A dreamy fall season in NY. Its different this Time is a beautiful second chance romance. I give it 4.5 stars (rounded to 5). When June's TV show gets canceled and her old brownstone comes back to her, she leaves LA and moves to NY to live with her old roommate Adam. After all the years, Adam and June are reunited again. Its Different this Time is a beautiful story about love, family, grief, and connection.

I truly enjoyed this book, I read it all in one day. It drew me in instantly and I really enjoyed reading about June and Adam's current and past timeline.

Thank you kindly to Netgalley for the ARC!

I knew this book was going to be five stars from the first 10% of the book. I grieved the time I spent away from this book, all I wanted to do was read it. The story is genuinely so funny and utterly heartbreaking. I laughed, cried, and sometimes did both at the same time.

eeks
- Adam Harper is my dream man I think
- I really relate to june in a deep way, not in a ‘moving in with my old fling thing’ but the way she’s so vulnerable and emotional, I just get it
- I literally had not a thought in my head while reading this book I was just so into it
- The tension!! ugh my heart!! Usually the will they won't they makes me so upset but this book just delivered in a way I haven't had before.


icks
- had a trope I usually hate but this time it was actually quite tolerable in a "it has to happen in a rom com" type of way


Overall this books deserves way more than five stars. I immediately bought a copy of it when I finished. This book comes out in one week and if you haven't preordered it yet, go do it right now!! I am on a HIGH right now knowing how good this book is before it comes out!! This ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars!

I loved it. Such a cute/feel good second chance romance.

Perfect for the fall season. The setting of New York in the fall was absolute perfection.

I loved the dual timelines, I couldn’t put this one down. The only reason it is not a 5 star was because of that the miscommunication at the end. Other than that it was amazing.

Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine for this eARC.

Looking for a second romance between close friends (big emphasis on the close) with a fall NYC setting? It's Different This Time by Joss Richard is here to deliver!

June and Adam are basically roommates + best friends + two people who kept tripping over their own emotions for years until they are forced together in the same house again. I quickly fell in love with this book right from the beginning and really liked the dual timeline of the past and present. I thought the author did an amazing job integrating the timelines to keep you entertained throughout the story.

I personally found June to be messy, hopeful, anxious, bold, and also the kind you root for even when you kind of want to shake her. Adam, the main MMC was definitely swoon-worthy, but I didn't really find myself swooning over him? The story conflict is rooted in miscommunication and I felt like Adam kind of followed along with the rest of the story vs. standing out on his own?

If you like second‑chance romance, slow burn, worn‑in friendship, emotional tension, and dramatic leaps forward after long pauses, this book is the one to grab!

Thank you to Ballantine (Dell) for the early e-ARC of this book! I can't wait to check out more of Joss Richard's writing!

ARC Review 🍁🍂
It’s Different This Time | 5 ⭐️
Out September 30th

Thank you @netgalley and @ballantinebooks for the ARC! WOW I ate this up!! This book really exceeded all of my expectations as a fall romance. I absolutely loved how @joss.richard describes autumn in New York, so beautiful and I simply need to go!! Loved seeing how June and Adam’s careers were involved throughout the story on Broadway and as a chef. The dual timeline was perfect in understanding how their relationship grew and changed them. Really helped with the build up towards addressing the conflict. If you love second chance romance and friends to lovers, this is the perfect read!!

I really was excited about this book. I love second chance romances, roommate love stories, and books that take place in New York City. The story is told through dual timelines- in the past when they first meet and the present. Adam and June's meet cute at the bookstore where she works is so sweet, and I loved that they had a connection from the start. He is an aspiring chef, and she is an aspiring actress. They decide to live together, and they begin a friendship. At points, their friendship seems like more than friends. In the present timeline, they haven't spoken for five years, when they are brought back to the home that they once shared together.

Unfortunately, the story disappointed me. I couldn't get over the fact that the whole book could have been resolved with a conversation. The miscommunication in the book was infuriating. Things could have been helped if they just talked to each other. June is very immature , and she didn’t take responsibility for her actions. She left without saying goodbye and never talked to Adam for 5 years! I don't understand why he would give her a second chance. I just don't get why he would be interested in her, after she left so abruptly.

I really enjoyed this one! It was the perfect way to kick off fall reading. It's giving You've Got Mail and When Harry Met Sally New York perfect fall vibes. I really appreciated the story telling and dual timeline of these characters. Both June and Adam are interesting characters with quintessential New York career paths, and you just desperately want to root for them!

