It was an 'ok' read but it had some issues for me like the dialogue and the characters. Some of the dialogue doesn't sound realistic (I would say it sounds juvenile) and I didn't quite like Amelia, she's a bit annoying to me.

I LOVED THIS BOOK! I felt like it was such a fast read and I was so sad when it was over! The characters were loveable and overall just a great rom-com read.

I love a good second chance story, and will be keeping an eye out for more from Jensen. Her style of story telling is so fun to read and easy to follow

First time for me to read a book by Helga Jensen and I am happy I did! I really enjoyed "Twice in a Lifetime"!!! this book is a page-turner! You won't be bored when reading it! This story will bring you to beautiful and magical New York City and is all about finding love again, maybe even giving a second chance to relationship that could have happened but never did! But this book is so much more than just romance! Once you will read this, you will think twice when trying to find love on the internet! Very very entertaining book that I recommend to you!!!!

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the ARC, all thoughts are my own.

After her husband left her out of the blue, the only relationship 48-year-old Amelia Simpson has enjoyed recently is with Nutella and Pinot Grigio. While her 8-year-old twin boys, Jasper and Rupert, keep her busy, Amelia dreams of a life more than washing muddy rugby kits.

This was such a gorgeous & sweet read about rediscovering yourself & loving life to the fullest.
Set in NYC with breathtaking views, Amelia has an adventure of a lifetime.

I did enjoy this book but it also kind of missed the mark with me. I enjoyed the story/plot line, but I felt like it was lacking something. I'm not quite sure what it was lacking but I did enjoy reading it.

This is the first book I've read from Helga Jensen. But she made me laugh out loud over and over again with this book.

Maybe a chance meeting with a stranger 20 years ago was the one that got away? You'll have to read this to find out more lol.

Twice in a Lifetime is, on the surface, a fun rom-com following 48-year-old Amelia's unexpected, transatlantic adventure in search of 'the one'. However, beneath the surface, Jensen covers themes of grief, betrayal, identity and finding inner strength when the life you have known is shattered beyond recognition. Through featuring a protagonist in her late 40s, Jensen also conveys how age is no more than a number. Amelia's sense of fun, wonder, insecurity and hope will be relatable to readers of all ages, as they join Amelia on her journey.

Helga Jensen will make you laugh out loud over and over again with Twice in a Lifetime! Amelia is a forty something recently dumped mother of two. She keeps thinking life has to get better than this! How long can she go on like this? Maybe a chance meeting with a stranger 20 years ago was the one that got away? You will have to read this to find out more! Such a fun read!!!!

It was just okay! It was a bit airy and silly. There was a lot that went on that to me was very unbelievable and super naive/far reaching. There were some really cute moments and the ending did make me smile, it ties up loose ends in more than one way that was heartwarming. There were quite a few red flags to me in this book and it frustrated me that Amelia was so naive. She was also so self-deprecating and there were many moments that were dedicated to her focusing on how imperfect she was and I found it super distracting. I did like the author’s writing style and it was fast paced!

This book felt a bit too unrealistic for me. I wanted to enjoy the story but I didn’t feel that the main character was an accurate portrayal of her age and that distracted me from fully enjoying the story. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book in advance!

3.5* A fun light read featuring welcome older characters. The idea is great but I just wish the guy she'd gone searching for had been more likeable as this would have been slightly more believable..

Thank you NetGalley, author Helga Jensen, and Hera Books publishing for giving me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
3.5 stars
The book's premise peaked my interest, but when I sat down to read the book, I a little disappointed with the story. The storyline and events became a little unrealistic as the story continue. I found the characters actions as a little unrealistic as well as questionable about the blaring red flags that were going up around a certain characters and his actions. (I will not name names). I did enjoy the family dynamics. Jamie was my favorite character! He was so sweet and wanted only the best for Amelia and her boys. The characters dialogue did not really match their age. They seemed to talk like they were in their early 20s rather than their late 40s-early 50s. This made it hard to fully commit my interest in this book. I appreciated the overall message this book was trying to convey and that was all people deserve their HEA! I would be interested in reading more by this author in the future. I would recommend this book for those who are looking for a light-rom com during a weekend on the beach or rainy afternoon.

