What do you think?
Rate this book
The Rules of Time Travel: A cosy romcom about second chances and great coffee
Rey is new to time travel and still learning how it works. She’s come back in time in a last-ditch attempt to prevent a future disaster. She doesn’t know if she can change the timeline but she’s determined to find out.
She arrives outside Daily Grind a matter of weeks before the cafe will be destroyed in a fire that leaves one dead.
It’s the perfect test. She seizes the opportunity and weaves her way into the fabric of the team.
Dom runs Daily Grind, the cafe that turned his life round. But now it’s under threat of demolition and he doesn’t know if he has the energy to save it.
Jack is Daily Grind’s aspiring Assistant Manager and artist-in-residence. Get to know him and maybe he’ll tell you his unified theory of time travel.
Kate bakes Daily Grind’s delicious cakes. She’s pushing Dom to fight the planners and praying he can swallow his pride and ask Stuart, her millionaire husband, for help.
Stuart is relentless in his pursuit of perfection. But there’s a fly in the Dom, his wife’s ex.
Here’s Rey’s chance. Stop the fire. Save a life. Prove the fate of the world isn't sealed. But someone is keeping a dark secret they will do anything to protect.
A feel-good time travel romance for fans of Legends & Lattes, This Is How You Lose The Time War, and Nick Hornby that may mean you can never hear Cher's 1989 hit 'If I Could Turn Back Time' the same way again.
She arrives outside Daily Grind a matter of weeks before the cafe will be destroyed in a fire that leaves one dead.
It’s the perfect test. She seizes the opportunity and weaves her way into the fabric of the team.
Dom runs Daily Grind, the cafe that turned his life round. But now it’s under threat of demolition and he doesn’t know if he has the energy to save it.
Jack is Daily Grind’s aspiring Assistant Manager and artist-in-residence. Get to know him and maybe he’ll tell you his unified theory of time travel.
Kate bakes Daily Grind’s delicious cakes. She’s pushing Dom to fight the planners and praying he can swallow his pride and ask Stuart, her millionaire husband, for help.
Stuart is relentless in his pursuit of perfection. But there’s a fly in the Dom, his wife’s ex.
Here’s Rey’s chance. Stop the fire. Save a life. Prove the fate of the world isn't sealed. But someone is keeping a dark secret they will do anything to protect.
A feel-good time travel romance for fans of Legends & Lattes, This Is How You Lose The Time War, and Nick Hornby that may mean you can never hear Cher's 1989 hit 'If I Could Turn Back Time' the same way again.
354 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 4, 2024
50 people are currently reading
52 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 28, 2025
2025 52 Book Challenge - Summer Connections Mini Challenge - 13) Cover Is On Opposite Side Of The Colour Wheel To The Previous Book (my previous book was Marine Biology: Step By Step by Marshall Zimmer)
I really couldn't get into this book at all. It read to me like a Legends & Latte style book, and I just struggled with it. The pacing was so slow and I just wanted something to happen, which made it so that I really didn't care for the main plot.
I really couldn't get into this book at all. It read to me like a Legends & Latte style book, and I just struggled with it. The pacing was so slow and I just wanted something to happen, which made it so that I really didn't care for the main plot.
April 9, 2025
Three and a half stars.
Rey goes back in time to prevent a disaster with the use of a brass device similar in size to a pocket watch. She doesn't really know much about time travel and has formulated a set of rules for herself, which are never shared with the reader.
Rey turns back time to a few weeks before a coffee shop called the Daily Grind will be destroyed in a fire which leaves one unidentified body in its wake. Rey applies for a job in the café, which is owned by Dom, a former alcoholic. Kate, a widow with one child, makes the cakes that Dom sells in the café, and Jack is the other barista. Rey knows Dom and Kate from her life in the future, but she worries that she has no recollection of Jack - could his be the body they find in the remains of the fire?
Kate's partner Stuart is wealthy and resents her 'little business', he is also jealous of the relationship she has with Dom, and he loathes her daughter Freya.
Rey has to be careful as 'The Fisherman' is on the look out for rogue time travellers, can anything she does in the past affect the future and avert the disaster?
This is hard to review. There is so much unexplained, maybe its the circularity of time travel? Jack has some great thoughts on what is a time travel book/film versus multiverse and the section titles reference some classics of the genres.
Also, if the author reads this there are some typos eg Marlboro cigarettes are not spelt Marlborough.
Overall though, I enjoyed this .
Read on my Kindle Unlimited subscription.
Rey goes back in time to prevent a disaster with the use of a brass device similar in size to a pocket watch. She doesn't really know much about time travel and has formulated a set of rules for herself, which are never shared with the reader.
