The Second Chance Year

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 show more 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. show less

3.7 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

And suddenly the room is spinning. Because though it's January first, just like I expected...It's January first, twelve months ago. The entire last year of my life is---gone.
Gone.
Just like I wished for.

Sadie has had a year, she lost her job as a pastry chef when she stood up to her boss again about his dictator way of running the restaurant, lost her boyfriend when he broke up with her because she made a scene again at one of his work events over sexist comments, and lost her apartment when her savings ran out. She's now living in a spare bedroom in the apartment of Jacob, her brother Owen's bestfriend. Depressed she works as show more a barista after her boss got her blackballed, she hardly leaves the couch. The only good thing is that she's starting to see that Jacob isn't so much standoffish and judgmental of her but really shy. When her bestfriend Kasumi invites her to a New Year's Eve party she doesn't want to go but it turns out to the be the best thing to ever happen to her.

And then he stands up from the couch.
Crosses the room.
Sinks down on the bed next to me.
Slides one hand behind my head.
And he kisses me.

The Second Chance Year was a chik-lit story told all from Sadie's point-of-view that took a good look at what it means to go along to get along and staying true to yourself, with a little romance. At the NYE's party, Sadie meets a fortune teller and makes the wish to get a second chance at the horrible year she just had. With some magical realism, she gets that chance and wakes up in her old apartment with her ex Alex and late to work at the restaurant she was fired at. Getting back all the things she lost has her taking a second look at how she reacted to things and trying a different route to get a different outcome. Instead of yelling at her chef boss, when he's unfairly yelling at employees or asking her to work the front of the restaurant, she bites her tongue and sees that he starts to treat her nicer and even dangle the promotion she wanted in front of her. Sadie also doesn't attack Alex's co-workers when they make sexist comments and instead talks to Alex first about it, which he had asked her to do. This has him inviting her to more work events, buying her expensive designer clothes to help her fit in, and even act like he could be ready to propose. Sadie starts to think this might be the chance she needed to get everything she wanted, if it didn't feel like she was also losing herself and the friendships she made in her awful year.

If I could go back, I'd do it all differently. I'd never let him walk out thinking everything that happened between us was a mistake.

Sadie sees that not only do things change for her when she acts different, things change for the people around her. She loses her bestfriend Kasumi instead of her job when she acts different at work and that awful year that lead to her knowing Jacob more and ended with them having a NYE's kiss, which now didn't happen, has him slowly hanging out with a neighbor that Sadie had set up with someone else. I greatly enjoyed how the book explored and showed how people who say others are too “abrasive” with what they say, is really how it isn't how you say it but that you're saying it at all, with it's looks at sexism in the workplace. Sadie struggled with this and how her college professor parents constantly belittled her pastry chef occupation and heaped loads of praise and love on her younger brother Owen because of his college degree and high powered job in robotics. As Sadie opened up more to the people around her, it was nice for her to see how the people who really cared for her, admired the things about her she thought she needed to change to succeed.

So, this is what it's like to be loved by someone who appreciates who I am, not just who I could be or should be. Not just who they want me to be.

During her second chance year, things don't quite work out the way she thought they would if she tried changing herself and gets a dose of maybe things happen for a reason. Sadie's journey is the focus of the story but, while we don't fully get to know Jacob, he's around a good amount and the way Sadie starts to see him different and the way he gets to be there for her does provide a sweet romance thread (not genre romance and no open doors) with a scene delivering happily for now that will probably get a few eyes watering. This was self-affirming, frustrating look at the systems allowed to exist in workplaces, a look at how sexism breaks people down emotionally, and a great look at how whittling yourself away to fit others never works. If you've ever wondered what a second chance could look like, this delivers all the ways it could go wrong and right, with a little tender romance. show less

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 show more 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. show less

{stand alone; timeslip, clean romance, second chance, harassment}(2023)

For some reason this was sitting on my search page in my Libby tab in my browser. Obviously I'd searched for it or something with this (or a similar) title but I can't remember why (either a BB or a LibraryThing recommendation?). Anyhow, I liked the idea of a timeslip romance and felt like a fluffy read at this point in time and it delivered.

