Every Time We Meet

by A.M. Leibowitz

A. M. Leibowitz's first and highly-anticipated women-loving-women romance!

Heidi’s life may be a complicated balancing act between work, her kids, and a messy relationship with her ex. But all that is about to change when she proposes to her long-time girlfriend at the top of the hill during the annual Lilac Festival. What could be more romantic?

When nothing about her day goes according to plan, and her proposal is rejected, Heidi is devastated. She confesses her one wish to a stranger on a park bench: to have the whole day over again. Little does she know, this will set her on an endless loop of reliving it, each time hoping for a different outcome.

As Heidi replays the events, she confronts her own poor choices and actions. Now she must figure out how to make things right if she hopes to break the cycle and find true love before time runs out.

Genres: Romance, LGBT, Lesbian

180 pages, Hardcover

Published May 1, 2021

About the author

Author. Editor. Spouse, parent, queer, feminist, reader, and writer falling somewhere on the Geek-Nerd Spectrum. Agnostic Christian offering commentary on faith, culture, and writing. Read more: http://amleibowitz.com/about-me/

Reviews

[Lex Kent]

2.50 Stars. This was a disappointment. The movie Groundhog Day is such a beloved classic- well just about anything Bill Murray does is a classic- and I just love the premise of having the multi day do-over. I have read a few books that tried this premise and some have worked better than others. I’m sorry to say that this one just didn’t work for me at all.

I hate to really rip on a book but I found this to be almost a chore to read at times. The biggest problem is that the day that repeats, is just not that interesting of a day for me to read it over and over, ten times in total. This is the story about a single mom who has trouble fitting a romantic relationship in with her kids’ busy schedules. So we are literally watching her go from kid activity, to kid activity, to kid activity, to a sort of date. I hate to say this but I honestly just didn’t care.

The beginning of each day is very Groundhog Day like with the radio waking the mom up before she rushes off to a festival. I found it to be a little odd that the radio was the one main thing the author kept similar, to the movie, as all I could think of is if anyone even listens to the radio anymore? Anyway, the next biggest problem I had is that it felt like 70% of the book was total repetition, and many of the times word for word. Only very small things about scenes or convos were changed and it became really boring to me. In the movie GD, after repeating the same day a few times, we then just see Bill in certain scenes. For instance just dates that don’t go right. We don’t always see the whole day played out over and over, step by step, but we do in this book and it was too much repetition.

One of the very few things that changed, day to day, was that the main character’s past was different upon waking up every day. She was dating some new character every do-over day. While I liked that the author had the main character be bisexual, so there were many different options of secondary characters she could date for this slight twist on the do-over day, but there was a problem here too. I didn’t get why this even happened. I didn’t get the rules and why her past was always with different people. There seemed to be no collation in what she was doing in the previous do-over day, to cause her to have a new partner. So while it was a neat little twist, it didn’t really work because it was random with nothing actually behind the cause of why it occurred.

There were some other issues I had but I don’t want to just keep ripping on this book. I think the author chose this premise with good intentions but it just didn’t come together. While this is not a book for me, and it’s a book that I cannot recommend, I do wish the author well in their next book.

A copy was given to me for a review.

[pipsqueakreviews]

When you get ten chances to make things right.

I got the ARC very early on but I put off read this until a good day after seeing some of the reviews. I wanted to see if I could come up with a different perspective and maybe even enjoy this more than other readers. I really did try, but I still ended up skipping pages to avoid the repetitiveness.

I’ll be honest, it's an interesting story. Heidi's wish to make a bad day better comes true and she ends up in a time loop, which I must add, comes with fundamental differences in each of the ground hog day repeats. I empathise because the day had indeed been a mess for Heidi - with the kids, the ex and the current partner. But like many other readers, I found it hard to like the way it was written because of how I had to relive the same day and 70% of the same dialogue ten times.

At least Heidi’s love story kept me motivated to read until the end. And I think I got two learning points out of this book - One, that you have to accept that life can't be perfect all the time. And two, if it doesn't feel right, it's probably the wrong person you're with.