3.5☆ A Fun, Light Hearted Rom Com.

Twice In A Lifetime is a fun read with a second chance romance kinda feel.

Amelia isn't quiet ready to jump into the dating pool again after a bitter divorce, but with some persuasion from best friend Sian she's about to take the Plunge.

But Plunge might be a bit of an understatement, she's about to track down Patrick, the one Amelia believes could of been the ' One ' except she hasn't seen him for many years and he lives no where near her.

So Amelia sets off on an adventure of a lifetime, but is love on the cards?
Is Patrick who he claims to be?
Can Amelia let her hair down and have some fun! Is Love really staring right at her!

From the first few chapters I enjoyed the little glimpses of humour between best friends. I always enjoy books that feature strong friendship bonds and this book definitely had that covered!
The only lil niggle was that Amelia, Sian and Jamie at times felt somewhat immature which came across at times as a little irritating.

Twice In A Lifetime is definitely a story about Friendships, self discovery, second chances, loss, grief, and finding romance.
I enjoyed the light hearted side of this book and at times it felt like a rom com more than a women’s fiction.

A fun sounding premise with a promising start. Even though Amelia reconnected with "Perfect" Patrick, I was rooting for Jamie from the beginning! Had I known the main character was 48, I probably wouldn't have picked up the book because I didn't relate to get in any way.

Parts of this book I really enjoyed, it was quite funny and the plot flowed really well. However, I found the characters to be quite childish at times. The fact that they were pushing fifty Amelia and Sian were quite immature and Amelia was incredibly naive. The text exchange between Amelia and Patrick was quite cringe worthy too. It was like witnessing 13 year olds texting. I loved Jamie though. He was so sweet. It's a decent read, those issues just bothered me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review - Twice in a Lifetime - Helga Jensen

This review has been made possible thanks to @NetGalley and Hera Books for providing me with an Advance Reader’s Copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book is about missed chances between Amelia and Patrick, who she met on a trip to New York 20 years ago but lost his number. After her divorce, her friend Sian posts online about her fateful meeting and it goes viral, with someone who fits the description reaching out. Patrick and Amelia meet up in New York with her friends’ blessings while her sons are in Disneyland with their father and stepmother. When things start not adding up, will that fateful meeting lead them both to true love? Or will it have been a fluke?

I have to say I was really keen on the premise of the book. I loved the idea that these two had missed their chance 20 years ago and could reconnect again now. The writing flowed well and the pacing was really good. Unfortunately though, it felt a bit unrefined, the characters felt like tropes instead of individuals. I really didn’t like the main character, Amelia, and how she complained about every little thing. She really didn’t have her life together and she lacked some self-respect to stand up for herself. The dialogue in the text messages, while a nice touch to convey the long distance relationship, sounded very juvenile with an absurd amount of xXx kisses at the end of each message that I’m certain no American man would use. It didn’t read as realistic in those parts and kind of took me out of the story.

I’d recommend this to a lover of women’s fiction, likely your mum or aunt, as an good beach read this summer.

I received a free e-ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is 2.5 stars, rounded down.

I would honestly have given this 3 stars were it not for the absolute disgust and disappointment I felt regarding the MC.

I wanted to rant about this book so bad. So, naturally, I went and spent 5 hours on youtube watching videos.

Anyways, getting back to the point, I just didn't like this. The MC is supposed to be a woman in her 50s, but I can't honestly in good faith believe that any woman would be this gullible. Like, it was so obvious she was being taken advantage of (avoiding spoilers by using slightly vague and misguiding phrases? check!). It was so obvious that someone who had never even read a single case of people being scammed would have realised what exactly was going on.

It was so obviou—okay we're getting off track, but I hope you get the point.

