This was such a wholesome read with just the right amount of magical surrealism. It was very different from most of what I've read recently with some elements of romance and parallel universes, but at its core, it was a story of friendship and self-discovery.

I really loved Meg's character, too. She was real, plagued with grief, and super lonely. But, she's also got a positive, creative spirit and brings a surprising amount of optimism to the narrative.

It made me think a lot about my life and my values without being too thought-provoking (lol, doesn't make a ton of sense when I write it like that, but whatever). Highly recommend!

absolutely wonderful, melancholic, tender, my heart is so squeezy and my oh my could i just CRY!

took a chance on this one because it sounded right up my alley and i’m so glad i did, i loved every moment

lovely writing, good pacing, and the story was full of so much heart and my goodness did i perfectly understand that feeling of the best most joyful moments being tainted with my own sadness at the realization that one day it’ll all be the past/gone

just…..yeah, gonna go cry now byyyeeee

When I saw this being compared to the writing of Taylor Jenkins Reid and Rebecca Serle I knew this was for me! I adore magical realism and romance so this book was a dream for me. I loved Meg’s character and felt so emotional for her throughout this story. I loved that friendship was at the center of it all. Can’t wait to recommend this to all of my friends and family. I think this would be fantastic for an upcoming book club! Available for preorder now and out June 3rd :) Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC.

The Other Side of Now by Paige Harbison
Narrated by author

Meg Bryan loves acting but had to change her name early on due to the fact that it sounds like another Meg's (the famous one's) name. So now Meg Bryan is known as Lana Lord and she's actually doing very well for herself by just about anyone's standards. Yet, Meg really isn't as happy as she "should" be even though she's living with a famous movie heart throb (arranged) and living the very good life of luxury that comes with fame.

As a teen, Meg had dreams of attending university in a quaint Irish village with her best friend Aimee but things didn't work out the way Meg dreamed and then Aimee died. The death of Meg's best friend destroyed Meg and she dropped everything to move across the country to (shocker) find fame in a TV series. Meg has never gotten over the guilt and heartbreak she feels for losing her best friend and then going on with life.

After a thirtieth birthday party breakdown, Meg impulsively purchases a ticket to the place she'd dreamed of attending university and the village is wonderful. Her little rental cottage seems so "her", it comes with a dog that loves her, people are so friendly they act like they've known her for years, and they all seem to think the hunky bartender is her on and off ex boyfriend. Biggest surprise of all is that Aimee is alive and more than doing well in this Irish village.

So, if this is a sliding doors kind of thing, Meg is all in, but how can she keep this new other life? Meg may not be a working actress in this life but there are things she would never want to lose (again). All she misses of her old (real?) life is her dog from that life. How can she fix some things in this other life that need fixing? How can Meg not mess up this "other" world.

Meg is in new territory and it was interesting trying to figure out things with her. At some point, I stopped trying to figure things out because they don't really hold up to my understanding of weird happenings and what ifs. There are some great characters here and I was as afraid as Meg that she might lose them when things "poofed" back to her old life. The author/narrator, Paige Harbison, knows just how she wants her characters to sound and we get all the accents and silliness she wanted in the story along with a mountain load of grief that must be faced rather than avoided. I think the story ends the best way possible when the impossible might still be impossible. Lots to discuss with Jayme and DeAnn in this interesting story so look for their reviews to see how they felt about Meg's new and old lives.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for the ebook and audiobook ARCs.

THE OTHER SIDE OF NOW is a cozy alternate reality story that strikes a thoughtful balance between lighthearted charm and emotional depth.

Meg Bryan seems to have it all. She’s the lead actress on a hit TV show and living the glamorous L.A. life. but under the surface she’s unraveling. In the middle of a quarter-life crisis, Meg escapes to a quiet Irish village… and wakes up in a life she doesn’t remember choosing. In this version of reality, she moved to Ireland as a teen and her deceased best friend is somehow still alive.

What follows is a heartfelt journey about second chances, letting go, and realizing that the life we thought we wanted may not be the one we truly need. I adored every page.

