Her Time

Time #2

by Erica Lee

Bailey Caldwell is entering into her senior year of high school and life is good. She adores her moms and her bratty little sister, and since moving to Bellman, has become very popular. Her senior year is sure to hold a lot of excitement given that she is class president and the captain of the track team. With so much on her plate, dating is the last thing on Bailey's mind. What she certainly didn't expect was to fall for another girl. Coming out wouldn't be an issue with her given her family, but this feeling was all new. Bailey had never felt this way toward a girl before. Heck, she had never felt this way toward anyone. But there was something about Emma West that had her completely captivated.

Emma's plan when her family was forced to move across the country for her dad's job was to lay low. She was going to get through her senior year and forget about the feelings that had already caused her so many issues. With a pastor for a dad, she had no choice but to find a way to not be gay. That was possible, right? That becomes hard when she meets Bailey Caldwell, Bellman High School's most popular student and the prettiest girl Emma has ever seen. Can she continue to suppress her feelings when she starts spending more time with Bailey?

*This is the spin-off to the best selling novel, Twice Upon a Time*

Genres: Romance, Young Adult, Lesbian Romance, Friends To Lovers, LGBT, Lesbian, Lesbian Fiction

216 pages, Paperback

First published May 7, 2021

About the author

Erica Lee finished writing her first book, Dear Santa: I’m Gay, in December 2016. Erica currently lives in Pennsylvania with her wife, dog, chinchilla, and bunny. She spends her days working as an optometrist and her nights snuggled up on the couch with her furry family, binging on netflix or youtube.

Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[John Gilbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another enjoyable coming of age book by Erica Lee. Like Ashley Herring Blake, I find both write much more engaging and honest emotional books about young people than they do adults. Our two MCs, Bailey and Emma, are both very likeable high school seniors with a lot on their plate. How they both deal with their living situations and feelings about the possibility of a relationship, are well done. Another four star read by Ms Lee. I wish both authors wrote more engaging and emotional real books about adults.

[XR · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book started really awkwardly for me, 'cause the interaction with Bailey and her bestie, Wyatt was weird. It felt like Wyatt's character was just so over the top. It got better though, when he mellows down a bit.

And, Jebus the feels!

I don't know what it is about these scenes with parents and anyone really who are accepting of someone who comes out to them. Emma's folks are working on it, but the scene where Emma tells them how they're making her feel, and they were shocked and told her how much they love her. Yeah, that got me good.

[Loek Krancher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

Her Time is a great YA romance with depth. Bailey is the popular and cool girl in high school. Emma is the new girl in town and daughter of a pastor. She starts her senior year not only at a new school but also in a new city. Not by her own choice but forced by circumstances. Bailey is assigned to accompany her and take her under her wing. Bailey is confident and has many friends. Emma is shy and alone. Life is not easy for her and her feelings of guilt lay heavy on her. The every day adjustments she has to make, is a real struggle. Sometimes you have to go through the worst to get the best. I loved the story of Bailey and Emma. You could feel all their emotions. Erica Lee captured this all perfectly with her amazing writing. I could completely understand both girls. Their struggle to come to terms with their sexuality and the inevitable changes felt all real. Her Time is a great journey of self-discovering and a beautiful lovestory. Highly recommended.

[Kexx · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the first one in the 'Time' duet, but this one was more Young Adult than the first. It was OK.... Bordering on a novella...

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really do enjoy Erica Lee's writing, and I look forward to each of new releases. And I was really happy to see this book is a continuation of her books that take place in Bellman, PA alongside Falling for Faith and Twice Upon A Time. This book being a direct sequel to Twice Upon A Time.

This book follows Bailey Caldwell (Who we know from Twice) and Emma West. Emma has just moved to Bellman with her pastor father for her senior year in high school looking to finish high school under the radar after a negative experience at her old school in Texas. Yet despite that goal, the first person who befriends her is Bailey, who is class president, star of the track team, and most popular kid in school. When they find themselves falling for each other, neither know how to react as Bailey doesn't want to be the cliche queer kid with lesbian parents, and Emma doesn't want to disappoint her religious parents.

Erica Lee does a really good job in several of her books balancing out religious content with queerness, and I really appreciate that in her books- particularly Falling For Faith, (sidenote- which is low key one of my favorite novellas of all time as it pushes all my specific interests in just the right way) And this book is in that same grain. I know a lot of people who read lesbian fiction stay away from religious themed books, and I have a lot of mixed and probably contrary feelings towards religion at this point in my life from my upbringing, but I still do tend to like religion as a major motif in books, and I feel Erica Lee handles the nuance rather well.

I really liked both Bailey and Emma quite a bit, and I really liked them together. I felt like they balanced each other really well- with Bailey being the extravert and adventurous, and Emma being more reserved. And when they finally admitted their feelings for each other it was super cute and made me happy.

