When a mysterious time capsule leads a Toronto teacher to England, she discovers some loves are worth crossing oceans—and decades—to find, from New York Times bestselling author Hannah Bonam-Young.
When a history teacher receives a letter from her deceased grandmother revealing a secret love affair in the 1950s, it leads her to a time capsule hidden decades ago. But it’s the charming grandson of her grandmother’s lost love who changes everything, proving that sometimes the heart knows exactly where—and when—it belongs.
Hannah Bonam-Young’s Time Will Tell is part of The Improbable Second Chances, stories for star-crossed lovers and hopeless romantics. They can be read or listened to in one sitting. Let’s do it again.
Hannah is an Amazon bestselling romance author from Ontario, Canada. She lives with her childhood-friend-turned-husband Ben, two kids, and bulldog near Niagara Falls on the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe peoples.
Hannah writes romances featuring a cast of diverse, disabled, marginalized, and LGBTQIA+ folks wherein swoon-worthy storylines blend with the beautiful, messy, and challenging realities of life.
When not reading or writing romance you can find her having living-room dance parties with her kids or planning any occasion that warrants a cheese board.
This was the cutest!! I really liked it, the number of times I giggled while reading this should be illegal. It truly delivered on everything but the ending, that simply wasn't enough!!
After her grandmother's passing, Georgia is left with a letter and a time capsule to unearth.. A time capsule containing the memories of a great love story.. Georgia contacts Callum, the grandson of the woman her grandmother loved, to find the key for the time capsule. As they get to know each through their e-mails, another love story might be in the making..
Georgia was such a great character, I loved her sense of humour. I absolutely adored Callum, he was so cute. I, too, would fall in love with him before I even met him, with the dimples and the British accent ahh.. I also loved Phoebe, she was hilarious.
I didn't think you could really deliver a believable love story through e-mails, but I stand corrected.. This was so sweet and endearing, I really enjoyed it. Their first phone call was adorable, I was reading it with the biggest smile on my face and the scene at the train station was so heartwarming.
The only complaint I have, and the reason I didn't give it five stars, is that we didn't get the scene of them opening the time capsule together.. That was a huge miss, it would've been such an emotional scene and the story felt unfinished without it..
I would honestly love to read more about them. I need to see all of their calls, their date, their time together and to learn more about their grandmothers..
*Thank you to Netgalley and to Amazon Original Stories for providing me with an ARC.*
A meet cute forced by a time capsule. Cute premise and I did feel chemistry between these two. Loved their meeting at the train station. Might have needed more in this book as it has the potential for a full blown novel.
Why did it take me so long to read something by this author? Oh my god, this is my favorite story in the series so far. It felt so short; I wanted to read more about the characters 🥹
I will definitely read more by this author soon because this has been incredible.
This had ALL the potential to be a five star read, but unfortunately, it fell just short, and the reason is simple: length.
Hannah Bonam-Young created something truly special here. The premise is original, the dual timeline between past and present is beautifully woven, and the email format for a modern romance actually works. Georgia and Callum’s connection felt genuine, their banter was delightful, and the grandmother’s hidden love story added such emotional depth.
But here’s my frustration: this story deserved to be a full length novel, not a short story.
The characters needed more room to breathe and develop. We got glimpses of Georgia’s grief, her personality, her life in Toronto, but I wanted to dive deeper. Callum was charming and sweet, but I craved more layers, more backstory, more complexity. Their relationship progressed quickly (understandably, given the page count), but imagine how much richer it could have been with proper development.
The grandmother’s 1950s romance was absolutely captivating in the brief moments we got, but it felt like we only scratched the surface of what could have been an incredibly moving storyline. I wanted to know MORE about her life, her choices, the full scope of that forbidden love.
Don’t get me wrong, I still really enjoyed this! It’s sweet, heartwarming, and well written. But I can’t help feeling like we were given an appetizer when I was ready for the full meal. This story had five star bones; it just needed more meat on them.
