Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books | Atria/Emily Bestler Books for an e-ARC of "Time Loops & Meet Cutes" by Jackie Lau, which comes out May 6, 2025!

I am such a mood reader and this hit the spot! I devoured this book in one day! It was so cute- yes it was cheesy and predictable at times but I enjoyed it so much. I loved seeing the growth of the main character, Noelle throughout the story. The repeat of the same day reminded me so much of Groundhog day as well as a couple episodes of shows I have watched over the years that did stuff with time/time loops.

If you've enjoyed any of Jackie's previous books or if the synopsis sounds enticing to you at all, I definitely recommend reading it!

A cute kicking your feet giggling like a school girl romance! This was such a great read and nice break from all the dark that I read.

Could you imagine being stuck in a time loop, reliving the same day every day? At first you’d think sure this would be awesome! However, what happens when you start to fall in love with someone who doesn’t remember meeting you the next day?

Noelle goes through this and as it starts to wear on her she’s determined to find a way out of the loop. Will she keep her love too??

This was a great read and I loved Noelle. It was amazing to watch her character grow and change throughout the book. I loved her coming to terms with what mental health can look like, and it bringing her closer to her sister. Definitely worth picking up!

Noelle is over-worked and over-achieving, one evening after work she eats mystical dumplings from a night market that inexplicably send her into a Groundhog Day-time loop scenario. As she works to make sense of her new reality, she meets Cam who owns and runs a brewery. She finds that as June 20th repeats, she keeps running into him. Who is he and why is he important?

I have read this author before and enjoyed her work. This one was a solid read with a focus on learning how to live your best and most authentic life, even if you have to keep trying over and over again. I loved how Noelle systematically tries to make sense and order out of the sudden cosmic existential crisis that her life has become. She's a little emotionally stunted, which definitely factors into her life choices initially. This is simultaneously a mystery and an "are they destined to be together?" romance. Having Cam's POV was a nice touch and lent some needed variety to the narrative. But while I liked it, I didn't love it. I found that the pacing was uneven and I lost some reading momentum around 50% of the way through. (I mostly got distracted by pondering the mechanics of the time loop, which was a bit unsatisfying in its vagueness.) Things do start to pick up again closer towards the end. The story was also a bit more somber than I was expecting, as the story is an unusual mix of hopeful and gloomy. Thankfully, hope wins out.

If you enjoy open-door romances with a touch of mysticism and some deeper soul searching and personal growth, then this is the book for you! 3.5 stars. Publishes May 6, 2025. This review is based on a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions are my own.

4.5 stars!

Time Loops & Meet Cutes exceeded all my expectations! I usually do not enjoy novels with time loop aspects, but this one is written so well. The rules of this time loop are different than ones I have previously read. I found that I enjoyed this take on time loops a lot more, especially what happens after the time loop ends.

Noelle is an excellent main character. Giving her all for work only to realize it was for nothing. Having a structured routine with no time for hobbies. With the time loop, Noelle is able to explore and relearn the things she enjoys doing. She has a series of meet cutes with Cam, who she thinks is the key to exiting the time loop. Usually, there is only one initial meet cute in a romance novel. This one has several, most of which are awkward and embarrassing. I enjoyed Noelle slowly getting to know Cam, even if he didn't remember her. Truly loved their relationship so much. I loved the friendship between Avery and Noelle.

Overall, I enjoyed this a lot more than I initially thought I would. It was quick, addictive, and fun. Any review I write will never fully capture how this book made me feel. Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the early copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book was super cute! I’ve never read anything with the Groundhog Day vibes so this was definitely a breath of fresh air. I also was obsessed with the couples but also the friendship that came about in this book too! It was also really cool to learn about a ton of different foods. And it was hard because every single thing sounded so good. It was fun to read and definitely recommend it. Can’t thank NetGalley enough for this adorable arc.

Thoughtful and heartwarming. This book has some pacing issues at first, but ends up a solid story about the importance of not being bogged down in choice and letting life pass you by.

Time Loops and Meet Cutes by Jackie Lau starts off as a typical time loop story, but Lau has plenty of tricks up her sleeve to add new twists to the time loop theme. For starters, the main character Noelle is stuck in the time loop on a random day with only one other person--and it's not the love interest, Cam. Instead, she interacts with Cam repeatedly and falls in love while he must learn her name again every time they meet.

This book is pretty slow-paced, and more space is dedicated to the time loop aspect than the romance. We follow Noelle as she struggles to figure out the parameters of the time loop and escape it. Thus, we get to learn a lot about her and her family. The actual amount of time she interacts with the male lead is rather small in comparison, which may or may not turn some readers off if they are reading this book primarily for the romance piece. Personally, I found the romantic dynamics between the two leads to be just okay. I wasn't put off by their dynamics, but their chemistry was fairly mediocre and relied a lot on incredibly cheesy jokes.