The side characters were great too. Bailey's friend group was really fin, especially Wyatt- who is ridiculous in the best way. It was nice to see Kari and Kacey again, and as a fan of Falling for Faith, Joey's cameo was nice too! And also Emma's parents vs the Youth Leader in their church was cool to see.

I do have some mild criticisms, I thought Bailey's reasoning to no want to be with Emma was a little silly. I don't think I know anyone queer also with queer parents, but I don't see how it would be an issue. I also kinda wish there was more emphasis on track as it could have been a great way to draw Bailey and Emma together later on.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I am an Erica Lee fan, and this book hit a lot of my buttons in the right way. 4.25/5

[Yoly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book practically at random because the description seemed interesting. Like 30% into the story I noticed the cover said that this was a spin-off, and I was tempted to pause it and read the previous book, but eventually decided to finish this one first. I don't think I missed anything because I hadn't read the other book and I don't think I had anything spoiled.

This was a very sweet story with wonderful characters. Now I need to read Twice Upon A Time.

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bailey was the highlight of Twice upon a Time for me, so I was curious how her story might play out. And I like her struggle here: for the first time in her life, she's attracted to a girl. And this freaks Bailey out because she doesn't want to be a cliché; she doesn't want to bring anymore negative attention to her family; she doesn't want to people to perceive her as queer because her moms are queer. But she's also drawn to the new girl, Emma, in a way that doesn't make much sense to her.

Emma, the daughter of a pastor, has just transferred to a new school at the start of her senior year and she's just trying to graduate without bringing further disgrace to her family. Her parents won't admit it, but she knows the reason she's the reason why the church transferred her father from Texas to Pennsylvania--because the congregation found out she thought she might be gay.

I love a gay story with religious angst because apparently I'm a masochist, so I really resonated with Emma's struggle: if she doesn't acknowledge she's gay, if she doesn't fall for a girl, if she can date a nice boy, then maybe she won't risk disappointing or losing her parents. And she's right to feel this way given the say things ended for her in Texas.

Meeting Bailey, popular, beautiful, track-teammate Bailey with her two moms is a bit of revelation. And, anyway, Bailey is straight. But when their friendship blurs the lines to something more, are either willing to acknowledge what's happening?

I thought this was a better book than the first book in the series, but only marginally so. Emma and Bailey are really great characters and I was rooting for them. Especially Emma, who feels like she has so much to lose. And the way her coming out was handled was really well done. Her parents have one of the more realistic reactions I've read, even if it's hurtful for Emma.

I was disappointed that Bailey's moms, Kacey and Kari weren't featured more. When I read a sequel, I'm hoping to spend more time with the characters we meet in book one. Kylie and Bo were in the novel only once.

I also didn't like Wyatt, Bailey's BFF here (much like I didn't like Kari's BFF, Bo). They actually seemed like two sides of the same coin--both obnoxiously obtrusive and both a bit over the top. Wyatt is worse to me than Bo because Wyatt, an openly bisexual guy, puts a lot pressure for Bailey to embrace her bisexuality, too. And when he's doing this, Bailey doesn't even have it in the realm of possibility that she might be queer. But Wyatt keeps insisting that she is, and this really bothers me. Even though he ends up being right about her, this is Bailey's journey to go on and he'd be a better friend if he didn't say anything. I would have appreciated an approach more along the lines of: "I know you've never been attracted to a girl, but is it possible the might like her?" Rather than, "I've been telling you you're bisexual for years. When are you going to admit it?" Anyway, between Bo and Wyatt, I'm not convinced Lee knows what to do about BFF characters. I will have to wait and see.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm reading these books in the wrong order, but that's ok. Lee's writing is excellent and while this book has lots of teenage angst it's still heartwarming.

It deals with coming out and the struggles that come with that. Growing up as a Methodist pastor's daughter sure brings even more struggles to Emma's life. Emma and Bailey each have their own hurdles to take in their young life to accept who they are and who they want to be with.

Lee has done a great job of conveying a first real love and the struggles to come out in different situations. I don't read a lot of YA/NA because I find it to be too angsty and "young" for me, with this one I didn't feel like that at all. Aside from them doing some typical teenage things it felt very mature and real. This book made some dreary days better.

[Lorraine Rusnack · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so happy to revisit these characters. Bailey has grown into a lovely young lady. Emma is sweet and clicks with Bailey right away. Emma is trying to fight her feelings towards Bailey and just wants to make her parents happy. All the family issues and heartbreak that they face is so emotional I could help but cry for them. This is a wonderful story for young adults facing theses issues to read. I would love to see how things turn out for Emma and Bailey in the future.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

So this is a YA romance and coming out story and as a rule this is aimed right at me and should garner a 5 star.. but alas this is not to be. I found a little to much yes no yes no yes no in the start of this book but by the end it had got better. So as much a I like Erica and her books and how I should have loved this book I can only go 3.5 rounded up to take that for what it is worth..still a worthwhile read.

