I think anyone who enjoys heartwarming novels will love this book. I found it a little slow to start but anfter that I really liked it overall it left me with a feel good factor.

Anna Bell has done it again! Once Upon a Leap Year is a gorgeously written, emotionally rich romance that completely captures the heart. As a longtime fan of her work, this felt like Anna at her absolute best: warm, witty, and wonderfully heartbreaking in all the right ways.

Following Lucy and Noah’s once-every-four-years connection across two decades is a beautiful, slow-burning journey filled with laughter, longing, and the bittersweet ache of missed chances. It’s everything you want in a friends-to-lovers, right person, wrong time, second chance love story. Their chemistry is undeniable, and watching them circle each other through the years is both agonising and utterly irresistible.

Bell’s writing is packed with emotion and hope, reminding us that timing may not always be perfect - but love just might be worth the wait. Fans of layered, character-driven romance will fall head over heels for this one.

This. Book. Was. Adorably. Addictive.
Once Upon a Leap Year by Anna Bell gave me all the romcom fuzzies. The concept? Fresh. The style? So fun. And those characters? I adored them flawed, funny, and impossible not to root for.

The chemistry leapt (pun intended) off the page, and I was grinning like a goofball through most of it. BUT… that ending? Felt a little too quick for my liking. I wanted a few more beats before the final bow.

Still, a charming, joyful read that had me hooked. 4 stars for the vibes, the voice, and the Valentine's magic.

🌟🌟🌟🌟

Why on earth did I leave this a year to read, although I'm very glad I have now read it.

I felt a fairly close affinity to Lucy and Noah, as I am literally only about 2 hours older than them. They are both leaplings, whereas I was born a few hours before the leap day in the same year, so each birthday they celebrated, I was the same age and have often thought about how cool it would have been had I had the 29th Feb birthday instead and how much more interesting that made me.

So as I was reading I was remembering some of my own birthdays, while completely enjoying their story.

And it all starts in 2000, with what Lucy was hoping to be a trip to Paris with Will, and turned out to be a booze cruise trip to Calais to raid the hypermarkets. And its on that trip she meets Paul and Noah who were also on the trip, and Noah and Lucy spend a bit of time having an adventure in Calais while not being too happy with who they came with (for vastly different reasons).

And that is the start of them all being in each others lives. The book is structured that we get the day before, day after and the special day itself of each leap year, and then we get texts and emails etc between all of the friends to catch us up on what is happening in the in between years.

It's a wonderful way of managing to get a book to span 20 years, and I really felt as though I knew all the characters. I also knew what I was hoping would be the end result but I wasn't completely sure I'd get it - but wow that is a truly wonderful ending!

I was absorbed into the lives of Lucy, Caz, Amy, Noah, Paul and Mags, and of course Lucy's mum (and that was a tough storyline to read) as they go from uni students, to full grown actual adults!

And I've finished reading this just hours before I turn 41, so probably the most perfectly timed I could have for a book, other than reading it in a leap year, I was just enchanted by the whole book.

Wonderful writing as I have come to expect from Anna Bell and characters that I have taken into my heart.

Thank you to HQ and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

I loved the characters from the start and really loved following their journey together! Really likeable characters!

It’s not often you get a love story that spans twenty years, I thought this book was brilliant. I was hoping they would get together, you’ll just need to read it to find out if they do. Life is a journey and not a destination and this book is full of life. Parts of it surprisingly mirrored my own and I thought the parts written about caring for a parent were handled well. I would recommend this, thank you #netgalley

This was a lot of fun and I loved the concept, I’ve been reading Anna Bell books for years now and this one was up there with her very best.

An author I stumbled across a while back and whose books I always enjoy, although due to time it took me a while to read this book it didn't take away from the story in anyway and I loved it

This was such a romantic and charming love story. The premise is that Luce and Noah meet randomly in a rainy car park in Calais. It turns out it's both their birthdays and even more surprising is that they are both leaplings.