I received an ARC from Supposed Crimes through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Althea]

I was a wee bit wary picking this novella up after seeing so many low ratings for it on Goodreads, but I'm really glad that I gave it a chance because I really enjoyed it! I'm not all that familiar with the concept of Groundhog Day - I think I've seen bits and pieces of the well-loved movie - but I could grasp it well enough to appreciate the book! It is a bit of a repetitive read, but necessarily so due to the nature of the story, and although I do think it could have maybe been a tad bit shorter (maybe to cut out the last couple of partners that didn't pop up elsewhere), I didn't mind it at all! I liked seeing the growing and developing relationships between the main character and her children and ex-husband, as well as the blooming romance that grew throughout the book (I also loved the bi representation and the casual queer rep throughout)! Overall, this was just a fun read, and although I do understand why it isn't for everyone, I'm glad I gave it a shot!

Thanks to Netgalley and Supposed Crimes for an eARC in return for an honest review!

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[Sam]

A groundhog day type of story is hard to pull off and it doesn't always work. For me, in the case of this story, it was a miss.

Heidi is a single mom of 3 and she struggles with planning everything and not overloading her schedule as well as her kids' schedules. The day this story revolves around is very chaotic, with lots of overlapping activities and Heidi is just not great with telling time. The kids have a dad, he is in the picture, but he and Heidi aren't on the best of terms and can't really get their shit together to deal with the kids. The kids are 10, 13, and 18, so I also don't really get all the hovering, but that's an entirely different point. Needless to say, Heidi's day doesn't go as planned/ hoped, far from it. So when you get to her first do-over day you expect some changes, and let me tell you... You get them, but not the way you might be expecting and it isn't a good thing. Really crucial details of the day change every do-over and it seems more like it's several possible versions of the day, involving different people, with similar outcomes actually. Heidi doesn't really realise she is repeating the day over and over, but she has these sort of memories that pop in her head to make her think she has experienced it before.

Overall each do-over is extremely repetitive, I've scanned a lot of the book, just to see if there was something different and only really reading that. As mentioned doing a groundhog day type of story can be difficult, especially in writing, but the premise is an interesting one, this story just has too many flaws for me to be able to enjoy it. And I honestly think that this type of book can be done, but the writing on each do-over needs to be switched up, not just a copy and paste from the previous one and some changes to the final conversation of the main character's day. And changing some very critical parts of the story doesn't work at all. I can't say what it is without spoiling it, but it had me confused at first, to be very annoyed by it later. It just made no sense to me. And the ending? Don't even get me started on that one...
On the plus side the writing style is rather good and the struggles Heidi faces with scheduling her kids and all things seem real.

*ARC received in exchange for a voluntary and honest review*

[Karen]

After reading the blurb, I wanted to love this book. After reading it, I am sort of disappointed. First let me say the premise was great. I have read another book like this and if executed right it could be really good. What fell short for me is that each day involved a different person Heidi was involved with. It would have been better if we had some background on each of these people she was involved with during her groundhog day. Yes I did like that it did always involve the one "stranger". Overall it just didn't appeal to me and wish some aspects of the romance was different. 2.5 stars.

This arc was provided by netgalley and the publisher for an honest review.

[currentlyreadingbynat]

I'm so glad I read this without looking at any reviews beforehand. I really enjoyed this novel, which has a Groundhog Day plotline to it but with a queer retelling. Heidi is an over-stretched single mother who is trying to make everything work. As she repeats her day, she begins to realise that she needs to ask for help more and that she's choosing the wrong romantic relationships for yourself. At some points, I did find the days to get a bit repetitive but I think in the longterm it's an important aspect to the storyline. It's not a perfect novel but I really enjoyed reading about Heidi and the choices she makes.

This isn't a typical romance, so I think it might not work for some readers who might go into it thinking it is. Read this if you're wanting a novel with strong character development and an interesting premise.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Supposed Crimes for a copy of this novel. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

[Joyfully Jay]

A Joyfully Jay review.

