This book was so good! I read 97% of it in one setting. Noelle’s life is pretty mundane until one night she eats the most delicious dumplings and the next morning she lives that day again, again, and again. This book got my right in the feels. When the days kept going on and on I started to feel the never ending dread that both Avery and Noelle were feeling. Cam was such a sweetheart and his love and trust of Noelle was everything. Highly recommend this book to all!

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books, & Jackie Lau for the chance to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

The cosmic pull between our two MC's (Noelle & Cam) is truly magical realism at its finest! And the friendship with the fellow voyager (Avery) is just WOMEN at its finest!

The thing about some books with the time loop trope- it can get tiresome. Jackie Lau handles the straight up ABYSS of a seemingly never ending time loop with incredible skill. I was not bored. I was not tired or annoyed when the alarm went off again-- I was ready and so down for every twist and turn within the monotony.

I would LOVE a book about Avery- maybe we can uncover more about the magic dumpling maker and their intentions? Perhaps how Cam's dad's experience works into it!?!? Please?!? :-)

TIME LOOPS & MEET CUTES
RATING: 3.75
GENRE: Romance

Time Loops & Meet Cutes s a play off the famous movie, Groundhog Day, where our main female character, Noelle, falls into a time loop and keeps repeating the same day. Noelle lives a quiet, but cautious and monotonous life as a mechanical engineer. She spontaneously decides to visit a night market after work one day and eats some magical dumplings and her entire life is literally thrown into a time loop.

The first half of the book is Noelle realizing she is stuck repeating June 20th and so she allows herself to do fun and out of the ordinary things without consequences. However, it does get a little repetitive after a while. During the time loop, Noelle keeps running into Cam and this kicks off out meet cute love interest.

We get short viewpoints from Cam as he continues to live his life as is, but he gets a sense he is missing someone. It’s interesting to see how life goes on for everyone except Noelle. She becomes desperate to break the time loop as it becomes day 150+?

I enjoyed this book - it was a fun concept to explore. Noelle is a very relatable character for anyone who’s been stuck in corporate monotony. I like the contrast of Cam and Noelle’s personalities. Please pick up if you enjoy romance with a twist.

Thank you to NetGalley and Artria Books for this e-ARC.

I think time loops are just not for me. Overall, it was a cute story, but I found myself disconnecting from the story. It felt a little repetitive which is to be expected with time loops, and I couldn't quite get behind the romance between the two main characters. However, I did like the friendship between Noelle and Avery! If you enjoy cute little rom coms with a time loop aspect I would check this out!

I am happy to report that eating dumplings while reading this book did not cause me to get stuck in a time loop!

This was a very cute book that made me want to eat everything mentioned, which seems to be Jackie Lau's sweet spot.

Noelle is thrown into a time loop, doomed/destined to repeat June 20th over and over again. She learns to take chances with her family, career and the cute guy she keeps bumping into in different iterations of the day, but learns that there are downsides to a consequence-free day as well. I enjoyed also getting snippets of Cam's perspective as we moved through the book.

A time loop story is tricky, and this did start to drag for me a bit, even though I think the aftermath of the loop is handled in a clever way. And there were some things I wanted more resolution on <spoiler>her friendship with Veronica never really went anywhere, and there was a lot left unexplored in Avery's story. She had it SO much worse during the loop, but her explanation is even less satisfying than Noelle's in the end</spoiler>.

Thank you to Jackie Lau, NetGalley & Atria Books for the ARC.

I devoured this book in one day!! It's such an interesting premise, and I absolutely love how it was executed. The relationship between the main characters is so pure and genuine and wholesome, I couldn't stop smiling! I'm eagerly awaiting Lau's next book.

Thank you to the publisher for the e-copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I loved this book! I loved the premise and the twist on the standard time loop story. Noelle is a classic workaholic, who stays late every day (including Friday), determined to live a better life than the generations before her. She stops at a food market late on Friday June 20th and buys some dumplings that will 'give her exactly what she needs'. From then on, Noelle keeps repeating June 20th, trying to figure out what exactly she needs. While in the time loop, she meets another trapped woman, Avery (you rarely get FMCs with friends in media and Noelle manages to find one in a time loop!), and the two must compare their very different lives and very different needs to try and escape the loop. The book takes place across two parts, one in the time loop and one out of it. I was on the edge of my seat every time Noelle ran into Cam, just hoping that he would break the cycle and help her out (even though that's probably not exactly what she needs). I loved that we took the time to see Noelle learn about herself, how she's more than her bank account balance, and she doesn't have to work 60 hours a week to prove anything to anyone, how she can have a life outside of work and develop and maintain relationships with friends and family. I can't wait to read more of Jackie Lau's writing, and now I have to go get a bubble tea and some dumplings.