READ THIS IF YOU:
-appreciate a satisfying, full-circle ending
-dabble with a bit of light magical realism
-want nostalgic, swoony The Holiday vibes

PUB DAY: June 3, 2025
RATING: 4/5

Many thanks to the publisher for an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:

Meg Bryan (not to be confused with Meg Ryan) always dreamed of becoming a Star! She is now the lead Actress on a soapy show called “Brilliance” and she is living with one of Hollywood’s hottest leading men-THE Grayson Gable!

But, fame hasn’t brought her the happiness she thought it would, despite changing her name to Lana Lord, changing her nose, changing her hair, and depriving herself of all of the foods she has loved to lose weight.

Finally on her thirtieth birthday she realizes that what she really needed to change is her life, and she books an impromptu trip to Ireland. She and her high school best friend, Aimee, once planned to attend the Avalon School of the Arts there together-before an accident took Aimee’s life.

But, when she arrives, Meg discovers that she has somehow slipped into a parallel universe-one where she isn’t a Star-she doesn’t looks like “Lana” but rather like an older version of her high school self-one who hasn’t made all of the changes that Hollywood “suggested” she make-and most importantly Aimee-the best friend she has never stopped grieving-is still alive!

But, Aimee doesn’t want anything to do with her.

Her trip was booked for ONE WEEK-and it will be a week of self discovery and second chances. Can she right any wrongs?

My thoughts:

First-I would never have requested this book if it wasn’t for the enticing reviews of several Goodreads friends, as the book cover is very unappealing to me (sorry!)

And, for about the first 25%, I wasn’t sure if this book would get me out of my book slump-as I felt like the author was trying too hard to be funny, as we learned about Lana’s superficial life in Los Angeles.

But, when Lana slid into her parallel universe in Ireland and became Meg, the book shifted for me as well.

I was suddenly engaged by the entertaining small town life with its requisite PUB, its bartender Cillian-who is also Irish MEG’s enviable love interest-and the wonderful, supportive female friendships! 🥰 I found myself invested in the outcome, and anxious to see how this would all turn out.

The book is advertised as “for fans of Rebecca Serle or TJR” but Ashley Poston would be a more accurate comparison. If you can open your mind to this concept without explanation-I think you will enjoy this heartfelt book too!

Available June 3, 2025

Thank You to St. Martin’s Press for the gifted ARC provided through NetGalley. As always, these are my candid thoughts!

Part woman-finding-herself, part magical realism, part love story. It was fun! It had a cozy, small Irish town! It had fun characters!

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: June 3, 2025
“The Other Side of Now” is author Paige Harbison’s first adult novel, as her previous novels were all in the YA genre. It is a uniquely emotional and heartfelt alternate universe novel that questions what our lives would be if we made different choices along the way.
Meg Bryan (not Meg Ryan) is starring on a hit television show and is living with the newest “it” actor. On the surface, Meg has it all, after leaving everything behind in her hometown in Florida to try her dreams in Hollywood. Desperate for a break, she plans a last-minute vacation to Ireland, a small town where she would’ve ended up if she had chosen a different life for herself. When she wakes up in Ireland, Meg notices that everyone in the small town already seems to know her, as if she has been living here for the last decade of her life. Things get even weirder when Meg’s best friend, Aimee, seems to be living in Ireland as well because, in her “other” life, Aimee died in a car accident years ago. Faced with a life she didn’t plan for; Meg tries to adjust as she realizes exactly what she could have had.
“Now” is thought-provoking but also exceptionally entertaining and often hilarious. Meg, whose stage name is Lana, fumbles her way through her “new” life as she tries to sort through her experience that is giving pure “Christmas Carol” ghost of Christmas past vibes. (Oh, and there’s a hot Irish bartender. So, there’s that.) Although both versions of Meg/Lana are superficially different, they encapsulate the same likable, laughable personality that has an extremely dysfunctional (and therefore, relatable) side.
Obviously, I’m on board for any novel that wants to take me to another location, and “Now” offers both Hollywood and Ireland as a destination, so my escapism boxes are checked (twice). Self-conscious, food-obsessed narcissist Lana belongs to Hollywood, whereas laidback, carb-eating Meg fits right in in Ireland. Both plotlines merge, and then diverge, and both are equally titillating.
Harbison’s first adult novel combines timeline-travel (since both plot lines exist during the same time period, it is not a time travel novel) with hot Irish romance. “Now” is about grief and loss, friendship and the things that matter the most to us in our lives. If you’ve ever made a choice and then thought, “what if?”, Harbison’s “The Other Side of Now” needs to be your next read.

