Spotlight & Giveaway: The Second Chance Year by Melissa Wiesner

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Melissa Wiesner to HJ!

Hi Melissa and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The Second Chance Year

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

The Second Chance Year is the story of a pastry chef who has the chance to go back in time to save her job, fix her love life, and do-over her terrible year when a carnival fortune teller grants her a New Year’s wish.
 

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

“Nothing that starts with ‘come on, it will be fun’ is ever fun.”

“If you need to be anything other than exactly who you are—for anyone—then the problem is with them, and not with you.”

“I’m planted here, for better or for worse, on this day, in this year. I can choose to stay stuck, to keep looking back at yesterday, at what could have been. Or I can move forward. To tomorrow.”

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• I watched every season of The Great British Bake Off (twice!) and a couple of seasons of The Great Canadian Baking Show when writing this book.
• I love to cook but I don’t bake!
• I have a black cat named Ziggy who was the inspiration for Sadie’s cat, Gio. And speaking of cats, a couple came to my first book signing and asked me to dedicate the book to their cats. I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve ever dedicated one of my books to a non-human reader.

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

I don’t want to give too many spoilers, but Sadie and Jacob have known each other since they were 5 and 6 years old. Jacob is Sadie’s younger brother’s best friend. Sadie never really noticed Jacob when they were kids, but Jacob may have had a little crush on Sadie…

Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?

I loved writing the scene at midnight on New Year’s Eve when Sadie first sees Jacob in a new light. I wanted it to be both funny and a little swoony at the same time:

And then suddenly, the world outside of Jacob’s quiet apartment erupts into pandemonium. Pots and pans clang, noisemakers trumpet, and dozens of voices burst into cheers on the street below. Out across our tenth-floor view, fireworks glitter and explode over the East River.

We sit up to gaze out at the city’s celebration at the exact same time, and we’re not at our own ends of the couch anymore, but sharing the middle cushion. I’m hyperaware of the heat radiating from him as my shoulder accidentally brushes his.

“I guess it’s midnight,” I murmur.

“I guess so.” He turns his head toward me, and our gazes lock. And… Oh my. I remember there’s a way people traditionally ring in the New Year.

Does Jacob want me to kiss him? And more importantly—Am I really thinking about kissing Jacob?

“So, should we do something to mark the occasion?” I ask, my voice like fluffy meringue. “Goodbye terrible year! Maybe high-five? Or we could bang some pots and pans? Or—” Did I mention I babble when I’m nervous? And in this moment, Jacob Gray is making me extremely nervous. “If you know the words to ‘Auld Lang Syne’ we could sing—”

“Sadie.” Mercifully, Jacob cuts me off. “Do you want to high-five? Or”—his mouth twitches like he’s trying not to smile—“sing ‘Auld Lang Syne’?”

I bite my lip. “Not really.”

“How about this instead?” Jacob takes me gently by the shoulders…

Readers should read this book….

If they like books that are funny and hopeful with a hint of magic.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

My next books is a lighthearted romcom about Catherine, a buttoned-up, type-A math professor who wakes up one day and discovers that her identity had disappeared. There’s no record of her information at the social security office, her driver’s license is not in the system, and she can’t start her new job unless she proves she exists. So, Catherine has to enlist the help of her free-spirited (and complete opposite) doorman, Luca and his huge, loud, (and questionably Mafia-connected) Italian family to help her track down her identity and prove she’s real. It comes out on October 14, and the cover and title reveal will be in mid-February!
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: One signed paperback copy of THE SECOND CHANCE YEAR. US entries only.

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: When Sadie meets a fortune teller and asks about a do-over, she says about her Very Bad Year: “I can’t help thinking if I’d known what was coming, I would have made different choices.” Is there a year of your life you look back on and wish you could do over? What choices would you make differently?

