• review •
midnight, repeated | dani mclean

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

if you’re looking for a quick, lighthearted book to get you out of a reading slump.. boy do I have the book for you.
this was so freaking cute, dude.

lauree. lauree is 25, has no idea what she’s doing with her life, and puts up with unfulfilling relationships just so that she can feel like there’s someone who likes her. relatable? I think so.

max. he is the sweetest coffee-shop-owning, around-the-world-travelling, afraid-to-confess-his-feelings man ever. he’s adorable.

drew is trash, and I knew I hated him within the first sentence he was mentioned. no thank you. not today.

lauree has convinced herself that the life she currently has suits her just fine. everything’s okay. business as usual.
but then, after being forced to relive the same day over and over, she starts to realize exactly what is missing from her life, and what she’s been putting up with for far too long.

I was a little weary of this book at first, bc I thought I’d get bored of the whole repetition thing. that was silly. I was not bored. this book was wonderful and light and sweet and exactly what I needed at the time.

thank you to netgalley, dani mclean, and set the mood publishing for my advanced copy.

This was a second chance, friends to lovers story that involves a time loop. I enjoyed the learning about the relationship between the main characters now during the time loops and the mentions of yummy baking. I do wish, however, if there would have been more mention of the growth and development of the relationship previously.

Thank you to Netgalley and Set the Mood Publishing for the ARC!

🌟🌟🌟🌟 4/5 stars

Midnight, Repeated is a fun spin on the Groundhog Day storyline and is the perfect winter read. The story follows Laurie, a woman at a crossroads in her life and trying to get over her crush on her best friend’s brother. On New Year’s Eve, Laurie decides to make a resolution- in the New Year, she is going to let go of the pst and grow up. However, that plan goes out the window when she gets stuck in a time-loop and begins living December 31st over and over again.

This was a fun, fast-paced novella with a sweet friends to lovers story. It is a great reading slump-buster or just a sweet one-sitting read to help you escape. Very cute with a hint of magic.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Midnight, repeated is an entertaining novella that follows twenty-five year old, Lauree Miller, who finds herself facing the same day over and over again. This sweet friends to lovers romance, between Lauree and her best friend’s brother Max, who she has loved for so long. So when New Year’s Eve continues to repeat, she decides to take charge and change her future with Max.

This is one story, that I wished would go for longer than it did so that I could enjoy the lovely romance between these two delightful characters.

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

I enjoyed this time loop novella a lot. There was lots of humour and endearing moments that kept me entertained. Lauree (FMC) went through a lot of personal growth, which in turn gave her more confidence and aspirations, which was lovely to read

The ending though… I have thoughts…

I wish that rather than the epilogue being the epilogue it was an additional chapter - that they woke up on NY day and it was as it was written

THEN…

We got an epilogue that was set further in the future that told us more. That’s my big complaint on the book 🤣 I liked the story and I loved Lauree and Max together that I wish we’d been given more. I felt a bit jipped that the epilogue was just a continuation of the previous chapter

Dani - any chance of a bonus epilogue????

Dani has a second novella out in January which I have added to my TBR!

Thanks @netg for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest feedback

3.5 stars… could have been 4 with my chapter/epilogue suggestion

I did not realize this was a novella! It was a cute Groundhog Day style romance about finding what you are truest meant to do and falling in love!

I loved this time loop romance sooo much!! Lauree is 25 and floundering. Her boyfriend doesn't see a forever with her, her job doesn't make her happy AND she's still in love with her childhood friend/crush neighbor, Max.

When she wake's up to find she's stuck in an endless New Year's Eve time loop she decides to take advantage of the opportunity to try new things, be brave and take a chance on true love.

This really was a perfect second chance, slow burn holiday romance with a deliciously steamy scene at the end. My only disappoint was that it was a novella because I wanted more of Lauree and Max!! Recommended for fans of books like See you yesterday by Rachel Lynn Soloman. Much thanks to NetGalley and the author for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

I love a good novella and I’m really excited for the next novella in this series!

