Warning: this review contains major spoilers. Please read Same Time Next Year first. Or don’t – I’m not your mother or your English teacher.
As a romance reader and writer, I generally gravitate towards sapphic fiction. But when a M/F story demanded to be written, I decided to read more widely. And when this Tessa Bailey novella became available for free via Amazon First Reads, my interest was piqued. Same Time Next Year has a compelling premise – a Green Card marriage with a set expiration date. There’s a clear time limit for our characters getting their shit together and recognising their true feelings for one another. That ticking clock and Bailey’s buttery-smooth prose meant I raced through this story.
Britta’s a waitress at Sluggers, working hard in the hope of buying a stake in this bar, which has been home since her troubled childhood. After her dad walked out, abandoning Britta in favour of his secret second family, she has zero interest in dating – especially not the hockey team hanging out at Sluggers. Though their star player, Sumner – a man built like a mountain – has definitely caught her eye. Sumner’s on the cusp of being scouted… but he’s also about to be deported, And for the price of part-ownership in the bar, Britta’s willing to have a Green Card wedding.
The year-long marriage starts off as nothing more than a business arrangement for Britta. But to Sumner this forced proximity is a golden opportunity for winning over the girl of his dreams. And while there’s irresistible sexual chemistry between them, Britta’s adamant it’s nothing more than no-strings-attached. So Sumner shows up for Britta at every opportunity, loving and loyal in ways her dad never was. But every day, shared or apart, brings them closer to the Green Card marriage expiring. And Sumner only has so long to convince Britta he’s worth the risk.
Same Time Next Year is completely and utterly readable. Bailey’s writing is playful, irreverent, and tonnes of fun. And while M/F spice doesn’t appeal to me on the same visceral level that F/F does, the magnetism between these characters is intensely compelling. Britta and Sumner have a charming dynamic. Though Britta is strong and fiercely independent, she’s vulnerable too – and Sumner makes her feel safe enough to lower her walls.
Sumner is likeable in the way male characters written by women often are. While set on seducing Britta, he consistently respects her. Sumner meets Britta where she is, and he does it with compassion, engaging sincerely with the scars left by her father’s abandonment. And it’s an interesting dynamic, having the woman in favour of casual hook-ups while her male love interest is consistently the one laying groundwork for emotional connection.
This may come across as a Man-Hating Lesbian take, but I’m prepared to risk it, because there’s no point in reviewing a book if you’re not honest about its strengths and weaknesses. Here goes: the only part of Same Time Next Year I really disliked was the ending. Britta spends a sizeable chunk of this novel working towards becoming part-owner of Sluggers, and studying business management so she can make the very best of it. She paints and decorates, putting her heart and soul into that bar, because she cherishes it.
Sluggers isn’t just a job to Britta; it’s family, community. So I don’t consider it a happy ending when Britta jettisons her dream and career to relocate for Sumner when he’s scouted. Sure, you could argue that it works because Sumner rather than Sluggers is now Britta’s home in this world. But here’s the thing. Sumner still gets to keep his career and his dream, plus the family of his hockey community. And after joining a national team, he definitely has the money for both of them to fly back and forth. To split time in each location so that Britta can keep her dream too. And it pissed me off that the whole world opened up for Sumner, while Britta’s effectively narrowed to him. Her career goals are just as valid and important.
Why in 2024 are we as a culture still romanticising stories where women sacrifice their dreams outside of love and family so that men can have everything? Spoiler alert: patriarchy. This in a nutshell is why I don’t always enjoy reading M/F stories. It’s not the idea of hetero couples that bothers me, but the heavily gendered pattern of him gaining possibilities while she loses them.
Lou Morgan 