A friend had told me I needed to read this book and I am so glad I did! It was beautifully written and one of those books I'll remember for such a long time!

I really enjoyed this book conceptually; that our lives can be altered drastically by seemingly small happenings and decisions. The storytelling was great, and for the most part the characters felt real and genuine. It bothered me that our main character felt so dissatisfied in all stages of her life, and really struggled to find gratitude until she had literally lost everything. I also at some point started to feel bad for her that the much superior life was the one that she essentially floundered, and she would inevitably have to return to the life where she was unhappy, unhealthy, and for the most part, alone. The story was inherently bittersweet, but I’m not totally sure the sweet outweighed the bitter in the end. The story was very unique, the writing was well done, and I didn’t personally feel there were any lulls. Ultimately, I mostly just felt sad for our main character, but I would say that I enjoyed the story itself. I guess I just wish that her two lives were more “evenly matched”.
Also, I could have done without the third act spice. Just didn’t feel necessary in my opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC :)

4.5 ⭐

Magical, enchanting, heartbreaking, hopeful, tragic, inspiring... can a book be all of this at the same time? If it's The Other Side of Now, it absolutely can be, and it will do so beautifully. This is one of those books that crept its way ever so slowly into my heart until I was completely captivated by it. I love a good sliding doors read, and this is a new favorite for me in this category. I fell hard for the characters in this book, and I found it to be such a moving reading experience. If you're on the hunt for a book that has it all and also has the perfect balance of lightness and substance, I can't recommend this one enough.

This was a sweet and engaging read. The multiverse aspect was handled in a way that felt grounded and easy to follow, and it added an interesting layer to what could have been a much simpler story. I appreciated that it didn’t just lean on the concept for novelty. It actually used it to explore how people process choices, connection, and loss.

It’s not a life-changer, but it doesn’t need to be. There are some surprisingly poignant moments, especially around friendship and grief, and the emotional core of the story worked. It gave me things to think about without feeling heavy.

Overall, it’s a well-paced, enjoyable book that blends romance and magical realism with a thoughtful twist. I had a good time with it, and I think a lot of readers will too.

♾️⭐️!!!

THIS FREAKING BOOK! FAV READ OF THE YEAR!

The Holiday meets Freaky Friday in the funniest, most beautiful way possible.

The way that she described Avalon made me feel like I was walking down the rain soaked cobblestone streets or sitting right there in Killian’s pub. I was sitting on the couch in comfy sweatpants drinking wine. I WAS THERE. AND I DIDNT WANT TO LEAVE.

Grief and managing it was a huge theme here but it was spread out so evenly and beautifully across the whole story!

Can’t wait for Paige to write MORE!

📜Quick Summary: When Meg and her best friend Aimee see a fortune teller who predicts two strikingly different paths for them, they’re both a bit shaken up. Years later, Meg lands a role in a tv show, has a relationship with a handsome fella, and is enjoying this life. Aimee, however, faced a different path. At thirty years old, Meg- also known as Lana Lord- has a teeny, tiny meltdown and books a trip to Ireland. This small village is a place that her and Aimee always dreamed of going to. The only thing is… Aimee is alive and well in this village. How did Meg seemingly travel to a time where she had her friend back. Or does she have her friend back?

❣️Initial Feels: Imagining what Meg felt when losing her best friend, questioning her life and happiness at 30… many people can relate to some of her struggles. Interested to see where this goes.

👀Trigger Warnings: death of a best friend

🌶️Spice Level: 🌶️

📖Read if you want: alternate reality, grief, friendship love, forgiveness, small town vibes, dash of magical realism

🙋🏼‍♀️Moving Character: Meg does a lot of growth and self reflection throughout these pages, and grief and forgiveness ran deep.

🗨️Thoughtful Words: “I’m not here waiting for life. I’m in it. It’s happening now.”

