Review: 'If I Could Turn Back Time' by Nicola Doherty (2014)

What if you found The One, then lost him again? 
Or not so much lost him as became the neurotic, needy girlfriend from hell. The girl who tried to make him choose between her and his job, and got seriously paranoid about his relationship with his best female friend...
Zoe knows she doesn't deserve another chance with David. But if there's the tiniest possibility of making things right, she'll snatch it. Even if it means breaking the laws of physics to do so...
In October 2013 the hardback version of Nicola Doherty’s second novel, ‘If I Could Turn Back Time’ was released. Straight away, I knew I wanted to read the book because I loved the gorgeous cover and the blurb promised a great chick lit read perfect for fans of Lindsey Kelk. Next to that, I haven’t read Nicola’s debut novel, ‘The Out of Office Girl’, a book which many readers loved. So, when I was asked to review ‘If I Could Turn Back Time’ for the paperback release on the 10th of April, I immediately said yes and looked forward to finally being introduced to Nicola Doherty’s writing!
Zoe Kennedy has just broken up with her boyfriend David and she still feels absolutely miserable about it. David had been the perfect guy and Zoe had ruined it with her jealousy and clingy behaviour. She wishes she could turn back time in order to save her relationship with David and do everything to not lose him. So, when Zoe wakes up one morning and realises she has travelled back in time, 6 months to be exact, she immediately decides to make the best of this second chance she has been given. She needs to make sure she and David stay together, it’s as simple as that. However, changing certain things also leads to other different events happening; events Zoe definitely did not see coming...
The fact that the main character in this novel, Zoe, gets the chance to actually travel back in time immediately got me excited. Who hasn’t at one time wished they could do something all over again, making sure they would make the right decisions? I instantly warmed to Zoe and found myself rooting for her. I loved watching the story unfold, discovering which choices Zoe would make because of this second chance she has been given and seeing how it would all eventually work out. Next to Zoe, there was a great group of secondary characters, such as Zoe’s roommate Max (who is so cute and nerdy, I loved him) and David’s bitchy best friend Jenny (sometimes it can be a lot of fun hating a character with a passion while reading a book and I just wanted to punch Jenny in the face, to be completely honest!).
I really enjoyed the book because it didn’t just focus on Zoe’s relationship with David, but also on her career. Zoe works at a department store as a shop girl, but she has always dreamt of working in fashion. Now she has travelled back in time, her career path suddenly seems to go in a different direction, and I loved this aspect of the storyline. The book has all the necessary chick lit elements and I am certain any fans of the genre or romantic comedies will enjoy this. It is quite predictable in places, but the last part of the book definitely managed to surprise me. ‘If I Could Turn Back Time’ is a well-written, comfortable, and amusing read I didn’t want to put down. I already look forward to Nicola Doherty’s future work and will definitely pick up her previous novel ‘The Out of Office Girl’ soon!
Rating:

       9/10
For more information about this book: Amazon UK / Amazon US / Goodreads    Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.