⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5 stars
🔥- kissing only

[ Thank you @readforeverpub for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own! ]

THOUGHTS:

Read if you like:
•brother’s best friend
•cinnamon roll hero
•found family
•a dash of magic

I don’t mind time travel romances, sometimes it’s fun to read it with that element. But for a romance novel, this was lacking a bit.. I just wanted more between Sadie & Jacob!

I liked the story! It had quick chapters and moved along the whole time. But it was just.. okay.

I liked that it had me thinking about second chances and rewriting history as I read. By the end, it was about letting go about the past and moving forward and going after what you want!

📚 #BOOKREVIEW 📚
The Second Chance Year by Melissa Wiesner
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Pages: 328 / Genre: Fiction

Sadie has had the worst year of her life. She lost her boyfriend, her job, and her apartment. So when she happens upon a fortune teller at a New Year’s Eve party, the only thing she wants is to redo the year. When she wakes up the following morning, she finds out that she got her wish. Fortified with the knowledge of the events of the year and determined to get her life back on track, Sadie reigns in all her natural instincts. She doesn’t speak up for herself or others, she doesn’t make a scene when she’s outraged, she just lets the world take over without her usual righteous impulses. Did it work? Or did she lose more than she had before?

I love time tropes and this one was so good. I liked how Sadie was willing to change and try new things rather than stay stubborn and loudmouthed all the time. She just needed this time to learn to take it down a notch but still stay true to her beliefs and protect the weak as well as herself.

The one thing that kept this book from being 5 stars was the cringeworthy food puns that were repeatedly thrown in. I get that Sadie is a pastry chef and had baking on the brain so a few of these references would have been fine and adorable, but after a while I seriously started dreading them. Other than that though, I really enjoyed the story.

Thank you @netgalley and @readforeverpub for the advanced copy of this book.

This was the most adorable little romcom and I finished it in one day! Melissa’s writing made this so easy to read and kept me sucked in the whole time. I find time loop stories to be hit or miss, and this was a major hit to me!

Sadie’s life has fallen apart: she lost her job, apartment and boyfriend all in one swoop, and now she’s dealing with the consequences. At a NYE party, a fortune teller offers her the chance to relieve her bad year and make it right. She takes a chance and… sees nothing has happened. She heads home to her brother’s best friend’s apartment, where she ends up kissing him before hiding away from snort her disastrous decision. In the morning, she wakes up and finds herself on January 1… of the previous year. She has the chance to redo her year while knowing what to avoid, but now that she has all this knowledge, she starts to wonder if it was a mistake to wish for a do-over?

Jacob, aka her brother’s best friend, was the sweetest character and I was swooning over him from the start. I loved watching them figure out their friendship and what they want out of life. Sadie is strong willed and I hated to see her dull her shine during her redo year, but it was also rewarding to see her regain her sense of self.

If you’re looking for a romcom full of heart, self-discovery, found family and a dash of magic, grab this book!

The Second Chance Year by Melissa Wiesner

Sadie's life has completely fallen apart. She managed to lose her boyfriend, job, and apartment, all thanks to her smart mouth. When a fortune teller offers her a chance to redo her terrible year, she jumps at the chance to redo it all.

I loved this book so much. I received this as an audio ARC through NetGalley and I ended up getting a physical copy to keep FOREVER. It's absolutely charming and magical in the best way possible. It gives you hope and makes you feel all warm inside. Now, it does come with heartache along the way because, what is life without some difficulties? I laughed, I cried, and I just really adored The Second Chance Year. Sadie is relatable, Jacob is my favorite, and Sadie's brother is simply the BEST brother and the BEST friend. Maybe he's my favorite character... overall, it was the perfect book for this holiday season and so good to read at the end of the year. If you are looking for the prefect book to round out the end of the year for you, I highly encourage you to get yourself a copy. It is truly a gift.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the audio ARC and the chance to listen and review it honestly.

Happy reading!

Sadie is ending the worst year of her life.  Her longtime boyfriend broke up with her, she was fired from her dream job, and she lost her apartment so she's living with her brother's best friend.  When her best friend invites her to a NYE party she meets a tarot card reader that will give her the ability to redo her disastrous year.  When Sadie is given the opportunity to re-do her relationship and not cause waves at work, she learns sometimes the grass isn't always greener on the other side.  