Thanks very much to Atria Books and to NetGalley for the advanced copy!

I’m surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. I don’t always love a time travel trope so I was hesitant but so pleased by the results. This book was so cute and fun. The time travel was done so well. It was emotional and raw at times and we saw the relationship fully develop, even with the time travel. The characters were interesting & very readable. Really just a good time!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone.

This is really cute and clever, time loops are always a fun trope to explore for me. The magical realism is wonderful, I love that in this instance she encounters another woman in the same predicament and they become friends. If anything, I think the friendship did more for me than the romance. I wanted more from the two MCs and their relationship development, which is hard because she keeps getting to know him day after day, but he doesn't remember her. Overall, I enjoyed it!

I loved the mix of different Asian cultures represented in this book! I don’t always love the “groundhogs day” type stories but this book had a really great flow and split of being stuck in a time loop figuring yourself out and how to maneuver life outside of it.

I really enjoyed this!! I read it start to finish in under 24 hours.

Loved the women in STEM representation. When Noelle determined she was stuck in a time loop so quickly, I was skeptical; what else could happen? But I was pleasantly surprised in her journey through the rest of the novel.

Noelle was very likable and easy to root for. When she found Avery I was so relieved for her. I really enjoyed Avery and Noelle working hard to try to figure out how to get out of the time loop; their bond felt natural to me, despite the "forced" nature of their relationship. I also enjoyed watching Cam and Noelle on all their dates, and as much as I believed in them as a couple, I do think he so readily believed Noelle (granted, the proof she had while she was still in the time loop was pretty convincing). If Noelle's need was to learn to take risks, the reader definitely experienced that with her when she tells Cam the truth after she got out of the loop.

I also really liked that we got Cam’s perspective throughout - it definitely added dimension to the story and to his character.

I guessed that Cam’s grandmother was involved when his dad called about her being sick, but I did not anticipate him having frozen dumplings!

I definitely wanted to know more about the time manipulation, magic, whatever it was: there was not a big explanation. What happened to the version of Noelle that was outside the time loop, or how did that work? Was she some kind of clone or 2D placeholder? I know the magic wasn't the point of the story, but I think understanding mare about how it worked, how she knew what they needed, (if she had really not done it to anyone else) would have fleshed that part of the story out more. Maybe the grandmother could’ve written a letter or something? I also would have loved to see Noelle stand up to her boss for her raise after her time loop.

Overall, I definitely enjoyed this one, and I’ll look for more from this author!

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the ARC.

Fast-paced, funny, and utterly adorable, this book is a perfect pick for fans of Groundhog Day–style stories, cozy romances, and anyone who believes love (and a good dumpling) can change your life.

Time Loops & Meet Cutes is a sweet romance built around well-developed characters that grow and learn from each other and those around them. Our female lead, Noelle, is largely likable and relatable. Having been at the same corporate job for several years, Noelle is in a stable but static place in life. She works too much for too little, and has little time for anything else. Noelle’s dating and family history is established as a key motivator to her guarded approach to relationships. When an uncharacteristic splurge on mystery dumplings at a night market jolt her into a time loop living June 20th on repeat, Noelle is forced to face the consequences of her choices in life, while simultaneously enjoying the freedom of no consequences when the clock starts over the next day. As Noelle “meets” Cam, our male lead, over and over again, her attachment grows, while memories of their previous encounters are out of his reach. Cam is a rare male lead with depth and a large personality. His character brings joy to a story that is surprisingly emotional for a book about magical dumplings, and the side characters each have their own place among the larger love story.

While prose was consistent, the plot suffered from pacing inconsistencies leading into the second half of the book. The repetitiveness of the time loops is certainly felt, but I found this simply connected the reader to the impact the loop is having on Noelle. Unfortunately, the pacing failed to pick back up upon Noelle’s eventual release from the time loop. Her stubborn refusal to apply the lessons learned in the loop to her “real” life was frustrating, and made the third quarter of the story drag. The third act conflict between Noelle and Cam as Noelle grappled to move forward with someone who didn’t remember the entirety of their relationship felt superfluous. After Noelle’s persistence in escaping the time loop, fixation on this minor issue paired with her own development set-backs impaired the momentum of their love story unnecessarily. Overall, Time Loops & Meet Cutes was a sweet read. There were times of feet-kicking cuteness, and Noelle and Cam were solid characters in a believable match. I look forward to the next release by this author!