The premise is that Sadie has had a horrible year - being dumped by her boyfriend, losing her job as a pastry chef at a high end New York restaurant and consequently having to move out of her apartment and move in with her brother's best friend - so when she meets a fortune teller on New Year's Eve she makes a wish to go back in show more time and change it. Disappointed that nothing happens she goes home and ends up sharing an intense kiss with Jacob, her roommate.

Then she wakes up the next morning one year ago with her old boyfriend, apartment and job back - and Jacob, of course, has no memory of the kiss. So she relives the year rethinking the actions that led to those disasters - when originally she opened her big mouth to fight for the underdog - and finds that life doesn't turn out the way she expected it would anyway. She doesn't like the person she's turned into or the things that happen, including demeaning treatment from the chef who owns the restaurant, because she bites her tongue and doesn't stand up for herself or for others.

So maybe the first time around wasn't so bad?

Cute and fluffy; a clean romance to give you butterflies. There were lots of dessert related metaphors and similes. I feel that, though the story ends well for Sadie, Owen's and Alex's stories could still be finished.

(November 2025)
3.5 stars show less

I enjoyed this contemporary romance with a fun time travel element. After a horrible year in which she lost her job, apartment, and boyfriend Sadie Thatcher is not really in the mood to go to a circus themed New Year’s Eve party, but her friend convinces her. After evading a creepy clown, she stumbles upon a fortune teller tent and decides to see if her future looks any better. She ends up telling the fortune teller she’d would love to redo the past year to fix mistakes she thinks she made. The fortune teller grants her wish. When she wakes up the next morning it’s January 1st of the previous year.

Sadie learns a lot as she lives her year again but with knowledge of what will happen. Changing how she reacts and choices she makes show more do cause things to turn out differently but not always in ways she expects.

This was a fun story. I enjoyed the supporting cast of characters and while some of it was predictable the journey was entertaining. show less

The Second Chance Year by Melissa Wiesner
Contemporary romance. Magical realism, wishing, time travel.
Sadie Thatcher is having a Very Bad Year. She lost her job. She lost her apartment. She lost her boyfriend. She’s living on the couch of her brother’s best friend, wrapped in a blanket and eating ice cream. Her best friend convinces Sadie to go to a New Year’s Eve party where she finds a fortune teller. Sadie makes a wish to do the last year over and wakes up the next morning, a year in the past, in her old apartment, with her boyfriend next to her. She vows she will spend the next year doing everything differently. No more talking back to her boss. No more public fights with her boyfriend’s coworkers. It’s going to be show more different this time around.

We could predict what was going to happen. That doesn’t make it any less charming. With Sadie no longer being vocal about certain issues, her situation and friendships change. Sadie finds herself missing the people at the coffee shop. She talks to Jacob more and realizes he’s way more than she’s noticed in the past.
Sadie changes how she reacts to situations which does change events but not how she expects or even wants sometimes.
It does have a couple of deep “learning” points, but more, it’s an adorable romance where Sadie finds it’s better to just be herself.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley. I will absolutely share my love of this story with my bookclubs. show less

Quick, adorable and has some interesting topics for good Book club discussion!

Sadie works as an assistant pastry chef at a prestigious restaurant. She works hard and has a dream of, one day, owning her own bakery. I liked that she was strong-willed and sassy. We don't see too much of her attitude, at first, because we see her as she reeling from losing her boyfriend and job.

But her wish with a fortune teller gives her a do-over. It rewinds to before she blew up over a sexist remark and her boyfriend broke up with her, to before her frustration at sexism in the workplace got her in another argument with her boss and he fired her.

But playing it safe and watching her tongue may not work out how she thinks. I liked the turn of events, the show more realizations she had, the frustration over her parents but also the insight in her mother. Of course, the romance is really adorable. I loved reading about their slow burn from friendship to more. Spice level low. For such a cute cover, it actually tackles some topics that will spur interesting discussion for a book club. I really liked this one!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. show less