Once and Again by Rebecca Serle

A tale of a family of women with an astonishing gift - the ability to redo one moment in their lives.

The women of the Novak family were each born with a they can, just once, turn back time.

Lauren has known since she was fifteen that her mother Marcella saved Lauren’s father from a deadly car accident. Dave is alive and happy, and out on the Malibu waves. But ever since, Marcella, her power spent, has lived in fear of what she won’t be able to reverse. Her own mother, Sylvia, is her polar a free-spirited iconoclast with a glamorous past she only hints at. Lauren has spent her life between these two role models—and waiting for her own catastrophe to strike.

Then one summer, Lauren’s husband takes a job in New York and she moves back to Broad Beach Road, back into her childhood home on the shores of Malibu. Lauren looks forward to surfing with her dad again and perhaps repairing an unspoken fracture in her relationship with her mother. What she doesn’t expect is for the boy next to door to return home as Stone, Lauren’s first love, who broke her heart nearly a decade before.

As Lauren falls into familiar patterns, with her family and, more dangerously, Stone, she finds herself thinking about all the choices, large and small, that have brought her to this moment. And wondering, finally, if one of them should be undone.

Kindle Edition, 256

Expected publication March 10, 2026

 by Atria Books

3/5 stars

Once and Again follows three generations of women, grandmother, mother and daughter, who share a rare and mysterious gift: each is granted a single do over — it’s a second chance that can only be used once.

The premise is compelling as the story slowly reveals unknown pasts layered with twists, scandal, and heartache.  Though blood related they have different personalities and once their stories are shared their characteristics make a whole lot of sense.  A quick read coming in at 256 pages, but it was enough with some depth and the emotion that it needed.

Overall Once and Again is a thought provoking story of family, mistakes and healing.

My thanks to Atria Books for a digital arc (via Netgalley) in exchange for a honest review.

In Five Years by Rebecca Serle

Where do you see yourself in five years?

When Type-A Manhattan lawyer Dannie Kohan is asked this question at the most important interview of her career, she has a meticulously crafted answer at the ready. Later, after nailing her interview and accepting her boyfriend's marriage proposal, Dannie goes to sleep knowing she is right on track to achieve her five-year plan.

But when she wakes up, she’s suddenly in a different apartment, with a different ring on her finger, and beside a very different man. The television news is on in the background, and she can just make out the scrolling date. It’s the same night—December 15—but 2025, five years in the future.

After a very intense, shocking hour, Dannie wakes again, at the brink of midnight, back in 2020. She can’t shake what has happened. It certainly felt much more than merely a dream, but she isn’t the kind of person who believes in visions. That nonsense is only charming coming from free-spirited types, like her lifelong best friend, Bella. Determined to ignore the odd experience, she files it away in the back of her mind.

That is, until four-and-a-half years later, when by chance Dannie meets the very same man from her long-ago vision.

Brimming with joy and heartbreak, In Five Years is an unforgettable love story that reminds us of the power of loyalty, friendship, and the unpredictable nature of destiny.

Hardcover, 255 pages 

Published March 10, 2020

 by Atria Books

4/5 stars

I'm really glad that I went with the audiobook for this read.  Coming in at 256 pages or just over 6 hours in the audio made for a relatively quick read/listen.  To be honest I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it as much if I had read the book.

Dannie is a very driven person, bother professionally and in life.  She knows what she wants and goes after it. She has the perfect fiance, the perfect apartment and job, and her best friend is the total opposite in both personality and traits. But waking up 5 years later and spending a relatively short period of time there impacts the next 5 years for Dannie.

I can't say that I connected with Dannie, she was a little overbearing but the story line was interesting and took a turn that I didn't expect. With the last part being quite emotional.  

In Five Years is story of relationships, change and healing. I would not call this romance or a rom/com but rather woman's fiction showcasing self discovery. It pulls at the heart strings so keep the kleenex handy.

My print copy obtained from public library with audio via Scribd.

One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle

When Katy’s mother dies, she is left reeling. Carol wasn’t just Katy’s mom, but her best friend and first phone call. She had all the answers and now, when Katy needs her the most, she is gone. To make matters worse, their planned mother-daughter trip of a lifetime looms: two weeks in Positano, the magical town Carol spent the summer right before she met Katy’s father. Katy has been waiting years for Carol to take her, and now she is faced with embarking on the adventure alone.

But as soon as she steps foot on the Amalfi Coast, Katy begins to feel her mother’s spirit. Buoyed by the stunning waters, beautiful cliffsides, delightful residents, and, of course, delectable food, Katy feels herself coming back to life.

And then Carol appears—in the flesh, healthy, sun-tanned, and thirty years old. Katy doesn’t understand what is happening, or how—all she can focus on is that she has somehow, impossibly, gotten her mother back. Over the course of one Italian summer, Katy gets to know Carol, not as her mother, but as the young woman before her. She is not exactly who Katy imagined she might be, however, and soon Katy must reconcile the mother who knew everything with the young woman who does not yet have a clue.

Kindle, 272 pages

Expected publication March 1, 2022

by Somin & Schuster Canada

4.5/5 stars

This book caught me totally off guard.  I'm not sure if coming off a creepy read that this was what I needed or I just needed to revisit Italy (I love Italy!).  But alas what a great visit it was.  Even though it comes in at 272 pages it does pack a punch.

I loved the location and the visualisation put me right there, from the crystal clear water to the landscape to the food and wine.  I've been to Italy (but not this spot) a couple of times and this brought back so many memories.

Told from the POV of Katy, grieving the death of her mother she embarks on an adventure that was suppose to be the two of them.  Katy questions everything in her life now and decides that she needs this time for herself.  Not know what to expect she gets something so unexpected - the chance to see her mom 30 years ago.  

One Italian Summer is a well written emotional story. It is a story about grief, overcoming and discovering yourself at the same time.  This is my first time reading a Rebecca Serle book, she drew me right in wanting to read just one more chapter (pun intented).  Definitely an author I will read more of.

My thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada for a digital ARC (via Netgalley) in exchange for a honest review.