I'm also a sucker for a friends-to-lovers story! It's one of my favorite tropes in romance. You can feel how much these characters care for each other and how much they don't want to lose the other, which creates the slow-burn buildup so nicely! And my guy Adam... He's a yearner, and we love to see that!

So... why 4 stars? It all comes down to the miscommunication trope. I'm so tired of reading it! Our characters have a conflict, and instead of having a discussion about it like adult humans should... they let it come between them. For this reason alone, it's getting 4 stars from me. (Also, there are times June really got on my nerves. Like girl, just let him love you!)

All in all, this was really good and I would recommend!
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC!

An insanely strong debut - I ate this book UP!! Two former roommates are forced to live together again for an inheritance. Lots and lots of history, lots of chemistry and lots of rooting for their HEA.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine for the eARC.

Slow burn, friends to lovers, NYC, swoon worthy MMC, dual timeline - an ideal book scenario. I really enjoyed this one even if our FMC was a bit hard to sympathize with!

You know, I may not have made it into Dellegates this year, but receiving this arc was the best consolation because OMFG did I love this book. I sat on this e-arc for a while because I had such a heavy desire to pick it up during the Fall season and I am so glad I waited.

I immediately loved June and Adam from the get-go. There was something just so charming and sweet about their meet cute and relationship that you can’t help but love. I really enjoyed June and Adam’s love story as well as every side story and character we were introduced to. The foodie vibe x chef and theater background storyline was really fun!! I love a good chef moment and theater is not something I typically read about so it was such a refreshing spin.

The slow burn was immaculate and the past / present chapters were done so well. They tied together perfectly within the timeline and kept me wanting to read to see what happens next. Their genuine adoration for each other was bursting from the pages and I just loved being lost in their story.

Joss packed in so much heart and emotion and had me crying so many times for both sad and joyful moments. Grief is always a tough thing to read about but when an author handles it with such care and compassion it can feeling healing in its own right as well. June's journey to healing some of her own repressed childhood trauma was uplifting but your heart just aches for her as you watch her struggling with the trauma responses she carried since childhood and cannot let go of.

Overall this was a stunning (debut?? what debut??) read that packed an emotional punch and a beautiful second chance, slow burn romance that is perfect for Fall. I truly loved this one. A fave romance read for this year without a doubt. I will absolutely be watching to see what she comes up with next! 🍂💛

Thank you so much to Ballantine and Dell Romance for the e-arc. Cannot wait to get my hands on a copy in a few days!

When June, a struggling actress in LA, is contacted by an NYC lawyer asking her to come back for an in person meeting, she’s distraught about having to return to the city she fled so many years before. Worse, when she gets there she finds herself face to face with her former roommate and best friend, Adam. In this second chance romance, the two work to overcome past obstacles and regain their friendship and the possibility of more.

This soon worthy book will have you longing for fall in NYC and incredibly crafted meals. June, our leading lady, is a bit annoying, but Adam will have you absolutely swept away. I read this on one sitting on a long flight and found myself unable to put it down! Highly recommend for anyone looking for a cozy fall romance.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for a fair review.

first I want to very much thank the heck out of dell romance for sending me this widget to download to be able to read this absolute masterpiece. I wish I picked it up sooner but I am still so god damn glad I was able to read this before release date.

Joss I don’t know what you put into this but… it’s so addictive?!? I had such a grand time reading this 🥹
Adam and June are the definition of love and absolute TENSION. A slow burn that burned so deliciously while also being a second chance romance is the exact cup of tea I needed to devour.

I am also a sucker for a dual timeline and this was done so well. I am beyond shocked and absolutely in awe over how this is Joss debut because girl you SLAYED. You ate and conquered my heart from reading this.

I am so ready to bug my friends to read this for the fall time once it releases because man I fear this may put me in a romance book slump 100%

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really wanted to like this book, I really did, but I found the FMC insufferable. Truly. Unfortunately, the story is told from her POV, so we get repetitive inner monologues that drag the development of their relationship as they get to know each other again.

June and Adam were best friends and roommates who secretly pined for each other. They have an incredible connection but never act on it during the 6 years they live together. They’re very close and by the time they have their rift, they’re in their late 20’s, yet June acts like she’s 15. Their rift is basically self-sabotage on June’s part, and yet she blames Adam and moves across the country and goes no contact for five years. Please explain it to me like I’m 5. This all happens because Adam admits he wants something more, and June is too scared to act on her feelings. This makes absolutely no sense. They’ve been friends for years, know each other’s secrets, and are basically in a relationship.