3 stars

The most recognized “reliving the day” story for me is the movie Groundhog Day and Every Time We Meet does seem to draw at least some inspiration from that story. When Heidi wakes up on day one, she is already running late. She has plans to propose to her girlfriend at the Lilac Festival and things are off from the moment she opens her eyes. The book then progresses through many passes of Heidi reliving almost the same day trying to get it right.

Here’s the issue I had with this book. I did not care for the way Heidi was portrayed and I felt like it wasn’t even her fault, but rather the story she was put in.

Read Michelle's review in its entirety here.

[Domi]

If you are looking for a different romance to read then this is the book for you. It's essentially groundhog day in book form where single mom Heidi is reliving the same day a couple of times in order for her to learn how to juggle 3 kids, a significant other, an ex-husband and the expectations of all of them.
It was an interesting premise and I was curious to see how it would work out. I enjoyed the book overall. It was not exactly like groundhog day since some essential things changed from day to day, but it was interesting to see how Heidi struggled with all of her responsibilities during the day and the effect it all had on those surrounding her. All in all this is not a romance like you would normally but if you let go of that expectation and enter this book with an open mind it will give you an interesting, different plot about the struggles of a single mom and how she can still find love if she works out what to do.

***An ARC was provided by Netgalley in exchange for a honest review. ***

[nutmeg]

The premise was a big draw and I was quickly absorbed in how the story panned out until it got a tad repetitive.

Every Time We Meet is a book on the struggles of a perfectionist who got to live the same day over and over again. Heidi has 3 kids with her ex husband Evans. She has the best plans for her kids but has trouble keeping up with them all. She is seeing someone whom she intended to propose to but somehow always messes the day up and has to repeat the same day until she got it right.

Every day on repeat she meets the same lady, Angel, whom she is drawn to regardless of how the day went. While her life is on repeat, she has to come to terms with what matters and what she wants out of life.

3 stars. Readers might find it too much when the same day is repeated for consecutively 10 days. I would have liked the book better if I knew what caused and gave Heidi the chance to live her day over and over again. Powers of the lilacs on the first day of the festival?

I just reviewed Every Time We Meet by A.M. Leibowitz. Thank you NetGalley and Supposed Crimes LLC for the ARC.

[Tereza]

electronic copy provided by NetGalley

I wanted to like this a lot but sadly it turned out to be quite disappointing, to me at least.

The MC Heidi keeps re-living the same day over and over until she lives it right. For a book of this format, one needs to be careful to avoid too much repetition and unfortunately this felt too repetitive. I also think that the characterization was somewhat lazy, and I didn't really feel invested in Heidi's life, what her final choice is going to be and it felt like some of her decision were coming at random. The writing was sort of superficial, lots of describing actions, plans, surroundings but not feelings? Which is not a good thing in a book that is supposed to be at least party romance.
The whole thing with Angel lacked something - as a reader, I didn't know what it is that attracts Heidi to her, why she wants to be with Angel so bad, what she feels when they are together... nothing.

I'm giving two stars for the good queer representation and also because despite its faults, the story still kept me engaged enough that I wanted to know how it ends. Another positive is that it is a fairly quick and light read. I also believe that the idea to write about a woman who is juggling too much and spreading herself too thin, wanting everything to be perfect, to the detriment of her life, her children's life and her relationship, is a good idea. But I believe there are better ways to write about it.

[Rainbow Reader]

Holy yikes, Batman. Ummm... this had a great premise but was very poorly executed. I think this is one of those stories that takes some serious skill to get right, but this went a bit further south than just "not great."

I'll admit, I skimmed. A lot. But every time I tried to stop and read, I was cringing left and right. I think this author--and this book--would benefit from some professional editing and lots and lots of community support from other authors. Best of luck to them in the future, and I can only hope they open themselves to feedback because there's a lot of room to grow here.

[Andrea]

This book follows Heidi’s day, a very chaotic day, over and over again trying to be better each time.