This isn't the first romance that involves hypothetical concepts involving time. Most have centered on time travel, which after reading this, is probably preferable than a time loop. In theory, everyone probably has a day that'd like to do-over. But what if a) you aren't sure what to change, and b) the time loop doesn't seem to end? I would eventually go mad, I think.

For Noelle, there is a certain novelty about the time loop that is fun. She can finally take a day off, or flirt with a stranger, or spend money lavishly. However, with each day, she struggles more with why it is happening to her, and what it is about her life that needs to be "fixed". Lucky for her, she has found another girl, Avery, who is also in the same time loop.

Together, they work to find out the mystery of their situation, and provide comfort in one another as the repeating days impact their mental health or physical health (poor Avery had her period every day, KMN). They also explore their love lives, or lack thereof. Taking chances to make things better.

Do they ever get out of the loop? I won't say, but I will say, some of the loops became a little repetitive, lol. I'm not sure how the author could have edited down and still deliver her message, but I probably could have done with less of the loop and more of what came next.

Overall, this was a sweet (but purely fictional) story, and can best be enjoyed with a meal of dumplings. ; )

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for the advanced reader copy.

The premise of this book sounded fun, but the execution fell very flat. Even though the point of the book was to have the FMC repeat the same day over and over, there wasn't any growth on her part, since she's the one person who does know that time is repeating. There are some other books that do the time repeat in a more satisfying way.

I rate this 3.75, rounding up to 4.

The premise of Time Loops & Meet Cutes sucked me right in! Reading this book honestly made me hungry all the time, haha. I very much loved the diversity of food being talked about in this book. Noelle goes to a night market and eats magical dumplings. The next morning she realizes that she’s reliving June 20 again and tries many different avenues on trying to get out of the time loop. She meets another woman, Avery, that is going through the same time loop. I adored their friendship and it was a nice twist seeing them go through it together.

Noelle gets out of her comfort zone by taking in new hobbies, trying new places to eat, and experimenting with new hair styles. She keeps randomly bumping into Cam and she thinks he’s going to be the key to get out of the time loop so she goes through a series of “meet cutes” with him. I enjoyed their love story and connection.

Even thought I KNEW this book was about going through a time loop, the repetitiveness of some of the days felt difficult to get through at times. I did enjoy the book overall though. What would you do if you were stuck in a time loop and every day reset at exactly 3 AM?!

Thank you, NetGalley, for the opportunity to read this as an e-Arc! This was my first read by the author and I will definitely be reading more of her work.

This was such a fun Groundhog Day romance. We have Noelle that is in a rut in her job and goes to a street food fair after work. She eats some delicious dumplings and when she wakes up the next morning, she finds she is reliving the same day.

Time loop books I think is always tough to write because it can get very repetitive. This did happen in the beginning as Noelle tries to figure out what is happening. Once she finds another person that is stuck with her, the story picks up.

I enjoyed how Noelle and Avery tried to figure out how they are stuck in the loop. At the same time, the took risks and did things that IRL would be afraid to try.

It was entertaining to see Noelle try and connect to Cam each time. I could feel her frustration as she knows more about him each time and he doesn't but has a vague sense of connection to her.

Noelle does get out of the time loop and the story continues with her and Cam starting over. I also loved that Noelle and Avery continued their friendship. The connection with the dumpling and the time loop was great and I love how the story wrapped up.

Thank you @atriabooks for a copy of the book.

This is a fun, entertaining read. Cam and Noelle are interesting, strong, relatable, intriguing, compelling, intelligent, sweet, entertaining characters. I enjoyed their romance and the path it took to get to their HEA. The secondary characters added to the fabric of the story and my enjoyment. This book is full of the charm and human complexities that I come to love from Lau. My attention was captured from the very start until the end. The story is easy to get into and read.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Time Loop and Meet Cute is right. This book did time loops and meet cutes effortlessly. It is always worrying to see how the author may develop the story of a time loop, but it was well executed and as believable as a time loop can be ;) This was a fun book and I enjoyed the set up, and thought it was a good mix of the book with the time loop and the rest of the story. Cute romance and definitely a winner for anyone who is interested in the time loop part of it!

★★★☆☆
Time Loops & Meet Cutes was such a fun, charming read! I love a good time loop story, and this one really delivered with lots of humor, heart, and so many mouth-watering food descriptions (seriously, I’m still thinking about dumplings). Noelle’s creative meet cutes and her growing friendship with Avery were such highlights. A light, sweet romance perfect for a cozy afternoon.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance reader copy!