I received this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ARC provided by Berkley Publishing Group.

Tressa Fay Robeson has never been shy, which is how she has made a name for herself as an in-demand hairstylist and social media star. So she can admit that spending her days at her hair salon and her nights with her tight-knit group of friends (and one grumpy cat) is not the kind of exciting life she would hoped for.

When a misdirected text from a stranger leads to a flirty exchange, she surprises herself by suggesting an impulsive meetup. But the woman, Meryl, never shows. Tressa Fay brushes it off—until Meryl’s sister and friend show up at the salon demanding to know what is going on. Because, you see, there is no way Meryl could have texted her. Meryl has been missing for a month.

Tressa Fay and her tight-knit group of friends soon discover they are not dealing with a catfish, but a temporal paradox. As they come to terms with the idea of parallel universes, they realize how many times their paths have crossed like this before. But even as they understand the multiverse more and more, nothing keeps Meryl from vanishing.

As it draws closer to the moment of Meryl’s disappearance, there is only one question Have they done enough to change the outcome, or have they done so much that none of them will make it past that fateful day in September?

Cosmic Love at the Multiverse Hair Salon is about two women who fall in love despite living in worlds that are five months apart, as they try to find a timeline that does not end in disaster. I think it may have also been somewhat my fault because I am not the biggest fan of time travel books, but I will still read them occasionally and seeing one with romance made me intrigued. And I know so many people who loved this one, but it was so boring and slow. I kept thinking something will happen or it will get more exciting, but it did not. The characters were so similar too that it is hard to tell who is who. The worst thing is how Tressa Fay's name is repeated so many times. Like I know her name already. This was one of my anticipated reads for June and I just wished it was better because it had the potential to be so good. There are lots of other reviews with people loving it, so we are going to say it was a me thing.

Great premise but the execution doesn’t quite live up to it. I love the idea of the multiple timelines and the mystery of Meryl’s disappearance but Tressa Fay, and the constant referral to her as Tressa Fay with no nickname ever, was annoying and while the author was trying to make her seem deep, she just fell short. The secondary characters were not needed and all sounded so much alike that they were indistinguishable, as other reviews have mentioned. This one just wasn’t for me.

Rating: ★★★★½ (4.5 stars)

This book was such a beautiful surprise. Cosmic Love at the Multiverse Hair Salon is a tender, imaginative, and deeply queer love story that explores fate, timelines, and the magic of connection—even when the universe seems determined to keep two people apart.

The story follows two women who fall in love across timelines that are five months out of sync, and their journey to find a version of reality where they can be together. It starts off a little slow, but that pacing gave me time to really settle into the world and get to know the characters. And once I was in, I was in.

As a Green Bay resident, I absolutely loved the local setting and references—it made the story feel even more personal and grounded. Annie Mare’s writing is lyrical and immersive, and the emotional depth of the story really stuck with me. I cared so much about the characters that I knew I’d be okay whether or not they ended up together—because the journey itself was so meaningful.

This is a beautifully written, emotionally rich queer romance from a wonderfully queer author. Highly recommend for fans of speculative love stories, multiverse twists, and character-driven narratives.

I REALLY wanted to love this book, but it unfortunately fell short for me on a few elements. The concept itself was lovely, a sapphic romance, through parallel timelines with a dash of mystery, but I found the plot to be less focused on Tressa Fay and Meryl’s story and more on the side characters’ relationships with Tressa Fay and their own personal connections. The dialogues tended to get repetitive and unfocused at times, which took away from the love story I desperately wanted more of. The repetition also continued on when it came to the main character’s name, Tressa Fay, which is mentioned a lot throughout the novel. Although I didn’t hate the novel, I found myself skimming through the pages in order to find out how the story would wrap up.

A heartfelt, high-concept gem that had me hooked from the first paradox.

This book was an absolute delight! Time loops, split timelines, multiverse mysteries, and a spark-filled love story? Yes, please. Annie Mare masterfully weaves a story that’s both emotionally resonant and brain-bending in the best way. I was fully invested in unraveling the mystery and rooting for Tressa and Meryl every step of the way.

Tressa Fay is the kind of heroine you instantly want to be best friends with bold, funny, and deeply caring. And Meryl? Equally compelling with a quiet strength that shines through the chaos. Their chemistry was electric, even across fractured timelines.

A mysterious text.
A hair salon that feels like the heart of the universe.
A delightfully grumpy cat.
And a race against fate to change a moment that keeps repeating.

The story is packed with emotion, humor, queer joy, and just enough sci-fi twists to keep you guessing without ever feeling lost. It’s a rom-com, it’s a multiverse puzzle, it’s a love letter to chosen family, and I loved every second.

