Time Loops & Meet Cutes was a fun romance novel. I love books that have a time-bending element and what I especially loved about this one was that it explored what happens when the characters leave the time loop, both immediately and over time. This book was so fun and I really enjoyed it!

🌟🌟🌟✨

I wanted to love this book. The summary and the cover promised a perfect blend of Groundhog Day and 50 First Dates, and I was all in—smacking that request button with glee. But while both those films use repetition to build humor and empathy, the loop here didn’t quite translate for me the same way. Instead of playful momentum, the opening of each entry left me feeling the character’s frustration—likely intentional, but emotionally distancing.

I think this book might’ve been better served with a sci-fi/fantasy classification with romance, rather than being marketed primarily as a romance. If I’d gone in with that framing, I might have felt more fulfilled as a reader.

That said, I genuinely admire the author’s imagination. This is a quirky, original twist on the time loop trope. I wanted more banter and romantic chemistry, but that doesn’t undercut the strength of its core idea: two Time Loopers finding one another and working not just toward an escape, but toward personal evolution.

This lands at 3.5 stars for me—a story I didn’t fall head over heels for, but one that impressed me with its concept and creativity. I’ll absolutely be checking out more from this author.

Thank You To the publisher and NetGalley for the copy I read

The FMC gets caught in a dumpling-induced time loop on June 20 and ends up finding friendship and love <3

I loved the pacing of this book so much ++ the narration was so fun to read. The new friendship was so so wholesome, and the main romance was so swoony 🥲 I particularly loved the way the romance plot was tied together at the end!

-- ty to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy!

Noelle Tom eats some magical dumplings and has to live June 20th over and over. She meets Cam while within the time loop and tries to make a connection, which is tough because her day continues to start over. Noelle undergoes a personal transformation with her attempts to change things to bust herself out of the time loop.

I thought this book started out great, got bogged down with the repetitive days, and then I binged the last third of the book!

I enjoyed the characters and their connections, both the romance between Noelle and Cam, but also Noelle’s relationship with her family and friends.

Read if you enjoy romance, great characters, or Groundhog Day.

I loved the premise - a heroine who eats magical dumplings and then is cursed to live the same day over and over again. Noelle thinks she is doomed, but then meets Cam (and keeps meeting him every day) hoping one day her fate will change.

There was so much potential, but because it's a time loop, so many of the chapters felt very repetitive. This made the plot very low stakes as there were not really any true consequences for what was happening. I'm still not even sure what the point of the time loop was? Noelle does say at one point that it allowed her to take risks she never would have otherwise - which is great, I just wanted more!!

Noelle and Cam were both likeable characters, but I felt they both actually didn't have much character development as I would have expected. Their relationship felt very "insta-love" which is not my favorite trope, but they did have some sweet moments. Personally, I felt the spicy sections came out of nowhere.

Overall, I feel the book is a 2.5 rounded up to 3 - I'm sure the are other readers out there who would love this book!
**Thank you to Netgalley and Atria for the ARC and chance to read and review. All opinions are my own**

Thank you to Atria Books for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review of Time Loops & Meet Cutes. I think this was a cute sci-fi twist on Groundhog Day books, but it suffers from the issue that I typically have with Groundhog Day books, and that it's too repetitive. I feel like I wasn't connected enough to Noelle and Cam, even though it was dual POV. I think this book is mainly romance, but I think it also tried too hard to be women's fiction, and both suffered as a consequence. I like Jackie Lau's writing enough to give her another chance, and I enjoyed the twist on this typical trope, but I wasn't too big of a fan of this book.

Thank you to Atria Books for the eARC and Simon Audio for the free audiobook.

Workaholic Noelle impulsively stops at a food market and orders dumplings from a cash-only stand where the old woman selling them claims they will give Noelle exactly what she needs. What she ends up doing is reliving the same day over and over again, stuck in a time loop.

While there is absolutely a romance here (her daily meet cutes with Cam), I feel like this story is more about Noelle’s growth. It’s in the time loop that she learns to realize her worth as an employee, discovers her loneliness when she makes a best friend—also stuck in the time loop, and becomes less judgmental towards her less-accomplished sister.

