Thanks NetGalley, Alcove Press and Melissa Baron for an ARC to review.
A sweet book about dealing with grief, loss, anxiety, second chances and other deep emotions in an enchanting romance.
Loved it

A terrific story about dealing with grief and loving so much that you actually change history. What would you do if you could stop someone you love from dying by calling them in the past, would you do it? In this novel that's what happens and the call to the past does change the outcome, twice. both positively and negatively. The story is very intense and it involves a young woman who has to relearn how to cope with life in order to have the outcome she desires. It was a wonderful journey as the young woman learns how to deal with her depression differently and how her encounter with her significant other show that she is loved for who she is. It is a very tender and romantic moment and it never condescending. I love that the woman finally lets herself express herself in her art and that she is brave enough to release her art for others to enjoy, and they do.
Another aspect of the story is how open it is for all types of relationships and nationalities and that all of them are real and loving.

I want to thank Alcove Press and NetGalley for this wonderful story about coping with depression and never giving up on someone you love.

I would like to start by thanking NetGalley, the author, the publisher and everyone involved in allowing me early access to this ebook. All opinions are my own.

3.5⭐️

TW: death of a parent, death of a loved one, suicide, panic attacks, depression, anxiety

When I first read the synopsis, I thought “Twice in a life time” would have a LOT of “The midnight library” (which I loved) vibes, so I requested. If you were into “The midnight library”, give this one a shoot, but bear in mind this one is heavier.

Isla has been suffering from anxiety and depression her whole life. A person from her future will reach her and they will bond over text messages, which will end up changing Isla’s life and the way she sees herself.

I don’t wan’t to give too much of it away. I think the beginning was really catchy, I loved the “get to know each other” through text messages and this “love without meeting face to face”. I feel it is more pure as there is no way to judge the other based on physical appearance.

I loved the overall message, as well as Islas’s growth and the way she will embrace and love herself. Isla and Ewan’s love story was so good and pure. They were there for each other in the good and in the bad, which is not often portraited in fiction.

The only thing I found not so good was the pacing, around the middle. Beginning and ending were really nice and well paced, but some chapters in the middle were just too slow for me. It might not be a problem for everyone, but I tend to prefer faster paced stories. Still, it is a wonderful book I totally recommend, but be aware of trigger warnings for this one.

This review will also be available on my Goodreads profile and later on, on my instagram - @cat.literary.world

In the Beginning...
In the first couple of chapters, readers learn that Isla, the main character, is an artist who suffers from anxiety. She recently moved to a new city. She is an introvert. She gets a text message from a man who claims to be her husband and who knows enough details about her life that he can't just be dismissed as a crackpot. Talk about a hook!

Who is this guy? Isla recently lost her mom and it is mentioned that she suffered a nervous breakdown. Is he a husband she has forgotten? Is he a figment of her imagination? Is someone playing games with her? Is it a time travel novel? Yup, I'm ready to read on.

A Little Further In....
He gave Isla the answer to the "Who is this guy?" question I asked, but I'm not sure I believe him.

Ila is an interesting character. She clearly suffers from mental illness. She was close to her now-dead mother but is not close to her Dad-she didn't even tell him she was moving to St. Louis but he heard about it through the grapevine. People give her anxiety but she has best friend, Willow, who is always there for her, and at work she has made friends with two young single women. However, for all her anxiety (or because of it?) she was eager to move away from all that was familiar and start over in life.

I've never suffered from the debilitating anxiety that plagues Isla, but I chose to leave my hometown for the big city in part because I never felt like I belonged.

Another Night's Reading
Now something has happened that makes me wonder even more if I was right not to trust what the husband, Ewan, said about how he fit in the story. I'm also getting a real view of how strong Isla is, despite her mental illness. And I LOVE her best friend.

75% of the Way Through
The romance is progressing, and we've gotten a chance to meet Isla's dad (no mystery why she suffers from anxiety now). I could just hug Ewan for how he handled Isla's dad, and on the other hand I can SO relate to her request to Ewan not to speak for her. Loved a section on silence and conversation. The last chapter of this reading session ends with what sounds like a throw-away detail--but if it isn't meaningful, why is it there? I wonder if it relates to the set-up for the book/their relationship?

