Clever idea about reliving a day over and over until she can get it right. It was interesting to read it after Covid when we all had to slow down but now, things seem more hectic than pre-Covid so this book was reflective. Really interesting and enjoyable

I massively enjoyed this book, it in the format of a time loop story, exploring the question of what would yopu do differently.
I think its human nature to wonder what-if and what could have been different so this book was particularly relevant and appealing to me.
Emma as a character is so relatable and feels like someone you have known for many years. This is a thought provoking read that i'd happily reccomend to anyone.

I started off enjoying this story and then when it kept repeating over and over I got bored so I didn’t finish it. I found it a little silly. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Really enjoyed this one!
I admit, to start with it took a while to get going. I even thought I had started the wrong book on my kindle because I wasn't reading what had been in the blurb!
That being said, I soon got stuck in to the fascinating storyline and loved to see the Groundhog Day trope playing out. I am so interested in this premise, and this was done really well. I did expect some repetition, but Major did an excellent job of changing elements that kept the reader engaged and the story moving along.
This is a book of reflection, and I guarrantee you will look at your life in a different way after finishing it.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for approving me for an ARC of this book.

⌛I love a time loop story so the synopsis of this one grabbed me instantly. The story explores the day-old question what would you do differently if you got to relive another day? For Emma, the day she relives in a tragedy but each repeat allows us to learn one more piece of the puzzle.

👩🏻 When we first meet Emma she is a character a lot of us can relate to. Snowed under with work, parenting and wifely duties, she doesn’t know if she’s coming or going and is therefore a sinking ship. The shock of Dan’s accident gives her the reboot she needs and I loved seeing how her character transformed. We saw anger, despair, happiness, and sarcasm, it was an emotional rollercoaster!

💌 The inclusion of Dan’s letters was beautiful. I really enjoyed getting Dan’s POV of how their life was going and his final letter caused the tears to fall. I defy anyone to not feel emotional when reading this story!

💗 Cesca Major beautifully explores the ins and outs of a relationship, and how we quickly get swept away with the every day routine, not fully appreciating what we have. The story has caused me to stop and reflect on my own life and I’m sure many other readers will agree. Thought provoking, relatable and truly affecting, this is not to be missed!

Maybe Next Time is an extremely thought-provoking book and is so relatable. Get ready for an emotionally charged read which will continue to play in your head a long time after you’ve finished the last pages.
I think most people can identify with some part of Emma’s life. She isn’t the easiest person to like in the very beginning but the more you get to know her, the easier it is to see how overwhelmed she is at attempting to balance everything in her life and that is something I can definitely sympathise and connect with.
Maybe Next Time follows Emma through one horrendous day which sees most aspects of her life end in crumbling ruins by the end of the day. Given the chance to relive the day over and over – you’d imagine it would be easy to fix everything but things aren’t always that simple.
Maybe Next Time is an ode to the impact of the stress of everyday life – trying to balance a family, maintain a marriage, work and be involved in various things and still somehow find time to look after ourselves and our health. It really made me think about the longer term implications of trying to do all of this (and then some).
Throughout the book, there are letters written to Emma from Dan as an anniversary tradition and it allows the reader to see their relationship journey through the 15 years since meeting. This was such a clever way to pull on the heartstrings but also see things from Dan’s perspective and learn about his feelings too. It’s also a really good way to se Emma through his eyes instead of her own and is so powerful – do we ever really know how those around us see us or how they feel about us?
I cannot resist a book that can make me ugly cry but also leave me feeling uplifted in equal measure and Maybe Next Time hits both these spots. It’s poignant, beautiful and in places, tender and humorous. It’s simply beautiful and I adored it all.

Wow, what a thought-provoking book. We meet Emma, a well-intentioned woman who just cannot prioritise or delegate - she is juggling so many balls. She has a stressful full time job, a husband and two children; but she's still doing half her boss's work, she's still on endless committees - even for the playgroup after her youngest child left it three years before! And the stress is showing - she has no time for her family, her friends, her beloved sister-in-law, she always feels she's behind in everything she's doing, because there are just not enough hours in the day.

