I really enjoyed this magical book. Grand Central Station is almost a character itself, the author does such a good job of describing the atmosphere that Joe and Nora live in. This is a thoughtful love story that explores the idea that sometimes true love involves letting go and giving those we love the freedom to grow. I’m sure I will remember Joe and Nora for a long time to come.

This really is a sweet love story between two people who likely would not have met under ordinary circumstances. Nora was killed- yep, it's true- in a subway crash at Grand Central where Joe is a lever man. She comes back to life on Manhattanhenge morning- on the floor of the terminal- and it's there that Joe spies her. Unfortunately, she disappears as he is walking her home but, happily, she reappears the next year until, well it happens again when they are outside. When she comes back the third time, Joe figures out the key to keeping her in the present. What would it be like to never age past 22 when your lover continues to age? What would it be like to live in Grand Central and the Biltmore Hotel, never able to really go far from the terminal? Grunwald does an excellent job of making this seem possible and never twee. WWII brings big changes for everyone, even Nora, who finds herself contributing in her own way until something bad happens. No spoiler but this is just delightful. You'll learn something about Grand Central and how the trains work (neat stuff) and you should find yourself swept into the lives of these two people. The ending, well, everyone can argue about it but I thought it was perfect. Thanks to Netgalley for the ArC. For romantics.

I couldn't stop reading this book; I had to find out how things worked out between the characters. This is the first time-travel book I've read, and I really enjoyed it. I did have to check periodically to see what year the current chapter was set in, but that's typical for me in stories that jump around. I really enjoyed the main characters, Joe and Nora. The whole story was beautifully written, and I loved the setting of Grand Central Terminal and Terminal City. I also enjoyed learning about Lisa Grunwald's connections to the book at the end.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the advanced reader copy.

This just wasn't my cup of tea. I enjoyed the premise and plot, but I had a hard time getting invested in the main characters. I can see a lot of people enjoying Time After Time, but it wasn't for me.

I received this from Netgalley.com for a review.

December 1937, Joe meets Nora in Grand Central Terminal. She seems slightly out of place and off kilter. Joe is captivated by Nora from her first electric touch and he despairs when he tries to walk her home and she disappears.

I suppose being stuck in time would create some déjà vu situations, but I got rather bored with Joe and Nora's cliche romance.

2.75 ☆

I remember the first time I saw New York’s Grand Central Terminal. I was in college. My Immigrant Fiction class had embarked on an excursion to New York City to walk in the footsteps of the approximately 12 million people who immigrated there between 1892 and 1954.

Like the immigrants before us, our first stop was Ellis Island, the official entry point. As we crossed the harbor to Ellis Island, I stood at the rail, gazing at the Statue of Liberty who welcomed these people to the new home: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

After we visited both Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, we headed over to 42nd Street and Park Avenue to tour Grand Central Terminal, built in 1913. Perhaps some immigrants heading to different locales to live might have caught a train at Grand Central Station? It is possible. Grand Central Terminal was and still is the most famous railway terminal in the world.

However, Grand Central is much more than a railroad station. High above the exterior doors is the ethereal sculpture featuring Hercules, representing physical strength; Mercury, the god of travel and commerce; and Minerva, the goddess of wisdom and protector of cities. Under them is an ornate clock made of Tiffany glass. We entered the terminal. In front of us was the main concourse. I looked across the expanse to the information booth with its famous four-faced clock, each face crafted of opal. And above was a ceiling of constellations, painted backward as if I were seeing the stars from God’s vantage point. What a wondrous sight!

It is in this world-famous setting that the novel, Time After Time, written by Lisa Grunwald, takes place. Spanning from the mid-1920s through the mid-1940s and beyond, Time After Time tells the love story of Nora Lansing and Joe Reynolds. The first time the couple meets one another is on a bright, early December morning in 1937. Joe is a Queens’ Irishman who is the youngest leverman ever to work at Grand Central Station. Nora is a Manhattan socialite whose flapper getup and Roaring Twenties jargon are out-of-place and outdated and yet they work for her. From the moment these two meet, they are drawn to one another, despite their backgrounds and circumstances. And nothing, not time nor space or even death will keep Nora and Joe from one another.