 
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Excerpt from The Second Chance Year:

If the last year of my life were a season of the Great British Bake Off, I would’ve been sent home on the first episode. My performance in the signature challenge would’ve left the judges shaking their heads, my technical bake would’ve ended up raw in the middle, and my showstopper would’ve collapsed in a heap of gingerbread and shame.

So, when New Year’s Eve of my Very Bad Year rolls around, all I want to do is sit on the couch with a bowl of buttercream icing in my lap and an episode of the Golden Girls on TV. But my best friend, Kasumi has other plans.

“Come on, Sadie, it will be fun.”

I peer at Kasumi from beneath the ball cap I’ve been wearing because I haven’t washed my hair in three days. “Nothing that starts with ‘come on, it will be fun’ is ever fun.”
“This will be, I promise.” She snatches the plaid blanket I’ve wrapped around myself like a fluffy layer of fondant and throws it on the chair where I can’t reach it.

“Hey,” I protest, half-heartedly making a grab for it. Kasumi is just jealous because that blanket is my new best friend. We’ve been hanging out almost exclusively for months. We were going to paint each other’s nails and have a pillow fight later.

Kasumi plops down on the other end of the couch. “My friend Devon rented an empty warehouse that he’s turning into a giant New Year’s Eve carnival. Picture acrobats hanging from the ceiling, magicians sawing people in half, and cotton candy cocktails. It will be epic.”

“You lost me at carnival. You know how I feel about clowns.” I open my phone to find an email about another pastry chef job that went to someone who isn’t me, and my shoulders droop. “My New Year’s plans include sitting on this couch and reading my rejection letters.” I click over to Instagram, the only thing that can make me feel worse. “If I’m really feeling festive, I might creep on Alex’s social media to obsess over the new woman he’s dating.”

Kasumi’s face softens. “Oh, honey. You need to stop torturing yourself. At least quit following Alex on Instagram. Nothing good can come of this.”

She’s right, of course. It’s been months since my boyfriend Alex and I broke up. But we were together for three years, and I thought it would be forever. But now he’s on a tropical island with a pretty blond woman who looks fantastic in a bikini. And I’m…well, I’m eating Nutella straight from the jar. I mean, I have some standards, at least I’m using a spoon. But it’s impossible not to feel gutted that Alex has moved on with his life while I clearly…haven’t.

“I’m worried about you, Sadie. I can’t remember the last time you went in the kitchen and baked something. Your relationship with this couch is growing deeply dysfunctional. Come to the party,” Kasumi urges. “It will get you out of this rut. And I’ll splash it all over Instagram to show Alex that you’re not sitting home wallowing.”

I eye her black tulle skirt, suspenders, and sparkly red and white striped T-shirt. “I don’t have anything to wear to a New Year’s carnival costume party.” When I lost my job as a pastry chef and had to move out of my apartment, I packed up almost everything I owned and had my brother, Owen, haul it out to Gotham Storage in Flatbush. For the past three months or so, I’ve been working as a barista, and I live in black T-shirts and jeans that hide the coffee stains.

“I knew you’d say that.” Kasumi tosses her dark hair over her shoulder and grabs a tote bag from behind the couch. She dumps out the contents—sparkly gold minidress with a poufy A-line skirt, cropped red blazer, and sequined black top hat—flashing me a grin.

The thing is, a year ago, I would have loved a carnival-themed party with an over-the-top outfit. But that was before Xavier, my former boss and the executive chef of one of the most exclusive restaurants in town, threw one of his epic tantrums over some bad pâté and screamed at a line cook. I’d stepped in because honestly, it was pâté, not world peace hanging in the balance. If the pâté had been an isolated incident, I might’ve kept my job. But I had a history of refusing to stand down for bad behavior, and the pâté was the excuse Xavier needed to finally get rid of me.

Then, as icing on my crap-cake of a year, Alex broke up with me after I made a scene and told off one of his sexist coworkers outside a party with some of his clients. It wasn’t the first time I’d done it, and for Alex, it was the last straw. He couldn’t have a girlfriend who was hurting his career prospects.

