Blessed Time
by Cale Plamann
2021, Aethon Books
Blessed Time is the first book in a time-loop LitRPG series, and also the name for the series as a whole. As with many LitRPG novels, it is available only, as far as I can find, through Amazon as a Kindle ebook or audiobook.
The story is set in the world of Kerell, and Dungeons & Dragons-esque world where the lucky are chosen as heroes to fight monsters and clear dungeons. Well, mostly; Micah Silver's father was blessed by the gods to be an extra-good tailor, so it's not all going on adventures and killing monsters. But Micah's older brother was blessed as an adventurer, and he is hopeful that on his 16th birthday he will be as well.
On his birthday he finds himself briefly, and rather uniquely, receiving offers for blessings from multiple gods. He chooses to go with the blessing giving him some limited control of time magic and learning, although he doesn't know the details until the blessing is granted: he receives a magic book that helps him learn faster and records everything he reads, and he has the ability to travel back in time five years, once every five years. He is underwhelmed, but events conspire to make his gifts much more useful than he might prefer, and he finds himself saving the kingdom repeatedly.
While I have not read much LitRPG, I gather that Blessed Time does exactly what the genre is expected to do: provide a fast-moving adventure staring a protagonist with a bit of munchkining and an ever-escalating set of powers. It's light, somewhat addicting, and mostly fun, or, failing that, just dramatic enough that you don't miss the fun. The structure of the story is a bit jerky at times, and the author has set himself up for a repeating five-year cycle, requiring some serious time skips. However, it works, and the story remains engaging. The writing quality and editing are... fine. I wouldn't read it for the characters, and the personal interactions are often a bit wooden, but it's an adventure story and a time-loop story, and those are done well. I would recommend this if you like well-done time loops and want some light, engaging reading.
Following this novel there are three more in the series: Coda, Dakkora's Legacy, and Shattered Hourglass.