Time for another short story from ‘The Improbable Meet-Cute: Second Chances’ series 💖 🙇🏻♀️ ✨
Firstly, I am a big fan of Hannah Bonam-Young’s books so when I saw she had written a story for this series I couldn’t wait to read it! Hannah won me over with this short story just as she did with her full length novels. I just wish this one had been full length because it has SO MUCH POTENTIAL 🙌🏽
‘Time will tell’ follows Georgia’s story. After the death of her grandmother, a hidden family secret and buried time capsule are revealed, holding memories of a great love story. Georgia contacts her grandmother's lost love's grandson, Callum, in England. Together, they work on finding the key to open the capsule. Meanwhile, they slowly get to know each other via their back and forth emails. Georgia discovers some loves are worth crossing oceans-and decades-to find…
"Without them, there’d be no us.” 🥰 ✨
Y’all know I can’t resist a ‘pen pal’ story 🤭 Hannah delivered a unique and memorable spin on this classic trope. I loved how Hannah created such a genuine romance, it bloomed so sweetly and purely over time. I just wish we had more time with them to explore their relationship to the fullest. However, the epilogue at the end REALLY boosted this story to the next level.
I loved Georgia’s character, she was really down to earth and had a great sense of humour. Callum was such a great MMC too, he was utterly adorable ☺️
“I was smitten from the moment she asked if I was an intolerant toad,” 🐸
All round winner from me! My favourite of the series so far 👏🏽
the setup… Georgia is a history teacher in Toronto who receives a letter from her grandmother following her death. In it she not only discloses that she had an affair with a woman in the 1950s but the two of them had buried a time capsule. Georgia finds it but the key is with her grandmother’s former lover. When she locates the deceased woman’s grandson Callum in England, they begin a flirty email correspondence.
the heart of the story… I loved this “meet cute,” unique in itself but the exchanges between Georgia and Callum were so much fun. They were the highlight of the story.
the narration… OMG! Victoria Connolly was delightful as Georgia and Maxim Reston’s voice just slayed me as Callum. I loved every single thing about their performance.
the bottom line… So much of the story used the epistolary format, one I enjoy immensely. The banter was lively and the romance developing in those messages felt real. The payoff was wonderful and this is best taken in on audio because the narration is superb. My first by this author and now I want her backlist.
This was my favorite novella in the collection! The main characters’ grandmothers were in love when they were young, but at the time they couldn’t be together. Georgia’s grandmother left behind a time capsule filled with memories of their love, and in order to open it, the FMC has to find the other woman’s grandson—the one who holds the key.
I absolutely adore the pen pal trope, and oh my God, this was so sweet! Their chemistry was palpable, and their jokes and flirting had me smiling! Can I please get a full-length book about them?
Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Thoughts I'm ashamed to say that this is my first book by this author ( the others are still on my TBR ) this read was so fucking beautiful and again too short💔😭
Plot Summary When a history teacher uncovers a letter from her late grandmother about a hidden romance from the 1950s, she’s drawn into a long-buried mystery tied to a forgotten time capsule. As she pieces together the past, an unexpected connection with the grandson of her grandmother’s lost love begins to reshape her understanding of both history and the heart, suggesting that some loves are never truly lost.
THE SWEETEST LITTLE NOVELLA YOU NEVER KNEW YOU NEEDED!
This. Is. Absolutely. Adorable! 4.5 ⭐ Novella's are really tough for me to rate but this one the main issue is I NEED MORE! It was too short- I know, I know- NOVELLA! But it truly is full story worthy!
Duet narration available on Kindle Unlimited and the narration was 5 ⭐ Very short- at 1.5 speed this was over and done in 1 hour.
No spice lgbtq rep insta-love- as in a few days insta love- BUT!- it was well done and worked for the short story. Had this been a full length novel it would have been a little nauseating 😏
It pains me to say this but Callum gave me the ick. He would flirt then end in parenthesis with basically, “heehee that was me trying to flirt with you”.
Ex: “It seems as if no matter what I’m doing lately, you’re on my mind. (Another feeble attempt for you there.)”
Without that last sentence, it could have come off as cute but now I’m getting flashbacks from all the “poor me, nice guy just shooting his shot because what does he have to lose” of the past.
Besides that, every interaction because Georgia and Callum felt very clinical or forced. I did not feel the spark. Once they met in person it was cuter but still nothing special.