Time After Time is a must-read for history buffs and romantics alike. Exceptionally well-written and well-researched, this novel delves deep into the history of the Grand Central Terminal. So much has happened over the last century on those 48 acres in midtown Manhattan. Then, there is Nora and Joe, two likable, yet fabulously flawed individuals willing to fight against all odds to be together and sacrifice everything for the other. Steeped in magic and mysticism, Time After Time is much more than your run-of-the-mill love story. It is an adventure.

***
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Random House publishers through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Dizzying time loops, fascinating human stories, and a really lovely romance captivate in Lisa Grunwald’s Time After Time.  To tell the reader too much about its plot is to reveal too much about its central mystery; this is the kind of book that requires the retention of a little of the element of surprise going in.

When Joe Reynolds, the youngest leverman in Grand Central Station’s history, first speaks with high class sophisticate Nora Lansing, he’s taken aback by her beauty – and her lack of warm clothing on a freezing cold December day.  Noticeable because of her completely out-of-place twenties slang and style, Nora is displaced and frustrated - but they nonetheless get on like a house on fire.  Joe offers to walk Nora home to Turtle Bay Gardens.  But Nora suddenly disappears en route when Joe is confronted by a kid trying to mug him for his watch. Joe is left with no way to find the girl who’s so enchanted him.

It takes a year, but she resurfaces in his life once more.  They are parted again a few blocks from Grand Central, thanks to the same disappearing act from Nora.  Joe finally reaches out to her father in frustration – and learns an awful truth about Nora. She’s not merely lost in Grand Central Station. She’s trapped there.

Nora is an artist of developing talents and fierce independence – she’s become trapped in a loop of time connected to December fifth and Manhattanhenge, a certain light phenomena that hits downtown Manhattan involving its skyscrapers and the setting sun – and whose strong beam of light into Nora’s terminal at Grand Central may be her bane or boon.  She seems to have no idea why she can’t leave the subway station. But now, at least, she has Joe.

Over the years and with determination, Joe and Nora carve out a life for themselves around the inconsistent rules of Nora’s existence.  But when another woman becomes a bigger part of their lives – and Joe begins to strain at the bonds tying him to New York – the two lovers will have to decide whether or not they’re forever fated, or forever star-crossed.

Time After Time is a swoon worthy combination of heartbreak, romance, character study and the indomitable spirit of adventure.  Its characters are memorable, their plights inventive, and the romance that centers it all a little bit enviable, a little bit nightmarish.

Nora is a great heroine – strong, flawed, and evolving slowly into a better person because she loves Joe and, through him, begins to reach out to others.  Joe is younger and more credulous – educated by pain and love, he grows as a person as his horizons expand beyond Nora and their romance.

Their love is bittersweet, complicated and fraught, and yet they move mountains and make great sacrifices for one another.  It’s also a lot of fun and very playfully innocent sometimes.

The events of the world leak into Nora and Joe’s oasis and complicate their lives; the pain of World War II and its effects on their lives is well-examined, from its tragedies to the purpose working with the Red Cross gives Nora.  The Depression is also touched upon, as well as the changes Grand Central goes through from the 1920s through the post-war construction boom of the 1940s.

The secondary characters in the book are interesting; I liked Joe’s brother, Finn, and his friendships with his fellow railway workers.

The book’s worldbuilding is fascinating but has its flaws, and if you think a little too hard about some of the bigger picture problems, the story will fall apart. You’ll get the hows and whys of Nora’s existence, but some questions will make you raise your hand, a confused kid stuck in an unsuitable class.

My best advice, therefore, is to enjoy Time After Time as an emotional rollercoaster and a solid character study of the lives of two characters in Depression and World War II-era New York City.  Some confections shouldn’t be ruined by too much logic.

