thank you so so much to Simon & Schuster Canada for the earc of this book!! this was such a cute and enjoyable read 🫶 i loved the characters and thought the plot was super engaging, and i was hooked up until the last page!

time loops and meet cutes follows the story of Noelle, a woman who eats some strange dumplings and is stuck reliving the same Friday over and over. while trying to free herself from the time loop, she keeps running into Cam, a cute guy who is always friendly but never quite seems to remember her 🤍

i honestly wasn’t expecting too much from this book, just an entertaining palate cleanser with some fluffy romance. i was mostly looking for a book that was primarily fun, as opposed to some of the darker stuff i’ve read lately, and it definitely checked that box! however, it also pleasantly surprised me with how good it turned out to be 💗 when i started, i expected to only read it whenever i had time to pass, but i found myself specifically making time in my schedule just so i could read one (or four) more chapters 😂

i thought the character were great, especially the mc Noelle who was super relatable!!! i felt all of her struggles with the mundaneness of daily life, working too hard and worrying too much about the future, accidentally cutting off people in her life, and learning to advocate for herself 🤍 i also loved her best friend Avery, and i thought all of the little details, like how Avery liked writing fanfiction, made them seem so much more like real people 🫶 plus the story was set in Toronto, which I live near, so it was super fun reading about streets and places that I had actually been to!!

i also really liked reading about an older fmc than i usually do, since Noelle was in her early thirties. even though i’m a younger reader, i think it’s really great to have romance books about slightly older women! while most of my favourite book ships are between characters in their older teens and early twenties, not everyone is going to find true love that young and i think we really need to normalize that.

the romance was absolutely amazing!!! definitely my favourite part of the book ❤️‍🔥 lots of giggling, lots of feet-kicking, lots of ‘oopsies, i probably shouldn’t be reading this at the dinner table…’ 🙃

another one of my favourite elements of this book was the take on the time loop trope!! this was another great surprise bc i went into this story expecting to be able to predict the entire thing from the first few pages. yk, u all know the drill. something is obviously wrong in the mc’s life … mc gets stuck in a time loop … mc goes on a journey of discovery and learns to fix that thing, etc etc. it’s cute but it’s been done before … and i am delighted to say that this book was not like that at all!! this was a genuinely engaging read with a few plot twists that actually threw me, and resolved a lot less perfectly but a lot more realistically than i was expecting 💗

my one slight issue with this book however would be the magic system. i was expecting the magic to be relatively inexplicable, as it mostly is in this type of ‘real life with a dash of magic’ books. however, in most of those books it can at least sort of be explained by some sort of life lesson or moral story. and while i really liked how this book didn’t take that avenue, i also think there were a few loose that could have been tied up a bit better. maybe it was just because the magic was introduced kind of late in the book, but the feeling of not knowing everything sort of felt a bit more unsatisfying than open-ended.

that being said i really did enjoy this read!!!! totally recommended for anyone who’s looking for fun romance, relatable characters, and a little something different when it comes to magic and plot 💗💗

Time Loops and Meet Cute was a fun rom-com about time loops from Jackie Lau. I actually really enjoyed following Noelle's journey to get out of the loop. I did thing the solve was interesting and unexpected but had not considered how draining being stuck in a time loop would be. Also I want more Avery content!

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review!

I'm a sucker for a time loop story so I was really excited for this one. I also really love the cover and would definitely pick it up if I walked by it at the bookstore. The beginning of the story really pulled me in and hooked me quick. I was so ready to see what would happen to Noelle as she lived June 20th over and over. I will admit it started to drag at some point and I was looking at the percent finished on the bottom of my reader thinking how long can this go on...please something happen already!

It was hard to find the romance believable at times since Cam was always starting at zero with a very hazy deja vu kind of vibes going on. Even Noelle's interest in him seemed superficial and maybe opportunistic since she was trying to use his kiss as a way to break out of the time loop. I wish there was more memory for him and more times of them building a real bond in all of the loops.

I did feel super awful for Avery that got stuck on one of the worst birthdays a girl could have and then having to relive it over and over again. I liked that they had each other to work through the mystery of the time loop with and have someone to commiserate with but it was rough what she was dealing with.

