This was such a fun romance with a magical realism twist. It was more focused on the time loop than I initially thought it would be, but the romance was still present and the scenes with the MCs were always great. I liked how everything unfolded. Noelle and Cam were both great characters and had natural chemistry.

This was more of a romance with Asian cuisine than it was with the MMC - but it was totally justified. The writing style was easily digestible, and all the talk about dumplings made me force my husband to go out for some mid read 😂

Thank you to Atria Books for the ARC

I loved this story. It was perfectly written with very relatable characters. Noelle getting caught in the loop and allowing herself to take risks, knowing there probably would not be any consequences, was fun. I enjoyed it when she met up with Avery, who was also stuck. Their growing friendship was awesome. And then there is Cam. He is such a good guy, I love that they hooked up. The dumpling lady mystery had a satisfying conclusion. All in all, this was fabulous and I cannot wait to read more by this author.

Grabbed this one after some friends recommended it on bookstagram and so glad i did. THis was such a cute read and kept my interest the whole time. Thanks so much for the gifted copy!

Thank you to Atria for the gifted eARC. My opinions are my own.

Synopsis: thoroughly unique love story about a woman reliving the same Friday over and over again—and the intriguing man who can’t quite remember her.

Read for:
- time loops
- LOTS of meet cutes
- lots of food
- FMC stuck in a rut
- making friends
- Asian main characters
- fixing families
- multi POV’s
- MMC who knows a lot about beer

My thoughts: this is a cute and enjoyable story. I loved Noelle and her approach to figuring out what she’s meant to do while being stuck on the longest day of the year. Cam is funny and almost seems that he sorta remembers her every time they meet on the longest day. I enjoyed the dual perspectives and the resolution to the time loop as well as the development of the actual relationship outside of a time loop.

Recommend for readers searching for a cute romance read with Asian main characters set in Toronto. If you enjoyed: That Prince Is Mine by Jayci Lee or Red String Theory by Lauren King Jessen, then consider giving this a try.

This book was so different from books I normally gravitate to, and I loved the ride! Noelle, a rigid workaholic somehow finds herself repeating the same day, over and over again. Of course, there is cause of repetition throughout the book, especially during the more boring days, but I enjoyed Noelle and her journey and the magic of living life completely outside of her comfort zone.

I didn’t know what to expect with this one at first because the time jumping had me a little confused. After finishing if, I can confirm that this book was SO GOOD. It’s really hard to do a time loop book without it feeling played out or recycled from things past but this one felt refreshing to read. I loved the dynamic between all of the characters and especially loved the found friendship/family through between Avery and Noelle. Cam felt like a breath of fresh air in the realm of MMCs - nothing hidden behind his personality - just a nice guy trying to figure things out. Loved loved loved this one.

Thank you for this ARC in exchange for an honest review! I am working through my backlog, and will be momentarily posting reviews for the stories I have yet to get posted but have finished reading.

This was cute and mystical romcom that was a fun read. I liked Noelle’s and Cam’s constant meet cutes and getting to see them fall in love over and over, even for a day. But more than that I loved seeing Noelle’s growth through the book to putting herself out there to fall in love, start and maintain a new friendship while reconnecting with older ones, rekindling her relationship with her sister, and knowing her worth. There are so many more relationships beyond the obvious romantic one, which I loved and thought was cute and kinda fated in a way with the time loops, but Noelle’s other relationships and their development are just as important.

<b>4.5 stars</b>
Thank you to Netgalley, Jackie Lau and Atria Books for this ARC. My opinions are my own.

Noelle Tom feels like she's in a rut. She's underappreciated at work, she doesn't have much of a social life to speak of, and she's pretty much given up on love and dating. Having worked late yet another Friday evening, Noelle goes to the night market and buys some dumplings from a mysterious old woman who claims they will "give her what she needed most".

Unfortunately, eating the dumplings causes Noelle to be trapped in a time loop. Every morning, no matter what she tries or does, she wakes up on Friday the 20th of June. All of her work is reset, any conversations she has are forgotten the next day. She can cut and/or dye her hair, and it's back to her usual length the next morning when she wakes up. Any money she spends, no matter how big a sum, is back in her bank account as well. When she tries to return to the night market, the old woman's food stall is nowhere to be found, even if everything else plays out the same for her, every day. Only Noelle remembers all the things she has tried and experienced. She needs to figure out what will break her out of the time loop.

After some time, reliving the same day on repeat, Noelle locates another woman, Avery, who also ate the mystery dumplings and is stuck in the same time loop, if possible in an even worse situation than Noelle (she has her period and has discovered that she wants to break up with her boyfriend - and every morning she wakes up in bed with him again). Avery and Noelle bond over their unusual situation, and while everything else resets each morning, they remember the conversations and experiences they have have together, allowing them to slowly develop a firm and supportive friendship.

Noelle keeps running into Cam, a friendly and handsome brewery owner. Every time he sees Noelle, he seems to almost remember her, prompting Noelle to believe he might be able to help her get out of her predicament. She orchestrates a long series of different meet-cutes, and as she gets to know him in a series of dates, she falls in love with him, while he has to be reminded of who she is with each new reset.

I've been reading Jackie Lau's novels for a few years now, and she keeps getting stronger and more sophisticated as a writer. Normally, her novels are straight contemporary romances, set in Canada. Here she introduces an element of magical realism with the time loop, and in the first half of the novel, especially, the focus of the story isn't so much on the romance between Noelle and Cam, but the friendship between Noelle and Avery, who both very much need someone else to listen to and support them in their lives. While Noelle is trapped in the time loop, as she gets to know Cam a bit more with each new encounter, he keeps forgetting her, and it's not possible for their relationship to really progress.

