Isla has moved to small town Missouri, needing a break from the busy city life, with her chronic anxiety. The one day, she receives a text message from a man claiming to be her husband and a fabulous adventure unfolds with this man who seems to know so much about her, including things she has never shared.

This one is best described as a time travelling romance. I do love a little time travel or sliding doors approach in a novel and this kept me guessing. My only warning, is from the synopsis you may expect a lighthearted rom-com and it did canvass some serious topics. Overall it was such an enjoyable novel with some unexpected twists.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Alcove Press for this gifted review copy.

When Isla gets a phone call from a man named Ewan, she has no idea who he is. He knows everything about her, yet she knows nothing about him. Over the course of many calls she learns Ewan is her husband and that she suffered TBI in an automobile accident. The calls from Ewan are in hopes that Isla’s life will be different. Only if she has the strength to make the right choices. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to be an early reader in exchange for my review.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Alcove Press and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Emotional, lovely, hauntingly beautiful. A unique story with writing I found honoring the characters.

Wow! This was such an amazing book! Emotional but beautiful. I absolutely loved the premise of this book. Such a unique story. I found the writing wonderful and was really invested in the characters. Definitely add this to your tbr list! I look forward to reading more from Melissa Baron!

Look for this book Dec 6, 2022!

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for this arc!

I was completely drawn into this story from the beginning, The characters were perfect and Isla’s feelings were wonderfully portrayed, I was almost halfway into the book enjoying my escape into Isla and Ewan’s wonderful and believable world, when suddenly, I became overwhelmed, confused and, I must admit my interest waned, why you ask? I just couldn’t work out the explanation of the time differences and I was happy to eventually get to the end. Maybe it was just me and my total lack of understanding.

“Twice in a Lifetime” by Melissa Baron is listed as a romance book. It is, but it’s not a swoon-worthy romance book. In fact, I found this book to be a very heavy book - there are a lot of topics discussed in this book (including but not limited to mental health issues, traumatic brain injury, death, suicide, depression, parental verbal abuse, bullying) that I really wished that I had known that before reading (a blurb somewhere or even a “if you need help, there’s help” blurb in the back of the book). This book took me a bit of time to get into, which I eventually did, but then the story switched from one narrator to another one (which was fine) but I also wished that somewhere that had been noted (such as in the chapter title - just a name?). I liked the overall idea of this book - time shifts / trying to change time is often my sci-fi jam. At times this book read like a sweet story - at other times it read like it was full of raw emotion. It was a bit of a roller coaster ride for me - and possibly anyone who personally knows someone or suffers themselves from depression. I saw one part coming - didn’t see another part coming - and was satisfied with the conclusion, though I still wonder what the universe has in store for our main characters. I have to say, my heart is with some of the minor characters - we all need that one (or two!) friends we can depend upon to love us unconditionally and pull us out of our funks and just “get” us for being us … bless them (and hold onto them and remember to love them back!). I wish more had been explored on the graphic designer front (why yes, I will roll my eyes at your usage of Comic Sans) but that’s just me. Overall, this book is probably a 3.5 for me - I liked it, but it wasn’t what I was expecting; it was deeply heavy at times and some of the deep things were out of the scope of the book to explore deeper and I did like the more lighter moments - and I liked the main characters and their friends. So, 3.5 rounded up to 4.

Melissa Baron's debut romance novel was truly a remarkable story!

Twice in a Lifetime was so much more than I was expecting.
Isla and Ewan's characters were great. I connected with them on so many different levels. I loved getting to know these characters.
The plot was stunning and the Author did a fabulous job.

I think anyone who enjoys contemporary romance will enjoy this book a lot.
The result is a totally satisfying, well-earned ending that will leave readers ready to turn back to page one to experience the fun all over again.

Twice in a Lifetime was a pleasure to read. And I look forward to reading her future work.

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

Alcove Press,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Well, I have to admit after reading the smart blurb which attracted my attention instantly and the lovely cover, I was expecting to read something sci-fi Groundhog meets Back to the Future kind of my entertaining, brain numbing romance!

But this is so much more! Firstly this is not lighthearted, sweet, swoon romance! You get to wear big girl’s pants and prepare yourself to get extremely disturbed because there are so many heavy stuff you have to absorb during your reading journey including mental health issues, death, grieving, suicide, depression, anxiety disorder, TBI, parental abuse, bullying, insecurities.

The opening was so great! Can you imagine you get a text from a mystery guy who knows everything about you and he insists he is your future husband! And the guy is freaking hot! How can you know it? Well, he also sends you wedding picture as a proof he’s not part of a pyramid scheme ! How this is possible? And why you’re not still together, if you’re match made in heaven.

That’s what happened to Isla, 29, moving to a cottage in small town of Missouri, after losing her mother yo big C.

She’s suffering from anxiety disorder, panic attacks, having an estranged relationship with her workaholic and selfish father who never supported her. Only her friend Willow can understand what she’s been through.

She slowly adapts in her new life, less demanding job as graphic designer, befriending her new colleagues, doing her best to get out her shell to socialize even though it makes her scare too much!

But the text messages she gets Ewan/ Obi Wan Kenobi ( just a nick name, this charming husband is Korean, keeping his last name secret and he definitely doesn’t have a show on Disney plus) make her more confused. Because she realizes she starts falling in love with a man coming from future and when she gets the real reason why they are not together, she wants to curse her luck nonstop!

But what if there’s a chance, they can change their future in expanse of forgetting each other.

Could they have a second chance for happiness?

Well, I have to say, at the last third something unexpected happened and I screamed a lot. It was something so earth shattering but the author’s sharp wit to wrap things up adroitly make me admire her writing skills!
I love the ending!

Normally I was thinking to give this book four stars! At the beginning, the triggering subjects in the story affected me a lot.

I even thought to stop reading but then the characters and their intense love story grew on me! Ewan is definitely lovely than Mr. McGregor. He was patient, caring, sweet. I love to see the adventure of Isla’s self growth. And the last twists were way too much intelligent! So I rounded up 4.5 stars to 5 a true drama/ smart time travel story stars!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Alcove Press for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.