When we moved to Part Two of the book, I felt for them both having to try and piece together what had happened while some version of themselves had been living their lives while trapped in a time loop. That was actually kind of surprising to me as I thought they would wake up to the next day and start making the changes they realized they needed to make. In it's place they had seemingly made some of their life situations worse while not fully at the helm. I did appreciate the author trying to give us a bit of an explanation as to what happened and why but it felt a bit lacking. While I did see the mystery coming I thought there would be more to it but in the end there wasn't.

I enjoyed this one as a quick, enjoyable romance book but wish more had been put into the time loop and the mystery of it all in the end.

I received an advanced digital copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and NG for a free review copy. All opinions are my own.

Time loops is not one of my favourite tropes, but this book put its own spin on it, and I really enjoyed it. Avery, Noelle, and Cam are all likable characters but definitely felt like Avery got the short end of the stick through the story.

This was a fun story to read especially so close to June 20th! I will definitely read another one of hers.

Dissatisfied workaholic and mechanical engineer Noelle Tom is not in a relationship, spends much of her time alone, and one Friday evening (June 20) eats some fantastic dumplings at the night market at the behest of the elderly stall owner. The woman convinced Noelle to have the dumplings, saying they would give her what she needed most.

The next day, Noelle wakes up on June 20. Noelle goes through the same day again, and again, and again, but begins making small changes each day in the hope of breaking out of the loop: She gets a different haircut, eats at different places, and begins flirting with a cute guy, Cam, whom she sees repeatedly through the day.

Cam never seems to remember her, but he does acknowledge, each time they meet, that she looks familiar. Noelle also begins a friendship with another young woman, also dissatisfied with her life and also someone who ate the dumplings at the night market stall, and who also is trapped in the same day's loop.

Together, Noelle and Avery try to find some way out of their predicament, doing anything they can think of, with each getting out of their comfort zones. This is particularly hard for Noelle, who likes order and predictability.

Noelle does get a little worn down by the repetitions, and wonders if she'll ever find a way out, much less get Cam to remember her.

This was delightful. I totally enjoyed Noelle's careful and eventually more daring forays into unusual activities, for her, and working on her relationships and herself as she's forced to confront things she has done in the past, or that make her unhappy.

I love the leads; both are people I liked, and though most of the book is in Noelle's point of view, I liked the occasional insight into Cam's life and emotions. We eventually get an explanation for the time loop, which was something I kinds of surmised early on, but this didn't diminish my enjoyment of this fun story.

Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my review.

In Time Loops and Meet Cutes, we follow Noelle after a hard day at work instead of returning to her empty apartment, she visits a night market and buys some sketchy dumplings only to find out after that she's stuck reliving the same day over and over. The dumpling vendor tells her that the meal will give her what she needs most. The ability to take risks in her day that will have no consequence since the day resets every night, allows Noelle to step out of her comfort zone. I liked that she gained a female friend that was also stuck in the time loop, rather than her romantic interest. I really related to Noelle as a character, since she's the stereotype of an eldest daughter in an immigrant family and understood the freedom she was able to gain by living without consequence. I felt the middle part of the book dragged a bit, but I did like how everything wrapped up by the end. Overall I wasn't expecting to like this as much as I did but it was a really pleasant surprise

Thanks to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for this e-ARC that I chose to read and review

Imagine you meet a guy you can redo a meet cute over and over and over again?

That's what Noelle gets to do after she eats magical dumplings from a night market in Toronto and gets stuck in a time loop. Everyday she wakes up at the same time and will relive the same Friday, but as the weeks drag on and MMC Cam seems to be the only possibility she see to try break free from the time loop.

Cam is the one person that shows up multiple times on her Fridays and get ‘‘Deja vu” vibes each and every time. He remembers the little things and with how desperate Noelle is to get out of this daily cycle, she latches onto him and the hope he brings.

Time Loops & Meet Cutes was such an adorable read! The writing is effortless and how Jackie Lau can write the same day repetitively, but still create new meet cutes for Noelle and Cam that still feel organic is amazing. I loved the friendship the Noelle finds and how she grows to appreciate the little things in life when before, they seemed like unnecessary and tedious. Would make the CUTEST movie!