I also love a book with some magical realism. I mean have any of us not wondered what it would be like if we could relive or redo a day and see how it might change if we did something different.

I loved seeing Lauree develop and change, growing up but also realizing she needs to let her hair down and find something she loves instead of forcing something she hates.

Her relationship with Max is perfection and as much as I love enemies to lovers there is just something so true about a friends to lovers story. It allows you into the familiarity and connection that allows love to grow.

This new release is a perfect pick me up, it’s a quick read with fun characters and a cute story that you won’t want to put down!

Lauree is tired. Tired of her job, tired of her current boyfriend's antics, and tired of being in love with her best friend's older brother, Max.

It's New Year's Eve, and Lauree is ready to become the full fledged adult she's meant to be. Lauree wakes up the morning after, only to realize that it’s STILL December 31st…nothing quite like starting your “new year” in a time loop. Can she break the cycle and finally make it to January 1st?

I adored this. What a great concept for a novella! Novellas are meant to be done short and sweet, and this variation of short and sweet packed a punch. Through the time loops, she used her time to have fun and do all the things she never could in real life. She also used some of that time to find and develop new passions. After about half a year’s worth of time loops, Lauree was at the end of her rope. She was frustrated with her situation and I was genuinely frustrated for her. I wanted her to find that “happy ever after” for herself and finally make it to New Year’s Day.

I loved relishing in the sweetness that was Max and his free coffees and endless care for Lauree. They were pivotal pillars in each other’s lives, so not wanting to ruin that was definitely understandable, but I JUST KEEPT CONSTANTLY (INTERNALLY) SCREAMING AT THEM TO GET TOGETHER!!

As mentioned in the author’s note, “the magic of these stories is never explained” and being stuck in a time loop is one of those tropes that never truly has a rhyme or reason, but this novella really worked for me. It got me thinking about what I would do if I was stuck in an endless time loop...sleep all day? Read all the books?? DO ALL THE THINGS?? No idea, but I loved Lauree living through her endless days and getting her life on the track she was destined to be on.

I can’t wait to read the rest of the Movie Magic Novella series!! Thank you so much to Dani McLean for the copy! Can't thank you enough. :')

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 ✨

If at first you don't succeed......

Max & Lauree's friendship is tested daily when she finds herself repeating the same New Year's Eve day over and over again. What she believes to be a great life with a great boyfriend and job suddenly becomes clearer daily when the cracks of them both soon become too hard to ignore. Meanwhile her friendship with Max is the only reliable and non toxic thing in her life. When she accidentally discovers his hidden interest is when she wishes tomorrow would finally come. This is a slow burn that had me wondering if she would be forever stuck in this frustrating (for me too girl) loop. Definitely relatable with these two and enjoyed her reinvention and awakening to all the new possibilities that she couldn't see before. Be prepared for Max to make a lasting impression.
Thanks Netgalley for the chance to read this book and give my honest opinion.

This book sounded interesting from the very beginning, like imagine experience a fall in love story while repeating the same day again and again, it was fantastic, it had everything a romance could ask for and that end, wow.

Thanks to Netgalley and Set the Mood Publishing for the ARC of this!

Friends to lovers x Groundhog Day loop x Holiday romance? Yes, please! This was so much fun, perfect for fans of In a Holidaze.

4.5 stars
"Midnight, Repeated", a novella written by Dani McLean, has an enticing premise: if you were stuck reliving the same day over and over, what would you do? At 25 years-old, Lauree is presented with that opportunity... But what would she change about her life? Her job? Her relationship with Drew? All of the above?
I quickly fell in love with this book; the premise alone was enough to keep me interested but Lauree's struggle was so relatable that I was putting myself in her shoes and wondering if I had the courage to upend my life like Lauree did. And what I loved most about this book was the feeling of magic and wonder, which is perfect for the Christmas season. Basically, this is a short and sweet read, with all the ingredients of a great page-turner, to finish the book in one sitting.