I absolutely LOVED this book.  It's low steam, but I loved the relationships in the story and how Sadie changes in her redo year.  I love baking on the side and with Sadie's baking job it made me want to go on a baking rampage.  As we are getting ready to ring in 2024, this is the perfect time to read it.  Really it's a great book for any time of year.  Beware, this book may cause hunger pains while you're reading.  

Thank you to Forever and Netgalley for a copy in exchange for review consideration.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance review copy in return for an honest review. I loved every minute of this book. By the end it felt like a big warm hug and everything g was tied together with a bow.

I literally devoured this book in a few hours and it kept me company on a nice evening!
A book full of holidays air, some very interesting characters, romance, a fabulous writing and a lot of emotions!

Some things were pretty predictable and I didn't like certain scenes, but otherwise the book is great. Highly recommended for those looking for a book full of emotions.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC.

Sadie Thatcher wants more than anything to redo her terrible year. When she encounters a fortune teller at a holiday party she knows exactly what she wants to wish for.

The Second Chance Year is a stand-alone contemporary romance. While parts of it center around the holiday season I would not necessarily consider it a holiday book.

I was a little unsure about the main character at the beginning but she really grew on me throughout the storyline. She definitely becomes more relatable as she begins to piece things together later on in the book. There have been so many of these “be careful what you wish for” novels this year but this one has a nice twist that gives it something unique.

I did end up switching from the ebook to the audiobook about halfway through. There was nothing with the ebook but I did find that the audio helped me with the pacing of the book. Helen Laser solo narrates the book and she does an excellent job. I highly recommend going with the audiobook.

I voluntarily read, listened to, and reviewed advanced copies of this book and audiobook. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley, Forever, and Hachette Audio!

Thanks so much to @readforeverpub and @netgalley and @hachetteaudio for my ALC and eARC. All thoughts are my own.

Pub Date: Today, Dec 5!
Genre: Romance

💫Sadie is a pastry chef but ends up having a Very Bad Year- her boyfriend breaks up with her, she loses her job, and then her apartment. At a NYE party, she meets a fortune teller who gives her the opportunity to redo her year and she takes it. But in her Second Chance Year, Sadie starts to wonder if the things she is changing are really for the better or are they taking away from who she is at her core?

This was such a feel good book and was a good reminder of pursuing your own success (whatever that means to you) and not measuring yourself against others.
Read if you love:
-found family
-rescue cats
-a hint of magic
-cinnamon roll heroes
-delicious bakery descriptions
-low/no spice romance

The Second Chance Year is a charming story. I'm somewhat looking for older main characters now, so I didn't necessarily find Sadie all that relatable, but that's entirely subjective. I know this will be a fun book for so many readers. The cover is gorgeous and the writing sparkles. And who among us doesn't sometimes wish they could restart a particularly dreadful time in our lives?

Thanks to Forever for making a copy of this book available to read through NetGalley.

Sadie has had one of the worst years of her life. Not only did her boyfriend break up with her, but she's also been fired from her job as assistant pastry chef at an upscale restaurant. Losing her job also meant that she couldn't afford rent on her place so she's moved in with her brother's best friend. She was able to find work as a local coffee shop, but her skills as a pastry chef are wasted and, pretty sure her former boss black-listed her, finding another job is proving difficult.

Just as her "very bad year" is coming to a close, Sadie reluctantly agrees to attend a carnival-themed New Year's Eve party. Of course no carnival would be complete without a fortune teller who somehow grants Sadie's wish of a year do-over.

Now, Sadie knows what's to come and can take steps to avoid reliving the "very bad year". Is changing the past worth it when you have to give up who you are in the present?

Who doesn't have at least one moment in their life that they wish they could do over? A book about a woman who gets to give a bad year another try immediately caught my attention. I like that it's not simply another version of Groundhog's Day. Sadie knows exactly what she's asking for, she just doesn't completely understand what it will mean. Seeing all the ways one simple action can have different consequences across the board was pretty eye-opening.

What follows are some pretty irritating decisions made on Sadie's part in the name of avoiding another disaster of a year. I say it's irritating not necessarily as a bad thing, but because the whole point of the story is seeing Sadie's growth so knowing there will be bumps in the road is par for the course. Melissa Wiesner so perfectly shows us who Sadie is as a person in the "before" that seeing her bend to the will of others - making sometimes bigger mistakes along the way - just to try to hold on to her boyfriend or her job is frustrating because we know she's so much better than that.