💡Final Sentiments: Overall I enjoyed this book. Magical realism and the two different storylines can be hit or miss with me. If executed well, I think the storylines can be impactful. This storyline was hard to get into at first, the middle left me wanting more, and then I loved the ending and how it all tied together. Meg carried so much guilt and that was a main part of the story. Living with loss and grief is something many of us can relate to, and working through it so the pain doesn’t conquer your life is hard…and Meg made strides in fighting through it. And gosh…what would you do if you lived in a world where you were famous, lived in a big mansion, had a handsome and successful husband…but then you enter this alternate reality, that “What If?” scenario, where your best friend is alive and well? The utter shock of that scenario would leave you speechless. Everyday we make choices that affect our paths, and this was one that touches your heart.

🌟Overall Rating: 4 stars

🔉Special thanks to Paige Harbison, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for this arc of The Other Side of Now.

📘Grab yourself a copy on June 3, 2025!

I had a really good time reading this book. The characters are lovely and the premise of the 2 timeline story/alternative reality was very well done. I felt with Meg all the way through the book and I loved how everything flowed. Meg shows great character development and I loved how her actions and growth makes the reader root for her. She is a great female lead. Kiera is a perfect sidekick/best friend. She has a quite unique way about her and it’s fun to read the scenes with her in them. Aimee was one of the more difficult characters in terms of easiness to connect with. But her development throughout the book makes up for that. And last but not least Cillian, the pub owner and love interest, was a perfect grumpy character but great and emotional as well. I loved how Meg interacted with Kiera and Aimee and what it did to the dynamics of the story. In addition I would want to visit Avalon if it was real. Such a sweet little town as a setting for the story. All in all a very well done book and I liked how the characters interacted with each other and how invested I was into the story as a reader. A very warm recommendation from my side.

Do you ever wonder if you took a wrong turn in life? If one thing changed, would your life be different or would you end up exactly where you are?

Meg Bryan, aka Lana Lord, has always dreamed of acting. Now, she is 30, acting on a popular show and dating another actor. All her dreams have come true, right? But during her birthday party, Meg doesn't feel the happiness she always thought she would have after achieving all her dreams. She drops everything and books a trip to a small town in Ireland, a place she was supposed to go with her childhood BFF, Aimee. But things are different there. And perhaps it's the life she was always supposed to have.

The Other Side of Now was a pleasant surprise of a story. I'm not sure why I had originally picked it up, but I'm so glad I did. It is full of deja vu, friendship, grief, romance, family, finding oneself, repairing connections and realizing there's so much more out there that can fulfill your dreams. It wasn't full of action and wasn't a total page turner of angst and drama. But more of a quiet consumption of a story where you fell in love with the relationships of the characters and had to know the truths.

I really liked the way Paige Harbison wrote the story and had the idea of parallel lives for Meg. She allowed Meg to grow and and see the pieces she was missing from the past and bring it to the present. It brought such a realness to both storylines. I got choked up toward the end of Ireland and really wanted that life to be it. But the way Harbison navigated such tender issues and brought it all together was perfect. I may be kind of vague here, but it's all best to experience it for yourself and hopefully bring a smile to your face like it did to mine.

Thoughtful, beautiful and a little emotional, The Other Side of Now is a magical, albeit bittersweet story that should be on your radar.

'What if all our souls know things? What if that really is the explanation for gut feelings, intuition, deja vu, kismet, and everything else? What if it's our souls, remembering or knowing truths of all our other lives?'

Thank you to St Martin's Press of my ARC! 4+ stars

The Other Side of Now is a contemporary women's fiction novel about friendship and grief, with a side thread of romance. This is the first adult novel written by author Paige Harbison.

Quick Plot Overview: Main female character Meg is a famous actress and still reeling from the loss of her best friend Aimee. One day, Meg decides to go to Ireland to pursue a dream that was lost about the same time Aimee died. When her feet land in Ireland, she is transported to an alternate version of reality -- one where Aimee didn't die and they both attended uni in Ireland. This butterfly effect created many changes in their lives, and Meg gets a first-hand experience to see what life would be like if Aimee was still alive and they had made other choices. In Ireland, Meg also meets a handsome bartender who turns out to be more than just a passing acquaintance. However, a looming fear begins to crowd out Meg's joy: is this wonderful new reality real, or just a passing dream?

My Impressions: I liked the Sliding Doors and magical realism premise of this book, the lush Ireland setting, and the last 20% of the book when the grief topics were tackled.