At the time, both those incidents had seemed justified. Someone had to speak up, right? And that someone was usually me. My mom used to tell me that my big mouth would get me into trouble someday. “Sadie, when are you going to learn not to be so abrasive all the time? You’ll attract more flies with honey than with vinegar.”

At the time, I’d responded that no chef in her right mind wants to attract flies, it’s a health code violation. But now, as I head into my third month on this borrowed couch, having put not only Alex’s job prospects in jeopardy, but mine, too, I wonder if maybe my mom had a point. Maybe there was a better way to handle my boss and Alex’s coworkers that wouldn’t have left me single, homeless, and struggling to find a job.

As Kasumi holds up the gold dress, Jacob, my brother’s best friend and the owner of the apartment where I’m currently crashing walks in. Kasumi waves the sparkly frock in his direction like a road worker directing traffic. “Jacob. Hey, Jacob.”

Jacob stumbles to a stop, blinks, and then pulls an enormous pair of black headphones from his ears, leaving them hanging around his neck. “Sorry? Did you say something?”

Kasumi neatly folds the dress and sets in on the pile. “Sadie and I were just talking about a carnival party my friend is throwing tonight.” She cocks her head. “Don’t you think she needs to go out and have some fun for once?”

“Honestly, I don’t know why she’s asking Jacob. I’m pretty sure a carnival-themed party, or any party, really, is his worst nightmare. But then again, he’s probably dying to get me off his couch, so he’d say yes if she suggested I bungee jump off the Brooklyn Bridge.

Jacob’s dark eyes drift from Kasumi to the clothes on the coffee table. Finally, they settle on me. “Will there be clowns at this carnival?”

Kasumi rolls her eyes. “What is with the two of you and clowns?”

“Sadie is terrified of them.”

I glance sharply at Jacob. Ever since my brother made us watch Stephen King’s It when I was in sixth grade and Owen and Jacob were in fifth, I’ve been afraid of clowns. But I’m surprised that Jacob remembers that. I’m surprised he knows anything personal about me at all.

When I lost my apartment, the last person I expected to come to my rescue was Jacob. We’re not exactly what you’d call friendly. He’s so introverted and uptight, and I’m…well, a loudmouth. Abrasive, as they say. I can’t imagine how it tortures him to have me in his space. But no matter what Jacob thinks of me, he’s always had Owen’s back, and I guess he didn’t want my brother to get stuck with cramming me into his studio apartment when Jacob had a spare room he wasn’t using anyway.

Kasumi looks him up and down. “What are you doing tonight? You could come along to the party to protect Sadie from the clowns.” She gives me an eyebrow raise, which I know she thinks is subtle, but it’s about as obvious as if she’d yanked down my neckline, hiked up my boobs, and shoved me in his direction.

A slow heat drifts across my cheeks, and not because I’m interested in Jacob. Because— Ew. He’s my little brother’s best friend. The kid with the too-large glasses and pimples who I once caught flipping through my Victoria’s Secret catalog. Who, along with my uber-nerd brother, never had a date to a high school dance because the two of them were glued to our basement computer writing bizarre ambient music and hacking the nuclear codes.

But Kasumi never knew Jacob as an awkward teenager, so her view of him is entirely different from mine. I mean, objectively, I can see the pimples did clear up, he shot up past six feet when I wasn’t paying attention, and his clear-rimmed glasses are trendy now, probably from one of those indie eyewear brands. Plus, he’s become so successful at composing his electronic music that he was able to afford to buy this bright, spacious apartment. But, still.

He’s Jacob.

He hesitates, and I can feel the weight of his gaze on me. If he were anyone else, I’d say he’s considering coming to the party. But more likely, he’s judging me and the glittery outfit Kasumi picked out, because Jacob would never deign to attend a theme party.