Some Words That Struck Me
"They rarely spoke...preferring instead the silence of shared grief. It weighed as much as wet summer air in New Orleans." I live in New Orleans, how an I not love that sentence?

"When there was too much noise, too much stimulation, her thoughts scattered to the four corners of the earth, and she found it hard to participate in conversations were too many people were talking. It became harder to express her opinion because, if no one asked for it, they clearly didn't want it." My in-laws (a boisterous loving Italian family) thought me stand-offish because I could never get a word in edgewise.

What Worked...and What Didn't
What worked was the characters. Isla had me in her corner from the start. She puts up a strong front and the collapses in private. Life is hard, but she keeps on living. Ewan is a sweetheart and his two gay friends were shown as people, not caricatures or simply walking sex lives. Isla's dad manages to make quite an impression during his short time on stage.

What didn't was the whole resolution to the time line thing. It just felt forced and unsatisfying.

Thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy via NetGalley. Grade: B.

I really loved this book. The protagonist is a woman with personal struggles. Panic attacks, anxiety and depression make her life extra challenging. It makes you root for her all the more. And makes a happy ending all the sweeter.

Book received for free through NetGalley

Read 20% of the way into this book but kept starting and stopping and ultimately forgot about it. Figured it was better to review as is. It was written well just not my cup of tea.

Reminiscent of The Lake House, this book explores how love and loss affect our ability to move on, and how time and distance are no match for eternal love.

I absolutely loved this book! I couldn't read it fast enough, and yet I never wanted it to end.

I typically read 4 or 5 books a week, and this is definitely my favorite so far in 2022. It's a beautiful love story, but it also contains such heart and self-sacrifice for those we love. In an age where so many things seem self-centered, I loved how the "solution" to this story was far from guaranteed, but its best chance of success was to serve those we love without looking for what we can get out of it in return.

Thanks to Melissa Baron, Alcove Press and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

Twice in a Lifetime
A Novel
by Melissa Baron


Many thanks to NetGalley and Alcove Press for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest thoughts. I did finish but, it was just over the top or maybe over my head. Either way, I would really want to like it, but it was just too much trying to make sense of it.

The theme of the book really got me. But while I was reading I didn’t know if I liked it or not. Even now that I finished it I can’t decide. I read so much nice reviews about it I think I was expecting something different.

5 stars for a DNF because I cannot truthfully speak to the overall quality of this book. I found Melissa difficult to connect with even though her struggles are valid and "common." I really wanted to like this book because it reminded me of the movie "The Lake House" with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves which I absolutely adored. But unfortunately this did not deliver for me.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book when I picked it up.

Let me start by saying that I absolutely loved this it.

The characters are great, well thought out and so real that I could see and hear them in my mind as I read. Ewan and Isla are two characters that are going to stay with me for a long while.

I liked the story, though I will admit the beginning was a bit slow and I couldn't see where the it was going right away. Where the book truly shines is in the middle section, as we watch the love story unfold; this was my favourite part of the book and I fell completely in love with both of the main characters during it.

I also liked the depiction of Isla's struggles with anxiety and depression, these are subject matters that you don't see that often in a primarily romance based novel, and I felt that the author was accurate and truthful in their depiction of it.

It was an okay story i didnt like the male charCter at all but it has good writing. The plot was better than ive read recently but i will most definitely give this author another try

Interesting book. The characters were sweet and romantic - maybe too much so? - but the narrator has panic attacks and an anxiety disorder. I think the disordered thinking was a smart choice to add depth to the book. The concept of time travel by phone pulls you in, but unfortunately is never explained beyond “we must be destined to be together”. The three main character names were even too romantic - Ewan, Willow, and Isla. I hate to be cynical, but it is giving soap opera vibes. Overall, a worthwhile YA romance read. 3.5/5

