I have never read one of Annette Christies novels before, but after reading the description of her newest novel, For Twice in My Life, I was so intrigued by the concept I had to read it.
For Twice in My Life is a romance novel about 28-year-old city girl Layla working in the theater industry and just trying to get through life. She was recently crushed after she broke up with her boyfriend Ian for “not spending enough time together.” That is until Ian was hit by a car and his first call was to Layla. When Layla sees him in the hospital, she realizes Ian called her because he thinks they are still together, and he has lost some of his memory. Should Laya tell him what happened? Or is this a sign from the universe for them to get back together and start fresh?
I had so much hope for this book but unfortunately it just fell short for me. This book is read more like a Young Adult novel than a novel based off 28-year-old love. This is because Layla and Ian love just seemed way too innocent for me. There was not a ton of romance in it (nothing hot and heavy) and at times I just felt bored. I think some of the characters and the relationships they had could have been developed more and even at some points it just felt unrealistic. The ending was a little all over the place for me, and as much as I wanted to like it, it just fell short. I just could not connect to the storyline as much as I wanted to, so it was only a two-star read for me.

Another swoony, charming masterpiece from Annette Christie! She manages to be hilarious and heartfelt in an effortless way.

I love a second chance romance but this just didn't do it for me. It was on false pretenses, and I couldn't relate to the MC at all. It was okay, just didn't give me the true second chance trope I was looking for.

For Twice In My Life seemed. Like a promising tale as I love a story arc with a character discovering who she really is through self love. While I did enjoy most of this story, I could not wrap my mind around Layla immediately allowing her EX boyfriend to not remember that he had broken up with her. I did root for Layla to realize who she truly was and how she didn’t need Ian to make her a happy person. However; I wish Annette Christie would have written this in a different way. Overall, I hope to read another novel by this author and give her a second chance.

This book was cute but didn't hit the right marks for me.. I really wish that it had, however I did enjoy the premise of getting a second chance almost.

My roommate in college was absolutely obsessed with the romcom film While You Were Sleeping. Sandra Bullock at the height of her ingenue romcom prowess. A unique plot about a girl in the wrong place, at just the right time to claim a boyfriend with amnesia. Hilarity ensues, brothers are at odds, mistakes are made, and girl ends up with The One at the end.

The cute plot device worked well in 1995. But now? Well, the suspension of disbelief doesn't work quite so well here.

Don't get me wrong; there's nothing really to dislike about this book. It's fine. But it didn't ring as shiny or fun to me. Three, maybe three and a half stars.

"Layla had a strange relationship with time. She'd been taught it was predictable, linear, measurable, and yet for her, it was anything but."

𝔽𝕆ℝ 𝕋𝕎𝕀ℂ𝔼 𝕀ℕ 𝕄𝕐 𝕃𝕀𝔽𝔼 𝔹𝕐 𝔸ℕℕ𝔼𝕋𝕋𝔼 ℂℍℝ𝕀𝕊𝕋𝕀𝔼

💗💗💗💕
3.5/5

I received this from NetGally, in exchange for my honest opinion.

Layla is heartbroken when Ian breaks up with her, but two weeks later she gets a call that he’d been in an accident. Ian doesn’t have any memories from the last month, including breaking up with Layla. Did Layla get the second chance she wanted?

This book has
- second chance
- Romantic comedy
- Quirky characters
- Slow burn
- HAE

I went into this thinking it would be more romance but it ended up being closer to contemporary fiction. Which is fine but just not my wheel house. I needed more chemistry, more angst, more love to be honest. I will say just because I didn't fall head over heels for this book doesn't mean most wont. I would recommend this for someone that wants a book with a sprinkling of love and whole lot of self discovery.

This one did not grip me like I needed it to. The premise seemed to be interesting, but I just couldn’t keep going with it. DNF at 33%

This book really surprised me. I went in hoping for a good ole amnesia love story (one of my personal favorites) but found it much more about self worth and self discovery. I enjoyed it!

I loved the premise of this book and was so looking forward to reading it. I was getting some major While You Were Sleeping vibes! Unfortunately, this book didn’t work for me. I was unable to connect with the main character and her motives. Every interaction Layla had with her family also made me so uncomfortable for her. The storyline was enough to make me want to finish, but the further into the book I got, the more I realized this author’s style is just not for me. I felt it best for me to go ahead and DNF this one and give something else a try!

Unfortunately had to DNF this one as it did not hold my interest. I just wasn't invested in the main character or her motivations. I loved the Rehearsals so I was really lookung forward to this. Unfortunately it just wasn't for me!

