I really enjoyed this friends to lovers romance with a touch of magical realism. Sadie's life has fallen a part after losing her job, apartment and boyfriend, she is now rooming with her brother's best friend Jacob. On New Years' Eve she is granted her wish of repeating the last year but just before she realizes her wish was granted she kisses Jacob. Sadie wakes up the next day and finds she is back in her old apartment with her ex boyfriend and still has her old job. Reliving the last year of her life she try's her best to keep her job and her boyfriend but finds out that playing it safe by trying to be someone she's not isn't really what she wanted, and that kiss with Jacob meant more than she thought. This book also has a "me too" moment that I thought was very well done.

Be careful what you wish for…..

Despite the element of magical realism with repeating a year of her life, at her request to change some events of the past year, Sadie is a very real and relatable character. Throughout her repeat year she learns more about herself and what she values, when to speak up, who is meant to be in her life, and that the only approval you should be seeking is your own. The romance with Jacob took a back seat, but was still a sweet element.

More than just a chick lit or romance, this book addresses feminism, misogyny, sexual harassment in the workplace, family issues and parental approval, personal values, and staying true to oneself.

Pub Date: out now!

Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Forever and NetGalley for the eARC of The Second Chance Year! All opinions in this review are my own.

I don't know what it is but lately I have really enjoyed books that have an element of time travel in them and this one did not disappoint! In The Second Chance Year, Sadie has the opportunity to relive her Very Bad Year. While it was at times predictable, I really liked watching Sadie grow and seeing how even though some things still go wrong in her Second Chance Year, she is able to achieve what she wants in a different way than she originally expected to. While there is a romance, The Second Chance Year is more about Sadie and her growth as a character.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing access to this book in exchange for my review.

I enjoyed this book and I thought it was a swoon-worthy romantic comedy. It was also filled with drama and the type of book that pulls at your heartstrings. If you are a fan of the Hallmark Channel, I can say that you will most likely love this book.

My blog is https://bookreviewsbyjules.blogspot.com/

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/44083250-julia

Instagram/bookstagram https://www.instagram.com/bookreviewsbyjules/

Thank you!

The Second Chance Year begins with pastry chef Sadie at rock bottom and desperate after the worst year of her life. When she has a chance encounter with a fortune teller offering her the chance to get a do-over, she jumps at the chance to carefully make different choices in order to correct her mistakes and change her fate.

I loved this book!! It checked all of my boxes. Found family, a swoon worthy romance, and a healthy dash of badassery.

Easily 5 stars, but fair warning, you will be hungry! Make sure to have a pastry or two and a nice cup of coffee to pair with this treat of a story.

Thank you so much to Forever and NetGalley for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

Hindsight is 20/20. Having a chance to redo an entire year and make decisions differently is what this book is all about, catching the red flags not seen before, etc. I wish this were a more original plot, but for what it is, it was pretty good. Be careful what you wish for.

This book was just “meh” for me. I felt like I was reading it because I had to finish it instead of reading it because I wanted to finish it. I can’t quite put my finger on what it was.

while it was a little repetitive at times, i really liked this book. i love the idea of getting a second chance and doing things right the second time around. and even if its not the right thing, it's interesting to see how it can turn out.

This book is a delightful read with a touch of magic(which I don’t always appreciate) and some fun friends to lovers romance.

Sadie is a relatable person, questioning her life choices, who gets a rare opportunity to rewind her previous year and fix her mistakes. But as she soon learns, changing the past is not as easy as it seems. Sadie’s journey is full of twists and turns, as she struggles to balance what she thinks she wants and how she thinks she needs to get it.

She also faces some serious challenges, such as workplace sexual harassment, that test her courage and integrity.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of this book is of course the romance between Sadie and her brother’s best friend Jacob, who has always been there for her. While Sadie alters her past, she risks losing him in her new reality.

This book is a fun and engaging read that explores the consequences of our choices and the power of our actions. It is a perfect blend of humor, magic, and emotion that will keep you hooked until the end.

