Loved the Ground Hog Day vibes with the time loop that Noelle and Cam were stuck in, and just thought this was so stinking cute!

This book stole my heart in the best way. Time Loops and Meet Cutes is a fresh, emotional take on the time loop trope, blending friendship, romance, and self-discovery into a story that’s both fun and deeply affecting.

The friendship between Noelle and Avery is beautifully written — loyal, supportive, and full of heart. Their connection anchors the story as they navigate the strange reality of reliving the same day. The emotional weight builds with each repetition, especially as they start to feel the impact of being stuck while the world outside keeps moving.

And then there’s Cam.

The love story between Noelle and Cam is sweet, slow-burn, and a little bit heartbreaking. Watching Noelle fall for someone who forgets her every day is such a clever, gut-punch setup. It makes every small moment between them feel so precious. You root for them even as the odds stack higher, and there’s something incredibly romantic about falling in love over and over again — even if only one person remembers.

Noelle’s growth really stands out. She starts as someone who avoids risks, but the loop pushes her to actually live, not just go through the motions. And Avery has her own quiet reckoning with a relationship that maybe wasn’t as perfect as it seemed.

By the time the loop ends, you're left wondering — what would you change if every day was the same? Are you truly happy, or just comfortable?

Heartfelt, funny, and surprisingly deep, this one really sticks with you.
"Memory can be both a blessing and a curse" — and this story proves it.

A fun Toronto-based rom-com where the protagonist seems destined to relive the same day over and over while her love interest forgets her every time the day resets. I always enjoy Jackie Lau's books and this one was no exception.

🥟 Time Loops & Meet Cutes by Jackie Lau 🥟

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25

Noelle’s life is quite mundane and routine. She works late everyday, keeps her head down, and has sworn off dating. On June 20th, however, after a late night at the office, she heads to a night market. While looking for something to eat, she comes across a dumpling stand with no line. As she orders, the old woman behind the stand tells her that the dumplings will give her what she needs. After her dinner, she heads home and goes to sleep. When she wakes to her alarm the next day, she checks her calendar to find that it’s… June 20th? Again? Stuck in a time loop, she contemplates how she might get out, when she realizes there’s a certain man named Cam who she’s been seeing in quite a few places. Could he be the key to getting to June 21st?

I was so excited to receive an ARC of this book as it has my favourite trope of time loops/time jumps, and sounded absolutely adorable. Overall - I loved this book. I couldn’t put it down, and read it in one day. I enjoyed the characters, and felt like we got to see a lot of growth.
Often in time loops, I feel like the day they’re living over and over gets very boring (which - fair), but in this one, even though Noelle and Cam’s relationship couldn’t necessarily progress, their romance did, and so did Noelle as a character.
I did find I was slightly unsatisfied with the explanation of how the loop ended, and I saw the twist with the dumpling lady coming. I felt kind of confused about Avery’s resolution too.
I have also not read a time loop book where the world keeps going outside of the loop (I feel like this isn’t a spoiler as Cam’s perspective begins early in the book.).
I also felt that Cam’s chapters didn’t add much. It was quite repetitive when he was saying “oh I feel like somethings weird hahah not sure what”, though it did add a bit of context towards the end.
Overall, this was sweet, and when I had to put it down I couldn’t wait to pick it up. I’ll definitely be recommending this, and checking out the authors other work!

Read this if you like:
- time loops
- magical realism
- perfect male love interests
- dumplings 🥟

Vibes: 🥟🍺🗓️🔂👵🏼

Full review including content warnings on my StoryGraph.

🥟 Time Loops & Meet Cutes is out May 6, 2025! Thank you NetGalley and Atria for the eARC. 🥟

I was excited to receive an ARC for this book! The Author is such a good writer and this book did not disappoint. I absolutely loved it , from the characters and the way the story unfolds it's just a really good book. This has been my first time loops book and I'm so glad I got to start with this one. I can't wait to see what this author does next!

Thank you to Atria for providing me with an advanced copy on this book..

I absolutely adore Time Loops and Meet Cutes! I've read a few times loop books before but this is my favorite one yet. It's an open door, dual POV, contemporary romance with elements of magic.

It was an emotional rollercoaster watching Noelle fall for Cam while in her time loop, knowing he wouldn't remember her the next day. I loved that while the story is a romance, it also spent time on Noelle's growth as a person, including a focus on relationships with friends and family..

I recommend this to any contemporary romance reader who is looking for something just a little bit out of the ordinary.

After eating a “magic” dumpling at a food market, Noelle is forced to re-live the same day over and over again. She meets Cam and they have an instant connection; one that seems like will never advance past the first date.

