The Second Chance Year by Melissa Wiesner is an emotionally resonant story about love, loss, and the power of new beginnings. When the protagonist returns to her small hometown after a painful breakup, she finds herself reconnecting with old friends and rediscovering forgotten dreams. Wiesner crafts a heartfelt narrative that beautifully explores the complexity of second chances—not just in love, but in life. The characters are rich and relatable, and the small-town setting adds a charming touch. With its perfect blend of romance, personal growth, and healing, The Second Chance Year by Melissa Wiesner is an emotionally resonant story about love, loss, and the power of new beginnings. When the protagonist returns to her small hometown after a painful breakup, she finds herself reconnecting with old friends and rediscovering forgotten dreams. Wiesner crafts a heartfelt narrative that beautifully explores the complexity of second chances—not just in love, but in life. The characters are rich and relatable, and the small-town setting adds a charming touch. With its perfect blend of romance, personal growth, and healing, The Second Chance Year is a must-read for fans of uplifting, transformative stories. The Second Chance Year is a must-read for fans of uplifting, transformative stories.

The Second Chance Year by Melissa Wiesner is a sweet, heartwarming story about second chances, love, and finding yourself again. The main character, Leah, is coming off a rough year—her life’s kind of in shambles, and she’s just trying to figure out how to move forward. When she gets the chance to return to her high school for a year of teaching, she’s forced to confront a lot of past regrets and relationships she thought she was over.

What I loved about this book is how real and relatable Leah feels. She’s not perfect, and her struggles with moving on from her past hit close to home. The story really focuses on personal growth, healing, and learning to love yourself again. The romance is slow-burn and not rushed, which makes it all the more meaningful when it does develop.

The pacing is just right, with a good balance of light moments and deeper emotional scenes that give you time to connect with the characters. There’s a mix of fun, awkward, and touching moments that make you root for Leah as she figures out what she really wants.

I have decided to purchase this book instead from my Book of the Month subscription 🩷 I will leave my review on Goodreads/Amazon when I have finished 😁

This is a solid 3.5. The writing is good, the story was well done, and I enjoyed the character arc. However, I found the incessant baking similes made it seem as if the writer was trying too hard to make the FMC/narrator sound like a baker and it really just came off as very unnatural and took away away from the otherwise witty writing. I didn’t think I would like that at the end she couldn’t return to the original timeline, but I actually did. It helped Sadie regain her voice and her agency.

I felt like this had so much potential for be amazing but I didn’t connect to it as much as I thought I would. Still cute, still would recommend but didn’t love and sadly will probably forget about.

i was so pleasantly surprised to read this book! i’ve never heard of this author before, but the synopsis stood out to me. it’s a perfect holiday season read - i couldn’t put it down and read it all in one day!

Thank you to Forever, Grand Central Publishing, and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts are my own!

I read this right before I dove into Melissa's 2024 release Wish I Were Here and even though I wasn't exactly trying to compare the two, I didn't love this as much as the other.

Sadie has had a no-good, awful, terrible end to her year. She's now single, jobless and currently living out of her brother's best friend's guest room while she figures out her next move. But after making the wish to start things over, she wakes up on January 1 of last year. She now has a second chance to do things differently. But while navigating what she thought was her best life, she's realizing that maybe things weren't as good as she thought.

I love a bit of magical realism and I thought this was a fun concept, but a year felt like an awfully long time to be doing things over. I liked Sadie's character in small doses, but it was hard for me to root for her in the beginning when she kept making the wrong kinds of choices. Jacob was a cute love interest but I wished that we had more scenes in the beginning with him so we got to know him a little bit better.

Overall, some of the lessons Sadie learned were super important and it was nice to go along with that growth, but I felt a bit bored at times and craved a bit more chemistry between these leads.

I'm a big fan of a time-travel romance and this did not disappoint. I especially love the concept of a do-over!

Time travel tropes are some of my absolute favorites! In this story, we follow Sadie, a woman down on her luck, who gets the chance to relive a year of her life. Taking a leap of faith, she sets out to fix her past mistakes, only to discover that maybe things were meant to unfold the way they did. It’s a beautiful tale of self-discovery, showing how life often works out as it should. Sadie was a wonderfully relatable character, and the found family dynamic was heartwarming and unforgettable!

Definitely not my favorite read this year. It was okay but didn't grabb me like I would have hoped. The story flowed nicely and the characters were good.

