While I absolutely loved the concept of this story, I really struggled getting through it. The storyline is super cute. As a wife and a mother, I can certainly relate to Amelia and her best friends.

After going through a crappy divorce, Amelia is left with her two boys, best friends Jamie and Sian and a 2o year old memory. A quick encounter in a foreign city with a tall, dark and handsome man and a red thong. Amelia begins to wonder what her life would have been like had she called the number written on the paper all those years ago.

Basically, her best friend Sian does not want to see Amelia alone so she sets out posting on social media trying to find this Mr. Perfect. It's a long book, with many ideas that could have been left out. The immaturity of the banter back and forth through text messages annoyed me to say the least. As did Amelia. I spent most of the book thinking "is this woman really this naive"?

I will not spoil it for you and tell you if she did indeed find Mr. Perfect. The premise of the book kept me going and I did want to see how it would end. Unfortunately, I give it 4 stars, simply because of the immaturity of the communication between characters. I felt like they were high school children and not grown adults with children of their own. If you are looking for an easy read and one that has some funny parts in it, this may be for you.

A fun book, although a little predictable. Amelia, Sian and Jamie have been friends for years, all have been married but aren't anymore, and they know each other well. So when Amelia embarks on a quest to track down Patrick, a gorgeous man she met for just a few minutes twenty years ago in New York, they are there to support and protect her all the way, especially when it becomes clear that Perfect Patrick has secrets and may not be so perfect after all. My only problem is that these characters all come across as early to mid thirties but they are actually mid to late forties. That just didn't ring true to me so I had to deduct a star.

I enjoyed this book. It was obvious what was going to happen, but I liked the fact it was set in Wales, and not in England. The main character was a bit of a ditz but it was a cute story. Thanks for the complimentary copy.

** Thanks to NetGalley and Hera Books for providing an e-arc in exchange for an honest review**

The extremely relatable Amelia is going through a divorce. Her husband left her for another woman. She is 48 years old and spends her days taking care of 8 year old twins and her nights taking care of jars of Nutella and bottles of Pinot. She longs for new love and a new career but fears she is too old. We follow her journey and lessons learned. There is a bit of Amelia in all of us. June 23, 2021 is the publishing date.

I got an ARC copy for an honest review.

Let me start by saying that this book was not for me.

The story was very confusing to follow along. I felt like I was thrown in the middle of a story as if I’m already supposed to know everyone mentioned and I got quite lost .

The story being about a woman who had recently been divorced was beautifully written, until it wasn’t anymore. There was more descriptions about her inner monologue than actual action scenes.

All the characters were so thinly built that I felt no connection with any of them. Everything became so immature and I started skipping ahead wanting to get to something good.

How they rolled out looking for Patrick was creepy and unrealistic. There was no connection between them 20 years prior and yet they obsessively searched for someone. Then the way that relationship Developed gave me the creeps.

Im not sure what I just read - I still can’t wrap
My head around it - but for me , it was not good.

Amelia is a middle-aged, recently divorced mom of 8 year old twin boys. Her cheating ex-husband (Dick) is planning on marrying his mistress (“Tanja Tart”) which sends her into a tailspin. So much so that she spent practically the entire book bitterly complaining about how horrible they both are. The name “Tanja Tart” was mentioned so many times that it started to drive me crazy. Instead of relying on herself for personal happiness, Amelia seeks out a man she met in New York 20 years prior in hopes that she’d see how different her life would’ve been if she called him back 2 decades ago instead of settling.

If you’re like me and you like to view the contents to see how many chapters are in the book, don’t. The titles accompanied with each chapter number pretty much reveals the entire plot of the story

What I liked:
The author’s writing style. Though I didn’t love the book, Helga is a talented writer. As someone on the cusp of Millennial and Gen Z, I definitely think this book was written for and would be better suited for an older audience.

JAIMIE! I LOVEEEED Jaimie. He was sweet, loyal and just an overall good guy.

The ending I suppose. Everyone likes a happy ending...

What I didn’t like:
Amelia. I just couldn’t connect with her at all. She was constantly complaining, playing the victim, comparing herself to other women and blaming everyone else for her lack of happiness. She stayed justifying her stupidity by convincing herself she was doing it for someone else. (I only said yes because I was so distracted by helping a customer that I hadn’t read the message properly, etc.) I refuse to believe a 48 year old woman is so gullible and naive and succumbs to peer pressure so easily.

Sian (Amelia’s best friend)... Sian was a TERRIBLE friend. She was extremely pushy and invasive and constantly overstepped the bounds. NO MEANS NO not ‘convince me to say yes’ or worse, ‘do it now and ask for forgiveness later.’ She allowed her ‘best friend’ to stay in a sucky and potentially dangerous situation because she was afraid to admit she was wrong...

There was a chapter where Amelia went to a spa and the therapist was “Eastern European.” I found it a little problematic due to the fact that most of her dialogue was intentionally grammatically incorrect and the w’s were replaced with v’s... “I see vat I can do”... “Ve have a special”... as a person of color, it definitely felt like mocking.