I felt like the first half of the book was mostly comprised of nuanced pop culture references on every page, which would only be familiar to a younger Millennial or older Gen Z person. Some of the references were nostalgic in a good way, but others felt distracting and not relatable.

The romance didn't start until 60% and wasn't the primary focus of the book, so the moderately descriptive open door romantic scene felt unnecessary. I also really disliked the side character Kiera. She was promiscuous and seemed like she really needed therapy. In general, I didn't agree/connect with this book's causal sex-positive attitude-- including but not limited to Meg mentioning one-night-stands, Kiera going home with someone new every day, and more.

Ultimately, I didn't connect with Meg or Kiera, and I felt like the magical realism part of the book wasn't fully developed/resolved in a satisfying way. Although this book was a miss for me, if you liked the movies The Holiday and Sliding Doors, and the books The Seven Year Slip or Passion Project, this book might be a great fit for you.

Content Considerations: Heavy use of strong (f--) profanity, drug references, one open door scene at 80% with moderate description.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the complementary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. My review is my opinion and is in no way influenced by the author or publisher.

Thank you, St. Martin's Press, for the opportunity to read an early copy of THE OTHER SIDE OF NOW by Paige Harbison in exchange for my honest review.

Meg Bryan has always dreamed of becoming a famous actress. She even managed to do it under her stage name, Lana Lord. But shortly after her 30th birthday, Meg is feeling a bit discontent with her life and wonders what her life would have been like if she pursued a different path when she was younger. On a whim, Meg books a retreat to Ireland, but when she arrives, the people start treating her like they know her. Not her as a famous actress, but regular ole Meggie. Which is odd because Meg knows she's never met any of these people before in her life. And what's even more odd is that her best friend is there....her best friend that passed away when they were teenagers. Over the next week, Meg learns what it means to appreciate both the big and small things in her life, and the importance of making every moment count, especially with the people you love.

I really enjoyed the concept of this book. Alternate reality storylines always interest me. However, I did struggle with the main character for most of the book. She seemed quite shallow and vapid at times which felt very stereotypical and one-dimensional development for a character who is a Hollywood actress. Does Meg experience some character growth in this book? Absolutely, and I am super glad for it, but she wasn't tolerable for me until pretty far along in the story.

It also drove me crazy the way she would internally speak to herself about Cillian. It was repetitive and mostly about how he is so "hot". I don't know, but every time she would say things like that irked me and made me cringe. I feel like calling people "hot" is such a high school thing, but maybe I am wrong. I wish we would've gotten more from their romance, because Cillian was lovely, but I also understand that the romance was not the purpose of this book.

This book is largely about Meg finally coming to terms with her best friend Aimee's death. I'm glad she got the closure she needed for this. I do wish there was bit more interaction between Meg and Aimee while in this alternate reality than what we got, but the conclusion was satisfactory.

I think many will enjoy this book. For me, the things that bothered me just happened to really bother me and impact my experience.

3.5/5 stars

For some reason I thought this was a romance but I'd forgotten that this was more of a women's fiction sliding door story.

These kinds of multiverse stories stress me out because I can't just relax and enjoy the story. How can I when they invole a romance because how can the romance develop if the main character is not staying in her new reality?

If you love these kinds of stories, The Other Side of Now had some very interesting elements.

I was happy that, like in a Freaky Friday movie, the main character tries to figure out what triggered this weird breaking of the laws of physics that meant she moved from her old life into her new one.

(And I ask all you physics geniuses out there: WHAT HAPPENED TO HER IN THE FIRST REALITY? Does she vanish? Do they switch places? Does one reality collapse and not exist? Please, explain!!)

In the end, the idea of a do-over in life is very intriguing but just not for me. I'm a move forward with no regrets kind of person.

But if the concept of this book appeals to you, I'd recommend it wholeheartedly! It was cleverly executed and full of heart.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance copy for review!

The Other Side of Now is magical realism following an actress as she she wakes up in an alternate world where she made different choices. This was such a fun book, and I really enjoyed the overall message of being grateful for real connections over superficialness. I loved the side characters and wish we had seen more of them. There is an emotional element to the Other Side of Now involving grief and loss of a loved one (not a spoiler), so have tissues at the ready.

Narration by Paige Harbison was well done and really brought the characters to life.

I received an ARC and ALC from St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.