I have such a soft spot for second chances and what ifs. This was the perfect book for that. Along with some romance. Of course. And I found out recently that I like magical realism.

I really relate to Sadie. I have a mouth on me too. And if I am not offending someone with a little too much truth, I am spilling a little too much of something that would be better left unsaid. But I've never had the chance of a do over.

After Sadie's life implodes, she is able to make a wish and get a do over of the last year. It is again new year's and a chance at a better year. Sadie tries to reinvent herself to keep the things she feels most important to her.

While I always knew where this one was headed, the journey was enjoyable. Sadie is such a strong feisty woman and I couldn't help but like and root for her. A more important theme of this one is Sadie's self discovery and wins out for me over the romance. Of course I was all in for the romance, but Sadie's learning and growing as she discovers her true self. Especially what are her strengths and weaknesses, which weren't always self evident.

I loved Sadie's spunk, the supporting characters and the banter throughout the book. I was immersed in this entertaining read.

I loved this!
I really like Sadie and I LOOOVE a man who quietly pines. Jacob was so sweet and always willing to be there for Sadie, even though he never thought their relationship was going to progress.
though I think stories like these are often predictable (like ofc the main character is going to realize they shouldn't have repeated this time and learn why their life should have ended up as it did originally) I still really enjoyed seeing Sadie go on her journey.
funny and charming and sweet!

Thanks to NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy and the opportunity to review The Second Chance Year. This was a cute, fun, quick read. We've all had the experience of wanting a do over, wishing that just once we could go back in time and do things differently. Sadie actually gets this chance, and she learns so much about herself, her choices, and the people she loves in the process. This is a fun, no pressure, life affirming read and I reccommed it to anyone who needs a light, good time read!

2.5 stars. Ugh I am so disappointed I wanted to enjoy this book, the cover art is amazing. This book was not what I expected it to be at all. Although the writing was easy to reading it was Very repetitive. Be ready to hear "Very bad year" and "The second chance year" about a million times. Then, too much feminism in this one that it's annoying, and you can clearly hear the political agenda coming across. I kept asking myself...Why does every man in this book hit on her?? (And her obsession with the girl getting hired at Alex's place.) The "incident" that happened was very fast and it felt like it was just glossed over. Also, i Didn't like the timeline, each chapter is a new month . I feel that so much more would happen within a month than we were able to read about if this really happened to her. Then, I didn't really like any of the characters, no real substance and all rude. However i am a fan of Jacob and Owen. Swoon. Which is unfortunate because this book has such a feel good ending. Thank you to Netgalley, hacette book group, forever publishing, and the author Melissa Wiesner for this gifted copy for review.

This was a fun New Years themed read with just a sprinkle of magic. I thought the life lessons were really great but they didn’t overpower the plot, they added to it and made the story that much more enjoyable. If you love brother’s best friend with a hint of love triangle this is the perfect read for you. Really enjoyed the writing style as well as the overall story. Would definitely recommend this book and I’ll be looking for more by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Forever books for the review copy of The Second Chance Year. I had an earlier review copy of this on audiobook and loved it.
I love plots that deal with time/redoing a year or part of life and The Second Chance Year does this well, with some nice depth in places about second chances and love and happiness and some excellent secondary characters. For me this was a great story about self growth and change. I think this will be a big win for many romance and women's fiction readers.

Recommended for Sophia Kinsella, Jennifer Weiner, Holly James fans and related authors. If you like the idea of second chances that is more than romance this is for you!

Some things that worked for me
1. A focus on restaurant and bakery settings, always a fun setting and this worked in some strong development of problems in the restaurant industry and gender. well done without being preachy and working within the bigger plot nicely.

2. A focus on female friendship and family relationships along with romance. This made the plot richer and really made the idea of a second chance year about so much more than romance. It was an exploration of a lot of interconnected themes that really made this a great story about self growth and second chances in a broad way.

The production and voice acting were great, Helen Laser's narration was perfect for the story!

Thank you Forever (Grand Central Pub) for the ARC. I'm loving all the magical realism romances this year. Time travel is always a fun time and makes for a great buddy read/book club debate. This was a fun premise but unfortunately all the wild af baking similes took me out of the zone.