Its their wedding anniversary and Dan, as usual, has written a letter highlighting the highs and lows of their relationship over the year. Last year Emma forgot the anniversary and didn't produce a letter. And it looks like she's forgotten again this year. Personally if my husband and I exchanged letters highlighting our failings we'd be in the divorce court by anniversary 3, but Dan and Emma seem to like this.

So throughout the book we read each of Dan's lovely letters. But Emma is reliving the same day, every day. She can change things, do things differently, but the next day the clock resets and she's back to the same day once more. Its a fascinating concept, and we learn through Emma how to prioritise, how to enjoy the time she has, how to let go.

I really enjoyed it, and it was extremely well written, as it would have been easy to lose the reader - either to repetition or to confusion - but that never happened with me. First class!

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book from start to finish!
It was sad and made me cry but written beautifully that it wraps you up and takes you away. It really highlights how we can get so carried away with the world that we loose sight of the important and small things in life which we later start to regret. The repetitive timeline was done so well that you start to navigate what the message is.

Emma is living a busy life, constantly dealing with meetings, social media, family and other demands on her time. One day it ends badly, very badly. She wakes up the next morning and finds that she is back on that day. She started to realise that her priorities were all wrong and changes what she does in that day. But still the day keeps ending badly, no matter how many times and ways she tries to change it. The book is annoying to start with, very frantic and frenetic. However, this is an accurate representation of where Emma is at. As the story progresses, the pace slows as she does, and becomes more meaningful, as she takes stock of her life. Worth sticking with

It isn’t often a book makes me cry but this one got me good and proper at the end. It’s the story of Emma and Dan, a couple who met, fell in love, and had children. Now life is in the way and their time together is snatched and sometimes tense. Work is hard, children are challenging, and there are other responsibilities that get in the way of time together as a couple.

Then on their dataversary something awful happens. Emma’s distraught, but she wakes up the next day and like Groundhog Day, she’s gone back to the morning before and has the opportunity to do things differently again, and again, and again.

This isn’t a fairy tale. There’s so much real life weaved into the plot. Emma and Dan are fantastic characters, and Dan’s annual letters that are weaved through the book are a brilliant plot device.

I devoured this in 24 hours. Would highly recommend. Big thanks for netgalley for the advanced copy.

You think you have all the time in world, then you don’t. Unless of course, you are Emma, who gets to continuously live out potentially one of the worst days of her life in a Groundhog Day type loop. A successful career, kids, husband, dog, and a phone with never-ending pings, she is constantly busy and then the tragedy happens. Emma is left trying to change the outcome, with differing results, as in her world, December 3rd is repeated over and over again. Love the message the book delivers of being present, being in the moment and slowing down.

Absolutely stunning book, poignant, heart-breaking, and truly relatable. Highly, highly recommend.

Warning – you will need tissues.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Following the Groundhog Day trope, main character Emma relives the same fateful day over and over again. I've seen this trope done before and was worried how I would feel about reading it again, but I was happily surprised and enjoyed the story and journey that Emma went on.

The love that Emma and her husband Dan shared was evident in the anniversary letters throughout their marriage. I felt the author did a wonderful job writing these characters who you can't help but get attached to.

The story was beautiful, tender and emotional. Heartwarming to the core.

But this isn't just an ordinary story about heartbreak as I expected. It goes much deeper. It encompasses all that Emma, as a mother, has to deal with - home life, children, work, relationships, friends, family issues, peer pressure, social media and more.

A brilliantly written book that encourages you to reflect on yourself and what is really important to you.

Maybe Next Time is an emotional rollercoaster of a read. Cesca Major writes so beautifully and in this story she displays her skill at creating characters I cared about deeply. Life is short and we should all hold those we love close because we never know when it will all end and this story brings that message home. Five stars from me!