On the bright side, there were a lot of funny moments and I loved every interaction between Georgie and her family. And I always love reading a Canadian story.
super cute one!! love that they found each other through connecting to open their grandmothers’ time capsule and fell in love through those emails🥰 i’d travel to england for a man too😝
these short books help me get ahead of my reading goal🤭
Of the six The Improbable Meet-Cute: Second Chances Valentine short stories, Hannah Bonam-Young is the only author other that Christina Lauren that I’ve read. I adore Bonam-Young’s Out on a Limb, so I was hoping she’d deliver on this book.
Verdict? She did. Wonderfully.
Time Will Tell is my favorite jam of falling-in-love-without-meeting-in-person. The series of emails between the MCs, Georgia and Callum, were flirty, and sweet, and romantic. When they finally meet in person, that first kiss… All the swoons, people.
A word of warning: If you are like me and tend to cry at the end of a great romance, DO NOT listen to this audiobook while driving on Michigan snowy roads. I’m home safely now, but there was a tense moment earlier this evening of, “Don’t cry, don’t cry; you’re going to crash the car!”
Georgia receives a letter from her deceased grandmother, where she finds out not only did her grandma have a female lover in her past, but is given instructions on how to find a time capsule she left behind. She has to reach out to the grandson of the other woman to open the time capsule and it ends up being their romance together! Only thing is, she’s a teacher in Toronto and he’s in England…
If you enjoy an epistolary romance, we get a little bit of that in this one. I was invested but this one did start to drag on a bit in the middle. I actually thought this was going to be a time travel, shows what I get when I don’t pay attention to the synopsis as much. lol anyways I usually love this author’s writing, but maybe as a novella it just didn’t work as well for me sadly. Part of the Amazon Originals Improbable Meet Cutes collection, so it is on Prime and KU read and listen.
Thank you to Amazon Original Stories and NetGalley for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I am sooo grateful to NetGalley and soo happy that I get to read these short stories early. Time will Tell is absolutely amazing! There is something about Hannah Bonam-Young and her writing, her characters that just feel sooo real and this was just that. The only thing I regret is that it's so short!!! Could have happily read another 300 pages.
Aquí seguimos a Georgia, una maestra de historia que acaba de perder a su abuela, y como último regalo, recibe una carta que le rompe y le reconstruye el corazón al mismo tiempo. En ella, su abuela le confiesa que estuvo enamorada toda su vida de una mujer, Martha, un amor que nunca pudo vivir libremente por la presión social de la época, y que terminó cuando fue obligada a casarse con un hombre, mientras Martha se mudaba a Londres.
En esa carta también le revela un secreto precioso, el último día que estuvieron juntas enterraron una cápsula del tiempo con la historia de su amor dentro, con la esperanza de que algún día alguien la encontrara. La llave para abrirla la tenía Martha, así que Georgia decide buscarla… solo para descubrir que Martha murió hace diez años.
Lo que no esperaba era encontrarse con Callum, el nieto de Martha, y empezar a intercambiar correos con él, primero por la cápsula, luego por la historia de sus abuelas, y después… por algo que va creciendo de una forma tan natural, tan suave, tan honesta, que cuando te das cuenta ya estás completamente dentro.
No puedo explicar el sentimiento que me dio esta escritura, de verdad no pude soltar el libro desde que empecé. Sentí que me estaba enamorando de Callum al mismo tiempo que Georgia, y fue imposible decirle a mi corazón que esas palabras no eran para mí. Todo se sintió blando, cálido, íntimo, como si alguien te hablara bajito al oído.
Fue una experiencia preciosa, única, de esas historias que se te quedan en el pecho. 10/10 absoluto. Solo confirma lo mucho que amo a esta autora y su talento para escribir husband material del más alto nivel. Necesito más, mucho más de esto.
I really enjoyed this one! After discovering her grandmother's secret 1950s love affair, Georgia ends up following a locked time capsule to England, where she finds herself drawn to the grandson of that lost love. And I just adored the fate-like way their connection unfolded. It was so serendipitous and adorable!
The email/penpal exchanges were so fun! Though ... the flirty dialogue sometimes felt a little awkward and unnatural, especially once meeting in person. I know this can be inevitable with a novella, but the romance just felt a bit fast-paced. But even so, I was happy with this one! I loved how it wrapped up the time capsule storyline through an article at the end. Very cute!
Rating novellas is hard, so I’ll leave the rating blank for this one.
This was cute but because it’s so short, things move incredibly fast and there’s not enough time to grow any sort of affection for the characters and their story.