What if everything in life was going wrong and you had a chance to do the last year all over again, would you do it? Set amongst the backdrop of NYC, this is exactly the choice pastry chef Sadie is facing on New Year’s Eve of her Very Bad Year. Everything she wanted and had worked so hard for has gone wrong. Making a wish to do the whole year over again, will she fix the mistakes she made in the past and see all that she’s hoped for realized or will she discover that maybe there is something more to life than what she had imagined for herself?

I truly loved this story of second chances and my heart ached each time Sadie faced adversity and hardships. Life is challenging sometimes and we all know how it feels to strive for something we want for so long only to get close to having it and realizing maybe it’s not all we thought it would be. I got so swept away with Sadie’s story and completely devoured this beautiful story in just two days. If you’re a lover of sweet, slow-burn romances novels; delicious, mouthwatering pastries; and have an appreciation for the nostalgic New York City, then read this book. You won’t want to miss it! And, remember, you may not get a second chance!!

I absolutely love magical realism when it means the MC gets a second chance at a major life event. This was such a lovely reading experience. Highly recommend.

4.5 stars — A whimsical soul-searching, brother’s best friend, time loop, second chance romance life story.

This book is equal parts women’s fiction as it is romance. We’re introduced to our usually outspoken, career-focused female protagonist, Sadie, when she thinks she’s hit rock bottom after losing her job, her apartment, and her long-term boyfriend in the span of a month — all because she couldn’t keep her mouth shut. With her reputation burned by her former employer, her parents disapproving of her every move, and temporarily living with her brother’s childhood best friend (graciously rent-free), she turns to a hired fortune teller at a NYE party with a desperate plea to be able to go back and fix the mistakes she made that disastrous year. She arrives home just before midnight, catching Jake at a vulnerable moment leading to an almost sexual encounter that he will definitely regret later (right?), and she is certain that her life cannot possibly get any worse.

Sadie wakes up the next morning, on New Year’s Day, one year ago. Her wish had come true! And thus begins twelve months of trying to right her wrongs, only to learn that the alternate route doesn’t always change the destination. Staying silently committed to not to making the same mistakes twice comes at a cost, not unlike her first time around, new friendships are made but some are lost. And she realizes that her Very Bad Year may not have been worth repeating after all.

A lighthearted, addicting read that dives deep into real life situations (on page sexual harassment/assault in the workplace and strained parental relationship) all in the realm of magic and what-ifs. Every character played a critical role in Sadie’s year of self-discovery and growth. There is definitely a slow burn romance aspect, with sizzling chemistry, but this is a story about how real happiness is rooted in authenticity and you may not be able to change fate.

Spoiler Alert: Jake would not have regretted it!

Sadie is just trying to prove herself in her life. Between her parents not acknowledging her own talents as a pastry chef, always living in the shadow of her brother, trying to prove herself and get that promotion in her career and trying to be the perfect girlfriend to a man that doesn’t deserve her she always is down on her luck. After a breakup and her getting fired she meets with a fortune teller that allows her a chance for a redo. Sadie shrugs it off but when she wakes up the next day back in time a year prior she decides to do things differently. 

What she doesn’t realize is the ripple effect of making these changes and how it doesn’t quite all end up being what she expected. Sadie tries hard to fix where she thought the issues were and discovers that she maybe had it all wrong to begin with.

🗯️Thoughts:

I loved this one! What a wonderful story about believing in yourself, lovin your brothers best friend, mouthwatering desserts, self love, time travel, and adorable found family! Sadie was such a sweet, feisty, driven woman that I thought was fun to watch develop and gain more of a voice as the book went on. This book tackled topics like workplace harassment and learning how to stand up against bullies. There is even an adorable adopted cat that makes an appearance. I loved the idea of getting to “re-do” life but then also the unsuspecting ripple effect of what could happen when you make changes. The best way to describe this book is clean romance with all the charm. I just loved it! Thank you again for allowing me the chance to read this book!