Maybe Next Time captivated me from the very beginning. It tells the story of Emma and Ben, and their relationship arc is told in a series of letters from Ben on their dateversary. Here he reflects on the events of the year and why he continues to love and cherish what they have. But recently life has become a series of stresses, and for the second year running, Emma has forgotten to write her letter. When they argue and Ben leaves the house to walk their dog Gus, an accident leaves Emma devastated.

And yet the next day, she wakes up and finds she's reliving the day before. How can this be? And no matter what she does it always ends the same way.

Angry, devastated, worried about her sanity, Emma is stuck in a never ending loop. But a friend suggests this time could be seen as a gift and she finally spends her groundhog day with love and laughter. But it's Ben's final letter that will break your heart.

Such a beautifully written love story that will be a reminder to us all to live and love that much harder..

Wow, this was such a heart wrenching read, Groundhog Day meets Sliding Doors, I guess that’s fate for you. Bittersweet but I loved it

Where do I start, this book had me hooked....for me this was Sliding Doors meets Groundhog Day. Emma is stuck in a time loop, she wakes every morning on December 3rd, and the day always end the same - no matter how Emma approaches the day, what changes she makes to her plans and decisions - the small things might change, but the end result does not.

The novel is peppered throughout with letters that Emma's husband Dan has written to her on every December 3rd since they started dating, to commemorate the year that has passed them by - the highs, the lows, the hopes and the accomplishments. Dan's last letter broke me....

This is one of my favourite reads of the year so far, definite stand out and an easy 5 stars......the writing is accomplished and the plot just pulls you straight in - I didn't feel like the book was overly repetitive either, given that Emma is living the same day again and again this is done in a way that is suitably easy to explore as a reader without feeling like you were reading the same chapter again and again.

This book packed a punch. It put under the microscope the strained yet extremely loving relationship between Emma and her husband Dan. It was impossible not to root for the couple. It was brutal to watch the disastrous ‘first day’ unfold, almost like seeing a heart cracking down the middle in slow motion. By the end of it, I was immediately relieved that Emma would get a chance to course-correct her life.

I enjoyed unravelling the mystery of what exactly happened during the ‘first version’ of the anniversary because as Emma flew through it so quickly, she missed out on little hints and clues that would later reveal their importance. These seeds planted in advance kept me interested even when similar things during each do-over of the anniversary occurred. On the whole though, Emma spent each ‘day’ trying something new. This ensured the novel didn’t feel repetitive. Instead, I felt excited to turn the page.

The ending was so bittersweet – I might have shed a tear or two – but handled so well that I felt reading this book could definitely be something I repeat.

OVERALL: This brilliantly clever book, with its propulsive plot and poignant love story, was a bittersweet joy to read. It really showed how much difference a single day can make.

Love novels where you get to relive the day over and over.

##########SPOILER ALERT #############

A lot of people would love to be able to change things that have happened through their day, but this is different Dan is dead and even reliving the day over and over doesn't seem to change it, just how it happens. Emma has absorbed herself in work to the detriment of her family time, what will it take for her to be able to regain that time? The children are growing up.and she doesn't seem to know what's happening with them. She's fed up of the people she works with and wants to branch out on her own. Just how long will she be living the same day over? And how much can she change? Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read this. Will be highly recommending.

Trigger warning, do not read while grieving! I mean, the clues were in the synopsis really so that's all on me.
A fascinating premise for a book, Emma is stuck experiencing the most testing and harrowing day on repeat, the day her darling husband Dan is involved in a RTA.
Intricately retold using letters from Dan on their dateiversary and messages from Emma's many associates.

Maybe Next Time is about Emma and Dan who every year mark their anniversary with a letter celebrating their lives together. This year, Emma a literary agent is busy with work, her children, social media and committees and the letter is the last thing on her mind. When her husband dies that evening Emma doe not realise she is destined to continue living that Monday over and over again.
This is a novel about how many of us get caught up in our busy lives and lose sight of the things that are important to us.
It took me a while to get into this and I did initially get a little confused with the timeline. It was an enjoyable read and Emma and Dan are likeable characters but I didn't feel connected to them and it didn't move me emotionally.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.