If you’re into:

-Queer love stories with real stakes
-Multiverse adventures that don’t skimp on heart
-Found family vibes
-And characters you’ll miss the moment the book ends…

add this to your TBR immediately!

If you're more into audiobooks, I highly recommend this one! You'll want to keep listening, so cancel your plans!

A huge thank you to Berkley Publishing for granting me access to this title and to PRH Audio for granting me access to the audiobook!

2.5 stars rounded down.

This book had a really intriguing premise, particularly the time travel element, and I loved watching Tressa Fay and Malory fall for each other through text messages. Their connection felt authentic and tender, and those scenes were easily the most compelling part of the story.

However, that’s where the book started to lose me. The supporting characters felt more like standard LGBTQIA+ archetypes than fully developed individuals, and their personalities weren’t distinct enough to keep track of. I often found myself confused about who was who, especially in chapters that shifted focus to these side characters. While I appreciate the attempt at ensemble storytelling, those sections didn’t feel necessary or cohesive.

The time travel concept, while creative, became confusing, particularly after I switched to the audiobook halfway through. It’s possible that format shift made things harder to follow, but the lack of clear timelines and character depth made me feel disoriented. The narrator was engaging, but the lack of vocal distinction between characters only highlighted how similarly everyone read on the page.

Overall, this had great potential, especially in its central romance, but the execution left me feeling disconnected and unsure where the story was going.

What a perfect book to kick off Pride month! Sapphic romance meets time traveling multiverse. Multi POV, third person. I especially enjoyed the queer community included in this book; Tressa’s friends are seriously the coolest! While at its core this book is a cheesy love story, I loved how these relationships between every character grew and melded together. It’s such a crazy ripple effect caused by just one decision, that ultimately affects everyone involved! This is my first time reading a book that includes scifi themes like time travel, so the explanations of how this works were a little lost on me, but it really didn’t take away from my feelings about this book. It’s a definite must read!

Thank you NetGalley !

I REALLY wanted to love this. I love time travel, alternate reality, romance, mystery, and this book had it all, but it just didn't click for me. There was a little too much physics and explaining about what could happen and the constant alternate reality just bothered me. Tressa Fay and Meryl were wonderful characters and their romance and relationship had so much promise. I did wanted to love it, but I didn't, and it definitely deserves to be loved. I know many people will love it. It just wasn't a story for me.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the chance to read and review a digital copy of this book. All opinions expressed are mine and freely given.

4*

This was a wonderful read, full of queer love, found family, and knowing yourself. I loved all of the characters, particularly the explorations into their individual circumstances and how their stories wove a tapestry together.

This was a perfect pride read, not too heavy on the time-travelling elements/sciency bits, that made me laugh and cry in all the best ways

I was provided an ARC of this book via Netgalley and the Berkley Besties program, all opinions are my own.

This was a super cute multi-verse romance. It borders on cozy, however the stakes are pretty high as Tressa Fay and her lady love Meryl's relationship deepens. This follows Tressa Fay an outspoken hairstylist, who has great friends, loves her job, and wants to sit at home with a nice bowl of soup with her cat. When a text from a wrong number beckons her to meet a mystery woman who never shows she is not only irritated that she left her perfectly good bowl of soup, but that she feels like she was catfished. When Meryl's sister shows up demanding to know what is going on between them and where Meryl is, Tressa Fay and her friends are determined to figure out how Meryl and Tressa Fay are connected.

I really enjoyed the multi-verse aspect of this romance. I appreciated the science aspect and explanations, but that may not be everyone's cup of tea. I am a huge scifi fan, so I enjoyed it. Tressa Fay and Meryl weren't always together or even in the same time period, but their interactions were fun and flirty as they got to know each other through text message. When they were together in the same time and place, they were always aware of Meryl's eventual disappearance or working to change that part of her timeline. Their in person interactions were again fun and flirty and the multi-verse aspect was unique take on a romance. This has some great humor, some spice, and a great group of friends to support the characters.

3.75/4 ⭐️ I will admit, this one took me awhile to get back into and I’m so glad I did because this is the kind of book that makes you believe in soulmates in every universe there is. Did my brain hurt most of the time while reading? Yes. And did I get emotional at all the love and support from everyone? Hell yes, the found family trope gets me every time. And they’re all so queer, I LOVE it!

Also I listened to the last half of the audiobook and it was phenomenal, highly recommend that format!!

Thank you Berkley for the arc!

