Books that send you back in time usually annoy me, but this one proved to be an exception. I enjoyed the characters and cared about what was going to happen to not only to the main character but all the others. Great balance of humor and serious/reflective moments.

5 ⭐️

wow this one really surprised me!!! this was such a cute and meaningful book that really emphasizes the importance of standing up for what’s right, living your own life, and making the best of a situation.

in this book, we are following sadie who just lived through the worst year of her life. she lost her job, her boyfriend, and is living with her brother’s best friend because of it. she would do anything to undo the last year. so she ends up doing exactly that! on new year’s eve, she makes a wish to a mysterious fortune teller to undo her last year. and her wishes come true and she wakes up at the beginning of the year she just lived! along the way, lots of shenanigans ensue and a lot of lessons are learned to not try and change the past.

i really didn’t expect to love this so much but i just loved the journey sadie went through and thought it was really powerful. sadie was such a strong person and her journey helped her find that again. and her romance with jacob (her brother’s best friend) was super cute!!

also, if you don’t like spice in a book, this is definitely a good one for you as there is little to no spice!!

thank you so much to netgalley and forever for the eARC in exchange for an honest review! this book is out now!

I absolutely adored The Second Chance Year and will be adding Melissa Wiesner to my list of auto buy authors! I loved the premise of the book as well as Sadie and Jacob and the supporting cast of characters. As someone who related to Sadie for being too outspoken and loud I really loved seeing her journey and finding her way back to who she really was. I also loved the slow burn between her and Jacob and was literally giggling and kicking my feet at the end. This is a must read!

The Second Chance Year is a great New Year’s read. However I feel like this story has been done before and nothing new was brought to this idea. I would recommend this book to people who like second chance romance, second chance at life books, or women’s fiction.

Sadie had a really bad year, she lost her job, boyfriend and place to live. Now she's wallowing at her brother's best friends apartment. On new years Eve, she ends up meeting a fortune teller and wishes to redo the previous year. This is that story, a great read about being your true self.

I read this and Sarah Adler's newest, Happy Medium, back-to-back, and now I'm on a magical realism romance high.

Sadie has had the worst year of her life. When she meets a fortune teller at an over-the-top party on New Year's Eve, she wishes to relive it again to make different decisions....right before she drunkenly kisses her brother's best friend Jacob at midnight, which leaves her reeling. When she wakes up on New Year's Day and discovers that fortune teller wasn't a fraud, and she actually *has* been transported back in time a year, she pledges to do everything differently. She won't yell at her boyfriend's coworker for being a sexist jerk, so her boyfriend won't break up with her. She won't tell off her abusive boss, so she won't get fired and lose her beloved apartment. But the fact that she's reliving her last year means that kiss at midnight didn't actually happen, and she's thinking about it more than she's comfortable with.

Throughout Sadie's second chance year, she resists her impulse to be all the things that got her dumped and fired -- loud, opinionated, impulsive -- and slowly realizes that just because the horrible things that happened to her last year aren't happening this year, she somehow doesn't feel any better. Meanwhile, she's lost a bit of herself along the way, and she keeps running into Jacob, who has no idea about the kiss that is haunting Sadie (because for him, it never happened).

Melissa Wiesner's written a book that is both romantic and heartwarming, but is also an extremely insightful read at the beginning of a new year. It gives the reader a lot to think about -- if you could relive a year of your life, would you? And if you did things differently -- would you actually be better off?

I loved this book so much. SO much.

Sadie has the worst year of her life. On New Years Eve, she gets the chance to live that year again.

This book was pure joy. Sadie tries to correct the mistakes of her previous year, but instead comes to see that everything happens for a reason. I laughed, I cried, I wanted to cuddle up with this book when I was done.

Jacob and Sadie are such a dream. And their friendship develops so organically. I love nothing more than a book where someone who is hurt gets everything back and more.

Thank you Forever and NetGalley for the copy of this book in exchange for a review.