For Twice in My Life definitely had a While You were Sleeping vibe. I was excited to see where this second chance romance story would go. I wasn’t a huge fan of Layla but she did show a lot of growth throughout the book. I think I’m really just hung up on the “boyfriend’s bother trope”. Not a favorite.

Thank you to netgalley for the opportunity to read this book. My thoughts are my own.

For Twice in My Life is Annette Christie’s newest romantic comedy featuring an amnesia trope and a love triangle. It is reminiscent of the movie While You Were Sleeping.

Layla is devastated when Ian, her boyfriend, abruptly breaks up with her after dating for two years. He says it’s because their schedules don’t mesh and they hardly see each other. Layla is the administrative person for a small theater company in Seattle while Ian has a more traditional career.

Two weeks later Layla receives a phone call from the hospital. Ian's had a biking and has a concussion. When Layla realizes that Ian doesn't remember breaking up with her, she pretends that they are still together in the hopes that he will want to continue their relationship.

Then Ian’s younger brother, Matt, comes to town. He is restless, unpredictable, and threatens to upset the delicate balance of the fake relationship. As things get more complicated both at home and at work, Layla realizes she might have lost her chance for happiness with her lies.

For Twice in My Life is more of a character-development story than a plot-driven tale and moved more slowly than I like. Layla has several personal issues that she works on as the story progresses. I just never felt the chemistry between Layla and Matt, and then their getting together seemed rushed at the end. However readers who love theater may really enjoy this book, but I personally didn’t.

I received an Advance Review Copy (ARC) from NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

3/5 ⭐️

Layla is going through a devastating breakup. 2 weeks later, her ex Ian is in an accident and forgets they’re not together anymore. Layla, a believer of signs from the universe, is sure this is their chance to make it work. Everything is going great until Ian’s brother Matt moves in with him and threatens to make it all fall apart.

I liked this book and found it easy to read but there were some key aspects that made this a 3 star read.
1. Layla is lying to her partner for MONTHS. Signs from the universe or not, this put me off a little bit.
2. The entire books mostly focuses on her relationship with Ian and doesn’t leave much room for showing chemistry between her and the main love interest
3. The ending felt abrupt. I understood why Layla should end up with who she ends up with, but I just didn’t really believe they were in love?

I did however enjoy Layla as a main character. She was funny and relatable and I always enjoy an underdog figuring their life out. I also enjoyed Layla’s relationships with the side characters and found her backstory extremely intriguing.

Thank you Netgalley and Little, Brown and Company for letting me read this as an ARC in exchange for an honest review :)

3.25/5 stars! The premise of this book read similar to the movie "While You Were Sleeping," which is one of my favorite movies, so my expectations were high for this one. It was cute and I thought the self-love/growth angle was great, but it was missing that 'something special' that makes a great book. I also didn't really buy the chemistry in this romance. I enjoyed it and read it quickly, but I don't think I would re-read it or search for this author in the bookstore.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

Such a good romance! The characters were likable and believable. The story was great and the steam was perfect!

I was interested in this for the chaos of it all and it delivered. I’m still iffy about the ex brother trope but everyone’s happy lol

Overall rating: 3.3⭐️

While this is labeled as a romance, the main focus seemed to be the main character’s growth. She starts off the book very closed off from everyone. She feels like she’s failing at life and keeps people at an arm’s length. It was really great to see her grow and realize that people will be there for you no matter what, but also that she’s not a failure to begin with.

I loved that the book was set in Seattle and its surrounding cities. I especially enjoyed that it was set in the theater world and that they put on a play. Also, Layla’s mom and her journey was fantastic too. Family was really important in this book in general, both Leyla’s and Ian’s. I loved seeing the family dynamics, the differences between the two families, and how they impact the characters’ lives and their actions. Most of what Leyla does, from her job, to her love life and even Instagram profile is mostly to fit in and find her place within her big family.

I also really liked the premise, I don’t think it was as cut and dry as some of the other characters in the book made it out to be. I didn’t think she was horrible for keeping up the pretense of never having broken up, but clearly different people will have different takes on it, and I love that the book will polarize the readers a bit in that sense.

I did have trouble with the pacing of this book. The first part felt slow; the third person in the love triangle doesn’t even show up until about halfway through. This also leaves very little time for that relationship to develop enough for us to be fully invested in the ending.

There were a few other things that felt off to me. Like the fact that she clearly had a shopping problem, but it was never really addressed. And I thought the breakup happened too easily, after everything they go through together.

Thank you to Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley for the eARC!

Anette Christie never misses in writing a fun unique and original romance, Thank you Little Brown and Co for the arc.