The title says it all. An unconventional read that will appeal to both nerds and romantics. Tressa and Meryl are ready to meet IRL. The problem is they're living in different timelines.
There were many aspects of the book that I liked. The main characters have strong personalities (tell me you didn't get Natasha Lyonne energy from Meryl), and the supporting characters are interesting as well. They met the "diversity quota" without feeling forced. I believed in the romance and thought the multiverse solution was pretty clever and well done.
However, it was so laden with dialog-discussions, exposition, discourse, and debates. Of course, that makes sense given the plot, but I longed for more visuals and deeper emotions.
If the title piques your interest, you should check it out!
#NetGalley

A year ago, sought-after hairdresser Tressa Fay returned home from a cross-country, pop-up salon event with a ring in her pocket. Instead of proposing to her girlfriend, however, she got her heart broken when she found her partner in bed with another woman. Now, Tressa Fay is still working her magic with her life-changing haircuts and thinking of maybe dipping a toe in the dating pool. The trouble is that she wants a real, organic experience instead of the ubiquitous apps, bar hookups, or even blind dates set up by her friend group. After declining one such effort by her friends to set her up with an “extremely fine girl” on a cold day in October, Tressa Fay gets a wrong-number text that sets off a back-and-forth with a stormwater engineer named Meryl Whit.

The texts are brief, but infused with such humor and good vibes that Tressa Fay does something extremely out of character: sacrifice a night of “communing“ with her cat and homemade soup to meet a girl at a bar. When Tressa Fay arrives, Meryl is nowhere to be found, despite a flurry of texts back-and-forth confirming both Tressa Fay and Meryl are at the same restaurant. Unable to connect in person and a little disappointed, Tressa Fay returns home. The next day at Tressa Fay’s salon, two strangers show up distraught because their friend Meryl Whit has been missing for a month and Tressa Fay is the last person Meryl had contact with. Tressa Fay pulls out her text exchange with Meryl to prove that she and Meryl were talking just the previous night. Then, they discover something strange: while Tressa Fay’s texts say they were sent in October, Meryl’s responses to those texts are all dated May, six months prior. If Tressa Fay wants a chance to explore the electric connection she had with Meryl, she’ll have to work with her friend group, Meryl’s friends, her past self, and past Meryl to try to fix the fabric of space-time.

Cosmic Love at the Multiverse Hair Salon is a contemporary fantasy and time-traveling romance set in Green Bay Wisconsin. Author Annie Mare weaves together two timelines featuring Tressa Fay in October (“now”) and Meryl last May (“then”) texting and falling more in love as they figure out how to change the fact that Meryl disappears in September. The story is broken up into chapters and has dates in the chapter headings to tell you which time you are in. This, plus a few scenes that demonstrate how the multiple timelines interact–specifically how actions in the past can change the now–gives the reader plenty of information to follow along.

I was initially drawn to this story because the idea of a multiverse hair salon was intriguing and I was interested in finding out how this theme would unfold for our two main characters. Despite wrinkles in time being a central conceit to the story, I felt like themes of identity were an even bigger part of the story. Tressa Fay, for example, perceives hair as an extension of identity and is a genius at using hair as a medium to help people explore their own identity. Beyond Tressa Fay, there is a panoply of well-defined supporting characters who each represent different queer elements. These characters run the gamut from cis allies to pansexual polyamorous individuals to gender queer lawyers. I thought Mare did a marvelous job including a vast ray of queer identities in meaningful ways. I especially loved how it felt like each character felt like their own person with their own lives that continued independent of the story narrated on the page (not just convenient pieces used to move the plot along).

The romance that unfolded between Tressa Fay and Meryl was a delight to read. May Meryl and October Tressa Fay maintained their connection via text. For me, I thought the written exchanges felt vibrant and exciting, fun and flirty. As they texted throughout the book (which actually moves linearly for both what’s happening with Meryl in May and Tressa Fay in October), these texts really showed how their relationship was evolving. This was absolutely developed as May Meryl begins to interact with May Tressa Fay, turning their “wrong-number, missed connection” interaction at the start of the book in October into a meet-cute at Tressa Fay’s salon. Along with that came a flood of new memories May Tressa Fay got to live and October Tressa Fay lived vicariously through her own new (!) memories and texts from Meryl.

In addition to working across times to figure out how to make their relationship work, the way Tressa Fay, Meryl, and their friends begin consciously trying to change literal universes so that Meryl never goes missing in September, they also begin changing their lives in other ways. One example is how Tressa Fay’s relationship with her father demonstrably improves–the man himself doesn’t become someone different, but with the benefit of information from the future, past Tressa Fay is able to finally understand who her father is and develops a true emotional relationship with him. Another example is how Tressa Fay’s friend group realizes a woman they had identified as a potential blind date for Tressa Fay actually fits as part of their polyamorous friend’s relationship.

