Member Reviews
This was a perfect book for the new year. A sweet PG rated romance, perfect for fans of One Day in December.
This was a perfect holiday romcom! Minnie and Quinn are New Year birthday twins whose connection goes back further than either of them realize. As they sort of their modern day life in London, we find out about some of their past New Year’s missed connections. The variety of secondary characters (both friends and family) really brings the story to life!
This was a fun book to read right before the New Year (though it sure felt odd to read about a 2020 that was nothing like the one we had). I read it quickly and enjoyed most of it, though I didn't love Minnie and Quinn as characters. That said, I'm already looking forward to whatever Sophie Cousens writes next!
Loved loved loved! I flew through this delightful romance and with every page thought I could see it as a TV or film adaptation!
This was the perfect delightful British romcom to finish out my year in books!! I loved the characters so much. I also loved the interwoven stories of New Years past to show how their paths have crossed so many times without them knowing it. So clever and cute!!
Thanks to Netgalley and Putnam for an advanced copy of this book.
If you need a holiday romance escape, this novel is absolutely adorable and grin-until-your-cheeks-hurt cute.
Minnie Cooper has had an unlucky New Year’s birthday ever year of her life and it started with a man that she has never met…Quinn Hamilton. The mothers gave birth to them at the hospital, just after midnight, and Quinn’s mother stole the cash prize for being the first baby born on New Year ’s Day AND what should have been her name.
Since this historic day, Minnie has had one bad birthday after the next. After another disastrous time at a party, she ends up meeting Quinn and finds her world forever changed.
These two couldn’t be more different, but they find a deep mutual appreciation for one another that they could never have expected. This novel can be summed up in two words: ABSOLUTELY CHARMING.
I could not have loved this one more and would love to see this one expanded into a sequel because Minnie & Quinn were such a treat!
I really, really enjoyed this book! This was my @bookofthemonth pick for November, and I regret not reading it sooner!
Minnie Cooper was born on New Year’s Day, but the New Year’s holidays never treat her kindly. After being locked in the bathroom on New Year’s Eve, she meets her nemesis (or love twin) Quinn. Quinn was born in the same hospital on the same day as Minnie, and his mom stole her name. (Throughout the book, there are other flashbacks to other times Minnie and Quinn could have met.) The Cooper family legend says that Minnie is unlucky, and bad things wouldn’t have happened to Quinn Cooper. Bad things are happening to Minnie: she’s being evicted, her business is out of money, her boyfriend is a loser. Over the course of the year, Minnie and Quinn cross paths. It’s not your typical romance - Minnie does a lot of growing and changing through the year, and she does a lot of work on herself.
Read this! I would have given it 5 stars if it had an epilogue - I wanted a New Year’s Eve 2030 chapter. 😊
Perfect NYE romance set in an alternate 2020 filled with meat pies and pond swims instead of *gestures around* all this. I loved Minnie and Quinn’s story, but it was the friendships that did me in. A thousand toasts upon this book — to mothers laboring together in the delivery room and beyond, to Leila and to Ian, to breakups brokered by awkward roommates, to bad luck and Fleur’s whole thing. This time next year I’d like to be reading another book that I clutch to my heart after finishing.
When two women in the hospital in labor and there is one huge cash prize for the first baby born in 1990, one child will be born into a charmed life and the other will be named Minnie Cooper. Just in time for New Year's, this book is the perfect read. When Minnie meets Quinn on the eve of their thirtieth birthday, well, it is the meet cute of the decade. I can see this rom com on the big screen- hint hint and would love every second. Thank you Netgalley and Putman for my copy of this book
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.
THIS TIME NEXT YEAR was a pleasurable read. In fact, I finished it in two days, and I'm a slow reader. Each time I put it down, I was eager to pick it up again. What more can you ask of a romance novel?
Minnie Cooper has lived under the shadow of her mother's lifelong disappointment that Minnie's birth story was stolen by another woman and her son. That disappointment turned to bitterness long ago, and it has bled into Minnie's mindset. Her career is in shambles and her love life is lackluster. And it all comes back to Quinn Hamilton - the baby boy who stole her name, her prize winnings, and her glorious future. When Minnie meets Quinn on their shared 30th birthday, she assumes he has lived a charmed life. But not everything is as it seems. As Minnie gets to know Quinn, will she start to realize that her own place in the world isn't so bad?
The cast of supporting characters were fun, I laughed out loud at a couple parts, and I enjoyed the periodic flashbacks to tie everything together. I was sort of lukewarm on the main characters, but since the romance took a backseat for most of the novel, this didn't bother me as much as it normally would. There are a couple heavier topics, namely mental health, that probably don't receive the serious treatment they deserve, but I didn't really expect that from a rom-com anyway.
Overall, I enjoyed reading THIS TIME and will be on the lookout for other books by Cousens.
I LOVED THIS BOOK! I went into it with high hopes and it lived up to all my expectations. This was a cute story, perfect for the holiday season. I look forward to more books from this author.
After coaching her anxious hospital roommate through her labor, Connie delivers her baby girl just a minute after Tara's baby boy on New Year's morning. Being the first 90s baby and up for a cash reward and diapers for life, Tara also steals the lucky Irish name of Quinn that Connie had wanted to name her girl. Instead she was named Minnie...Minnie Cooper. And with the loss of her lucky name, Minnie seems forever jinxed. After a chance meeting when Quinn released Minnie from the bathroom she'd accidentally been locked in on New Years Eve, they discover their odd connection. Incidents later keep throwing them together. Can these opposites actually belong together?