I was very intrigued by this book after reading the little premise. During the first time Heidi goes through her day you can see how much goes wrong with three children, an impending proposal and no support. However, once you start going through the re-do's of the days I found them extremely repetitive. I was scanning the pages and stopping when something was different from what she had said or done before. After the 3rd re-do of her day I was just not interested anymore.

I applaud the author for trying this very peculiar type of story, however it was not for me. Unfortunately.

This ARC was provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Westveil Books]

I was granted eARC access to Every Time We Meet via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.

When this book was suggested to me (I don't remember where or by who now) I was promised "Groundhog Day, but updated and sapphic." Well, it is and it isn't. Our main character does indeed wake up to a radio alarm clock, late for everything, and fail in love. The day does indeed repeat several times over until she gets it right. That's where the similarities end.

First of all, her repeated day is different every time. Yes she wakes up the same way, she's late, she has kids and a lover she's splitting her time between, and her proposal is disastrously declined; but every time the day starts over her lover is someone different and she has this nagging feeling there's something she should know about her daughter's music teacher (lover #1 demoted to contact in subsequent days.) The thing she's late to is slightly different. The way she plans to propose is slightly different. This decision to make the repeated day different in little ways seems to have lead the author to take us through every hour of the day all 10 times, and it gets old. Keep in mind that in the film this is inspired by, we only get highlights (and lowlights) after a couple of full repeats. The film works because after the audience understands the fact that the day repeats exactly and he can't escape, we're only shown the key moments. The times he comically predicts something. The various ways the date still blows up. We don't need to confirm that the alarm clock rang on hundreds of mornings or see him leave the house in a rushed mess. We assume that happened again when we see he's on the date again.

Second, let's address that sapphic promise. On day one she's rushing to get everything right so she can propose to her girlfriend. The opening line of the book's official synopsis says "women-loving-women." Readers are under the impression that Heidi is a lesbian. Day 2's lover is a man. As someone who falls under the bisexual umbrella myself and knows all too well what bi-erasure is and what it feels like, I'm happy to see a bisexual lead, but that's not what the teasers about this book set me up for. I was expecting Heidi to repeat the same day over and over again until she got her girlfriend to say yes, not until she got any random lover of any sex and gender to say yes. If you're going to do bi, do bi, but tease bi so we aren't thrown for a loop when the first man shows up. Furthermore, since the repeated day changes up her lover, perhaps a love triangle should have been established in day 1 so it wouldn't be so odd that day 2 is this other person with different assets to offer, and then just alternate between realities where she picked one or the other at some point instead of jumping to realities where she never connected with certain people.

I think this was a great concept and I'm definitely looking forward to trying more books by Leibowitz's in the future. This is a debut, and I recognize that. I hope Leibowitz will be able to take the constructive feedback reviewers are offering and leave any nasty comments in the trash pile where they belong, because I can see great things coming in the future with a little more experience and polish!

[Debbie McGowan]

I love the idea of doing things over, although I have the feeling I'd need at least as many do-overs as Heidi – the MC in A.M. Leibowitz's Every Time We Me – before I figured out all the different points at which I made the wrong choice or missed the signs pointing me in the right direction. Each time Heidi embarked on a not-new day, I was searching for the minuscule differences that indicated she was getting it right and muttering 'no, don't do that, Heidi,' each time she cocked up...again. I also wasn't sure what 'getting it right' would look like for most of the story, so even though the ending is not a twist as such, it wasn't entirely predictable either. There's that moment when everything clicks into place where it feels...not perfect but right.

Better yet, Heidi is 'just' bisexual. No foregrounding, big announcements, coming-out stories. She just is, and it's so refreshing. Yes, do-overs have been done before, and yes, they're repetitive (or else they wouldn't be do-overs), but to my knowledge this is the first story of this kind starring a queer female MC. I also liked the parallel between festivals - not a groundhog in sight but plenty of lilac and a lovely virtual visit to a city I hope one day to visit for real.