Magical Realism ✅
Strangers to Lovers ✅
Meet Cutes ✅
Dual POV ✅

Huge thank you to Jackie Lau, Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for the ARC copy of this book.

I went into this assuming that I would like it, and I finished it absolutely LOVING it. I think the premise is super fun and though it's not the most unique idea, the execution was so fresh and fun, I could not get enough of it. Each part of this was so captivating, it's hard for me to even begin dissecting it for a review. I will say, the twist regarding the time loop made me stare at a blank wall for at least five minutes, that is so not what I was expecting??????????? Overall I can safely say that this book will not be leaving my mind anytime soon, it was fantastic.

This was a cute book! I love a time loop and this one was fun albeit a bit long. I can understand the few chapters in the first half of the book from Cam's POV because it leads to more questions about the time loop but they didn't add much in my opinion because they were so short. I really liked Noelle and Avery figuring things out, trying new things to get out of the loop, I think in time loop books specifically it's almost needed to have another person in the loop just to break it up. The character development felt real and I liked following Noelle along with that development and I really liked the romance.

I enjoyed reading this so much! It had the perfect balance of everything you want in a romance book! I cannot wait to read more of Jackie Lau’s books!

This was a fun read. I liked how the author approached the time loop theme. There was a good balance of humour, romance, and drama.

Thank you @simonschusterca and @netgalley for this arc!
*
I was intrigued by the blurb and jumped right in! This was my first Jackie Lau book and it did not disappoint. The storyline was brilliant and carefully crafted. it's a definite page turner!
*
"It's amazing how many possibilities they are in a single day." Jackie Lau

A regular uneventful mundane day in Noelle's life turns out to be the last day on repeat for seven months.
Throughout this unique twist on Groundhog Day and Fifty First Dates we follow Noelle as she navigates being in a time loop and trying to figure out not only how to get out but the lessons and discoveries around friendship, love, life and work. What is most important to her is yet to be known but she is learning and figuring out just how many possibilities they are in one day!
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To be stuck truly is a dilemma but can also be a place of much discovery. In following Noelle's experience Jackie is highlighting some key contemplative questions about life.
Jackie took us on a journey that had an unexpected twist that you have to experience!

happy Reading!

Something about this didn't work for me but I'm not entirely sure what? I've sat on it for a while because the concept is one that I find enjoyable and the writing was wonderful but the story itself fell flat.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for providing an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review! Thank you to NetGalley for facilitating the delivery of the e-ARC.

I want to state up front that I did not finish the book and it was DNF’d at 50%. I really enjoyed the premise, but the execution fell flat about 25% of the way through.

This book is about a woman who eats magic dumplings and ends up in a timeloop. The same Friday keeps repeating itself. When she meets a man in the timeloop, everything changes.

Read this if you like:
- Magical Realism
- Timeloops
- Contemporary romance

What I Liked:
The FMC felt relatable and I loved her humor! I was so intrigued by the fact she was living a life she didn’t love and thought the timeloop would give her a new perspective.

What I Didn’t Like:
This book started off strong and I love magical realism. Though as it went on, I felt the pacing of as off and it felt slow and repetitive. Even though the same day repeats, there was nothing keeping me intrigued past that point. The romance just didn’t seem overly believable or swoon worthy.

Thank you again for the opportunity to provide feedback!

[arc review]
Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Time Loops & Meet Cutes releases May 6, 2025

1.5

<i>“Meet-cutes aren’t supposed to be engineered; they’re supposed to be spontaneous.”</I>

On a Friday night after a long day of work, Noelle heads to the night market and indulges in some dumplings… only, these aren’t regular dumplings, because ever since, she’s been stuck in a never-ending time loop of the same day: June 20th.

While in this time loop, Noelle discovers that another woman who ate from the same dumpling stall has been stuck in the same time loop as her.

I don’t usually gravitate towards time loop romance books because they tend to get repetitive quite quickly, and this was no exception.
While I thought the addition of Avery brought a fresh take to the trope by making it less isolating for the main protagonist, I would have appreciated a heads up about her suicidal ideation.

The straw that broke the camel’s back was in the fact that there wasn’t a clear reason as to why the time loop ended for Noelle and Avery. Sure, they experiment living a life with less consequences, but without anything definitive to tie their character arcs to, it makes the narrative journey seem rather meaningless, directionless, and not well-earned.