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Not quite sure how I feel about this book. Part fantasy, part love story, part historical fiction. Set in the Great Depression, Joe has a steady job as a leverman, working in Grand Central Terminal, shuttling trains on to their proper tracks, avoiding accidents, and keeping order. One early morning in December, he experiences Manhattanhenge, when the sun rising above the horizon creates a burst of light shining through Grand Central's arched windows. It is at this moment that Joe finds a young woman scrambling up from the floor close to the clock. Appearing to be mildly disoriented, and with her clothing a bit smudged, Joe helps her get her bearings and offers to walk Nora to her home several blocks away. On the way, she vanishes into thin air.
In 1938, one year later, this happens again in the terminal. Joe asked, "Don't you ever wear a coat? It was snowing today. And is that your only dress?" Nora said, "This is just my traveling dress. Where I'm traveling from is not important". Joe decides he needs answers, and off to the New York Public Library he heads, where he reads about a railway accident which happened December 5, 1925, Eleanor Lansing died, but did she really die? Throughout the years, Nora continues to appear and disappear. As their love for each other deepens, they try to figure out how to make the time differential work.
A side story is that of Joe's brother, Finn and his family. Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Finn enlists. Joe is called on to help keep his brother's family going, and this leads to complications with Finn's wife and with Nora.

I really enjoyed this beautiful love story between Joe and Nora stretched across time in 1920s-1940s NYC's Grand Central Station. This was an enchanting story and I especially loved the historical aspect and getting to feel like I was transported back in time and able to experience Grand Central Station during this historically significant time. I highly recommend if you love historical fiction and novels with a strong sense of place, or if you just enjoy a good love story.
Thank you Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "Time After Time".

A tremendous amount of research went into this novel. Ms. Grunwald
makes the reader feel the pulse and rhythm of the daily city within a city that is Grand Central Terminal. I was so impressed with the story of the terminal that I immediately upon finishing the book went to look up the history and photos of the terminal.

I originally thought this to be a time travel book but it is more of a fantasy. Nora died in a train crash at the terminal in 1925 but on a certain Manhattan solstice day she comes back to the terminal. She meets Joe who falls in love with her and the major plot of the book is how they can remain together. The reader must suspend disbelief in order to accept that a ghost can have a physical body and that the Biltmore Hotel doesn't know who is sleeping in their rooms. Somehow Ms. Grunwald makes us believe all sorts of impossibilities.

I did enjoy this book, especially the history of the Terminal. The heroine/ghost was a bit flighty at times and I didn't like her actions at the end. I couldn't help but feel that Joe would have been so much better off without her. The fact that the author created such feelings in the reader is revealing that she is a true master of her craft.

Very atmospheric and evocative time travel/ ghost book. I loved Joe and Nora, who broke my heart on every page. One of the best books I’ve read this year.

I really enjoyed this book. The book is set in Grand Central Terminal in New York City and includes wonderful pieces of history as the setting becomes Central to the story line of the novel. This book was beautifully written, reminding me a lot of The Time Travelers Wife with it's magical elements. This book was almost a four or five star book, but I didn't care for the ending and it also had some language/content I didn't prefer which kept it from being as timeless and transcendent of a story as it could have been.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest opinions.

Title: Time After Time
Author: Lisa Grunwald
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4 out of 5

In the Great Depression, Joe Reynolds’s life revolves around Grand Central Terminal and his brother’s family. Joe lives and breathes Grand Central and his job there with the railroad, but one December morning, he meets Nora Lansing, a Manhattan socialite whose flapper clothing and talk of the Roaring Twenties just don’t make sense. When she vanishes as Joe tries to walk her home, he is intrigued—and determined to find her again.

And he does, on another cold December morning. Nora is an aspiring artist who wants to live her own life, and Joe is fascinated by her. When Nora realizes she’s somehow become trapped in Grand Central and its community, she’s determined to make the best of the life she’s been given. She and Joe create a life there in the terminal, their love making their world feel bigger than it actually is.

Until construction of another city landmark threatens their life, and Joe and Nora must decide to face the future or cling to the life they’ve created.

