Time After Time by Mikki Daughtry

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✦ BLURB ✦

Nineteen-year-old Libby has always been inexplicably drawn to the old Victorian house on Mulberry Lane. So much so that when she sees a For Sale sign go up in the front yard, Libby uses all the money her grandmother left her to pay for college to buy the house instead, determined to fix it up herself--even though she knows her parents will be furious. Soon after moving in, she discovers a journal written by a young woman, Elizabeth Post, who lived in the house nearly a century earlier. It doesn't take long for the journal to reveal that Elizabeth was madly in love with her personal maid, Patricia. A love that was forbidden and dangerous, especially at that time.

Enter Tish, a brash, broke fellow college student, who passes by the house one day and is mysteriously compelled to knock on the door. Soon Libby offers Tish a room in exchange for her help in fixing up the old house, and the two young women quickly find themselves falling for each other. But as Elizabeth's journal entries delve deeper into her secret love affair with Patricia, uncanny similarities between that young couple and Libby and Tish are revealed, and it becomes clear that this may not be their first time in this house, or in this love. Is this their chance to get it right?

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✶ PRE-READING ✶

I was intrigued by the idea of layered love stories across time - sapphic romances echoing one another, and a haunting old house binding them together. I’m not always keen on reincarnation plots, but when they’re used to explore legacy and healing, they can work beautifully.

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✶ POST-READING ✶

The reincarnation element wasn’t quite my thing, but the emotional story underneath it was strong and sincere. Libby and Tish’s relationship builds believably, and the house itself is a great anchor - full of hidden memories and untold stories. I especially liked the journal entries from Elizabeth, which gave the historical thread real weight and urgency.

It surprised me by... handling the past and present with equal care. The stakes felt real in both timelines, and the parallel stories created a bittersweet, reflective tone. Even when the “meant to be” idea didn’t fully land for me, I could appreciate how the narrative asked whether love across time is a second chance or a pattern we’re doomed to repeat.

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✦ RECOMMENDATIONS ✦

Book Recommendation: One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston for another queer romance layered with time and memory (plus trains instead of houses).
TV or Movie Recommendation: Portrait of a Lady on Fire - for its atmosphere, intensity, and the idea that some loves leave a permanent mark.

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✧ VIBE CHECK ✧

A colour palette: warm mahogany, candlelight gold, faded blue ink
A soundtrack: distant piano music with the occasional thunderstorm
A season: late autumn – memory-saturated, full of quiet longing
A mood: nostalgic, dreamy, aching
A scent: old books, rosewater, and freshly sawn wood

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★ TAROT CARD PULLED ★

Six of Cups (Moon Dust Tarot). Two women share a single cup between them, while five others stand in gentle formation behind. This image is soft, warm, and full of remembered affection - just like the story. The card speaks to the way the past lives inside us, how memory can offer comfort or ache, and how love - when rediscovered - can feel like coming home.

Time After Time publishes on 27th May, 2025. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.