Rey turns back time to a few weeks before a coffee shop called the Daily Grind will be destroyed in a fire which leaves one unidentified body in its wake. Rey applies for a job in the café, which is owned by Dom, a former alcoholic. Kate, a widow with one child, makes the cakes that Dom sells in the café, and Jack is the other barista. Rey knows Dom and Kate from her life in the future, but she worries that she has no recollection of Jack - could his be the body they find in the remains of the fire?
Kate's partner Stuart is wealthy and resents her 'little business', he is also jealous of the relationship she has with Dom, and he loathes her daughter Freya.
Rey has to be careful as 'The Fisherman' is on the look out for rogue time travellers, can anything she does in the past affect the future and avert the disaster?
This is hard to review. There is so much unexplained, maybe its the circularity of time travel? Jack has some great thoughts on what is a time travel book/film versus multiverse and the section titles reference some classics of the genres.
Also, if the author reads this there are some typos eg Marlboro cigarettes are not spelt Marlborough.
Overall though, I enjoyed this .
Read on my Kindle Unlimited subscription.
May 12, 2025
I have read The Mayfly, a free e-book from the same author and a prequel to this one. Since I can't find said story online apart from the author's website I offer up this instead. The Mayfly was very good.
Read this book too. Thoroughly enjoyed it and hope that there will be another.
Read this book too. Thoroughly enjoyed it and hope that there will be another.
December 6, 2024
This is my first book by this author and it's a fairly convoluted time travel story. I really enjoyed it.
Rey is a time traveller who is trying to right a wrong caused by another time traveller. She begins working in a café and gets quite close to the personnel there.
"You know, family isn't who you're related to - it's who you choose to keep close in your life."
Her colleague Jack is a bit of a nerd and eventually becomes her confidant.
" 'Did you know that Stephen Hawking once held a party for time travellers?' Jack says as he helps Rey wrestle a trestle table back into its compact folded form."
This book is full of interesting time-travel theories, humour and odes to time-travel films. It's also very well written. Who can't love a book with phrases like this?
"It is no longer yesterday, not yet tomorrow, the liminal space between days."
The book's conclusion is satisfying and suggests that there is a possibility for a series.
Rey is a time traveller who is trying to right a wrong caused by another time traveller. She begins working in a café and gets quite close to the personnel there.
"You know, family isn't who you're related to - it's who you choose to keep close in your life."
Her colleague Jack is a bit of a nerd and eventually becomes her confidant.
" 'Did you know that Stephen Hawking once held a party for time travellers?' Jack says as he helps Rey wrestle a trestle table back into its compact folded form."
This book is full of interesting time-travel theories, humour and odes to time-travel films. It's also very well written. Who can't love a book with phrases like this?
"It is no longer yesterday, not yet tomorrow, the liminal space between days."
The book's conclusion is satisfying and suggests that there is a possibility for a series.
August 8, 2025
Great story.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It’s a clever, imaginative take on time travel with a unique set of rules that kept things grounded while still allowing for wonder and surprise. The characters were well-drawn, and the story moved at a great pace. I especially found myself intrigued by Mr Gee, there's a sense there's much more to him than we've seen so far. I hope we get to learn more about him in future books. A great read for fans of thoughtful, character-driven time travel stories.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It’s a clever, imaginative take on time travel with a unique set of rules that kept things grounded while still allowing for wonder and surprise. The characters were well-drawn, and the story moved at a great pace. I especially found myself intrigued by Mr Gee, there's a sense there's much more to him than we've seen so far. I hope we get to learn more about him in future books. A great read for fans of thoughtful, character-driven time travel stories.
October 3, 2024
A battle for the future may rely on a meeting in a cafe. You will be pulled into an adventure and a fight to save the future of the world as they know it. There will be a few twists and turns as you seen who will come on top and save the world
I received an advance copy from hidden gems and I was pulled into a great adventure tale
I received an advance copy from hidden gems and I was pulled into a great adventure tale
November 11, 2024
How far would you go to change the past? Rey finds out when she slips back to stop a tragedy. This was an enjoyable, twisty time-travel novel. The time travel part, which relied on a special device, was a bit mysterious. The section headers gave a shout-out to great time-travel movies. I hope the author continues this series
September 25, 2025
Neither cosy nor a romcom in my opinion, despite being billed as both, so at first I felt a bit let down, but it is a very good drama/mystery with time travellers at its heart. It's not what I was looking for when I went into it, but well worth reading.
October 18, 2024
Time travel twist
It took me a couple of chapters to get into the story because of the Ground Hog Scenario, but got better the farther you got into the story.
It took me a couple of chapters to get into the story because of the Ground Hog Scenario, but got better the farther you got into the story.
February 9, 2025
The Rules of Time Travel
Enjoyed reading this book I just really need book 2 to happen real soon to see what else can happen.
Enjoyed reading this book I just really need book 2 to happen real soon to see what else can happen.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews