Time Loops and Meet Cutes by Jackie Lau

Time Loops and Meet Cutes by Jackie LauTime Loops & Meet Cutes by Jackie Lau
Published by Atria Books, Emily Bestler Books on May 6, 2025
Genres: Romance
Pages: 352
Format: ARC
Source: Edelweiss
Purchase on: Amazon// Barnes & Noble// BookBub
Add to: Goodreads // StoryGraph

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.



The “masterful, inspiring, and full of heart” (Ali Hazelwood, New York Times bestselling author) Jackie Lau returns with a thoroughly unique love story about a woman reliving the same Friday over and over again—and the intriguing man who can’t quite remember her.
Noelle Tom really shouldn’t have eaten those dumplings at the night market. But the old lady at the stall said they’d give her what she needed most, and what Noelle desperately needed after another long workweek was food.
Except now she’s reliving the same Friday over and over. Every morning her alarm goes off at 6:45 no matter what, the Wordle answer is always “happy,” and she watches a silly squirrel video go viral day after day. And no matter how much she works on the same proposal, it’s always erased when she wakes up. It seems Monday will never come in this workaholic’s worst nightmare.
Noelle has no idea how being trapped in a time loop is the “thing she needed most,” especially now that everything seems meaningless. Sure, three fancy meals in a row is a fun treat, but it’s getting repetitive. Noelle’s not sure what lesson the old lady was trying to impart. Even a trip to the dumpling stall doesn’t help…because there’s no sign of it.
But then she meets a young woman who also ate the dumplings, and good-looking Cam, who appears in multiple places on her Friday. While he seems to have no memory of their encounters, there are signs he might be the key to getting un-stuck. But Noelle will have to put work aside and live a little in order to make him notice her. As their flirtation progresses, Noelle begins to worry that if she ever gets to turn the calendar page, Cam won’t know who she is and her life may never return to what it was before that fateful Friday…

four-stars

review

Reading the synopsis for Time Loops and Meet Cutes by Jackie Lau had me expecting a very cute romance. And while it was cute and I really enjoyed the book, it was a lot deeper than I thought it would be.

The build-up to romance was slower than I thought it would be. The first third feels like it works at creating a baseline. At having Noelle try to determine the parameters of whatever is going on that caught her in a time loop. I really appreciated how methodical Noelle approached the time loop. Then, when she meets Avery, it felt like kismet. Both girls just stuck in the loop, just as their stuck in their lives simply going through the motions. I wish we’d gotten more about Avery and her life and her story. It would’ve been interesting to see just where she was stuck and what her thought process was.

While I appreciated the friendship, the romance between Cam and Noelle was so bittersweet. She knows him, has all of these first encounters, and he will never remember her. To live through months of knowing someone through continual re-introduction and never having it stick? Heartbreaking! For two hearts to know one another so completely, two souls to recognize each other, but for one to never realize why or how? It killed me. I don’t know how Noelle didn’t succumb to Avery’s frame of mind.

Pacing was a little weird only for the Cam chapters. I was so entirely, thoroughly confused when those came up and it kicked me out of what was actually happening. Still, after finishing the book and realizing what those chapters were, I loved and appreciated it. The resolution was a little lackluster. It was a good ending, but just fell a little flat for me. I’m not sure why. I think I expected something more, something grander. But instead, it was quiet and coincidental almost.

I think if you’re looking for a romance that has a lot more plot and self-discovery than most, you’ll enjoy Time Loops and Meet Cutes by Jackie Lau. It was sweet, had a bit of spice, and a lot of heart.

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