I can never pass up the opportunity to read a time loop book and love books based on reality with just a dash of magic, so I was so excited to read this book!

After having a very bad year, a fortune teller sends Sadie back in time to have a second chance with her career, love life, family, and friends.

This was a fun read, while also covering some more serious themes like sexism and sexual harassment in the workplace. I did find it to be a bit predictable and Sadie and Jacob's relationship history wasn't believable to me, that being said it was an enjoyable read and I was rooting for Sadie the whole time. It was nice to have an alternative to Christmas books to read at this time of year.

Sadie had a Very Bad Year and on a New Year's day party she finds a fortune teller that lets her relive her Very Bad Year again and change it to make it her best year. She thinks that by changing herself, she will get the promotion she wants at her job, get recognition from her parents (where the definition of successful is staying with her boyfriend, lower her head and go back to school cause cooking is not a real job), and stay with her Wall Street boyfriend that wants to shape her to be the perfect Wall Street wife. In reality, she realizes that she has lost her essence, her voice and the real love of her life and at the end her Very Bad Year was in fact a year of liberation from the chains imposed by herself, her parents and what a macho society demands from a woman. I loved this book so much! It is a Rom-Com for the ages! with an amazing message: We should not change to please others, we should be who we are and fight for what we want.

Thank you. Negalley and Hachette Audio for this ALC in exchange of my honest review.

This was absolutely delightful! I find many romances to be cheesy; I did not feel like this was cheesy at all. It was sweet and light nd a perfect end-of-the-year read for me. The narrator was great too!

This book was great! I love the groundhog day (although this isn't exactly that) trope and even though a lot of this was predictable, it was so fun and comforting and just what I needed to read! All of the choices made were understandable - who wouldn't want a second chance? And who would expect it to all go perfectly? I loved it!

After a terrible year, Sadie makes a wish with a fortune teller for a redo on New Year’s Eve, and wakes up in the past with an opportunity to fix her mistakes.

This was a charming story that reminds us that everything happens for a reason. When Sadie gets a second chance at fixing her life, she risks ruining some of the things that were going well for her.

Over the course of a year, we see her try to keep her relationship on track and not rock the boat with her sexist boss at her job. Along the way she keeps running into her brother’s best friend Jacob, creates a community among the local coffee shop, and determines her career aspirations.

I really enjoyed this one overall and recommend if you need a feel good story around the new year. I liked the found family elements and connection with Jacob (though I would have cranked the tension up further). I enjoyed the audiobook as narrator Helen Laser did a great job bringing the story to life and expressing a sense of urgency as Sadie tries to get her world back on track.

Thanks Hachette Audio and NetGalley for the complimentary copy - it’s out December 5.

This was such a beautiful audiobook. Helen Laser,the narrator was just the most perfect narrator for this type of story.
This is a second audiobook that I have been lucky enough to review of Melissa's and she never fails with the 'feel good factor'. I had to keep listening to see how Sadie and Jacob were going to evolve. Although in life we are given a path to take and fate is fate.
The topics she writes about are always very relateble om this occassion, bullying a d sexual harassment.
If you want a really beautiful feel good audiobook with a good narrator then choose one of Melissa Wiesners books, you are guaranteed a really good day and a smile afterwards! Thank you to Netgalley and Hatchette Audio for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Sadie whose just lost her boyfriend and her job makes a wish on New Year’s Eve with a fortune teller for a do-over - a 2nd chance to make things right with her boyfriend and get that promotion at work. The writing gives us glimpses into Sadie’s inner thoughts which include creative and entertaining analogies of situations and feelings that made me giggle throughout the book! I loved watching Sadie’s self discovery and finding what she really wants out of her life and what is really worth fighting for in that second chance year. Really cute Rom-Com!

Thank you to Hackett Audio for the Advanced audio! #NetGalley #TheSecondChanceYear

This review is going to be as all over the place as this book.

I'll start by saying I didn't like. I didn't like that Sadie had to make herself small during the remake year to keep her job, to keep her boyfriend, to work through so her family acceptance. A woman that fought for injustices had to make herself small just to "have things" in a man's world and by still making herself small she doesn't get the man and she doesn't get the job. It took her way too long to notice how small she was making herself for other men and other people.

I also didn't like how the mom was like "You have to work with the machine instead of calling out injustices because if not you'll make it harder for the next woman or they'll get the next woman that won't complain." I do believe there is a time and a place to call out injustices but we shouldn't let men be men because they are men and that's what they do.

The fact that homegirl gets Sexually Assaulted 3 fucking times and the only "justice" was someone else posting a video of Sadie putting the men she assaulted in her place. It was mor of social justice than actual justice. She didn't need to get assaulted that many times.

I just didn't like this book or how it played out at all. Thank you so much Netgalley for the audiobook version of this book. All thought and feelings are my own.

I LOVED this book. It half stars were a thing it would be closer to 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.

This rom com is perfect for your holiday season. A few life lessons. Lots of dramatic sigh and laugh inducing moments. And all in a a story that hooked me right from the start! I think we could all use a little more Sadie to brighten our days!