This was such a charming time-loop story! It has a bit of mystery mixed in which kept me turning the pages late in to the night. I’ve never craved dumplings and bubble tea more … the food descriptions in this book were on point. 🥟 🍵 🥢🧁

Thank you to Atria Books for inviting me to read this and to NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Will post my review closer to the publication date.

Time Loops and Meet Cutes is such a great book. I rated it 4.25⭐️. It’s about Noelle. One night she goes to a night market and eats dumplings from a stand offering them for $5. The next day, she wakes up and it’s the same day June 20th. She’s very confused. The next day is the same-June 20th. She returns to the night market to find the dumpling stand to get some answers but it is gone. She meets another women who is also trapped in this same time loop. They become quick friends and try everything they can to break the time loop-to no success. During all this, Noelle meets Cam. She keeps seeing him different places around town. They form a relationship, but the problem? Cam never remembers her the next day because everything gets erased and reset each night. I loved Cam and Noelle’s relationship. The description of food is amazing. I loved the concept of time travel with a little magic thrown in. It’s truly a story of being brave enough to take risks, ask for what you really want in life, and to not be caught in some of the things that don’t matter in life.

This was just my kind of book! As a big fan of time loops/alternate realities in stories, I was very excited to find that in a romance! Time Loops & Meet Cutes is full of sweet, engaging, and enjoyable moments. At first it felt rushed with the passing of time sometimes being squished into a few sentences, but as I continued with the story I could tell that there was so much more to Noelle's (and Cam's) story than just the repeats of June 20th.

This dual POV works so well! I found Noelle to be very likeable, even though she is initially described as being a workaholic and rigid in her activities. She is truly full of heart, kindness, and good intentions. I also really loved reading Cam's internal thoughts, and enjoyed that he was so intentional about his interactions with Noelle.

All of the references to different foods and beverages were a lot of fun! I love watching cooking shows and trying new restaurants, so this was a fun element of the story for me. I also happen to love dumplings, and bubble tea!

Time Loops & Meet Cutes is a feel-good romance with wonderful characters that bring out the best in each other. Truly something magical to read about; an escape from the day-to-day.

*I was given this ARC by Atria Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own!

This book was okay? I felt like the idea was so good (I’ve enjoyed stories before with the time loop concept) but I feel like there were so many more interesting directions it could’ve gone.

I found myself pretty bored for most of the book. Obviously there’s bound to be a little repetition in a time loop, but reading the same day over and over for over half the book got really boring. I felt like the plot didn’t budge until around 70%. Even the romance was hard bc he literally forgot who she was every night.

I also felt the romance was pretty cheesy and honestly a little awkward? I think maybe it’s just the writing style but I didn’t connect with either mcs.

And then after all of that there really isn’t ever a real explanation for why she got stuck in the time loop and how she got out. I think there was so much potential and the story just fell really flat for me unfortunately.

Thank you to Atria for a free eARC through netgalley!

This is a story about predictable and rigid Noelle, who finds herself stuck in a time loop and needs to figure out what it is she needs to change in her life to get out of it. It was a cute rom-com that kept me pretty engaged the whole time with good characters and pacing. There were things about the time loop and the reason it created that I found really far-fetched, but overall it was an enjoyable and fairly quick read. Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for an early copyt of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Noelle Tom is stuck in every workaholic’s worst nightmare—a time loop. After a late-night trip to the night market, a plate of suspiciously delicious dumplings, and an old woman’s cryptic words, Noelle wakes up to the same Friday. Again. And again. And again. No matter what she does, Monday never comes.
At first, she tries everything—eating the best food in Toronto, working on the same proposal (pointless), and testing out all the usual “break the loop” tricks. But nothing changes. Then she meets Avery, another time loop victim, and Cam, a guy who keeps showing up in different places on her repeating Friday. Noelle isn’t sure why she’s drawn to him, but their encounters keep pulling her in, even if he never remembers her the next day.
What makes this story shine is how Noelle’s journey isn’t just about romance but also about self-discovery. She’s so caught up in work and expectations that she never stops to ask herself what she actually wants. Her growing connection with Cam is sweet, swoony, and layered with tension—what happens if she breaks the loop and he doesn’t even know who she is? Meanwhile, her friendship with Avery adds heart, humor, and a reminder that we all need people who see us, even in the messiest moments.
With Toronto as a vibrant backdrop, plenty of delicious food, and a fresh twist on the time loop trope, this book delivers on romance, friendship, and finding joy in the unexpected. Fans of Groundhog Day and In a Holidaze will love this one!