[Vini · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked it up randomly on kindleUnlimited.

Predictable story, ridden with clichés and shallow characters.
There were a couple of high points in the story, in how the situations were resolved and how it affected and taught something to the main characters. Other than that it was quite bland with many useless plot points hanging deftly from the main story. The writing itself was clean enough.
The depicted relationship and the romance was good but suffered from "losing myself in your eyes", "a kiss different from any other kiss" and "her touch made me tingly and warm" a few too many times to be effective. I swear characters in romance books suffer from a peculiar gastric disease, because their stomachs tend to do somersaults way too often.

If you like cliché stories with little angst and lots of cute moments, this will be a fun read. Don't overthink it (like I do) ;)

[Aris Duarte · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love that the author gave Bailey her own story and we were able to see what happened with her family during the time in between Twice Upon a Time and Her Time, which it was good.

Emma moved from Texas with her family and became fast friend with Bailey and oh boy it was sweet and painful. Too many blows to my heart with this one.

You can relate a lot to what's happening with Bailey and Emma.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

So this was full of teenage angst. And I can’t believe I’m going to do this, but I’m going to start differentiating types of teenage angst! This wasn’t like, Tryst Six Venom teenage angst, this was like, who am I and is it really OK to be myself? teenage angst. It made the first half a bit tough to get through — not necessarily in a bad way, but in a way that the main characters were both struggling to see the obvious, which the reader and the characters’ friends can see, but they themselves are either not willing to see or not willing to accept. And consequently some of their decision-making was… not ideal. Which… plausible, yes, in-character, yes, but damn if I wasn’t really really wanting to get to the point where they start to get over that! (Also, I haven’t heard the cliche that Bailey was so concerned about — but I certainly sympathize with not wanting to give classmates more grist for the rumor mill.)

Even after that uncertainty cleared up, it wasn’t smooth sailing. Though Bailey and Emma got to the point where they could admit things to themselves and each other, they had to work through what to reveal to everyone else. And that part went well too, though I did have to, uh, take it on faith that Emma had a good reason to be so invested in her family, when they seemed to give every indication that they weren’t that invested in her. (Side note: That one conversation she sat her mom down for, wow, I could never have been that calm and mature about it!) Bottom line, there was still plenty of angst to work through to get to a place where both Bailey and Emma could be content with their situations, and it was a fun ride.

Anyway, if teenage angst bothers you, then this won’t be the book for you. But if you’re on board with it, it was definitely enjoyable. This was a second book in the story that I’m happy to have. :)

[Sarah Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yeaaaboi.

I hate that I have to title my reviews. Like, can I honestly express how jumbled my feelings are after completing this book? No. Because, I... Well, “loved” would be the closest comparable thing I suppose. Although, I think “love” may be even more accurate because I’m positive Bailey and Emma will be in my heart forever.

So yes, the book wasn’t long enough - I’ll need at least another 3,000 pages to be anywhere near satisfied. Erica brought back not only Kari and Kacey, but Joey too! Heart soaring, do a little dance, that’s how I felt about that scene.

There was one error in the whole book, and I highly doubt most people will ever notice it.

It’s cute, sweet, endearing. Addresses high school love, real love in general, real fears that logically kids and adults have about not wanting to be something they are. There was coming out - but two sides of the story - Emma and Bailey had two different coming outs. There was less family drama that the “moms” had, but a tiny bit.

Basically, I recommend it. But of course I would, because Erica Lee wrote it and dammit if she doesn’t write good ass books.

I’m putting this book as probably my new favorite, which is hard to do with characters like Charlie, Joey, and Kinsley out there.

[Kaye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very sweet spinoff of Twice Upon A Time. In that book Bailey Caldwell is ten years old when her moms get together. Now she is starting what she hopes will be a great senior year of high school. She is popular, class president and runs on the track team. She has always dated boys but has never been in love. New student Emma catches her eye and takes her breath away on the first day of school. Emma's dad is a pastor and his move to Bellman was a result of her asking a youth pastor about same sex attraction. She isn't out and doesn't plan to be.

This is well written and a very sweet story. It captures Emma's fears of coming out and Bailey's accepting she is attracted to more than boys. It is about friendship and first love. It gave me the feels. I love that the author includes both conversations with them coming out to their parents to differing receptions. This doesn't need to be read in order but I was happy to catch up on Bailey's moms Kari and Kacey. For high school and up.

[Lyareads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This love story had my heart from the beginning.

Friends to lovers ✓
Slow burn ✓
Character development ✓

Emma and Bailey have that intense chemistry that makes you want them to immediately get together, but there are some main conflicts: Emma is the pastor's daughter and believes she can try not to be herself in order to please her parents. Bailey was raised by two moms and doesn't want people thinking that she is "gay" because of that.