The author's writing style just drew me in. I like how the story takes you from the present back to incidents in the past where they didn't even know they were connected. What a great book to read right before New Year's.
Thank you to Sophie Cousins and Putnam Books for the opportunity to read this festive holiday book.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The views and opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
Minnie Cooper and Quinn Hamilton were the first and second New Year's babies the year they were born. Quinn was just barely born first and his family won all kinds of money and prizes. Minnie's mom had coached Quinn's mom through her labor and felt betrayed that she missed out on the prizes, especially since her family could have really used the money. It gets worse- she had always planned on naming her child Quinn- except Quinn's mom stole that too- and there was so much publicity that Minnie's mom felt obligated to pick a different name. And she let Minnie know forever after that her birthright (and luck) had been stolen by Quinn Hamilton.
Fast forward 30 years and Quinn and Minnie meet at a party. Quinn's birthday party. Everything Minnie thought she knew about Quinn seemed true- he got all the good luck and she got all the bad luck. Despite this perception, they somehow start a friendship ad there are some sparks.
I liked how the book showed several missed opportunities for meeting earlier in their lives and how we got to see each of their lives from different perspectives. Both Minnie and Quinn had some growing up to do and growth is hard (prepare to get a little frustrated with each of them!). I enjoyed getting to know their friends and families as well.
Thanks to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This was a sweet story about chance encounters, fate and luck. Two people born a minute apart on New Years Day at the same hospital have their lives weaved together and you are left wondering what's in a name, what's luck got to do with it and how are moments of our lives meant to bring people together. I enjoyed this story I only wish we'd had a little more at the end to wrap up the 'what-if' moments of years past that weaved the story together.
The beginning of the blurb on Amazon really sums this up perfectly: “After thirty years of missed connections, they’re about to meet again...” I really think it’s a bit romantic, that Minnie and Quinn’s lives have intersected since their births.
This one isn’t categorized as romance in Amazon as of today’s date, and I think that is apt. I can’t tell you why I feel that way, because I don’t want to spoil the book, but the categories of ‘Women’s Friendship Fiction’ and ‘Contemporary’ fit this well. If I have one criticism, it would be that there are a few inconsistencies in the book. For example, in the beginning, Leila is described as “not a conservative dresser” who has a very colorful wardrobe. But then, towards the end of the book, her style is labeled as demure. Those kinds of issues are small and aren’t holding me back from rounding my review up from 4.5 to 5 stars.
All the characters in this one were fantastic, except Minnie’s mother, who is so darn toxic. It baffles me that neither her father nor her brother Will ever stood up for her. But considering her brother gets the best of things, it makes sense. I mean, even Minnie’s birthday dinner was more about her mother making an impression on Will’s girlfriend than celebrating Minnie. Leila is a wonderful best friend, who has always been incredibly supportive, and we all could use a Leila in our lives. I loved This Time Next Year. I loved the group of people that worked for Minnie and Leila. I loved the humor, the screw-ups, and all the joys. Thank you, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, for sending this along.
This was really great. I liked the whole Sliding Doors aspect (and appreciated the reference in the book) where we see how Quinn and Minnie have circled each other their entire lives without even knowing it. Very refreshing and a great way to end the nightmare that is 2020.
This book is a perfect example of the genre! It was everything I wanted it to be! There's really good character development here along with a great plot. The main characters had great chemistry and the story is super cute. Loved the flashbacks to NYE past that connect to the present time.
What a fun read this was during a bizarre year. The delightful heroine, Minnie, captured my attention immediately with her sweet, quirky ways. I loved reading along as she finally grew comfortable with who she was. Quinn was a little harder to warm up to, but he grew on me as the story went on. The supporting characters were eccentric and I was as invested in them as the main two. The handling of the mental health issues that Quinn's mother has were handled with both the honesty of how it is misunderstood by the public and the frustration for the patient and their family to manage it. Sophie Cousens wove a story that is equal parts heart warming, romantic, and funny.
Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin for a copy of this delightful book, which was just what the doctor ordered.
Minnie Cooper, yep, and Quinn Hamilton were born on the same day, the first of January. There was a cash prize for the baby born first and that fell to Quinn. Minnie's mom has never forgiven Quinn's mother for stealing the name Quinn, which is what Minnie was supposed to be named. They don't know it but their paths have crossed over the years. They have circled each other without really getting it. On New Year's morning 2020, Quinn lets Minnie out of a locked bathroom, cute story, and things start to bloom. It is a long road to get to our inevitable ending but it is so worth it. They really are the cutest couple.
You will find yourself yelling at them to just get together already! Everyone in the book can see it. We can see it. We know it's coming but have patience. They have that fun banter between people who really like each other. It is a very sweet read. Perfect for this time of year, especially this year where we can use all the sweetness we can get.
This Time Next Year is a cute, fast British chick lit/women's fiction book about Minnie Cooper (there's plenty of jokes about that) and the man who "stole" her name by being born just before her, Quinn. It's predictable, but a sweet read, and fun in that in the 2020 of This Time Next Year, there's no pandemic and lots of delicious pie mentions (with recipes at the end). There's an attempt at addressing a few deeper issues, especially anxiety, but it's in the "everyone is great by the end!" way, which is unsurprising but I wished for a bit more substance. Still, it's a sweet story and a welcome escape from the reality (aka horror) of 2020.