It wasn't even a plot twist, it was so obvious. Who on earth gives their bank details to someone they have met once, twenty or so years back, for five freaking minutes, and then ignores an overdrawn email!? On that note, who gives children access to credit card details, enough for them to be able to overdraw!? Now, you might say my parents are too strict, but at least they have the good sense of never letting us do something like this, and drilling it into our heads what exactly qualifies as plain stupidity and ignorance.

I just, I don't even want to write this review any more, I was so disappointed. How does a woman even do this!?! I am bewildered. I get that the author might have had this plan of making it super obvious for some reason, like showing you exactly how stupid you were going to be if you ever fell for something even remotely like this, like overdramatising something to make a point, but it just annoyed me to hell and back. no, to Alpha Centauri and back. Actually, to the edge of the known universe and back.

And like, even if you ignore all of that, suddenly there's this new love interest who's supposedly been here all along, (I actually feel sorry for the guy), and supposedly the MC has had feelings for him 'all along', and I'm like WHEN. WHEN THE HELL WERE THESE FEELINGS EVER THERE. THEY WERE NOT. THESE FEELINGS DEVELOPED MAGICALLY.

And even if you ignore even that aspect, the supposed 'romance that was waiting for her all along' or some shit has like two chapters to develop. What the hell. I just, I was so done by this book by then, that even if the ending was good, I was just feeling too irritated to care.

I will say this, the author definitely has potential, the writing was intriguing, when it was not too whimsical and out of this world ignorant, that is, and I did enjoy the beginning of this.

Which reminds me, Sian is such a bad friend. Like the worst of the worst. I don't even know why the MC is still friends with her, but she is. I just hated her. If I had a friend like Sian, I would immediately cut ties. IMMEDIATELY. What kind of friend doesn't look out for their friends and knowingly dupes them like this!?

That's it. I just don't want to think about this anymore. I would only recommend this to people looking for a light-hearted, or rather too light-hearted, extremely unrealistic somewhat rom-com, and would not mind easily duped MCs.

**Spoilers** I don't think I can say what I need to say without spoilers.

Summary: After her husband left her out of the blue, Amelia needs some magic back in her life – but magic seems in short supply in her small Welsh town. So when she finds the phone number that was given to her twenty years ago by a handsome stranger in New York, Amelia wonders whether he might be The One That Got Away.

Amelia's meddling friend Sian does everything she can to help her find this mystery stranger, Patrick aka Perfect Patrick. Honestly, without the book blurb on Amazon I wouldn't have known that Amelia is supposed to be 48 because she certainly doesn't seem like it. I can understand grief and trauma leading one to make questionable decisions, but she makes some decisions that are just plain stupid in my opinion. From the very first messages shared with Patrick, I was totally put off. He seemed so skeezy immediately calling her "honey' and 'baby'. Barf. I couldn't swoon over this character at all because I could find absolutely nothing to swoon over. So I couldn't understand what Amelia seemed to see in him. (Especially when Jamie was RIGHT THERE)

Good thing too since "Patrick" ended up just being a con artist. Color me not surprised. I just could not understand how she could allow this person to meet her twin boys after spending one (not very successful) weekend with this stranger....Amelia, sweetie, go to therapy instead! I did rather enjoy the scene where her little sons threatened Patrick and told Amelia she should marry their uncle Jamie instead. Jamie was actually the only character in the whole book that I did like and I'm not really sure I think she deserved to end up with him. I hate to be critical of books, but I mostly read to enjoy characters more than anything and there was not a lot for me here. I am giving it 3 stars because it was interesting enough for me to finish.

3.5 stars. Parts of this book I really enjoyed, it was quite funny and the plot flowed really well. However, I found the characters to be quite childish at times. The fact that they were pushing fifty Amelia and Sian were quite immature and Amelia was incredibly naive. The text exchange between Amelia and Patrick was quite cringe worthy too. It was like witnessing 13 year olds texting. I loved Jamie though. He was so sweet. It's a decent read, those issues just bothered me.