I couldn’t get over the fact that “ha” was written into the dialogue numerous times. Or how each text message practically ended in “xxxxxx.” I can’t recall a time I’ve ever heard someone verbally say “ha” in everyday life; only on the internet/ through text. There was also another instance where Amelia was speaking on the phone and literally said “omg.” It’s hard to believe a 48 year old woman would VERBALLY speak in text talk.

Overall, I wasn’t a huge fan of the book. I couldn’t connect with any of the characters and felt absolutely no chemistry within any of the pairings or even the friendships honestly. While the author appears to be a talented writer, this just wasn’t my cup of tea.

I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone in my social circle but I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is older or more mature. I’m sure my grandma would enjoy this book.

I would love to thank Netgalley and the publication for sending me the e-ARC copy.

Twice in a Lifetime is divided into small self explanatory chapters which makes it easier to understand what's going be inside. Being a debut author, Helga Jensen wrote the starting of the book is pretty catchy that someone will be hooked instantly on the story line. 

In the middle, the story got little bit dragged when Amelia was trying to fix her life after the divorce and was looking for "Perfect Patrick" but after that story turns in an interesting way. I liked the back and forth tension between Britain and New York. Super smooth read, I mean in your mind you can totally imagine the scenes. 

If you are looking for a quick & breezy read at night, I would totally recommend this one.

Thanks,
Tanjim

This book was a fun, enjoyable read with a few twist and turns along the way. The writing was done well and the characters are well developed. Some parts felt slightly unrealistic, considering the FMC age, but overall a good book and would recommend to others to enjoy!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing and eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a GEM! It’s painfully funny, totally real and the twists and turns, oh my goodness gracious!

Amelia has recently and very suddenly been ditched by her husband Richard, trying to juggle her twin boys and a job she hates whilst trying to keep herself from diving head first into a never ending Nutella & Pinot pity party.
She starts to wonder is there life after 48? Is there ... love??

Ahhhh had to read it in one sitting, such a feel good book.

Thank you to Hera Books for this eARC and to NetGalley for facilitating it.

Thanks Netgalley for a arc copy of this book for a honest review..


Once In a lifetime was such a cute read I read it in one sitting.  This book had me smiling I  will be doing a pre-order. 5 stars 


Happy Reading 

Lisa

4 stars
This is super cute and really fun!
Typically with romances you know where the plot is headed, and while I still enjoy those, I loved that this one was unexpected and unpredictable.

Parts were frustrating (don’t want to spoil) and felt a bit unrealistic, especially considering her age, but overall a great read!

I was recommended this book by a friend and I have to admit I was definitely not disappointed! I really enjoyed the wittiness between the characters and the relatability of Amelia and her personal situation.

I did predict the twist quite early on which is why I docked a star, but honestly, this read was really enjoyable even having figured out what was going on.

I really enjoyed the fact that it highlighted and extremely important lesson on trusting strangers on the internet. Plus it was done in a super fun way!

Definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys romance and humour!

A light-hearted, easy read, with a predictable twist. I didn't feel much connection with the characters (but then again I'm not a divorced forty-something year old), and I felt a lot of frustration towards Amelia that she couldn't see she was being scammed from the beginning. Her friend was irritating and should have realised she was putting Amelia in danger from scammers with the online petition. The story probably acts as a good warning for that "older" generation who don't understand how dangerous the internet can be. I liked the concept but the delivery felt forced and much too obvious, also quite unbelievable that someone would hand out their credit card details online to a stranger...

Amelia could be your next-door neighbor : a real woman, deceived in many ways by her now ex-husband, trying to keep going with a job she doesn't love and being mom to 8 year-old twins, without finishing the Nutella jar in one go.

This book is ... unexpected ! I laughed so hard. There are so many twists, you can't get bored a second. So yes, some things about 'Perfect Patrick' and Jamie are suspicious but you have no idea what Amelia will have to go through to find the right man at the right time... " Like I have always believed, relationships are all about timing."

Just one thing : on the cover, is it 2000 Amelia or an unrealistic 2020 version of Amelia ? She isn't how I would picture her at all (too bad, she's so much more than a twenty-something shopping in New York)

Thank you to Netgalley for providing an eARC in exchange of an honest review.

Ok so I couldn't put this book down! The writing was done absolutely so well!
The characters were my absolute favorite! I loved them all!
A 💥💥💥💥 read!

What an enchanting novel about a woman, Amelia, who always looks for the best in people and selflessly loves those around her. I certainly laughed out loud numerous times! I always had my suspicion about "Patrick" but glad that through Jamie, she realized the truth. Timing is everything!

Wow just wow. I read this in one sitting I couldn't put it down. Right from chapter one I was hooked all the way through to the end I highly recommend everyone to pre-order this book.

It's funny, cute and romantic and that twist. 😮What more can you ask for?

I want to go more into detail but don't want to spoil it for you.

Go pre-order now you won't regret it. 😁

Very cute but i do not think it is for my demographic lol! The characters are quite old so their issues and experiences never resonated with me. It did give off a few sophie kinsella vibes though so there’s that