So begins a friendship that centres around them meeting up every four years to celebrate their birthdays. In between times, the author cleverly fills in the details with emails and text threads which I found really refreshing as it moved the story on without the need for loads of detail.

Their friendship waxes and wanes and there is always a frisson between them, but the timing just never seems to be on their side. By the end of the book I was absolutely invested in their story and willing them to finally admit their feelings.

Sweet, smart and charming, I really loved this book.

Enjoyed simple light hearted read v well written all expected developments but because of fantastic written I was glued . Feel good factor and relaxing

I am not sure I am going to be able to do this book justice. I absolutely loved everything about it. Lucy and Noah first meet by chance in 2004, we then meet them every 4 years on their leap year birthdays and find out what happened in between. I loved the concept and how Bell has written this. There are also messages and voicemails from the other years that help to fill in events. The plot felt unique and was also entertaining, heartfelt and full of love and hope.
The characters are amazing and I clicked with them instantly. I took Lucy and Noah into my heart and I was rooting for them the whole way through. Their friends are also strong characters and again very likeable. Reading this felt like catching up with old friends.
I just loved everything about this book and cannot recommend it enough.
Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for an advance copy.

Anna Bell has done it once again. I really don't know how she manages to have these incredibly well developed plots and characters in such short, light and fluffy romance reads. Terrific work.

A lovely story that moved at a pleasant pace through the years, focusing on events around each leap year birthday.

I really enjoyed this one. It was something a little bit different and not just your typical love story.
Our main character is a leapling, born on the 29th February, she then meets another leapling……. But their journey is probably not what you are expecting!
Told over many years, mainly on the 29th February (with short bits at the end of the chapter to move you forward to the next chapter of their lives).
It’s fun, it’s different, it’s definitely worth a read!

If you love the glorious romance in One Day, you will ADORE this “will they, won’t they” friends to lovers saga. Truly so beautifully written in four year chunks. Your heart will be warmed!

Lucy's never met another leapling before, but on the 29th of February 2000, she meets Noah, who's also spending his once in four years' birthday on a disappointing booze cruise to Calais. There's a spark between them that Lucy thinks he must feel too, but as their both in relationships, they realise nothing can happen and they have to be purely platonic. Over the next twenty years, they're by each others side for weddings, babies, new jobs, and illnesses but Lucy can never shake the feeling the should be together.

I really enjoyed this romance story. I liked how every chapter was written on the 29th of Feb and how we got to catch up with them throughout the rest of the time with emails and text messages. My only wish is that there was more of the romance between Lucy and Noah. Overall I recommend.

I found this had a slow start but it soon got going. I’ve never thought about the fact that books haven’t focused on leap years before and I loved it. A good snuggly read.

Another enjoyable read by Anna, her books never disappoint! The queen of heart warming romance has doneit again.

I loved this book. I love Anna's books and this one was a great one. A story of two people who meet on a trip to France on a leap year which happens to be both of their birthdays. The connection is instant for one thing or another things comes up throughout the book that means that they don't get together. Ther are lots of moments you will shout at the book as the characters are being stubborn. But there are some lovely touching moments in the book too.

I enjoyed this book so much. It's a great story of friendship, love, the struggles of growing older and growing apart, and knowing who will always be there for you.

It's really great discussion of how life brings you in different directions, and the friends you thought you would always have around you can start to drift apart. The passage of time shown with texts or emails to one another was a highly realistic aspect, and I enjoyed watching the technology advance in real time, too. It's a realistic but also heartbreaking reminder that life marches on and friends often fall out of touch.

The world's topics from each leap year are also covered in each section. For those still a little avoidant of books referencing the pandemic will find it useful to know the very last weeks of the Before Times are featured here, but there is not much heavy reference after that.

There is also a depiction of a character with dementia, and the physical and mental toll that can have on their carer.

I loved the writing style here, it was engaging and exciting.