Overall, I think this book sold me mostly on its creative twist to the time loop. It could have been a lot shorter and spent more time building up the romantic tension, but I still enjoyed the read.

What if Noelle didn't eat those dumplings? This time loop rom com sees her repeat June 20 over and over again,thanks to dumplings she impulsively bought from an older woman at a street festival. It's disconcerting and frustrating to see your life reset every night (even hair cut during the day regrows). Luckily, she meets Avery, who also ate the dumplings and thus has an ally. And she meets Cam who isn't on her loop, which means she must reintroduce herself every day. She's intrigued by him but can they build a relationship in these circumstances? I liked Noelle (also that she's an engineer) and Cam is a treat so I rooted for them, as you will as well. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. No spoilers from me!

A wonderful read!
This novel drew me in from the very first page and kept me hooked until the end. The characters were vibrant and relatable, the writing was engaging, and the story had just the right balance of heart and humor. Highly recommend!
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

This was a really cute romance. I think this book may well end up being one of my favorite romances of 2025! If you love movies like Back to the Future or 13 Going on 30, I definitely recommend this book. I can't wait to read Jackie Lau's next book! I definitely would not sit this book out!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review. This was (thankfully!) a quick read, but I couldn't wait for it to be over. I thought the premise was interesting, but the main character and the writing style were both incredibly juvenile, so I just could not get invested in the story. Also, I love some spice in my romance novels, but the sex scenes in this book were so jarring. Noelle seemed so infantile and there was zero actual chemistry between her and Cam, yet all of a sudden there would be a somewhat spicy sex scene?!?! It made me cringe several times. I also saw the "twist" coming a mile away. Rounding up to two stars because I loved the food descriptions.

The premise of this book was so fun! Like Groundhog Day, but magic dumplings helping you find what you need.

And what Noelle needs is Cam, Cam just doesn’t know it, since he isn’t living June 20th over and over again.

Sometimes the best part of a romance is that sometimes awkward or humorous first meeting, this book gives you multiple of those since they meet over and over and over again.

I loved watching their relationship grow even when it was one sided, Cam’s lingering sense of knowing her and what she liked was so sweet.

This book definitely gave me Ali Hazelwood vibes with a smart woman in STEM as the FMC. Noelle navigates being undervalued in the male dominated world of mechanical engineering.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for providing me with a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I absolutely adored this book!! Jackie Lau captured my heart and did not let go. Time Loops and Meet Cutes is about Noelle Tom a hard-working mechanical engineer who was very focused on tasks and not so much about what was going on around her.

After eating dumplings at a market - the vendor told her they would bring exactly what she needed - she lives the same day over and over again . She seems Cam, a handsome man who works nearby, every day - she starts to incorporate him more and more into her days. Fortunately, she meets another woman, Avery, who is also stuck in the time loop.

Noelle was ADORABLE - super quirky and funny - I love the risks she took on her repeating days. The pace was fast, which was perfect, so that the story didn't become tedious. I love the Asian rep, the amazing food descriptions, and just a sprinkling of spice. I cried, laughed, remained hopeful, and just loved the ending. This book was all-around delicious!

I remain grateful to Atria/Emily Bestler books, and I really, REALLY want a second book to see how Avery fares!!!

4.5 stars. This was an absolute delight to read!

I'm struggling to write this review because there were so many little details that I enjoyed. That Noelle knew Cam was related to her escape from the time loop, even if she didn't know how. That Noelle tried every dumpling restaurant in the greater Toronto area to find the first one. The little deja vu moments Cam had throughout, knowing this person was important to him somehow but couldn't quite figure out why. Noelle's continued struggles with her self-worth, even after proving to herself that she could be confident and get what she wants. The way Madison accepts the time loop story, and Cam too, because Noelle is just that sincere a person.

This book went through some big topics but still managed to be lighthearted and accessible. It's very hopeful. A wonderful book that everyone should read if they need a little push to make that next big decision.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jackie Lau, and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this novel, which far exceeded my expectations! First, my expectations have to do with the fact that Jackie Lau is a romance writer, and I'm not a devotee of the genre. Second, I was ambivalent about the time loop thing. I’ve seen Groundhog Day; I get it.

But it turns out that the commentary on alternative temporalities is just so well done! There is the fact that Noelle’s life is already thoroughly routinized, not unlike what we see in something like Severance or other dramatizations of the neoliberal subject or homo economicus. On several occasions, as Noelle attempts to explain her dilemma to others, she has to press the point that she is literally and not just figuratively living the same day on repeat. But there is also incredibly diversity to the multiple June 20ths. In fact, living the same day makes her life much richer than if time were to progress as usual, with her clocking the hours with the same work routine everyday.