I smile to myself, trying to imagine him dressed up in a black jacket and sparkly top hat, waving a magic wand. But as my gaze settles on him, my amusement fades. A suit would highlight his tall, lean frame, and with his glasses and that razor stubble on his jaw, I think he could actually pull off sexy-magician. I realize I’m staring as soon as our eyes meet, but for some mystifying reason, I don’t look away and neither does he. Even more inexplicably, my breath catches.

“So are you coming or what?” Kasumi cuts in loudly.

Jacob breaks eye contact first, and my cheeks grow warmer. This is all Kasumi’s fault for planting the seed of Jacob as a smokeshow in my clearly addled mind. “I’m sure Jacob has better things to do tonight,” I stammer. “Some creepy sci-fi music to compose, or something?”

Jacob’s eye gives a little twitch, but then he nods. “Yeah. I’ve got a deadline. You should go, though.” He pulls his headphones back over his ears and turns back toward his bedroom. “I’ll probably get more done with a little peace and quiet.”

As he walks away, I haul myself up off the couch with a sudden urge to get out of here for a while. “Okay. Let’s go to the party.”

Kasumi jumps to her feet. “Yay!”

I grab the gold dress off the coffee table and head down the hall to get ready. As I pass Jacob’s bedroom, I can hear him moving around, probably tinkering with his sound mixer or electronic keyboard or whatever other equipment he’s got in there. I stop outside the door, recalling his hesitation at the party invitation and his dark eyes locked on mine. Will Jacob be here all by himself when the clock strikes midnight? Something about that leaves me as hollow as a cannoli without any filling. He always seems like such a loner, aside from his friendship with Owen. But could he actually be a little lonely? I picture sexy-magician Jacob, and my cheeks heat again. Maybe I should knock, apologize for my snarky comment, and see if he wants to come to the party after all.

As I hover there, debating, the door swings open, and Jacob is towering over me. He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, as if to summon what little patience he has left. “Did you need something, Sadie?” He stares over my shoulder as if he could not be more over this conversation.

“Uh. No. Nope. Not at all.” I back up a few steps. “I was just heading to my room. Just this way. Down the hall here.” I gesture toward my bedroom door, which is, of course, unnecessary. It’s his apartment; he knows where my room is. But he reduces me to this nervous babble. Every. Single. Time. “Okay, well. Have a good night.”

And with that, I turn and flee.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Sadie Thatcher’s life has fallen apart in spectacular fashion. In one fell swoop, she managed to lose her job, her apartment, and her boyfriend—all thanks to her big mouth. So when a fortune teller offers her one wish, Sadie jumps at the chance to redo her awful year. Deep down, she doesn’t believe magic will fix her life, but taking a leap of faith, Sadie makes her wish, opens her eyes, and . . . nothing has changed. And then, in perhaps her dumbest move yet, she kisses her brother’s best friend, Jacob.

When Sadie wakes up the next morning, she’s in her former apartment with her former boyfriend, and her former boss is expecting her at work. Checking the date, she realizes it’s January 1 . . . of last year. As Sadie navigates her second-chance year, she begins to see the red flags she missed in her relationship and in her career. Plus, she keeps running into Jacob, and she can’t stop thinking about their kiss . . . the one he has no idea ever happened. Suddenly, Sadie begins to wonder if her only mistake was wishing for a second chance.
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Meet the Author:

Melissa Wiesner’s mother didn’t allow her to watch much TV as a child and instead, made her play with paint, colorful pipe cleaners, random bits of fabric, and all manner of other crafty things. This set Melissa up for a lifetime of creative pursuits, and it was only a matter of time before things took a bookish turn.

A night-owl, Melissa began writing novels when her early-to-bed family retired for the evening. She is the award-winning author of both emotional women’s fiction and romantic comedies. Melissa’s book, His Secret Daughter was an Amazon bestseller, The Second Chance Year was a Book of the Month add-on pick, and and It All Comes Back to You will soon be translated into almost a dozen languages.

Along with her charming husband and two adorable children, Melissa splits her time between the big city of Pittsburgh, PA and rural West Virginia.
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