luck) and a woman, Minnie (the unluckiest person ever) were born within minutes of each-other on New Years Day, and meet on their thirtieth birthday. They discover that there have been many times over the past thirty years where their paths have crossed, or almost crossed.

#Sophiecousens has written a wonderful love story about near misses and second chances. Her characterisation details are great. I especially loved Leila (Minnie's best friend) and her confidence and swagger, completely opposite Minnie, and Fleur (one of Minnie's employees).
This was a lovely feelgood story about family, friendship and loving yourself.

I loved the clever concept of this book, and the characters were very interesting and easy to like.
I liked how you assume something about a character and then find out their life isn’t as you expect it.
It was entertaining seeing how Quinn and Minnies lives crossed unnoticed throughout the years.
It was fabulous to see Minnies friends continue to support her all throughout the book, and how her relationship with her mum improves too.
Definitely a feel good book that was enjoyable and entertaining to read.

I loved this book. It reminded me a lot of The Flatshare. I love that it had depth to it, but was also light at the same time. The dialogue was witty and sharp. I also loved the characters. I highly recommend!

Thank you NetGalley and Arrow for the advanced copy of this book.

I absolutely loved this book. It was such a wonderful, heart-warming read, and I couldn't put it down. Missed chances are some of my favourite novels to read, and combining that with two characters who had to really find themselves was a perfect combination.

I loved Minnie and Quinn, their back stories and the times that their lives crossed without them knowing. The storyline flowed really well, and the flashbacks weren't at all disruptive like they can be at times. It had me on an emotional rollercoaster and one that I would very much dive back into!

This is Minnie and Quinn's story. They meet in New Year's Eve. The night of their birthdays. Both their mothers gave birth the same night, in the same hospital. But their lives couldn't be more different. Or that's what Minnie thinks. According to her, Quinn's life has been easier because he belongs to a wealthy family.
It's when they start to spend some time together that she realises that people have different dramas in their lives, but all of them are important.
The book is OK. Although I found it really slow. Some characters are really crazy but they made me laugh.

I liked the premise of this book!
Books that go between story lines and years are bit hard, but all liked message vulnerability and doing things that scare you, friends and family and the things that bond us together.
Conclusion was well done!

*𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸.

This is a really pleasant read.
It has a few twists in it and the characters are likeable.
I could not put it down and it would make a good beach read.

A beautiful, beautiful book. Characters to fall in love with, Serendipity, chances missed, fate being cruel, laughter, tears, a warm and fuzzy feeling throughout the whole story. Not fluffy and silly, just clever and brilliant. I didn’t want it to end! Thank you 😊

This isn’t just a typical romance book. This book is full of life lessons, zany characters and laugh out loud moments! It’s a book about friendship and family. It’s about creating your own luck and finding yourself first so you can love another. Great feel good book that will have you cheering for the characters and eager to see where fate takes them!

I absolutely devoured this book in 24 hours! An absolutely perfect feel good story - I’m so in love with the ending! Predictable but amazing nonetheless

I love that it just isn't about romance! I love the characters, the relationships. This book had my heart! It was a lovely read and I was smiling throughout. Amazingly written! Will definitely be one I pick up to re-read in the near future!

I was provided a copy of this book free through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Quinn and Minnie were born minutes apart on the same day in the same hospital, New Year’s Day 1990. Quinn was born with all the luck, wealthy family and he got the name. Minnie has always been unlucky on her birthday, struggling with money and relationships.

Told through their chance meetings on the eve of their birthdays over the years until they finally meet properly this book is not just a classic romance. All of the characters have a great depth and their own challenges, you can really see the development of everyone in the story without relying on romance as the driving force for change.

This book made me cringe, laugh and fall in love with the characters who felt real and attainable. Minnies clumsiness and self doubt is written well so that it doesn’t feel cliche but honest.

I went in expecting a classic romance and found a book full of character development, honesty and realism.

What a great debut from a new author. This is a contemporary love story featuring "love twins" jinxed Minnie and privileged Quinn. Minnie's jinx started (and is especially bad) around New Years which is also her birthday and also the day Quinn stole her name (as well the cash prize for being the first baby born in 1990). Despite being from such different worlds Minnie and Quinn are inexplicably drawn to each other, finally meeting on their 30th birthdays having crossed paths unknowingly many times before.

That's really the essence of this - fate and finding your "player two" - which is great and something I believe in (kinda) but the number of near meet cutes for this pair was slightly unbelievable. That said the author has an effortlessly easy writing style, cleverly intertwining the present-day story with these past fateful moments. As well as being told across multiple timelines, there's also two points of view Minnie's and Quinn's which is one of my favourite narratives.

Both main characters were engaging. I mean who couldn't like warm, funny, jinxed Minnie who takes losing her coat with house keys, getting puked on and locked in a of all night in her stride because that's just a typical New Year's Eve for her. But, like Minnie I fell for "cardboard girl" Quinn, a boy who seemingly has it all (looks, money, success) but because of family responsibilities can't entertain love, like the story of a penguin at a zoo who fell in love with a cardboard cutout that couldn't love him back.

There's lots of laugh in this and not just provided by Minnie's bad luck. One of my favourite moments being Leila's dream over-the-top Disney themed proposal complete with singing animals, knight in shining armour, mermaids and nutella pancakes only for Leila to reveal she had no recollection of ever having 'asked for such a thing.