With Lau’s last release, I didn’t think the male’s pov added any value, and I felt the same way with <I>Time Loops & Meet Cutes</I>.

Noelle Tom is a workaholic engineer, she is married to her job and every other aspect of her life has fallen to the wayside, her love life, her family life, her friendships and more. Then one day after a late night at work she passes by a food night market, and eats a portion of the best dumplings she's ever had. The next morning she wakes up to realize she is reliving the same day as yesterday.

She learns she is stuck in a time loop and she works to figure out out to get out of it, she tries so many different things, and over time she keeps running into the same cute man Cam, and is certain he is the key to getting out it. She gets to know him over time but he unfortunately forgets her everytime the day restarts.

The concept of this book was so much fun, I love a groundhog situation and this one was a fun time. I loved how much food played a part in this story, I also loved it taking place in my city of Toronto. I just felt the time loop went on for a bit too long and I got bored at point. It stopped feeling romantic and fun and got very depressy so it lost me a bit at that point. It was still a lovely read over all.

This book had such a strong start that I was hooked. The first 40% was clever, exciting, and full of promise. I was fully invested in Noelle’s daily adventures, and it had me seriously thinking: What would I do in a time loop with zero consequences? The premise was so fun and had the kind of “what if?” energy that made it shine.

But around the halfway mark, things started to lose momentum. The middle dragged with repetitive attempts to break the loop, and when the story finally moved forward again… it felt like all that build-up fizzled. The ending, unfortunately, didn’t deliver the satisfying punch I hoped for. It felt slightly rushed and underdeveloped, and some major reveals were met with oddly flat reactions from the characters.

I wanted to love this one, and I did love the premise. But in the end, it just didn’t quite stick the landing for me personally.

Thank you Simon & Schuster Canada for the ARC!

This is a story about a woman who gets stuck reliving June 20 over and over. And over. And over.

Noelle is kind of stuck. Stuck in a job she is giving too much time to. Stuck in a rut of avoiding romance after a bad breakup. Stuck in a pattern of avoiding people. And then she decides to go to a market and buys some dumplings that change everything.

Cam is the MMC of this story. He is sweet, dorky and adorable. And he has no idea who Noelle is from looped day to looped day outside of a vague feeling of have we met before.

The emotions that the characters go through in this book are big and intense. And the hopelessness they feel at times will break your heart.

This is a well written story. The characters are likeable and I love that it is set in Toronto. If you enjoy stories with a bit of mystery (exactly how do dumplings affect time??), a slow pace and some romance, this is the story for you!

CW - There is talk of self harm and suicidal ideation.

Time Loops & Meet Cutes is a fun read with a take on the romance genre. It’s not often that you find romance with time travel at the core of it. But is it really time travel when the character is stuck living the same day over and over? I guess I’m trying to say this is very much like the Billy Murray movie Groundhog Day and Lynn Painter’s The Do-Over. The biggest difference is that Noelle finds she’s not the only person stuck in the time loop.

Time Loops & Meet Cutes is a quick read, with relatable characters. Most people can relate to Noelle, who doesn’t feel overworked and underappreciated at their job. Cam is kind of the opposite of that. While stressed about work, he still tries to find the fun in things. For both, family is important, even if they don’t understand everything about their families’ pasts.

There are some spicy bits in the book. However, Lau is good at not extending the scenes more than necessary. Sure, you know what’s happening, as it does not fade to black, but it’s not written excessively.

My two issues with the book are Noelle’s occasional whining and the resolution of the time loops. What triggers them to stop? Does she do something in particular to end them? There is an explanation later in the book, but it doesn’t feel satisfactory.

Overall, if you enjoy reading romance with meet-cutes, this is a great book. There are over twenty meet-cutes. If you want character growth, you should read Time Loops & Meet Cutes.

I knew based on the title that I was going to enjoy this one - and then I discovered it takes place in Toronto 😍

I see a lot of myself in Noelle - I don’t like change and don’t really take risks - so to see her experience the time loop and the subtle changes she goes through to get out of it was wonderful.

I love her relationship with Cam and her friendship with Avery and how determined Noelle was to get things right with both of them.