This is a romance, but that's not all it is. It's also a mystery, a time-bending tale, and a detailed and sympathetic look at what it is to live with anxiety and depression. I was completely drawn into Isla's world and how she believed she had to exist in it, and kept reading because I was desperate to know how and why she is apparently receiving text messages from the future. (Note that the questions are mostly answered: we learn the why, and it's heart-wrenchingly, beautifully done, but the how is left quite vague and that still works.) I was glad that hers wasn't the sole point of view, though - Ewan's parts help to round Isla out and give us something other than the skewed vision she has of herself. It's not often that I get completely immersed in a book to the exclusion of all else (sorry, kids), but this one honestly made me smile, laugh, gasp, and on more than one occasion sob out loud. One of the best things I've read this year.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance review copy. All opinions are my own.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC! God, at first I was delaying with reading this book, I’m not going to lie. I kept telling myself I wasn’t sure about the writing and that I was just going to read it later (and this was only a few pages in, I don’t know why I was hesitating so hard LMAO).

Then I finally got out of my book slump and forced myself to start again, and I did not put the book down once (literally, I started getting thirsty and started walking down the stairs trying to watch the steps and the book at the same time). This book isn’t perfect of course - the time travel is only loosely described (which I forgive sins I loved everything else so much) and while it’s not necessarily a flaw, I cringe a little when main characters obsess over their looks/not being pretty enough. But god, I loved Ewan and Isla so, SO much. I was invested in their story through and through, and I liked them both as characters. They both have their own sets of flaws, but are lovely and love each other so much, and it’s just SO wonderful seeing Isla and exploring her nervous disorder and all the pain and struggles that come with that while still reiterating that YES, she’s worthy of love. Sometimes I felt frustrated at her in a way that mimicked how I get frustrated at myself, and it was just so very true to form and relatable. I could honestly go on for ages about this book, but to keep it short I just loved it so much. I would read another book about these two, and I know I’m going to reread their story again.

Between the head-hopping and the wonky time-travel, I was not a huge fan of this book. I’ve rounded my rating up from a 1.5. There are definitely lovely moments, but the last quarter of the book was all over the place and ruined everything that had been built up before. It was truly hard to read at times because of how sad it was. I don’t have much to say about this one unfortunately.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Alcove Press for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I have to admit that I was stressed the entire time I read this book, but I can confidently assure you that this was only due to my deep investment in the outcome of the characters’ decisions. I loved the idea of being able to change your fate with the love of your life by texting them in the past. Ewan had amazing chemistry with Isla and both persevered against the timeline that seemed to be set on keeping them apart. I was instantly enamoured by the concept since, for me, it was a novel idea. I would have appreciated it if the writing style was a little more romance and a little less women’s fiction as it would have allowed me to form closer bonds with the characters but that’s just me being picky. Read this book if you love time travel and romance. As corny as it is, “Twice in a Lifetime” is a once in a lifetime read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

2 things.

1. Be ready with tissues and be ready to cry a river.
2. Definitely keep a light, mood lifter book handy after this.

Gah! This was such an emotional book. A time travel romance that had got all the feels.
Isla & Ewan's story is was tragic yet fulfilling at the same time.
I won't get much into the plot, cause you have to read it yourself to get the depth of it. But I'm so glad that there was a happily-ever-after.

Thank you Netgalley & Publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Isla Abbott lives in St Louis, she used to live in Chicago but it held too many painful memories of her parent's divorce, her subsequent panic attacks and her mother's painful death. Still struggling to maintain her fragile hold on her anxiety she gets a text out of the blue from someone claiming to be her husband, a man she has yet to meet. What follows is a love story of trust, hope and sacrifice.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Alcove!

Isla lives in a small town in Missouri having fled a big city for a calmer pace and place. She gets a text from an unknown number and it is her husband from the future. He is grieving because he and Isla are no longer together. She wants to be happy so she tempts fate by trying to prevent an incident from happening in the future. This means she has to overcome her anxiety to meet Ewan in the now.

I loved this! A Korean male love interest and honest discussions about mental illness, anxiety, and panic attacks. This was such a great read and I loved the time travel aspects blended into the story. I also appreciated at how realistic the love story was between Isla and Ewan and that Ewan never tried to change who Isla was.