They are teenage girls who are discovering who they are and what they want while deeply falling in love with one another. You can easily relate to both of them and understand the reasons behind their actions. Also, their character development through the story is very real and satisfying.

I'm truly glad I decided to read it (literally in one sit) and I wish I had the opportunity of reading a book like this one when I was in my teenage years.

Kudos to Erica Lee for writing this masterpiece.

[Ash · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actual rating: 4.8

I'm jealous of these 17/18 year olds. Being the same age as them, I'm not having fun like this. Most of my life and my friend's are stuck studying.

Leaving my life out of this, this story was really cute. Figuring yourself out, accepting it, acting on your feelings, its all scary. But I'm really glad to see how they went through it.
Loved watching Bailey grow up (from Kari and Kacey's story).
Emma reminds me of myself...
She starts her journey on a road of denial (sexuality, feelings, etc). And, yea, I expected this, I too did that with my first crush. But its still sad to read about it.
'Stop it, Emma. You’re not like that. You can’t be. It’s not okay' --> Emma's Internalized homophobia :(, really sad to read.

Bailey has grown up to be such a wonderful person, and she brings out the best in Emma, I hope they have happy days moving forward (yes I know they're just characters, but i really loved them...)

[Doug Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

The couple in this YA romance consist of Bailey, who is concerned that being bisexual is too much of a cliche, and Emma, who knows things will be very difficult at home if and when she publicly acknowledges that she is a lesbian. There are many difficult moments in this tale, but they are all consistent with the story line so things do not become melodramatic. Despite their difficulties the young women clearly have the makings of a very solid relationship. A very good read with a well earned HEA.

[Searchr.23 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second book in the Time series by Erica Lee.

From the beginning I thought I wouldn't like this book, but I'm glad I was wrong. The continuation of the Caldwell family story won me over again.
In this literature, the secondary characters are super interesting and relatable. They add zest, warmth, kindness and are a lifeline to the story.
The reunion of the heroines is very painful, but at the same time sweeter than honey. I am glad that the story was written on behalf of two heroines

[Isabella Rocco · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ Honestly, I don’t think Emma and Bailey (the 2 main characters) had much chemistry and we also don’t get to know much else about them except that they both like each other, they both do Track, and their family life. But I think this book was mostly about the importance of time and patience, not only with others but with yourself. (Spoilers ahead) I also don’t personally think that if they hadn’t taken the brake they took their relationship would have worked out.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bailey & Emma we’re cute. I do t usually read many YA books but this was by Erica Lee so I had to read it & it didn’t disappoint. Great to see how Bailey has grown up from (Time #1) book & is discovering herself. I enjoyed this lil read & love both her mums Kari & Kacey & lil sister Sophia. I always love how Erica Lee doesn’t just end a book but let’s us know further into the characters lives. I love it!!

[Kathleen Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great

I love and own all of Erica Lee's books. I bought this one before reading. I am hoping for a sequel. I love Emma's struggles it was so real. I had similar issues and my parents were not involved in the church. As long as she keeps writing these wonderful books I will keep reading.

[Glenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have avoided YA titles in the past, as the few I tried seemed somewhat shallow and often unbelievable. All of the characters in the book, and especially the leads Bailey and Emma, are so real that you really come to care what happens to them and what their future may be. I will definitely read more of Erica Lee.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bravo!

This was a wonderful follow up to "Twice Upon a Time". It was great to revisit the characters as Bailey, the daughter in "Twice", enters her final year of high school now. The struggles the she and Emma confront as they are forced to face their attraction to each other are the same faced by many individuals every day. Put this book on your list read list!

[Karissa Castle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story

Such a sweet teen romance novel! This one definitely brought me back to my own coming out and first love. It was challenging to relive that but I am excited I got to read a more happier story over all.

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a lovely story

Coming out is never easy. This book captures every emotion involved in that process of finding your authentic self. I love how it captures then delicate nature of it.

[Gina Watts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahhh young love

For any young adult struggling with their sexuality or coming out, this is perfect for you! Such a sweet love story of young love and the struggles of everything that entails. Another perfectly written book.

[M L Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really sweet follow up

This was a really sweet, heartwarming tale of discovery and of girls from very different backgrounds coming to terms with their sexuality. It was especially nice as a follow on of twice upon a time, giving a chance to see how the characters had developed

[Cristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn't put down

I have read every single one of Eric's books. She truly did not disappoint with this one. I loved the connection between Bailey and Emma. It was so well written, I could feel their pain, and their happiness.

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I throughly enjoyed Her Time, it’s an up beat positive LGBT young adult book and I’m here for it. I wish there were more books around like this when I was younger.

I recommend reading this for something light hearted and easy to read!