I absolutely adored this book! I have always been looking for a GOOD time loop romance, and this one has taken the top spot. It was so much fun and utterly sweet, a perfect quick read that is bound to become a holiday season must-read. Lauree and Max's relationship was absolutely to die for, but maybe I'm just biased as a die-hard fan of friends to lovers. Max was such a sweet love interest, and his love for Lauree was so apparent even when she couldn't see it herself. Watching Lauree come to find her passion through the time loop scenario was a sub-plot I really enjoyed. As someone who sometimes feels like they can't settle on just one thing they would like to do with their life, I found myself relating to Lauree a lot throughout my reading experience.

This book was cute, like a rom com movie at the box office. I did feel as though each day that was repeated was not memorable with each incident. The characters were charming though, this was a plus.
#midnightrepeated #netgalley

This was quite cute. The writing flowed really well and it was easy to get pulled into this quick novella. The concept isn’t new but this was a fun take on it. It was entertaining to see Lauree react to each day, how she grew in confidence and learned what changes she needed to make in her life to make it stop. Her relationship with Max was very sweet and surprisingly steamy once they started acting on their feelings. This was a very well-done friends-to-lovers romance with mutual pining - Dani McLean did a great job with it!

Overall this was a lot of fun to read and it was really entertaining. I’ll definitely be looking into this author’s work in the future and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a fun, easy-to-read, friends-to-lovers novella. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free copy of this book.

Content Notes: On-page sex.

I didn't realise that this book was a novella until I actually started reading it, so I ended up flying through this within an hour.
'Midnight, Repeated' was such a fun book following Lauree who is stuck living new years eve over and over again. I thought that this book was a lot of fun to read and really enjoyed seeing what Lauree did everyday as she was living the same day over and over.
There was a romance plot line in this book between Lauree and Max, who have been friends for many years but Lauree is in a toxic relationship at the beginning of the book.
I really enjoyed the moments of seeing Lauree using her days to learn how to bake.
This was a good novella and I really enjoyed reading this book. It was really enjoyable.
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of this book.

stories with Groundhog Day as the main theme are always interesting, especially when the writers make it seem like you're not exactly repeating the same day over and over again, or when they make you want to figure out a way out of the loop.

buuuuut Midnight, Repeated just.... fell flat on these aspects, i guess.

Lauree is stuck on New Year's eve. she wakes up and the day resets. no yesterdays, no tomorrows, only today.

Lauree is stuck, and that was even before the time loop.
she's stuck between her meaningless job and her desire to do better things and her inability to wake up a few hours earlier in the morning (i get it, Lauree). she's stuck with her asshole of a boyfriend and the need for validation from said asshole boyfriend and her unrequited love towards her childhood friend.

it had lots of potential, but it being a novella didn't give it much room for character exploration. Lauree, our hero, didn't give me much to start with anyway so i couldn't like her even if i tried.
i wish we'd been given more look into their past and how these feelings came about because it was difficult to connect with the characters. and that ending was too icky for my liking.

could be an enjoyable read for some, but i just didn't enjoy it as much!

This book was WONDERFUL. The perfect cute, quick, feel-good read with a dash of steam and a wonderful message about wasted time and seizing the day.

This was my first book by McLean, but it won’t be my last. I absolutely adored her writing, and how she made me feel so much for two characters in such a short story. Absolutely adored. Highly recommend!

I received this as an ARC on NetGalley.

I really enjoyed this story. It was different from other romances I’ve read and I liked the extra layer that was added to it by including the time loop.

I loved how fast paced the story was and enjoyed the MC too, she wasn’t your usual Type A, put together romance character, she was messy, and that’s relatable.

I do wish we saw more of some other characters but that’s my only complaint.