Her daily “dates” with Cam (who doesn’t remember her obviously) are cute but I felt for Noelle; is this really a relationship if he never remembers you?

It felt like the pacing after they left the time loop was sped up, and I hoped for more relationship development there. But overall, Time Loops & Meet Cutes was a cute and fun listen—especially since the narrators Cindy Kay and Raymond J. Lee did such a great job!

This book was cute. You’ve read time loop books before and I don’t think there was anything earthshattering about this one. I did like the twist that Noelle found someone else in the same situation and befriended them. I will say the vast majority of the book felt so repetitive, even to me, leaning toward annoying. It just went on for a really long time, and then ended without a great explanation. I didn’t really like the time loop resolution, but the love story was sweet.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really fun book that I really loved!

I was really intrigued by the premise of Time Loops & Meet Cutes, a romantic comedy with a sci-fi twist is right up my alley. Jackie Lau’s writing style is easy to get into, and I appreciated the diverse characters and the charming, quirky setup. The concept of reliving the same day over and over again had a lot of potential for emotional depth and humor.

However, I only made it about 50% through the book before deciding to put it down. While the looping premise is central to the story, it ended up feeling a bit too repetitive for me. The plot didn’t seem to progress much, and the character dynamics didn’t evolve quickly enough to keep me fully engaged. I found myself wanting more variety in the events or deeper character exploration to balance out the repetition.

I can see how others might enjoy the cozy, slow-build nature of the story, especially if you're a fan of Groundhog Day-style narratives. Unfortunately, it just didn’t quite hold my attention to the end.

i thought this was a pleasant read. it was pretty quirky and fast-paced, and there were definitely moments where i was super invested in the storyline. I think the concept of timeloops in romance stories is always so fun, I really feel like it adds this different element we don't typically get in romance books. All the "time loop" moments were super fun, especially the magical dumplings, and the set up of it all was clever. With that in mind, you can only time loop so much. So i did find myself losing the fun in the time loop aspect and wanting to get on with it haha! It didn't totally play out the way that I thought it would but it was definitely a good vibe at the beginning. I really enjoyed Noelle and Avery's friendship too. Those super fun and solid girl moments and friendships in romance books just make the storyline even more fun and also gives us more insight into our main character. I will say I felt that the romance connection was underwhelming but still cute! Again, overall this was a pleasant read.

🥟 Book Review 🥟

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for an arc in exchange for my honest opinions.

Publication: May 6, 2025

Rating: Not for me

I’m bummed that I didn’t enjoy this more. The writing style hooks you in and I found that I would read a lot in one sitting. The plot was the biggest thing I struggled with.
Is it a romance or self discovery? I’m not sure the plot knows either. I think there were too many chapters focused on the time loop. I wish Cam was more fleshed out too and more time on the growing romance.

Overall, I look forward to another story from Jackie Lau but this one was a miss for me.

For fans of:
⏰ First person POV
🥟 Dual POV
⏰ Magical realism
🥟FMC in her 30’s
⏰ Engineer x Brewery owner
🥟Self discovery
⏰ Strangers to lovers

This was a mostly fun and easy read but there were too many plot holes for me. I get that there is a certain level of imagination that's needed while reading a time loop romance, but this just didn't fully work for me.
I loved reading Avery and Noelle's friendship but the best part was the food descriptions! I loved hearing about all of the different cuisines and dishes and how it connected so many people and stories.
The romance was fine. I usually love magical realism but this one just wasn't tidy enough for me.

Started a little slow for me in this Groundhog Day romance but after about a third of the book, I found myself enjoying the story for what it was. Nothing mindblowing but an enjoyable summer afternoon read.

I’m always a fan of a Jackie Lau and this one was no exception. A fast paced read, the book had short chapters (always a favorite for me) that made it easy to zip through. I love a time element so I was excited to see this authors take on one in the story.

A satisfying read with a cute main couple, I can’t wait to see what the author writes next. In the meantime, I’ve luckily got some backlist titles to enjoy.