Flash forward 5 years later, and when they meet up to go over the legal stipulations of the West Village brownstone that has dropped in their laps, she treats Adam like a pariah. I don’t know, it just felt like the punishment didn’t fit the crime.

So we have these two people who have not spoken to each other, and they’ve decided to live in the apartment for 30 days until the documents for the apartment have been filed. To be honest, this part of the story wasn’t very clear to me. Adam chooses to live there with June, despite having his own apartment, which, I don’t know, if I were June, I’d be curious about why he would do that. We spend a good chunk of the story with them not having an honest conversation and then out of nowhere it just jumps right into them sleeping together. I would’ve loved to have seen their relationship develop more; for them to have had an honest conversation about what happened. They’re in their 30’s now and have had more life experience, surely they could have an adult conversation.

This book was frustrating. I’m not a fan of the miscommunication trope and heroines who self sabotage. I did enjoy the dual timeline, but I actually think it hurt June’s characterization in a way because there was no growth in the five years since their separation. They behave in the same way and so it almost takes away from the story in a sense. I’d much rather have had scenes devoted to them in the now starting over and watching their relationship develop as they are now, not as the past versions of themselves. Don’t even get me started on the third act break up. Le sigh.

I think this book could’ve benefitted from a dual POV and more time spent in the present developing the relationship and June’s character arc. They should have hashed out what happened in the past much earlier in the book because it felt like once they took the next step is what built on a house of cards that easily tumbled down and because of that it was difficult for me to buy their happily ever after.

What a sweet second chance romance that had me dreaming of cozy fall days in New York! I felt completely transported by this and I’m truly amazed this is Joss Richard’s debut novel. Her storytelling has a maturity and depth that hints at years of publishing books. Not a romcom, but a romance novel that will pull at your heartstrings.

June and Adam used to live together in a brownstone in the West Village, but haven’t spoken in 5 years. When they are unexpectedly brought back together, they have to live together again for one month. Will they be able to face their past and have a second chance at love? Or will their past keep them apart for good?

gorgeously intense and interesting romance novel. the ending absolutely guts you and in general it's great. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

4.75 ⭐️
I laughed, I cried. It’s everything I want in a book. There was yearning and love. Like this is the exact love I love reading about. I even told my husband about while I was reading. It’s that giddy feeling. There were some things that felt unrealistic (inheriting a 6 million dollar home…??? Sign me up!) and with such a close relationship, it felt disjointed that they would not be better at communicating. But then I suppose we all have our moments. But regardless of this, I gobbled it up. It was sweet and poignant. Heartwarming and loving. Couldn’t put it down.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

great first book for the author! ❤️

New York in the fall: She's an actress, he's a chef. They were roommates years ago but are forced back together when the brownstone they rented is left to them.

I mean, come on. The description alone checks all of the boxes for a fun autumnal read. This book is so well written with excellent pacing between the dual timelines. June and Adam, the main characters, are both adorable, sexy and swoony at the same time. I CANNOT believe this is a debut novel!

Thank you Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for the eARC. I enjoyed it so much.

4.5 stars

Such a lovely read! I really adored the characters in this book. Joss Richard does a fabulous job capturing autumn in New York. I’m not a big second chance romance fan, but this book was well done!!! The story goes back and forth, from past to present, throughout the book in a way that really captures Adam and June’s friendship. Do yourself a favor and read this book!

4.5 Stars

I loved this!! Gave me all the fun romance vibes I was looking for.

First things first, Adam is definitely book boyfriend material! A successful, attractive, chef who has the best family and is such a nice and supportive guy? I’m sold! Besides the attractive leading man, I was surprised by the emotional depth of this book. I was attached to the characters and all they were going through. I was pulled into their story and the themes of found family, grief, discovering who you are and what you want, and pursuing your passions. While there was so much wrapped up in this story nothing felt like too much.

My very very few issues were that some parts of the spice felt a little cringy but overall I felt like the characters' humor helped play a lot of that down and overall didn’t bother me much.

Out on September 30th and a perfect fall romance!

So cute friends to lovers and also a second chance romance, beautifully woven together. Loved the way the timelines were drawn together. Adam Harper!! YES CHEF 🙂‍↕️

Feels like a great fall read and is set mostly in NYC in the fall! It also has a chef and lots of musical theater elements! I also really loved Adam and June’ friendship and her relationship with his family. Lots of yearning and pining for YEARS, good gracious! Truly such a lovely read!