4.5 stars. This was such a fun and interesting take on the time loop trope! Cam and Noelle had such great chemistry. The book handled the realities of the time loop really well. Trying not to give too much away in terms of plot, but this is a fresh take on time loops (for me at least). If you like the trope, if you like food, and if you like romances, read it!

Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for the ARC!

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Time Loops & Meet Cutes by Jackie Lau is a first person dual-POV speculative romance. Noelle is an engineer who’s whole world is her job after her last break-up a few years ago. During a visit to the Toronto Night Market, she eats dumplings from a mysterious cart and starts to repeat June 20th over and over. When she meets Cam at a boba tea shop, she convinces herself that the way out of the loop is to kiss him but the more time she spends with him, the more real it starts to feel.

This was so cute. I knew I had to read it the second I saw the cover (one of the best modern romance covers I’ve seen) and I loved every last word. The emotional arcs of Noelle, Cam, and Noelle’s new friend Avery all felt believable as did Noelle’s progression from a stereotypical engineer who is too afraid to take risks in her personal life to someone who takes some small risks and trusts people more. It was very obvious to me that this is not Jackie Lau’s first book because she has so much command over what is happening on the page and I’m definitely going to have to go through her backlog and keep an eye out for future books.

Noelle’s workaholic nature comes up several times, especially in the beginning and the end. She’s willing to stay late and work on projects to correct other people’s mistakes and her own sister is shocked that she took the day off. I’ve known multiple engineers and almost every single one I know would die at their desk if you let them, so I fully believed this aspect of Noelle’s character. I also bought her just quitting going to work when she figured out that she was going to keep repeating the same day over and over only for her to sit at home and watch TV or crochet on some days because she doesn’t really have a life outside of her career.

Cam is the relaxed partner that Noelle needs while she’s the more stable, honest partner that he needs. We don’t get much insight into Cam’s inner wounds but we see how much he is not only missing a partner but how much he’s missing Noelle despite forgetting all the time they spent together. Every time he remembered something about her, I cheered. He’s a romantic and I could feel his genuine feelings for Noelle.

Content warning for mentions of suicidal ideation and death

I would recommend this to fans of romance with a single speculative element and readers of contemporary romance looking for a female lead in STEM and a male lead who is working in the food industry

I like the concept of this book but it was very slow. And I couldn’t really stay engaged in it. It took me many sittings it read it

This was a fun variation of the reliving the same day premise. I really enjoyed the first half of the book when the main character was dealing with the time loop and trying to get out of it. The second part was a little less exciting and fell a little flat but the ending was a great wrap up.

DNF at 28%. I love a well-done time-loop book, and have read great ones. And I love Jackie Lau, although her books have not been clicking for me this year. This was just so repetitive, and in some ways, that’s part of the charm, but I literally saw the chapter heading “June 20, Version 52-ish” and wanted to yeet myself from existence.

The description of the book sounded like so much fun, but it just never hooked me.

There are so many terrific reviews; it might just be a matter of timing. When I started this book, I was coming off of a read I didn't enjoy and felt like a slog, and I needed something to pull me in immediately. This just wasn't it.

Thank you to Atria and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Noelle Tom lives for her work- even if it means she is underappreciated, underpaid, and stuck cleaning up everyone else's laziness. When she stops at a night market and eats some dumplings, she doesn't think anything about it when the woman at the stall says they will give her what she needs.

When she wakes up the next morning to her 6:45 am alarm, it is Friday again and the Wordle answer is still happy- ironic given the situation. She cannot understand what is going on. She heads back to the market and cannot find the stall but ends up meeting Cam.

Every day she wakes up and it is Friday and she keeps meeting Cam. What does this all mean and can she get out of this time loop?

Why Jackie loves it

This is such a delightful romance that shows us sometimes we need a little push to get our lives right. In this case, Noelle had a lot of practice

4 stars

This is a great, creative romance that delivers on genre-specific expectations and brings a little more to the table, too.

Noelle eats some dumplings, and the next thing she knows, she's in a time loop, reliving June 20th without explanation. We've all had some delicious food that we've regretted and/or questioned later, but this is on another level. Noelle knows that the dumplings have come with a wild caveat: that she'll get what she most needs. The question is what is THAT? What will ultimately break this cycle, and how does this guy, Cam, fit into her bizarre new life?

I liked so much about this. The pacing is great (not always easy in a time loop!), the romance is intriguing, and the friendships and family relationships are more layered than expected. This is my second book by this author, and while I've enjoyed both, this one delivers something extra special.

This is a solid approach to romance, particularly for those who are not in it for the overly sappy moments.