It takes her time to realize the fact that she can get a do-over without completely changing who she is. Once that epiphany happens, though, it's like magic. Understanding the gift of foresight and hindsight, knowing that you don't have to give up who you are to get what you want. It's very satisfying.

Of course, it wouldn't be a year of reevaluation if there wasn't new romance on the horizon. Right before the clock turns (back) for the year, Sadie gets a jolt of connection with Jacob her brother's best friend and the person who took her in after she lost her apartment in her "very bad year". I like that this is kind of a play on a second-chance romance. Yes, Sadie does get a second chance with her ex, but knowing how things turned out (or will turn out) shines a spotlight on underlining issues. Also, knowing what she knows of Jacob in the year to come, she can't help but see him in a different light too. The whole idea of trying desperately to hold onto something you want, only to find out it's not as sparkly as you once thought is the pretty much the story in a nutshell. Even though it's frustrating to come to this conclusion before Sadie does, it's still very rewarding to watch her get to that point.

Despite this book taking place over the course of a year, I'd still firmly put it in the holiday category simply because the New Year plays such an important and pivotal part of the story. The changing of a year can be a figuratively magical time with the idea of resetting the calendar and starting fresh. It's only fitting that Melissa Wiesner turned it into a literal magical time.

I received a complimentary copy of this book "The Second Chance Year" and all opinions expressed are my own. I downloaded the kindle book and the audio. I ended up listening to the audio for this one. My favorite type of book: magical realism. This was really good to listen to, it kept me interested. You can have a do-over but it changes everything, not just your situation but people around you too. Would you really want a do-over? It might not come out like you think it would. Overall a good story and I enjoyed listening to it.

Before I start this review, please know the trigger warning is sexual harassment in the workplace. The author was very sensible with the topic but please continue reading at your own accord ⚠️

This is the second book I finished in one sitting that has a magical realism (both books released today 😊)

Honestly, I was trying to read it on NetGalley but my account wasn’t opening so I forgot about it but eventually it worked and I binge read it. I really really want to reread it tho and annotate the physical copy of it

This book is a slow burn which in my opinion is great. I love that genre of books because it feels so realistic. I can definitely relate to Sadie. With all that going on who wouldn’t want a do over, a second chance at life? I’m all in for it!! I couldn’t help thinking “me” “omg so me” “hahaha same”..

The moral of the story is great. It just teaches you things. After the do over she asked for, she was faced with different situations and a lot of changes obviously so the way she used to react to things had to change too. She started seeing things in a different light and her reactions changed too. That’s self growth in my opinion. Even though, some things may not be to our liking but this is how life works. This is what I’m going through. This book really touched deep places in my heart

I couldn’t put this book down. If you check out the author, you can see she has a lot of 5 star spreads, so you can tell how much of a great author she is. That’s my first book by Melissa and definitely won’t be my last!

This was a delightful book that added layers and depth to a typical holiday romance book.

While on it's surface the do-over plot is still one of my favorite plots and while there was much of the expected plot points, That didn't dull my enjoyment and I would say that this book adds elementals (feminism, sexism, what is personal success, and many others) that create unexpected twists and add much appreciated levels of realism and empathy. There is also a great depth of emotion and beautiful character development that made it so natural to root for Sadie, and invest in her story and all of the other characters' stories as well.

A sweet thoughtful holiday read for anyone looking for something with depth but will still leave you with that warm hopeful feeling.

Scattered Tale Tries To Be Both RomCom And Women's Fiction. Straight up, I'm fully aware that this is one of those reviews where many will rate this book at 5* for the exact reason I'm deducting a star here (though as you'll see if you too peruse the reviews, at least some of my commentary will also mirror many of the existing 2* reviews as I write this review early in the morning on the US East Coast on release day for this book). Namely, the preachy hyper-focus on workplace discrimination and outright sexual harassment and even sexual assault... in what is ostensibly trying to be a romcom. If you approach this as a romcom - and perhaps that was my failing here, approaching it in such a way... these issues are far too heavy and completely drag the story down.

However, for those that approach this tale perhaps *wanting* the more Women's Fiction side of it, where such heavy issues may be more expected, there you'll get the heaviness the same, but also with the levity that the attempt at also being a romcom brings to the table. So the tale is still scattered, but when approached in such a manner, it likely won't feel as off-putting. Hell, it may even feel quite a bit refreshing.