This book was the PERFECT read to kick off the new year and it left me filled to the brim with joy and hope. Our FMC, Sadie, was a badass who let the disappointed voices of her ex, her parents, and her boss echo in her head and heart and get the better of her. After her dumpster-fire year, all she wants is the chance to go back and do the year over...and better. She knows what went wrong now, so she can correct all her mistakes and maintain her dream life. But, when her wish comes true, she is surprised by what she learns.
Y'all --- this book is just SO delicous. I fell in love with Kasumi, Zoe, Mrs. Kaminski, Jose Luis, and Owen. Sadie's life is so full of love and community and acceptance. There are, of course, the less lovable supporting characters that also have a role in Sadie's story, but the good ones were pure joy. And I do not have enough words for Jacob! He was *chef's kiss*, book-boyfriend goals, and he had my heart from the very beginning.
The stats: There are scenes of workplace sexual harassment - so if this is a trigger for you - please read with care. This is closed door and it straddles the line between women's fiction and romance. If you have a sweet tooth: be warned to have sweet snacks handy. Sadie is a pastry chef in the book, and the myriad of delicious-sounding desserts constantly had me salivating.
Thanks to Melissa for writing this beautiful novel and thanks to the team at Forever Publishing for the review copy. All opinions are my own.

I could see myself reading this again in a heartbeat for a few reasons. First is the way Melissa tackles the sexism that every woman deals with - no matter where you work. It’s all so beautifully woven and intricately crafted to give you a sense of panic and also of peace. I work in a male-dominated field so it all hit home for me and I know other women will feel the same.

I decided to start off 2024 reading Melissa Wiesner's The Second Chance Year, and I am so glad that I did! This insightful, yet engaging story about a young woman who makes a wish on New Year's Eve for a "re-do" of the past 12 months of her life was the perfect novel to kick off the year.

Sadie Thatcher has had a very bad year. She lost her job, boyfriend, and apartment, and has found herself crashing on her brother's best friend's sofa. Wallowing in self-pity and regretting every life decision she has ever made, Sadie is in a very bad place. When her best friend Kasumi convinces her to come out to a New Year's Eve party, Sadie protests, but then relents ... and it is there that she meets the fortune teller who will change everything. Sadie makes a wish, desperately pleading with the universe to allow her to redo the last year of her life. As it turns out, wishes really do come true ...

Sadie awakes on January 1 to discover she is back in her old apartment, sleeping next to her old boyfriend, and very late for work at her old job. Is it really possible that Sadie is back reliving the first day of her very bad year? Determined to do things right this time, Sadie, who remembers everything about her terrible year, sets out to change the course of her future, censoring herself in conversations and avoiding situations that she knows landed her in hot water last time. But as time goes on, Sadie can't help but ask if she is being true to herself, and is this new life really so much better than her old one?

I love it when I can share that I did not spend one minute bored reading a book! Wiesner writes in an engaging style and moves her story along at a steady, even pace. Despite Sadie reliving the past year of her life, all of the events of said year are new to the reader, so this time loop novel never became stale or stagnant. Furthermore, Wiesner's characters feel like real, vibrant people, making it easy to root for them while getting lost in this spirited read.

I can't recommend starting off a new year reading The Second Chance Year enough! This novel gives off just the right vibes for January - a time when everyone is making (and breaking) resolutions and reflecting on their place in life and the universe. Tinged with just the right blend of introspection and intrigue, The Second Chance Year is quite the compelling, yet thought-provoking novel ... and I loved every minute of it!

Sadie Thatcher has a had a really bad year. She has lost her job, her boyfriend and her apartment and she believes that she has her outspoken, sometimes too spoken nature to thank for this. Enter a little bit of magic. At a very strange party, a fortune teller gives her the chance to live the previous year over again and Sadie takes it. But everything doesn’t turn out the way she thinks she wanted—instead, Sadie sees things that she missed in her life that were going wrong, that didn’t have to do with her big mouth but that she has the opportunity to change, And of course, she sees Jacob, her brother's best friend, in a whole new light.

I loved this book! It was full of heart, and Sadie's emotional journey, maturing and relationships to those around her and herself were just as important, or maybe more important than the romance. This was a perfect, lovely book to start the new year.

