this was so lovely. I love a magical realism moment and this one really worked for me. Jacob is the sweetest love interest and I truly loved him.
10/10 definitely recommend this one

I truly enjoyed this book and couldn’t put it down! Magical realism isn’t normally my go to book genre, but I loved the premise of this book. This was definitely one of my favourite reads of 2023 and it needs to be on everyone’s TBR!

I wanted to love this book but it felt too similar to other books that I love but the characters annoyed me and I couldn’t connect. I also couldn’t buy into the magical realism element.

10* stars! I adored this book. I loved Sadie so much and Jacob was just perfect. This love story was so unique and special. I look forward to reading more books from this author.

I loved this book! I couldn’t put it down. I liked that it was more than just a romance. It made me think about redoing any of the years of my life as well as advocating for woman’s rights. I can’t wait to read more of this author’s books!

The Second Chance Year
By Melissa Wiesner
Format: eARC
Available now!
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I loved this book. Imagine, you have had a very bad year and on New Year’s Eve you get the opportunity for a do over. What would you do? Sadie’s answer was a resounding yes!
What happens next is not what you might expect. I thought it would be your average ‘everything changes for the best’ scenario. Instead Melissa Wiesner takes us on a journey where Sadie learns a lot about herself, those around her, and where she learns to honour the fierce woman she is. This, along with interesting situations and characters, fun and a little love and romance. I didn’t want to stop reading. I can’t wait for the next book by this author.

Many thanks to Forever (Grand Central Publishing), NetGalley, and the author for the opportunity to read and review this ARC for my honest opinion.

The premise of this novel was good, which is why I requested it. However, it was boring at times. I wanted the characters to be developed better than they were and the chemistry just wasn't there between the MC and the love interest.

Sadie Thatcher has had a Really Bad Year. She's lost her boyfriend, her job, and her apartment - and is ending the year crashing with her brother's best friend, with no plan on how to fix anything. At a New Year's Eve party she meets a fortune teller, who grants her a second chance at the year she's just had. A chance to make things right. A chance to learn from her mistakes. And with nothing to lose, Sadie takes the chance.

This story was sweet and heartfelt. I loved seeing how Sadie learned from her bad year, and the things she fixed and the new mistakes she made. I loved the lessons she learned and all of the characters along the way. It was a perfect, five star New Year's read and I'm so glad to have ended my year with it.

Thank you to Forever Publishing for the ARC. This sweetie story is out now!

Looking for the perfect New Year's Eve read? Look no further! This book was sweet, funny, and heartwarming. All the best vibes to take us into a new year!

Sadie has had the worst year. She lost her job, her boyfriend broke up with her, and she had to move out of her apartment. When she gets the chance to redo the year, she jumps at it, but things become clearer the second time around and all the stuff that happened might not actually have been the worst thing.

This book was so fun to read. It was well paced, humorous, and had a worthy message. Changing yourself to fit in isn't the best course of action and won't give you the life you dream of. I loved the touch of magical realism and was so glad that it committed to the alternative year story line. Sadie had a great growth arc in finding her best self. Her love interest was super swoony and I loved their slow burn romance. This was the perfect feel good book to end my reading year on!

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever publishing for the advanced e-book in exchange for my honest review!

From the very first page this book pulled me in. Sadie's bad year and a chance at a do-over really had me thinking about some years I wished I could do over again but then I realize I might not have the life I have now or perhaps I still would, but it just would have taken a different route.

The humor and sarcasm in this book really pulled me in quickly and this lovely story about Sadie and her second chance year gave me all the feels! I love her tenacity and her heart for standing up for the underdog. This book was written well and the storyline was unique and inspiring. I would 100% read more books by Melissa Wiesner and I'm excited for the next one.

This book gets 5 stars from me because everything about this book made me feel good and isn't that what we all hope for when we pick up a new book to read?

Do yourself a favor and read this book!

The Second Chance Year is an absolute 5 star read. It’s got so many things going for it. Sadie, the main character, is someone that so many people could relate to. Whether you’re a woman dealing with sexism and/or sexual harassment or a person dealing with any other kind of “ism”. Or, someone wishing they could go back and change just the past because they think if only this was different everything would be perfect. Or maybe you’re trying to figure out what your dreams are and accept that not everyone may understand or even approve. The Second Chance Year by Melissa Wisener is all about learning to be true to yourself and living for the life you have instead of living in the past.

