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The Second Chance Year by Melissa Wiesner

Romance

The Second Chance Year

by Melissa Wiesner

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Quick take

With her life in free fall, a young woman wishes for a redo year...and wakes to find to her surprise the wish granted.

Good to know

  • Illustrated icon, Social_Issues

    Social issues

  • Illustrated icon, Family_Drama

    Family drama

  • Illustrated icon, Female_Friendship

    Female friendships

  • Illustrated icon, Magical

    Magical

Synopsis

Sadie Thatcher’s life has fallen apart in spectacular fashion. In one fell swoop, she managed to lose her job, her apartment, and her boyfriend—all thanks to her big mouth. So when a fortune teller offers her one wish, Sadie jumps at the chance to redo her awful year. Deep down, she doesn’t believe magic will fix her life, but taking a leap of faith, Sadie makes her wish, opens her eyes, and . . . nothing has changed. And then, in perhaps her dumbest move yet, she kisses her brother’s best friend, Jacob.

When Sadie wakes up the next morning, she’s in her former apartment with her former boyfriend, and her former boss is expecting her at work. Checking the date, she realizes it’s January 1 . . . of last year. As Sadie navigates her second-chance year, she begins to see the red flags she missed in her relationship and in her career. Plus, she keeps running into Jacob, and she can’t stop thinking about their kiss . . . the one he has no idea ever happened. Suddenly, Sadie begins to wonder if her only mistake was wishing for a second chance.

Content warning

This book contains scenes that depict sexual assault.

Free sample

Get an early look from the first pages of The Second Chance Year.

The Second Chance Year

Chapter 1

December

If the last year of my life were a season of the Great British Bake Off, I would’ve been sent home on the first episode. My performance in the signature challenge would’ve left the judges shaking their heads, my technical bake would’ve ended up raw in the middle, and my showstopper would’ve collapsed in a heap of gingerbread and shame.

So, when New Year’s Eve of my Very Bad Year rolls around, all I want to do is sit on the couch with a bowl of buttercream icing in my lap and an episode of The Golden Girls on TV. But my best friend, Kasumi, has other plans.

“Come on, Sadie, it will be fun.”

I peer at Kasumi from beneath the ball cap I’ve been wearing because I haven’t washed my hair in three days. “Nothing that starts with ‘come on, it will be fun’ is ever fun.”

“This will be, I promise.” She snatches the plaid blanket I’ve wrapped around myself like a fluffy layer of fondant and throws it on the chair where I can’t reach it.

“Hey,” I protest, half-heartedly making a grab for it. Kasumi is just jealous because that blanket is my new best friend. We’ve been hanging out almost exclusively for months. We were going to paint each other’s nails and have a pillow fight later.

Kasumi plops down on the other end of the couch. “My friend Devon rented an empty warehouse that he’s turning into a giant New Year’s Eve carnival. Picture acrobats hanging from the ceiling, magicians sawing people in half, and cotton candy cocktails. It will be epic.”

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Why I love it

If you had the chance to redo a Very Bad Year of your life, would you take it? The Second Chance Year explores this question through the lens of self-rediscovery, hope, and love.

On New Year’s Eve after a disastrous year that Sadie attributes to being too outspoken, she wishes nothing more than to do it all over again. When a fortune teller grants her this wish, Sadie wakes up the next morning on January 1st—of last year!—in her former apartment with her ex-boyfriend and still employed as a pastry chef. The most complicated part about going back in time? Sadie having kissed her brother’s best friend, Jacob, on New Year’s Eve, but him not remembering any of it. Now, Sadie can’t stop thinking about the kiss. Or the sweet and considerate Jacob, who she’s starting to see through new eyes.

As Sadie lives her second-chance year, she’s confronted with the truth about her relationships, her career, and herself. This time around, everything hits different. What results is an empowering, feel-good journey filled with endearing characters, lovable found family, delicious desserts, and a swoon-worthy, slow-burn romance—all sprinkled with a dash of magic.

The Second Chance Year beautifully captures how sometimes we need another look at what it is we really want in our lives and who we really want to be. This book made my heart burst like New Year’s Eve fireworks. I just know it’ll do the same to yours!

Member ratings (3,135)

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View all
The Last One at the Wedding
The Night We Lost Him
Madwoman
Hum
Family Happiness
Husbands & Lovers
Same As It Ever Was
Jackpot Summer
The Lion Women of Tehran
Did I Ever Tell You?
Real Americans
The Reappearance of Rachel Price
Just for the Summer
All We Were Promised
Hard by a Great Forest
Family Family
Northwoods
Mercury
The Second Chance Year
A Winter in New York
Check & Mate
What We Kept to Ourselves
The Leftover Woman
While You Were Out
Evil Eye
Just Another Missing Person
Family Lore
Little Monsters
The Connellys of County Down
Lady Tan’s Circle of Women
Paper Names
Divine Rivals
Hang the Moon
The Last Russian Doll
Maame
White Horse
The Family Game
The Fortunes of Jaded Women
When We Were Bright and Beautiful
You're Invited
Marrying the Ketchups
Part of Your World
The Good Left Undone
The Verifiers
The Unsinkable Greta James
Don't Cry for Me
Black Cake
Olga Dies Dreaming
The Family
The Book of Magic
Sankofa
Everything We Didn't Say
Apples Never Fall
The Sweetest Remedy
The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina
We Are the Brennans
Skye Falling
Last Summer at the Golden Hotel
Things We Lost to the Water
Libertie
What's Mine and Yours
The Bad Muslim Discount
The Push
The Chicken Sisters
In a Holidaze
White Ivy
The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany
Practical Magic
Head Over Heels
The Vanishing Half
All Adults Here
The Kingdom of Back
I Have No Secrets
Saving Zoë
Color Me In
Past Perfect Life
Things You Save in a Fire
There's Something About Sweetie
All That You Leave Behind
The Other Woman
Small Fry
The Winter Sister
The Rules of Magic
& Sons