The Second Chance Year may be one of my top favorite debut novels this year. Melissa Wiesner is officially on my auto-read, auto-buy, auto-devour every book that she writes.

The idea of reliving one of the worst years of your life in the hopes of changing things to make it better? I feel like it’s something that we all have wanted to do at one point of our lives. What I loved most about this book is that along the way, you learn a lesson that changing yourself for the worst is not how you turn a bad year into a good year.

I adored Sadie (the cat lady) and I adored Jacob. The side characters were FANTASTIC. They were very memorable in the story and I loved the chemistry that they had with each other.

Give me more books like this and my whole reading shelf will be full of 5 star reads.

Helen Laser as the narrator was fantastic and I really enjoyed listening to her. She definitely brought the story to life!

Thank you to Hachette Audio and Netgalley for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a light and fluffy romance. Sadie, the pastry chef, is having a bad year. She wishes it away to a random fortune teller and she wakes up a year ago. She proceeds to change a few choices to try to avoid fate, but things inevitably go towards the same conclusion. I love time travel books, but I can't help feeling like there were some missed opportunities in taking advantage of knowing a year of the future! Major events, sports games, market changes. . . All of these opportunities for Sadie to make a buck for her future pastry dreams. Speaking of which, if I had to hear one more baking metaphor, I thought I would pop like an overbaked souffle. I did like the sweetness of Sadie's relationship with Jacob and the realness of her friendship Katsumi(sp?).

What a sweet book!
No, it wasn’t all smiles and roses. There were some very difficult topics too…eg: sexual harassment in the workplace…pay inequality in the workplace, etc. BUT, it was terrific!

Sadie is a pastry chef in a high class, somewhat exclusive restaurant in NYC. She has the perfect boyfriend. Perfect job. Perfect life.
Or does she?

Her boyfriend Alex is a financial advisor, and is making a ton of money. She expects that he is going to propose to her any day now…

Her best friend, Hasumi, works with her, and they stick together like glue. Sadie is an outspoken, stand-up type of gal. She does NOT sit quietly in the corner! (But any respectable Brooklynite does not know HOW to BE quiet!) They speak their mind! (Yes…I grew up in Bklyn!) And Sadie is known to be the one to stand up for ALL of their rights in the kitchen (of the restaurant)…

Sadie has a younger brother too, Owen, who in their parents eyes is the GOLDEN child…while Sadie is unable to do anything RIGHT in their eyes…
(This to me was a very messed up situation, but I’m sure it happens more than you know…)

Alex’s best friend, since grade school is Jacob. They are always together. And Jacob will never forget how Sadie stood up for him, in grade school, when he was being bullied!

Sadie is now 31, and Jacob and Owen have their own lives, and jobs…and are doing well. They don’t need her protection any more.

But Sadie is always getting into trouble because of her big mouth…so much so, that she gets fired from her job!

So, when Alex breaks up with Sadie, she is shocked…and destroyed. She has no job, no boyfriend, and now, nowhere to live!

While out at a New Year’s Eve party, she finds a fortune teller, and asks her what she can do to get her life back. And she tells her! Sadie doesn’t believe it…but when she wakes up the next day in bed with her ex…well, to say she’s surprised is an understatement!

This is where all the action begins!
What would you do if you got a second chance at life?
Can you fix all the wrongs? Can you turn it all back around?
Because…sometimes what you wish for is not exactly what you need!

You’ll have to read to find out what actually happens, but this was wonderful, and such a sweet surprise!

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me!

Thanks to #NetGalley and #HachetteAudio #Forever for an ARC of this book.

Release date is December 5th!

#TheSecondChanceYear by #MelissaWiesner and narrated by #HelenLaser. And may I say she did a great job! You could actually HEAR her smiling while she’s reading! It made the book that much more enjoyable!!

Check out all my upcoming reviews and previews on FB @ #BookReviewsWithElaine or on IG @ #BookReviews_with_emsr

Thanks for reading with me! 📚📖

Thanks to #NetGalley for ARC of this audiobook. I soaked this up in less than 24 hours. A perfect Holiday read as it occurs over New Year’s Eve. This book has love, romance, heartbreak and more all while dealing with the subject of sexual harassment.

I received this audiobook from NetGalley for free in exchange for an honest review. I finished this book in a day! Solid 4.8 star - I don't know if it's because it's the time of the year but I needed some positive romance stories to get in the mood for the holidays. The story was very cute and love how Sadie realized the person she was becoming and losing when given the (second) chance of the year again. Love the strong positive female character Sadie is in the story and how she handled things. The story was easy to follow and you can not but just help cheer Sadie on. The love story ended up being very cute and slightly predictable but that's how you know it's going to end on a beautiful/positive note. The narrator, Helen Lazer (sp?) was fantastic in the audio - love the voices she used for the different characters and def gave me a laugh. The story was easy to follow and heartwarming. I will be recommending this book for the holiday!

This is my first Melissa Wiesner book and it's gotten me hooked. I look forward to checking out her other novels on Goodread.

