One of our favorite romance authors Erin La Rosa is back with Not You Again, a speculative adult rom-com centered around an unending time loop! After a mysterious solar eclipse in the small town of Julian, California, its residents have relived April 23rd over 230 times.
Screenwriter Carly Hart keeps waking up at her father’s funeral, unable to leave the town she never liked. Meanwhile, funeral director Adam Rhodes must relive the day his wife confesses that she cheated on him with his best friend. As these bad days keep looping, Carly and Adam work together to try and find a way out.
We never pass up on an Erin La Rosa novel, and she has delivered yet again. Here are three of our favorite things about Not You Again!
Book Overview: Not You Again
Content warnings: parent death, cheating, themes of grief and loss
Summary: In Julian, California, every day is April 23rd—and in a time loop, there are no rules. Eating endless slices of fresh apple pie? Yes. Partner swapping? Why not. Being trapped inside the plot of a sci-fi film would almost be inspiring for LA screenwriter Carly Hart…if she wasn’t waking up at her dad’s funeral every single day. Carly wants out.
Funeral director Adam Rhodes is equally frustrated. Every loop, Adam regenerates in the middle of a fight with his ex-wife. Her infidelity wrecked their perfect life together, and now Adam must relive her confession over and over again.
There’s only one solution to ending the misery: breaking the time loop. Easier said than done. And there’s another hurdle to overcome: Carly and Adam can’t stand each other.
Though strangers at best, Carly and Adam know they must work together to solve this cosmic mystery. But where Carly offers magical theories, Adam relies on facts and figures. When Carly wants to involve the local conspiracy theorist, Adam would rather work alone. The sooner they find a solution, the sooner they’ll never have to see each other again, yet somehow the tension between the two is hotter than a solar flare and as rare as the daily total solar eclipse. Maybe Carly and Adam are destined to be in each other’s orbit after all…
The Gradual Buildup
Carly and Adam have a rocky start in Not You Again, as one can expect from experiencing a parent death and cheating spouse over and over. Carly dismisses Adam as she grapples with her grief. Adam’s cynical and unfriendly disposition outside of work doesn’t do him any favors. But once they start to track the solar eclipse and its trends together, their mutual attraction and affection start to grow. Their romance progresses at a steady pace that we can appreciate for its realness.
Carly & Adam’s Complementary Personalities
As both characters grow to like and care for one another, it’s clear to see how well their personalities complement the other. Where Carly thinks in terms of magic and romance, Adam theorizes in logic and numbers. Carly offers ideas from outside the box, while Adam brings her back to earth. Not You Again does a great job of depicting all the chaos and antics of the time loop situation. But it also shows us how the main couple tests their findings in intentional and methodical ways. And the spice is definitely a bonus!
Their Resolution
The core conflict in Not You Again is the time loop and figuring out how to break out of it. Beyond that initial layer is Carly and Adam tackling their grief and inner conflict. Carly mourns her father while still lamenting his decision to move to Julian and open his own movie theater. She doesn’t see what an impact that movie theater has until much later. Adam faces the betrayal of his wife and best friend, as well as his resentment toward his parents for their lack of faith in him. Once our main characters let their feelings come to light—honoring their memories and forging their paths forward—then the time loop finally ends.
With characters facing grief and betrayal in an endless loop, Erin La Rosa’s Not You Again offers a speculative rom-com that steals our breath and teaches us to spend our time wisely.
Not You Again by Erin La Rosa comes out November 11th, and you can order a copy of it here!
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