I ended up greatly enjoying this romance/women's fiction story about a woman who is given a second chance to redo her last year in order to get back her boyfriend, keep her job, and stay in her apartment. But of course the night before she sent back in time she kisses her brother's best friend and sends her into a tailspin and wondering if she shouldn't have redone her year.

I loved how the main character was able to learn who she truly was as a person and how her personality, interest, work ethic, and determination are the best things about her and not the thing holding her back. I also found the romance between her and the brother's best friend to be really sweet and lovey and I loved being able to see their relationship progress throughout the story.

My only critique is that while this is labeled as a romance, this is much more a story about a woman who is down on her luck and having an awful year and learns that its best to not want to redo the past and instead she should look towards the future.

I loved this so much 😭 I read this in one sitting. The pacing was perfect, the food descriptions made me hungry, and the romance was unbelievably sweet. The friendships between the different characters felt so real. The commentary on the way that women are treated in the workplace was effective without being heavy handed. And of course I loved the time loop!! This is perfect for fans of THE SEVEN YEAR SLIP and one of my favorite reads of the year.

I adored this story , 13 going on 30 ! What a great read! Be carful what you wish for this was a very cute story

The Second Chance Year by @melissawiesnerauthor made for an apt start to 2024 and my reading year 😍

After a Very Bad Year in which Sadie Thatcher loses her pastry chef job, her apartment, and her long-time boyfriend, she is desperate for a redo. So when she runs across a fortune teller at a New Year’s Eve party, she knows exactly what she wants: A second chance to fix her mistakes and make things right.

This story is the epitome of the old adage “Be careful what you wish for,” however, because as careful and intentional as she is during her second chance year, Sadie learns that even the smallest actions can have big consequences, and that maybe things really do happen for a reason.

I adored this story, and talk about a great one to start 2024 with! I loved all of the main characters aside from a few that were pretty vile, and the familial relationships, friendships and romances provided so much opportunity for growth, forgiveness, and change.

The time jump in this one gave me “Big” and “13 Going On 30” vibes, but in reverse, kind of like the last few episodes of “Felicity.” I absolutely loved it, and I can’t wait to read more from Melissa!

Thank you to @audible @melissawiesnerauthor @netgalley @readforeverpub @grandcentralpub and @hachetteus for my gifted galley and audio copy of this propulsive and heartwarming read! And thank you to @hlaserwolf for bringing Sadie, Jacob, Kasumi, Zoe and so many others to life!

This was an okay rom com. A little corny for my taste but I liked the idea of a do over year. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: THE SECOND CHANCE YEAR by Melissa Weisner

When everything goes wrong and Sadie Thatcher finds herself in a fortune teller’s tent at a New Year’s Eve party, she wishes for another chance at her past year. Shockingly, it works and Sadie has a second chance at her relationship with her longtime boyfriend and keeping her high-end pastry chef job and solo NYC apartment.

As Sadie lives the year all over again, she learns more about herself and the relationships she most values. Maybe some things were meant to change.

Read THE SECOND CHANCE YEAR for
- Brother’s best friend romance
- Gorgeous confectionary foodie descriptions
- Feminist girl power
- Found family

Read this book to start the new year. It’s so good!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5/5 stars)

👩🏻‍🏫 Reader note: Heads-up that this story does include sexual assault and abuse of power in the male-dominated restaurant scene.

😘 Thanks to @ReadForeverPub and @NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for this honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever/Grand Central for the eARC! I loved this story of self-discovery and romance! Traveling back in time/ground hog day to change things is a trope I love, but it can be hit or miss. This was so well done! I loved Sadie and of course sweet golden retriever, Jacob.

The characters felt realistic even if they were just side characters, and Sadie’s journey was so compelling. The ending was adorable and I think this was truly great!

Loved the premise of the book of what would happen if we could change destiny. I have a read quite a few time traveling esq books lately- seems to be a popular topic for books. Overall, a decent storyline and decent characters!

This was creative and made me think a lot while I was reading, which is a great combination. I think it’ll attract a wide variety of readers because of the depth behind it, making it perfect for book clubs. In general I just appreciated the commentary woven within the plot.