2.5 meh stars.

The Second Chance Year by Melissa Wiesner is all about getting a fresh new start after a bad year for main character Sadie.

Sadie just had the worst year of her life (as you'll be reminded over and over with the phrase "My Very Bad Year"). She broke up with her boyfriend, lost her apartment, had to move in with her brother's best friend, and lost her job as a pastry chef after a confrontation with her boss which has led to her being blacklisted at any other restaurant she might want to work at. She's quick to stand up for what is right and to speak up when someone is being treated unfairly. But this quick temper often gets her in a little bit of trouble. At a New Years Eve party, Sadie meets a fortune teller who grants her the chance to do over her last year, which she gladly accepts. When she wakes up in the morning it's January 1st - of the previous year. She's at her home in bed with her boyfriend, late for work at the restaurant, and everything is as it was last year. She realizes that she needs to keep her mouth shut in order to make this year her best year ever - BUT she quickly realizes things might not be happening the way she really wants them to.

I thought this story had promise when I read the blurb and knew it was going to be a closed door romantic comedy. But I found it to be a let down. Her family was over the top against her pursuing her dream of being a pastry chef and owning a bakery instead of going to school. They said some horrible things to her and never really listened to her. There was a lot of workplace sexism and even some SA thrown in there for good measure. She used the phrase "My Very Bad Year" nonstop (sometimes twice in one sentence) and spoke in crazy food puns that were so bad it was laughable. And the romance was non-existent. It felt like these two were just best buds and not into each other at all.

I really did enjoy the found family aspect with the people at Higher Grounds coffee shop and that was the only redeeming part of this book.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Love, love, loved this! Adorable, witty, cute, all of these words and then some. I needed a sweet lighthearted book to read after reading something super heavy before it. Thank you!

I adored this book! I loved the do-over aspect, It really made me feel so many emotions! I have never read anything by this author before, but this was one of my favorite books of 2024 so far so you better believe I will be picking up her others!

I loved this book and I cannot believe I waited so long to read it! The idea of having a do-over, a second chance yesr is fascinating. Sadie gets her wish and she gets that second chance year. It's interesting to see how that year plays out and how she compares it to her first time in that year. I loved the characters she connected with in both years - especially Jacob. I am a sucker for a "he's loved her for years" storyline and Jacob is one of the best male characters I've read fitting that storyline. Sadie, she's phenomenal. They're the kind of characters you wonder about long after closing the book, what they'd be in to in five, ten, fifteen years.

I feel like the world needs more New Years Romance novels and I'm so happy to add this to the list!!!

The premise for this novel is very intriguing and I thought it was going to be a very light hearted romance/time-loop type of read and while at times it was, it was more of a learning process for Sadie our FMC. At times it felt predictable, but that didn't take away from any of the charm and heart! It does have those deep moments, but overall it's an adorable romance about a gal finding out how much better life is to just be herself!

This was a first time read for me by this author and after reading this, I would definitely like to try more books by her. Sadie is really down on her luck having lost everything - her job, home, and her boyfriend. She could really use a redo of last year, and that's exactly what she gets when she meets a fortune teller who offers her one wish. She knows she has to do things differently this time around so she doesn't end up the in the same situation. She begins to spot the red flags that she missed the first time around, but she also may just have the opportunity to start a new romance.
The story was well-written and entertaining. The focus is more on Sadie and her finding her happiness rather than on romance, which I liked. She was a strong and resilient character and I was rooting for her throughout the whole story. A heartfelt story that will give you all the feels!
I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

Sadie gets her wish for a do-over year but will a second chance at everything she's expecting be what she needs? A sweet, magical story. Great characters with found family vibes.

This was a cute, fun read, and the magical realism is perfect for a seasonal/holiday/New Year's type of book. The story was very positive and feel-good. Some characters' actions or words could get a little overexaggerated (usually the negative characters), but the story was sweet, and it addressed a question most of us have at some point (what if I could just do those moments over?). Overall, it was an enjoyable book.

I enjoyed this one and the themes behind this romance! I wasn’t expecting the time loop/alternate universe part of the story, but fully enjoyed it

This was new author for me & I really enjoyed this one:) it was so fun, sweet, charming, and a little magical! I loved that Sadie got a second chance for a whole year and how she found herself along the way! All in all a great read! I look forward to what’s next!