Once Upon a Leap Year by Anna Bell
Published by HQ on February 1, 2024
Age/Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Goodreads
A gorgeous, high-concept romcom about finding love and daring to take a chance. After all, it’s all about timing. . .
29th February 2000. Lucy’s never met another leapling until she encounters Noah also spending his once-in-four-years birthday on a disappointing day trip to Calais. There’s a spark that Lucy is sure Noah must feel too, and their friends insist they have amazing chemistry, but they’re both with other people. It can never be more than platonic and that’s OK.
Over the next twenty years, they’re at each other’s side through all of life’s big moments – weddings, babies, new jobs, family illness – but Lucy can never shake the feeling that they were meant to meet. . .
If Lucy is to find a love that’s rarer than a leap year, she’s going to have to take a leap of faith.
Perfect if you love
❤️Friends to lovers
❤️Right person wrong time
❤️Second chance romance
Sometimes you meet your "someone", but it takes twenty years to realize it.
Lucy and Noah are leaplings, people born on February 29th, and they met during a "booze cruise" on their fifth "big birthday". A friendship was born that day which would grow and morph over the years until the timing was right for their relationship to become more.
Like most of these romances that take FOREVER to get to the HEA, it simultaneously frustrated and delighted me. I love getting the opportunity to watch the couple grow and to share so many life events with them, but those ups and downs and those missed opportunities - GAHHHH!!! That part makes me batty, but also causes the ultimate outcome to be that much more satisfying.
This was one of those stories where the bulk of the action takes place at certain intervals. Here, it the main part of the story centered around the "big birthday" which was every four years for our leaplings. These birthdays were usually filled with celebrations and a reunion of the whole university gang. This was when the BIG stuff happened. What I liked was the way Bell filled the in between. We learned about the gaps between leap years via emails, texts, transcripts, and other methods so that I would know what was going on with everyone. It was just enough to link the leap years, and I found it to be a rather clever way to accomplish this task.
As was previously mentioned, this book takes place over a twenty year time span. It starts in 2004, when everyone was at university. So, obviously, 2020 fell in that time span. I am still not sure how I feel about Covid being part of novels, but Bell was gentle with it. There was no talk of death or anything terrible. Mostly, it involved how the characters were in lockdown and how it affected their personal relationships. So, no need to fear this part.
Once Upon a Leap Year was a wonderful story of love, friendship, and family. It was lovely to see how all these relationships developed over such a long time period. Aside from a couple whose union I was rooting for, it was a nice exploration of the challenges of adult friendships, aging parents, and life in general. An emotional roller coaster for sure, but I loved every second of it.
Class Mom by Laurie Gelman
Published by Henry Holt on August 1, 2017
Age/Genres: Adult, Fiction
Goodreads
Jen Dixon is not your typical Kansas City kindergarten class mom--or mom in general. Jen already has two college-age daughters by two different (probably) musicians, and it's her second time around the class mom block with five-year-old Max--this time with a husband and father by her side. Though her best friend and PTA President sees her as the-wisest-candidate for the job (or oldest), not all of the other parents agree.
From recording parents' response times to her emails about helping in the classroom, to requesting contributions of-special-brownies for curriculum night, not all of Jen's methods win approval from the other moms. Throw in an old flame from Jen's past, a hyper-sensitive -allergy mom,-a surprisingly sexy kindergarten teacher, and an impossible-to-please Real Housewife-wannabe, causing problems at every turn, and the job really becomes much more than she signed up for.
This book brought me way back to the early 2000s when my daughter was in grade school. It's been a long time but I still remember those school mom days and all the mommy politics involved. *shudder*
Gelman did a wonderful job taking the reality and turning it up a notch for the sake of comedy. I found myself laughing often as I read Class Mom. There were the cute things small children do that are pure amusement, the flashbacks to the super-parenting many have to do, and the power struggles of grade school.
Jen was the perfect anti-class mom, as well. With two children in college and one starting kindergarten, she was already in a very different place from many typical kindergarten moms. She had years of experience in the role of class mom and had learned not to take it all too seriously. I loved her snark and humor. I know I would have bonded with this woman in real life.
This was a fun trip down memory lane, and I am looking forward to reading about more of Jen's mom adventures.
Let us know in the comments!
They both sound like good reads.
ReplyDeleteDefinite hits for me
DeleteClass Mom sounds like something I will probably relate to very soon as Henry gets older. And Once Upon a Leap Year sounds like a delight - I love stories that show the course of a relationship/friendship over many years.
ReplyDeleteOnce Upon a Leap Year seems to be a sleeper. I have not seen too much about it, but I thought it was great. Good luck with the class moms in your future.
DeleteOh, the days when my kids were in grade and middle school were challenging! I was not a class mom. I didn't have a whole lot of time because I worked so I was happy they were getting their work and projects done! 5th grade was the worst for us! I think there were 10 major projects that realistically a 5th grader couldn't do on their own. I hated that they assigned homework my child couldn't do on their own. It was like I had homework all over again. No thanks!
ReplyDeleteYou have to love the "eras" of teaching theory. That project based learning was a big one. My daughter was in a program from grade 3 through 5 where she went two days a week to the middle school of english and math. The rest of the week, she had self-guided learning. I really didn't have to do much, but it was a lot of work that I had to police.
DeleteI confess that the Class Mom seems very funny and that must also be satisfying !
ReplyDeleteIt was hilarious. The main character was so snarky. I totally felt like that when dealing with some of that grade school drama back in the day.
DeleteIt sounds like you enjoyed both of these, Sam. I am trying to use the library more, as there are so many great books I want to read, but don't want to buy them all. I was not a class mom, as I was a working mom, in fact, I was a teacher. Class mom is not a big thing in Canada, at least not in Ontario.
ReplyDeleteSame. I was never a class mom. I got my fix as a Girl Scout leader. In the US, you always have those moms who think they run the school. Drove me up a wall when my daughter was in grade school. Had to deal with it again when she was cheering in high school. All the cheer moms were the same stay at home moms who were class moms.
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