The Second Chance Year was a brother’s best friend romance that asked the question, what if you made different choices? How would your life turn out? This was an adult romance story that was so easy to read and enjoy!
What if someone had looked into a crystal ball last December and warned me about the terrible year I was about to have? Would I have done something differently?

Sadie Thatcher was at the end of her horrible year. Her boyfriend broke up with her. She was fired from her job. And she was living at her brother’s best friend’s apartment, while her parents were demeaning her life decisions. When a New Year’s party sent her back to January 1st, of the worst year of her life, she thought she could change fate. And how things worked out. Little did Sadie know she was in for a huge life lesson!
He lets out a small laugh, shaking his head, and he seems almost bitter. “I’ve wanted the same thing all my life. But...” His expression darkens. “I’ve never had the courage to reach out and grab it.”

Jacob was my absolute favorite! He was a delicious marshmallow who was smart, kind and oh so thoughtful. In the past, I loved how he noticed little things about Sadie. And in Sadie’s New Year, he was still shy, but she saw so much more of him. I loved all of her extra moments with Jacob. How their relationship grew. How there were bumps along the way. And nothing was truly easy.
I never thought I’d wish to have that year back, instead of this one.

Sadie was so easy to like. She could be rough around the edges, but she stood up for those she cared for. And in trying to fix all of her wrongs in the past, it left her a different person. She was muted and that created situations to go completely sideways. So I loved how as the year went on, we spent a chapter or few in each month, that she saw things in a different light. That she grew as a person. And realized exactly who she wanted to be.
This friendship with Jacob is a second chance I’m truly grateful for.

Rounding out this story was her amazing brother, Owen, and I adored her friendships with Zoe and Mrs. Kaminski. There were also her parents, who I severely struggled with. And Xavier and her ex whom I have so many horrible thoughts about. But what stood out was that each character was unique and made a stamp on Sadie’s life.
It’s all coming together just like I wanted it to.

The Second Chance Year was a heartwarming, adult romance that analyzes ones choices. While it dealt with heavier topics of sexism, sexual harassment and even bullying, the characters in this story and their interactions and lives added so much lightness to the pages. So while I guessed how quite a few things played out, I still enjoyed this story. And I’ll be looking forward to future releases from Melissa Wiesner.

PS I want to know which Tom Petty song please. :)

I enjoyed the plot of this novel but the thing that was lacking for me was the emotional depth. It was somewhat of a shallow love story and the main character seemed very factual in her telling of the story. I needed more emotion to love this book.

The Second Chance Year by Melissa Wiesner deals with some of my favorite tropes: second chances and time travel. It makes me think of books like Cassandra in Reverse and Oona Out of Order, and that's definitely a compliment coming from me. The chemistry between the leads is charming and authentic.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

Would you trust what a fortune teller says? Sadie has had an impressively disastrous run of bad luck. When a fortune teller grants her one wish she laughs it off but when she wakes up realizing it’s last year all over again she doesn’t know what to think. This was a fun one that had a lot of heart and had me thinking!
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Thank you #readforeverpub and #NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

4.5/5*

CW: bullying, sexism, sexual harassment

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for the copy of this e arc*

I’m all for time travel in stories and this one peaked my interest. After a bad year, Sadie makes a wish for a do over. What she wishes, she gets right? Sadie travels back to her bad year for a chance at a do over, with trying to go about doing it over again, Sadie encounters similar situations along with a few new ones. This book also tackles sexism bullying sexual harassment in the workplace which are important topics but can be triggering so content warning on those. I did enjoy this book and would definitely recommend this one for a holiday read or something for all year round.

This book was super cute and a great read. I loved the setting and characters. They were very well developed and I loved following along though the second chance year.

I enjoyed this romance! Perfect for the week in between Christmas and New Year’s. I always enjoy the going back in time trope and of course love a brother’s best friend. The found family in this one was great too! There was something that I just didn’t connect with and didn’t feel like the author went deep enough with certain aspects.

Do yourself a favor and stay in on NYE (or any time) and pick up this book. This is a fun do-over romance starting and ending on New Years Eve. It might make you think about changes you'd like to make with a second chance, but will also convince you that some things are meant to be.

This was such a pleasant surprise for me! I fell in love with the characters and how the plot was executed. I love what-if plots and books centered around food/baking. It was almost a comfort read for me and I could easily see myself rereading this book one day.