Great book! A bit cheesy. But in the best way possible. Felt like I was listening to a movie. Great narration.

I really, really enjoyed this story! Who doesn't love the idea of getting a do-over for a time when they think they've made some mistakes in their life? Sadie and Jacob were adorable and I was really rooting for them through the whole book.

The only thing that wasn't my favourite was the use of *many* baking analogies/metaphors throughout. I know Sadie is a baker, so it was intentional, but there were a LOT of them used and I felt like it took away from the flow of the writing to me.

I listened to the audiobook version and I thought the narrator did a really fantastic job! I hate when narrators do an overly low fake voice for the male characters, and I appreciated that this narrator didn't do that. I will absolutely seek out other books by the same narrator in the future.

Overall, it was a sweet book that I would definitely recommend to friends.

Sadie Thatcher is having an epically awful year. She loses her job, apartment, AND boyfriend all in a short timeframe. When she visits a mysterious fortune teller and wishes for a redo, Sadie gets the second chance of her dreams. Or does she...?

The Second Chance Year is a cute (fluffy) second chance romance, and also tackles some more complex issues surrounding sexual harassment in the workplace as well as challenging the social stigma of being a strong, outspoken female who can hold her own and follows her dreams.

I really loved Sadie and Jacob both as individual characters as well as a couple, and feel that the author did a great job making them relatable to the reader. The character development of both - but particularly Sadie - unfolds nicely throughout the book and peaks at exactly the right moment.

I did listen to this on audio, and have no issues to report on that end. I felt that the narrator did a great job with diction and pacing, and was super easy to follow.

Overall, I enjoyed this book!

🧚🏻 I just want to say thank you to NetGalley, Hachette Audio, and author Melissa Weisner for providing me with a free audio copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Synopsis: It has been a Very Bad Year for Sadie. She lost her job, her boyfriend, and her apartment and has been living with her brother’s best friend. On New Year’s Eve, she encounters a fortune teller who offers her the chance to have a do-over of the last year. During her second chance year, Sadie tries to change all of the things that she did “wrong” the first time around, but begins to lose herself in the process. She will have to learn that being true to herself will lead to true happiness.

Thoughts: Wow this book was relatable! Sadie is a strong, opinionated woman who feels she has to make herself smaller to fit into male-dominated spaces and make everyone else happy. We’ve all been there, right? I really enjoyed Sadie’s journey of finding herself. The romance aspect was secondary to Sadie’s journey which I actually loved, but it was so well done and felt earned. I was also a huge fan of the cast of side characters that were super quirky and fun. Part light-hearted rom com, part deeper introspective story of self-discovery, this book checked all the boxes!

Read this if you like:
🔮 time-loop stories
🔮 rom coms
🔮 baking
🔮 self discovery
🔮 found family

Many thanks to Hachette Audio, author Melissa Wiesner, and Netgalley for providing me the ALC.
Release Date: December 5, 2023

Sadie Thatcher is closing out an incredibly hard year in her life in which she lost her restaurant job, her relationship, and her comfortable apartment and life. She wishes for a do-over on New Year’s Eve and wakes up to January 1st…of the previous year! As Sadie relives a year of her life, she gets a new perspective on the choices she’s made and the bright possibilities ahead of her. One of them is her brother’s best friend Jacob.

- Single POV from Sadie
- Genre: I would say it leans more toward “women’s fiction” with a side of romance than full-on romance. Lighthearted and heartfelt but not rom-com.
- Solidly engaging narration by Helen Laser

The story and protagonist is super relatable, as we’ve all gone through disappointments and setbacks in life and/or regrets about how our actions have shaped present circumstances. It’s nice that the author didn’t go too hard on low-self esteem or wallowing. Sadie is sometimes aggravating but that's the whole point of the story: her growth.

Although Jacob as the love interest is brother’s best friend, there’s no anxiety surrounding that dynamic or the brother finding out. Instead, the conflict comes from within the pair’s gradually developing relationship and their communication. Jacob is a really good, caring guy from the start.

It’s perfect for a New Years beginning of year read, or for any time you need a pick-me-up about appreciating life, being yourself, and finding the silver linings in life!

This was such a cute read! I love books where a character relives a day or year, and I loved the premise of this book.

The thing that grated me the most, and which led me to give it four stars rather than five, were the constant food metaphors and similes. I get that she's a pastry chef, and I can appreciate a metaphor or simile every now and then, but there was probably one on every two pages. She once compared her voice to fluffy meringue, and that phrase fully pulled me out of the story because it was so disorienting and confusing. I found myself wondering how a voice was like a fluffy meringue rather than paying attention to the story.

However, the plot was cute, I loved Sadie and Jacob and I really enjoyed seeing the differences between how situations played out in her Very Bad Year versus when she was reliving it. Sadie had great character growth, and the secondary characters were fleshed out well.

And the book translated well as an audiobook! The narrator was good and the pacing was excellent.

Thanks to NetGalley, Hachette Audio, and Melissa Wiesner for an ARC of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.