Time Loops & Meet Cutes
Jackie Lau
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…
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I’m a sucker for magical realism in contemporary romance, and Time Loops & Meet Cutes by Jackie Lau absolutely delivered! This isn’t my first book by her, but it’s my favorite and I am happy to say that her overall writing and character work have grown exponentially!
This story follows Noelle, an East Asian woman in her early thirties living in Toronto. The eldest daughter of her family, she is an independent, hardworking woman who’s sworn off love ever since her college boyfriend broke it off with her. After a particularly long day at work, she decides to visit the night market and, not wanting to splurge, she opts for a dumpling cart with a handwritten sign for dinner. They’re the best dumplings she’s ever had, with a flavor she can’t quite put her finger on. Noelle finishes her meal, heads home and goes to bed. But when she wakes up, it’s June 20th again.
And so begins the time loop that Noelle finds herself stuck in. I’ll admit, at first, her days are redundant and I was asking myself *why* the time loop was lasting so long. But it took time for Noelle to break out of her routine and start to place value on herself as a worker and an individual. One of the things that becomes a pattern in the time loop is Cam. Initially, Noelle thinks that kissing someone could be the key to breaking out of the time loop. But when that doesn’t work, she still finds herself drawn to him. At first, Noelle meets Cam at the night market after a particularly bad day. Then, at a boba tea shop near the salon where she gets a spontaneous haircut. And then again, when she does something very out of character and heads into a local brewery in the middle of the afternoon.
This was such a beautiful story, told in dual point of view, and there are so many details I left out so the reader can discover the magic for themselves! The themes of self-discovery, friendship, and love are important now more than ever. I’m already wishing I could read this again for the first time!
0A cute romance, a fun spin on the time loop trope (one I happen to thoroughly enjoy), and I love how much emphasis Jackie Lau puts on the other relationships in her protagonist's life as well as the central romantic one. Have a snack on hand when you read this.
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