And of course my other failing here that must be mentioned is my love of The Family Man, the late 90s/ early 2000s movie with Nic Cage and Tea Leoni. It is my go-to reference for "glimpse" type tales such as this, where the main character is allowed to relive some portion of their life over. And while also a somewhat serious drama itself (with quite a bit of comedy), it was nowhere near as heavy as this book was fairly often. Also having this tale set in the end of year season - as that movie was - didn't help me completely separate the two, but again, this is likely a failing of mine that perhaps some other readers may share.

Overall, the book actually does both of its scattered foci quite well... it simply fails in the combination, at least when one is expecting more of a "glimpse" based romcom. As mentioned previously, if approached from more of a Women's Fiction tale, it works rather well.

For those potentially concerned that it doesn't meet the full requirements of a "romance"... it does, actually - at least every rule I'm personally aware of. And for those concerned about spice level... this one will satisfy the "clean" crowd (while perhaps being too heavy for the "sweet" crowd, though perhaps not) in that the closest anything gets to any "action" - other than the sexual assault(s) - is heavy kissing and waking up in the same bed.

Ultimately one of those tales that will likely be at least somewhat divisive due to the dichotomies I've discussed here, it could also do quite well in certain circles and when approached from a certain direction. Recommended.

2023 is really the year for time travel romance! I was really sucked in by the concept but I liked how it really focused on all aspects of Sadie’s life not just the romance. The showing of workplace harassment was important & really well done. All of the stuff about baking made me really want a pastry. The romance between Sadie & Jacob does take some what of a back seat to Sadie coming to terms with the issues at her job & where she wants to go with the career but it is still a central part of the story. I’m interested to read what Melissa Wiesner writes next!

CW: Workplace & sexual harassment.

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

LOVED, loved, loved this arc provided by NetGalley. Second chances everywhere, but sometimes even when you have a second chance, things don’t turn out the way you hope they do. This was a great pallet cleanser after my string of mafia romances!

This book, The Second Chance Year by Melissa Wiesner, is the 40th book I’ve read this year (2023).

The Second Chance Year had me hooked from the beginning. It was an interesting story of someone who was given another chance to live through a year all over again. Even though she had an idea of what to do, Sadie (the main character) faced some significant struggles which she did not foresee the second time around.

This story was really meaningful, in that there were thematic elements to the story that reminds us, especially women, to stay strong and true to who we really are.

I don’t want to go into the details of the book so I do not spoil it- just know, this book really makes the reader think. At least, that’s what it did for me.

This book was written very well and, as I mentioned, it is meaningful, so I definitely recommend it.

I am going to give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

I am so grateful to NetGalley, Melissa Wiesner (the author) and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) (the publisher) for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve had a rough string of ARCs lately so I was apprehensive going into this one but I’m happy to report I enjoyed this one!

Will this be one I go back and re-read? Probably not. But this was a fun look into the pitfalls of living in the past and wishing for a do-over.

I could have done without the constant food metaphors and similes, but Sadie *is* a pastry chef so it’s not out of left field.

I would have liked to see more from the family dynamic--particularly I think there was more that could have been done with her brother Owen.

Jacob was somehow the best and worst character at the same time. Complex yet cardboard. I think the concept for him was solid and present but I needed more from him, more about him.

While it stressed me tf out, I liked seeing Sadie try to temper herself for what she wanted and actually learn because of it. Is masking who you are a good thing? No. But did it have the side effect of allowing her to stop and pay attention to anyone but herself? Yes, so maybe there’s a balance.

Especially going into the New Year, I think this is a light, fun, quick book that is surprisingly poignant at its core. Definitely recommend for a snappy weekend read!

If you could get a do-over of your worst year ever, would you go for it? That's the question faced in The Second Chance Year by Melissa Wiesner. When Sadie lost her job, her long-term boyfriend, and her apartment all within the same year, she tries a spell from a fortune teller at a NYE party to try again. Can she makes everything better with another chance or will she make everything worse in the end?

I loved this concept and seeing how making different choices could cause you to lose yourself along the way. It was frustrating to see a character truly lose who they are and not recognize what is actually important by trying to hold on to things they lost the first time around (but frustrating in a good way?). I really enjoyed it!

I received this ARC free from the publisher via NetGalley.