In the second half of the novel, Noelle and Avery are faced with a new challenge, as they are unexpectedly freed from the time loop, but instead of waking up on June 21st, it's January 24th. More than seven months have passed, and some version of them seems to have lived through these months, without either of them having any memory of the passing time. Avery seems to actually be engaged to her boyfriend and will need to deal with that. Meanwhile, Noelle needs to figure out why her sister doesn't seem to want to see or speak to her anymore, but also has a real chance to build a proper relationship with Cam.

Because of the time loop element, this novel is a rather unusual romance. If the friendship developing between Avery and Noelle doesn't work for you, this book might seem slow and frustrating, since most of the actual romance stuff comes in the second half. I really liked it, though, and recommend it to fans of Lau's previous novels.

<b>Judging a book by its cover: </b>I think the cover is cute, and the dark blue background with what looks like little golden dots gives it a more magical, whimsical feel. I like how we get three versions of Noelle and Cam, growing increasingly closer to one another as the story progresses.

Thank you to @jackielaubooks for an early copy of her new book Time Loops and Meet Cutes!! I had such a fun time reading this!

After eating some dumplings at a night market, Noelle gets stuck in a time loop. She has no idea what to make of the situation and while trying to navigate living the same day over and over again, she meets Avery, who is also stuck, and Cam who is ever so cute but because of the time loop, he never remembers her name. Except he remembers HER. He doesn't know why he knows her or where he knows her from but he remembers her face (swoon).

Over the course of the story, Noelle and Avery try to figure out how to get out of the loop while simultaneously actually living their lives. I also enjoyed the budding romance between Cam and Noelle. It was fascinating to see all the ways Cam remembered Noelle even if he wasn't sure why. I found the story fun and sweet and had a blast reading it.

As with any Jackie Lau story, do not read it hungry. Ever. Just don't. But do read it and all of her books. Thank you again to Jackie for having me on her ARC team!

Time Loops and Meet Cutes comes out May 6 and is available for pre-order now!

This book was quirky and fun and sweet. At first I wasn’t sure what to expect but was pleasantly surprised. The character growth and development was amazing.

10/10—this book is a total treat! Jackie Lau delivers a fresh, fun take on the time loop trope. Noelle is stuck reliving June 20th, and while the first half focuses on her trying to escape, the second half dives into discovering why it happened. It’s funny, heartfelt, and will make you hungry—for food, love, and connection. Set in Toronto and featuring a swoony Asian brewery owner, this is a must-read. One of my new Lau favorites!

Noelle Tom is stuck in a time loop and is forced to keep repeating June 20th over and over after eating some magical dumplings at a night market. She meets Avery who is also stuck in the time loop and the two women develop a friendship and attempt to help each other get out of the loop. Even though Noelle becomes frustrated with trying to escape the loop, she does have one positive thing going for her. She has met a wonderful man named Cam who she can't seem to stop running into every time she experiences June 20th. Every time they meet, he asks if they've met before because she seems so familiar to him. She keeps trying to figure out what she needs most since that is what the woman who sold her the dumplings said they would give to her.

I really enjoyed the twist on the classic time loop trope. I loved that we got to experience Cam's perspective since he was not in the loop but kept experiencing deja vu with Noelle and seemed to feel like something (or someone) was missing from his life. I liked that Noelle used her time in the loop to make some positive changes in her life by mending some of her strained relationships with her friends and family. She also made changes when she realized how unhappy she was in her job. This story had a wonderful message about how we should not be afraid to take risks and appreciate all the little things in life and try not to take things for granted.

Read if you enjoy:
Magical Realism
Insta connection
Time Travel
Steamy, Slow Burn Romance
Friendships
Dual POV

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The nature of this trope is repetitive. A lot of the same over and over and I found myself getting bored, wishing for the loop to end. I didn’t expect that. It was fun to experience our FMC trying different ways to break the loop, and meet cutes with Cam over and over. But the overall story wasn’t anything special IMO.

I received an advance review copy for free from the publisher via Netgalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I love Jackie Lau's books and this one did not disappoint. Creative concept , fun story and interesting characters. The characters are charming and lovely, very relatable . The author does a good job exploring themes of grief and self-discovery while keeping the story moving and engaging. . And as with most Jackie Lau books there is some steam!

Thank you for the ARC. I always enjoy Jackie's books

I struggled to get into this book and the writing felt very juvenile to me, unfortunately. I wanted more from this.

This was really cute! I love a good magical realism romcom, so magical dumplings? I’m down! Though I’d rather not get stuck in a time loop and fall in love with a guy who’s constantly forgetting he met me. Cam is a sweetheart though and Noelle is relatable.
I recommend for romance fans who love constant food references. 😅

I received an advance copy from the publisher, all opinions are my own, and a review was not required.

So adorable! This was such a fun and lighthearted time loop story that was so easy to breeze through.

Time loop stories with romance can often be problematic due to the dynamics of the scenario, but Noelle's interactions with Cam always came across as very natural and unproblematic- I really appreciated how their relationship developed.

All the descriptions of yummy food also made me crave dumplings and boba, so be prepared.

This is my first book by Jackie Lau, and I will definitely be checking out more of her books!

I love the concept of this book and I really like a lot of aspects of this book but it did not feel fully realized. there was no goal they were moving towards and when they got out of the time loop it felt awkward and we got zero real answers. I also wish the male characters pov chapters had been expanded or completely taken out.