[Katarina]

I got this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
I read the first 50% fairly quickly and it was quite enjoyable other than some repetitiveness but I didn’t really mind that. Unfortunately, the book just kept on repeating itself over and over (which I understand is the basis of the book) to a point that I couldn’t stand to read it any more.
I was hoping that Heidi would at least figure out what was going on so I kept reading.
I don’t think that the premise is a bad idea, I just think that a lot of it was repeated word for word with some déjà vu moments here and there and it was very frustrating. I did really enjoy the writing style but not enough that I wanted to keep rereading the same sentences.
I was really hoping to love this book and I can’t help but wish that it was cut off half way through so that it might have gotten a higher rating from me.

[Pamela]

I’m sure the concept for this book sounded wonderful to the author when she thought of it or dreamt it, but the outcome is anything but. The book takes place over six days. And each day starts out the same as the first day – meaning readers have to read it over and over and over – with minor changes day-to-day. When the author chose to make her main character unlikable to the point of being obnoxious it meant readers would have to meet the character six times. And if the first time turned you off because the character’s actions and reactions to her own bad behavior, too bad because you get read the same bad actions and reactions over and over.

My thanks to Supposed Crimes and NetGalley for an eARC.

[S.B. (Beauty in Ruins)]

Sadly, what works on the screen, with the right actors, the right direction, and the right twists just does not translate well to the page. I was excited for a queer version of Groundhog Day, but instead of feeling clever and amusing, this just felt boring and repetitive. It doesn't help that the day itself wasn't particularly interesting, with too much everyday parental banalities to it. There seemed to be no rules or reason to what changed with each new day, and it felt like the dating changes were a mistake, robbing us of the opportunity to become invested in the relationships.

I fell into the habit of scanning, looking for changes, and that just broke the narrative experience. I came away tired and frustrated.

[Jennifer Dawson]

This is a unique take on the Groundhogs Day movie, where the main character keeps redoing the same day over again until she gets it right. While I like that she gets to try finding balance between love and her kids, the outside force that restarts her day with a new love interest each time feels a bit random. It was hard to keep from skimming each chapter just to look for the changes. The cover art is beautiful and the ending is worth the wait, but I’m worried readers will just skip to the end like I was tempted to do.

[Kady]

Another in a trend of living the same day over and over. This one has a queer spin on it Really enjoyed it and finished it in one sitting.

[angie]

Actual rating: 3.5🌟

The premise of this story is the main reason that I downloaded this book from NetGalley. It mentions something about reliving a day over and over again. This kind of stories really interests me. I tried not to have high hopes so I won't be disappointed in case it is not what I expected.

When I started reading this one, I had difficulties in trying to like our MC Heidi. Heidi is not the 'perfect' goody two shoes MC that everyone will usually root for. She did a lot of questionable things (for me) and made a lot of nonsensical (for me) decisions. I honestly almost dnf this book.😅

I'm also weirded out by how many times her legs or stomach turns to jelly or was compared to gelatin whenever she sees someone attractive. Not sure if the weirdness comes from the usage of the phrase or the reason why she will even feel that way.

What I liked is the part where Heidi learns little by little the things that she didn't noticed because she's so focused on her 'future plans' instead of the now. I actually like how her character tried to make amends on her previous mistakes. I also like the fact that she finally learned to listen and not just forced her ideals on her kids.

The fantasy part was not really explained. Her thing with Angel is instalove and I wasn't a fan of that. The day repeating again and again is quite tiresome at some point but I persevered and managed to finish this one.

It was an okay read.👍

*Thanks to the publisher for making this book available for review via Netgalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest thoughts and opinions of the book.*

[Ali]

I love “Groundhog Day” type worlds. And it was really exciting to find a queer one. A lot of times with these the various versions of the days can get a bit repetitive, but this one really held my attention. I felt that Heidi was an interesting and relatable character and I appreciated watching her character growth. The meetings with Angel built up perfectly and their chemistry was lovely. I really really enjoyed this book.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.