“Isn’t it strange how the world works sometimes? It’s never a matter of time, but a matter of timing.”
The Seven Year Slip is a novel by Ashely Poston. Clementine plans to move on from the worst day of her life: work hard, find someone to love, and always try to remember to chase the moon. The last of those may be metaphorical, but her late aunt always taught her the importance of having big dreams. Then, she finds a man in her aunt’s kitchen. He’s the sort of man she would have fallen head over heels for. The only problem? He lives seven years in the past, meaning she lives seven years in his future. Her aunt said the apartment was a pinch in time, where moments bend seamlessly. Clementine knows that, if she lets her heart drive her head, she’ll be doomed. If you love enchanting romance tales about the magic of timing, join us at What We Reading for books like The Seven Year Slip!
In Five Years – Rebecca Serle
First up on our list of books like The Seven Year Slip is Rebecca Serle’s time-travelling romance tale, In Five Years. When Manhattan lawyer Dannie Kohan is asked where she sees herself in five years in the most important interview of her life, she has the perfect response already prepped. Later, she accepts her boyfriend’s marriage proposal. She goes to bed that evening knowing that she is well on track for her perfect life.
But, when she wakes, she’s surprised to find herself in a different apartment, with an engagement ring on her finger, lying next to a very different man from her fiance. The television in the bedroom tells her that she has travelled five years into the future. An hour later, she’s back in the present but unable to shake the feeling that her experience in the future was far more than a dream. Nevertheless, she continues to live her life as she had it mapped out. That is until four and a half years in the future when, by chance, Dannie meets the same man from her vision.
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The Dead Romantics – Ashley Poston
Another one of the best books by Ashley Poston, The Dead Romantics is the perfect follow-up read for anyone who loved The Seven Year Slip. Florence Day is the ghostwriter for one of the most prolific romance authors on the market. But, after a messy breakup, she no longer believes in love. As her editor refuses to give her an extension on her deadline, she receives the phone call she had always been dreading, leading her to return home for the first time in a decade.
For ten years, she has been running from a town that has never understood her. Whilst she may miss the sound of a warm Southern night and her eccentric loving family, she can’t bring herself to stay. Until she finds a ghost standing at the front door of the funeral parlour, just as broad and handsome as ever. Romance may be dead, but so is her new editor. And his unfinished business in the realm of the living soon leads to her second-guessing all she has ever known about love stories.
The Second Chance Year – Melissa Wiesner
Sadie Thatcher’s life has imploded in on itself. In one single swoop, she managed to lose her apartment and her boyfriend, all thanks to her big mouth. When a fortune teller offers her one wish, she naturally jumps at the opportunity to have another go at redoing her terrible year. Sadie doesn’t believe that any magic is ever going to patch things up for her, but she makes the wish. Except, nothing changes. Which is when she makes perhaps her biggest mistake of all and kisses her brother’s best friend, Jacob.
When Sadie wakes up the next day, she is shocked to realise that it is January 1st of last year. As her second-chance year gets underway, she begins to see the red flags she missed in both her career and her relationship the first time around. She also keeps running into Jacob and cannot pull her mind away from the kiss they shared together. Similar to The Seven Year Slip, Melissa Wiesner’s The Second Chance Year is a whimsical time travel romance tale all about the power of second chances.
Twice In A Lifetime – Melissa Baron
Isla has fled the city for small-town Missouri in the wake of a painful and draining year. With her anxiety levels reaching boiling point, the very last thing she expects to find in her new surroundings is a romantic prospect. And she doesn’t. Although, she does get a text from a man who apparently thinks she is his wife. Believing it to be a simple case of getting the wrong number, Isla is shocked when he texts her a picture of the two of them on their wedding day.
As Isla tentatively engages with her maybe-hoax, maybe-husband Ewan, she discovers that he knows her better than anyone else. He claims that he is texting from the future and that he is still grieving over the breakdown of their relationship. Like with the Seven Year Slip, Melissa Baron’s Twice in a Lifetime is a story of a partner talking between times, and a woman who must learn to be happy in the present with the body and mind she has.
Check Out These Small-Town Romance Novels
You With A View – Jessica Joyce
Noelle Shepard is mourning the loss of her beloved grandmother when she finds letters and photographs from decades ago hinting at a forbidden romance from her past. Desperate to uncover the full story, she makes a video about it on TikTok, which manages to go viral.
On the back of the video, she is able to track down her grandmother’s secret love, Paul. He offers to take Noelle on the same road trip he and her Gram had mapped out but were never able to go on. Keen to have one final connection with her grandmother, Noelle jumps at the opportunity. The only issue for her is Theo, Paul’s grandson and her infuriatingly handsome high school rival, who has to join them on their trip.
Time Of My Life (Time After Time #1) – Mary Frame
Every day is the worst day of Jane Stewart’s life. That isn’t an overreaction either – she’s literally being forced to relive the exact same terrible day over and over again. She’s late to the same meeting, fired by the same bosses from the same job, and has to endure the experience of being dumped on repeat. No matter what she attempts to change or do things differently, everything in Jane’s life ends up in the exact same abysmal mess.
But, then she discovers that her long-time crush wants to take things beyond platonic friendship. With a renewed sense of determination to get them beyond their first date, Jane must find a way of breaking free from the cycle that has plagued her life for so well. Time of My Life is a time-themed romantic comedy that makes for the perfect follow-up read for any fans of The Seven Year Slip.
Hello Stranger – Katherine Center
One minute, Sadie Montgomery was placed as a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition; the next, she finds herself lying in a hospital bed with what has been described as a ‘probably temporary’ condition known as face blindness. She is still able to see, but every face she now comes across is just a mixed-up collection of features.
As she struggles to navigate continuing to pursue her artistic dreams, survive complex family issues and take care of her dog, Peanut, she falls head-first into a complicated relationship with not one, but two separate and very different men. Seeing anything clearly feels like an impossible task for Sadie. Yet, in another one of the best 2023 romance novels similar to The Seven Year Slip, Katherine Center teaches both Sadie and readers that there are always other ways of seeing things for what they are in Hello Stranger.
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Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