Readers who love the idea of multi universes, string theory, and love that is stronger than time will find a lot to enjoy in this story. If you like emotionally intelligent, smart characters, and sensitive depictions of a wide variety of queer identities, I’m sure you will love these characters as much as I did.

4.5 stars

If you've read some of my other reviews, you know how I feel about gay yearning. The yearning in this book is unmatched.

First of all, I absolutely adored the sci-fi elements of the book, since they were written to be more mystical and romantic, rather than scientific, which meshed perfectly with the romance plot. At times it could get a little bit confusing, but was very easy to grasp once I kept reading. The explanations of the multiverse were amazing, because if I did ever feel confused, I was meant to feel that way alongside the characters, rather than feeling confused and feeling left out on some world building. Reading about the multiverse, and just reading this book in general made me feel like I learned some mystical, otherworldly lesson: that nothing truly ends. I felt healed by the end of the book, which is something I can very rarely say.

Also, I just love Tressa Fay and Meryl in general. The fated lovers energy they had going on was impeccable. Their love confessions made me cry and feel very emotional. They absolutely tugged on my heartstrings, and I procrastinated finishing the book just because I didn't want to stop reading about these characters.

The grief and healing in this book is incredibly beautiful. The way Tressa Fay heals from some of her grief about her mom by learning about the multiverses made me sob. The way she learned more about her dad and his love for her in the absence of her mom was perfectly emotional, and it made me feel even more connected to the characters.

The found family aspect was wonderful. I loved all the characters so much, and their individual dynamics. The diversity in the cast was amazing, and I felt like every character trait was purposeful.

I would definitely recommend this book to readers who want a book that is mysterious and mystical, but in a romantic way. The vibes are just impeccable.

A huge thank you to Berkeley Publishing Group and Netgalley for this ARC.

Tressa Fay gets into a textuationship with the nerdy girl of her dreams, Meryl, and then they both discover she is somehow texting her 6 months in the past. But the thing is in the current timeline Meryl went missing. Tressa Fay and Meryl’s friends and families intertwine to help solve this, multiverses ensue. I LOVED THIS. thank you to @prhaudio for the ALC, this was really great via audio.

I loved all the side characters and queer found family and joy. The romance was also incredible. The beautiful way they pined for each other and the storytelling I can't wait to read more from this author.

The plot progression of this story was very slow and I found myself very confused about the switching timelines. Just not for me

I'll admit, the title and cover was the main reason I wanted to read this. A time travel sapphic romance about two women who fall in love even though they live 5 months apart. I love time travel books so that also intrigued me. The love story was very heartfelt and I loved seeing how they fell in love through texting. Their chemistry and dialogue was sincere and felt genuine. It was very cute. Now the time travel “explanation” or “science” lost me. It just kind of bogged things down. There were definitely some funny parts and I loved the found family theme and the importance of bonding with friends. It was a unique read for sure, and definitely makes you think, but the reason I'm giving it three stars is because it felt a little too sciency and longer than it should have been. But overall, entertaining enough.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

This book was so intriguing. I don’t think I’ve seen time travel handled quite like this before. Really liked that it was a sapphic love story. It was a nice blend of science fiction and romance.

Cosmic Love At The Multiverse Hair Salon:⁣
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Thank you @prhaudio @acebookspub for my gifted copies! #PRHAudioPartner #BerkleyPartner ⁣
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“You give so much to the people you love. I just don’t want you to lose sight of what you need.”⁣
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Will I ever get this title right? No. Did I triple check it? Yes. As a sliding door fan, this was fun! I was so worried I’d get confused because let’s be honest, Spider-Man’s multiverse confuses me. I loved how this played out and how the explaining was woven into the fabric of the story so it wasn’t like “well, reader this is what we mean”⁣
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Audio was great as well. Mia Hutchinson-Shaw did the thing. I felt it flowed so well on audio that I listened on my car ride and just thoroughly enjoyed the audio.⁣
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Lastly, if you haven’t picked up a book for Pride, this is definitely one I’d choose. I loved the missed connection feeling and I just wanted them to finally be together in the present.⁣
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Just released on the 3rd, it was so good y’all!⁣
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QOTD: What’s for dinner?

Thanks so much to netgalley.com @berkleypub @berkleyromance or @acebookspub for the free e-book!

This unfortunately did not work for me. I was not at all into the story, characters felt lost for most of it.i wanted to love it. I hope others enjoy it.

Suggest skipping it.
2.5/5☆ rounded up
#BerkleyPartner #AceBooksPartner