I was really impressed with how Lau found a way to narrate June 20 so that 1) both the reader and Noelle can appreciate all the ways that the same day can be lived differently and 2) how the repetitiveness of this time loop feels as frustrating to the reader as to Noelle herself. The central figure for allowing us to appreciate this potential for diversity and inexorable repetitiveness is Noelle’s love interest Cam. Her relationship with Cam does “develop” over the course of the novel—over the course of repeating the same day—in that brief encounters lead into sexual encounters. But Cam and Noelle are always constrained by the temporal conundrum (and decorousness) of the first date. Cam’s subconscious does possess the imprint of their prior meetings, and on one occasion he almost remembers her name. For the most part, though, there is no linear progression in their relationship. And neither kissing Cam nor sex with Cam breaks the loop; it all ends up making Noelle feel worse about a relationship that can go nowhere.

Cam is a crucial relationship to the novel’s unfolding and to the time loop’s breaking, but arguably it is Noelle’s friendship with Avery that feels the most meaningful. Like Noelle, Avery has found herself stuck in June 20 due to the magic dumpling. Noelle does constantly remind us, in relation to Cam, that she hasn’t dated since college, yet she just as frequently notes, in relation to Avery, that she hasn’t had a close friend in just as long of a time. Noelle cohabitates with Avery, not Cam. We see the two friends exchange gifts and meals in more meaningful ways. There is a lot of pining with respect to Cam, but only with Avery does Noelle develop a relationship with actual emotional depth. Notably, the first time that Cam agrees to sleep with Noelle, she receives an emergency text from Avery, and she chooses Avery over Cam.

The second half of the novel concerns when Avery and Noelle do break the time loop. Here, the reader comes to fully appreciate how much the time loop has brought out a more confident and considerate Noelle. Only the promise of a reset could she flirt with Cam, find a best friend in Avery, learn to crochet, ask her boss for a raise, and reconcile with her estranged sister Madison. When time resumes, Noelle finds her job way more oppressive than it had initially seemed. The men she works with are not just annoying but intolerable. She finally finds it in herself to quit.

Overall, I found so much depth, nuance, and fun in this novel. I can't wait to read more of Lau's work!

I LOVE time loop stories so Time Loops & Meet Cutes was my jam! I enjoyed this just as I knew I would! I liked following Noelle as she repeated June 20th over and over. I enjoyed the introduction of Avery who also was experiencing the same problem. I laughed at her interactions with Cam. This was the perfect light hearted read for me!

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Time Loops & Meet Cutes by Jackie Lau
Time Loops & Meet Cutes
by Jackie Lau (Goodreads Author)
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More like a 4.5 just due to the ending but I loved 95% of the book.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I'm not sure what it was about it but I consumed this in a day and was completely invested in the main romance. I also loved the friendship of Noelle and Avery and how they formed their bond through this shared trial but continued it after. The book had a lot of real themes of anxiety in developing relationships in adulthood and I was so proud of Noelle for continuing her growth.

the ending felt a bit rushed and not fully pulled together but overall a great book.

I love a good groundhogs day type book. This was done pretty well, but there’s only so much you can do with this type of book so it was fairly predictable.

This book was just okay. The main character, Noelle, finds herself stuck living June 20th over and over again after eating some dumplings at a market. She finds a girl that is also stuck in the loop and they bond over their shared experience. She meets a guy, Cam, while in the loop and tries various ways to win his affection. They’re stuck in the loop for so long that she starts to really like him and has trouble with him forgetting her and their shared experiences.

I really do enjoy time loop books and I was having a good time with this one. The creative ways to spend the same day over and over again were entertaining. I started having trouble once the girls got out of the loop. I think overall, people will really enjoy this one.

I absolutely loved reading Time Loops and Meet Cutes! Noelle finds herself reliving the same day over and over after eating dumplings that the shop owner claims will “give her what she needs most.” In reliving the same day, she finds herself drawn to a man she keeps running into in various places.

I was a little hesitant to read this book at first because I was worried the “Groundhog Day” trope would get a bit repetitive. This was absolutely not the case with Time Loops and Meet Cutes! Jackie Lau does an excellent job at portraying Noelle’s frustration repeating the same day without making the reader also feel the repetition. I loved that Noelle found ways to switch up her days in the loop, and I really admired the friendship she built with Avery throughout the book.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves a sweet romance, magical realism, or a bit of both! Thank you, Jackie Lau, Atria Books, and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.