Author: Sophie Cousens
Narrator: Hannah Arterton
Publisher: Random House UK, Cornerstone
Publication Date: August 2020
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Buy the Book: Amazon | BN | Audible
Description: Their lives began together, but their worlds couldn't be more different. After thirty years of missed connections, they're about to meet again...
Minnie Cooper knows two things with certainty: that her New Year's birthday is unlucky, and that it's all because of Quinn Hamilton, a man she's never met. Their mothers gave birth to them at the same hospital just after midnight on New Year's Day, but Quinn was given the cash prize for being the first baby born in London in 1990--and the name Minnie was meant to have, as well. With luck like that, it's no wonder each of her birthdays has been more of a disaster than the one before.
When Minnie unexpectedly runs into Quinn at a New Year's party on their mutual thirtieth birthday, she sees only more evidence that fortune has continued to favor him. The gorgeous, charming business owner truly seems to have it all--while Minnie's on the brink of losing her pie-making company and her home. But if Quinn and Minnie are from different worlds, why do they keep bumping into each other? And why is it that each fraught encounter leaves them both wanting more?
A moving, joyful love story, This Time Next Year explores the way fate leads us to the people we least expect--no matter what the odds.
My Thoughts: All her life, Minnie Cooper’s mother (yes, her parents really named their daughter after a car) has told her that her birthday brings her bad luck because she was supposed to be named Quinn but the woman she was helping get through her labor anxiety took the name and the cash prize for having her baby born first on New Year’s Day. I have to admit that Quinn Cooper does sound a lot better but I was never quite convinced that Minnie’s birthday bad luck was all down to that.
So on this New Year’s Eve, Minnie is attending a party with her boyfriend, Greg, and gets locked in the woman’s bathroom when the door handle comes off. Her phone has died so she can’t call anyone to help her. The next morning, Minnie is finally rescued by none other than the Quinn she has heard about her entire life but has never met in person. In addition to Minnie’s abject surprise and utter horror, she begins to see that Quinn is a nice person and someone she could see herself being friends with.
I really enjoyed this story and was rooting for Minnie and Quinn to find each other. I thought Minnie was a little biased about Quinn, for obvious reasons, and even after getting to know him she seemed to be looking for reasons to resent him. Thankfully, this doesn’t last too long as Minnie realizes she enjoys spending time with him.
Quinn hasn’t had the cushy, easy life Minnie assumes he has had. His father took off when he was little and he has been more of a caretaker for his mother who suffers from a crippling anxiety and agoraphobia. Unfortunately for Quinn, this has affected most of his relationships and he doesn’t feel he has what it takes to be in a committed relationship.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story. Minnie’s journey of self-discovery and Quinn’s journey of learning to trust and lower his walls was fantastic to watch. I paired the reading of this book with the audio format narrated by Hannah Arterton and loved her performance of bringing these characters to life.
My Final Verdict: If you are new to the writing of Sophie Cousens, I highly recommend this story. If you have never read anything by this author, you are missing out on several hours of entertainment.
Thank you to the publisher, Random House, UK, Cornerstone, who provided an advance reader copy of this book via NetGalley.
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