I was initially drawn to this story because it offered a fresh take on the Groundhog Day trope. It was an intriguing concept that also sounded like my personal nightmare: repeating the same day endlessly, redoing all your work, no new Wordle puzzles, no progress. I expected to relate to Noelle, the protagonist, especially given the themes of burnout and routine. However, the story lost momentum quickly. The first quarter of the book was a slow read, with Noelle’s daily routine feeling too simplistic and repetitive. While this monotony was thematically appropriate, it made for an unengaging reading experience early on. As the plot unfolded, more characters were introduced and Noelle did begin to show some growth, but the pacing remained sluggish. The writing style, which was overly simple and frequently repetitive, only magnified this issue.

Noelle’s perspective dominates the story, and we experience the time loop entirely through her eyes as she struggles to understand what’s happening and how to break free. She soon learns she’s not the only one stuck: Avery, another woman trapped in the same loop, faces the added torment of waking up next to her condescending boyfriend every day and having to repeatedly end their relationship. Their evolving friendship became the emotional core of the book and, in many ways, its greatest strength. Watching Noelle and Avery lean on one another, the only two people who truly understand what the other is going through, gave the story depth. The portrayal of exhaustion and burnout was particularly well done and deeply relatable.

The romance subplot had promise and initially felt like a clever nod to 50 First Dates, but it ended up feeling rushed and underdeveloped. It leaned too heavily on insta-love and read more like a YA romance than an adult one. This mismatch between the characters’ supposed ages and the tone of their relationship was one of my biggest frustrations, as it made it hard to fully invest in their connection.

Ultimately, while the novel had an intriguing premise and some emotionally grounded moments—particularly in its depiction of friendship and burnout—the execution was uneven. With slower pacing, a simplistic writing style, and a romance that didn’t quite land, the story didn’t fully live up to its potential.

Time Loops and Meet Cutes is my first experience with Jackie Lau, and I really enjoyed it! This story has such a unique and fun premise - eating magic dumplings that throw you into a time loop with your best friend, causing you to experience the same day over and over again! At its heart, this is a story of friendship, self-discovery, and love. The time loops got a little repetitive, and the pacing felt a little slow to me at times, but overall this was an entertaining read with relatable characters and a very intriguing premise!

Thank you NetGalley and Atria for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

Such a great time loop story. Some stories drag but this one was so cute. I loved the main characters and the side characters.

I received an arc from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a fun, cozy, and emotional read. Jackie Lau did such a great job blending the time loop element with a sweet romance and meaningful character growth. Watching the characters relive the same day while slowly building their connection felt so natural and charming. The chemistry was there right from the start, but I loved how the repetition allowed them to open up, become vulnerable, and really see each other in a way that felt earned and authentic.

The book also touched on grief and family in such a heartfelt way. The way food tied into memories and love really hit me, I could feel how much certain dishes brought comfort, nostalgia, and even healing. It actually made me think of my own family and how food carries so many special memories.

The twist toward the end was unexpected but added so much to the story. And honestly, it made me think: if I had to live the same day on repeat, reading books would definitely be one of my daily choices, sounds like a book lover’s dream, honestly.

If you’re looking for a romance that’s a little magical, full of heart, and leaves you smiling (and maybe a little teary), I highly recommend this one.

Thank you Atria Books for the eARC via Netgalley.

After eating a dumpling from a mysterious vendor at a night market, Noelle finds herself stuck in a time loop repeating June 20 over and over. In part one, Noelle is trying to figure out the why of the time loop and how to get out of it. During this time, she meets Cam in different situations, and she thinks he may be the key to getting out of her time loop. The relationship they develop is cute, regardless of their having to start over every day. Also, during part one, Noelle meets Avery, who is also stuck in the time loop. They develop a genuine friendship that is endearing.

In part two, Noelle and Avery are out of the time loop and discover that life has moved on without them. They have no memory of anything that happened while they were stuck in June 20. They use the lessons they've learned and how they've changed in the loop to progress their current lives.

I loved the premise of this novel and the characters. The part inside the time loops seemed to drag a little, even though the chapters were short and the story moved along. I think it had to do with the same setting/day for more than half the book. There are only so many things that can happen differently during one day. I was happy when they got out of the time loop just because it changed the timing and allowed the relationships outside of Noelle's and Avery's to move forward. I think this was a fun read that was unique.