The big thing I enjoyed about this was that it wasn't just a romance or even a romcom. It was about relationships in general between friends, family and of course of the romantic variety. It was also thought-provoking and dream inspiring with its sub plot of Minnie's pie business and typical New Year's Eve question of "where do you want to be this time next year?"

Finally, I enjoyed the London setting - who knew you could actually wild swim at Hampstead Heath?

Although this is essentially a romance novel there’s much more to it which makes it a more interesting read. Minnie and Quinn are born a minute apart on New Years Eve/Day in 1989/90. Their respective mothers Connie Cooper and Tara Hamilton are so different both in personality and background, as Tara exudes a wealthy background. The story takes us through various New Years Eve and Day events until Quinn and Minnie truly find each other.

The strongest element of the book is the characterisation which is very good. There are a lot of very likeable characters such as Minnie, Quinn and Minnie’s best friend Leila, some who are a bit quirky and colourful, some are a bit selfish or slightly negative so there’s a really good cross section of people and they all feel real. There is a good injection of humour some of which is a bit snarky, some is of the pun variety and there are plenty of fun, feel good moments. Tara suffers from anxiety which can from time to time almost cripple her and this is very well conveyed and it shows the impact that it has on Quinn but also how much he cares and tries to be supportive which is heartwarming. The book shows the importance of family bonds and friendship - even very unlikely friendships between Tara and Connie which becomes extremely important to both of them but especially Tara. It helps to lessen the effects of her anxiety and I think this is a positive message about reaching out to people. The conclusion of the book is fun but lovely.

My only reservations are the flitting about from different New Years Eve celebrations which feels a bit disjointed although I could see the point the author is making about how Minnie and Quinn keep passing through each other’s lives prior to 2019/20. There’s a good contrast between the differing experiences of the pair of them as Quinn’s tended to be more expensive than Minnie paired down celebrations. Minnie’s references to her bad luck which is a label she is given from birth becomes a bit wearing and I much prefer Quinn’s make your own luck approach! However, neither of these reservations spoil what is a good book.

Overall, this is an enjoyable read, with a good message, some fun and heartwarming moments and so is a perfect piece of escapism.

With thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK/Cornerstone for the ARC.

This time next year by Sophie Cousens a fated five-star read. This maybe wouldn’t have been such a great story for me if I wasn’t born almost ten years to the minute earlier than these pair Quinn and Minnie, so the fate of that made me smile, and I am a sucker for a fated story. There were amazing characters to this story, and I really enjoyed the story line, I just found the pace a little too quick at times for me, I felt like I was flipping scenarios a little fast, but honestly that was a miner thing and overall I really enjoyed the relationship building in this one. Pick it up and give yourself a go as it will whisk you away and make everything right for a few hours.

Thank you Netgalley and Sophie Cousens for providing this eARC for me. I have said my honest opinions.

I absolutely love missed chances turned into future opportunities to redo something, have a chance to meet someone you could’ve before or be someone in some way that you’ve always wanted to try.

I have one think that just plain didn’t work for me. The main character’s name is “Minnie” so I couldn’t get into her being an adult very well.

Otherwise it was a cute story, but should’ve been cut in some places because the beginning, when I didn’t know anything or anyone, didn’t make me want to learn anymore. There was a lot of dialogue and some of it seemed like just filler because I wasn’t learning or progressing through the main or side plots or the characters.

This Time Next Year is a decent read. It has an original storyline, as well as a number of humorous scenes and memorable lines. Unfortunately, the frequent shifting between past and present makes it difficult to follow at times. I would often forget what the date had been prior to a flashback, so when a date was listed after the flashback, I was unsure how much time had passed in the present-day timeline.

Sweet book with well written characters. I recommend reading/gifting this book around the holidays or to anyone who is about to turn 30. Minnie has just enough foible to make her interesting but not enough to turn her into a cliché. Minnie and Quin’s individual New Year’s Eve experiences were fun to read and made their relationship more realistic.

#ThisTimeNextYear @SophieCous

I love love loved this book and every last one of the characters. It was like throwing a warm blanket on, you know?

Minnie Cooper (I know, right!) was born on 1 January and all her life she has felt jinxed especially on New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day. Her mum puts it down to the woman in labour at the same time as her stealing her name, Minnie should have been called Quinn!

A chance meeting 30 years later, sees Minnie run into Quinn during one of her mishaps. Never in a million years would she have thought they would get on so well. This is a story of love but also so so much more. It is a story of friendships, lost chances and relationships.

My favourite relationship is that between Minnie and her best friend Leila. How we all would love to have a friendship that pure (sigh!).

This book is absolutely amazing so what are you waiting for - get reading!!!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced read copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Have you ever thought "where would I be this time next year?" I know I have, so many times. What about New years eve, counting down until midnight, getting all of your goals and wishes lined up. Yep? Meto! Sophie Cousens gives us an extremely relatable book with This Time Next Year. Two babies born on the same day of the same year, just minutes apart. One is a name stealer :P and the other one has terrible luck for most of their life.

When their lives cross paths, will they turn into star cross lovers or......

Cousens uses a writing style that is so easy to follow, the story is also one anyone will be able to relate to. all the characters are likable which makes it an easy all night page turner.

Be prepared to be razzle dazzled with a year of emotions in one book!

5/5 stars