I have no idea what I was expecting from this book—but reading it was a surprise. I’ve always loved reading about the 20’s, so I loved that, and the idea of an entire civilization in Grand Central Terminal was fascinating. Seeing Joe and Nora grow as the years passed was beautiful—and heartbreaking. A lovely read!

Lisa Grunwald is an author and editor. Time After Time is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Random House via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.)

This is a time travel book with a romance. It has all the feelings: love, hope, heart-break. It is a truly delightful, magical story that I thoroughly enjoyed and will recommend to friends.

I've been so excited for this novel from the first time I heard about it and it did not disappoint. This novel was so different, in a good way. It revolved around Joe, an everyday, normal man, who meets and falls in love with Nora, a rich, exotic beauty. Then, she disappears. However, that's just the tip of this story. This novel was equal parts historical romance, fantasy, and pondering life's big questions. Reading this novel made me long for the past and made my heart break. The novel proves that there are no perfectly right choices in life, just the ones that will do the least damage or make the most people happy. It was well paced and perfectly timed. It shows that we are all human and no one person is truly perfect. It also examines our nation during one of our darkest times, World War II, and how we survive while the world is in peril. For anyone who is searching for meaning in the world, or what love truly is, or how a life is built and sustains, I highly recommend this novel.

Time after Time is the story is about Nora and Joe who meet at Grand Central Terminal in New York City in the 1920s. There is something different about Nora and Joe sets out to solve the mystery.

The story is beautifully laid out in such a compelling fashion that I was invested in the characters and their story from the start. The love story between Nora and Joe is so touching that I did not want their story to end. An absolute bonus to the book is the Q&A with the author at the end of the book. I appreciate it when authors take time to give the backstory, especially in historical fiction novels.

I have only been to Grand Central Terminal once, but this book has enticed me to visit again and see all of the locations in the novel: the gold clock, the ceiling, the whispering gallery, and the architecture.

I enthusiastically recommend this book to historical fiction fans and any reader who appreciates a beautiful tale of love despite the barriers of time and place. 5/5

Thank you to Netgalley, Random House, and the author for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of Time After Time. Release date: June 11, 2019

I'm rating this between 3 and 4 stars. The writing is excellent and the historical elements are well-researched. It got better and better as the story unfolded but I always felt there was something lacking. Maybe the characters weren't fully developed or maybe I just didn't believe in them enough. I would love to see this made into a movie. I think the emotion would be felt more on screen. It's really hard to write historical fiction with magical realism and get the reader to buy in to it. I think Grunwald is a great writer with a lot to offer the reader looking for smart, yet charming literary fiction.

A magical live story featuring manhattanhenge! Loved this story, and I love novels taking place in historical NY, especially revolving around its famous architecture.

I haven't loved a book like I loved Time After Time for quite some... time. It was totally atmospheric - the setting a magical twist on the famed Grand Central Terminal - and romantic to a heartwrenching point. There is a Downton Abbey-esque vibe to it, in that you see the "downstairs" working of GCT - all of the different people and workers that make the famous transportation hub work. Reminiscent of the Time Travellers Wife with a historical fiction/period twist - I just loved every bit of it.

When I saw the description of Time After Time, I immediately wanted to read it. I love historical fiction, I love time travel, and I love books set in NYC, and this book has all these elements. The time travel aspect is quite different from what I expected, it's not exactly time travel and I can't really say what it is because of spoilers. I liked both Joe and Nora, and I loved their bitter-sweet love story. They are years and worlds apart but their connection and their love for each other is breathtaking!

I found the setting of Grand Central Station so interesting, I was fascinated by the description of all the behind the scenes. I've been to Grand Central lot's of times and always marveled at the beautiful architecture but never thought about what secrets could be hidden behind the walls and underneath the station. I also enjoyed historical aspects of the book and reading about life in NYC during the depression and in 1940s. Overall, I really enjoyed Time After Time and would recommend it to historical fiction and time travel fans.