Second Chance Romances | 1.6.23
Sometimes.... it's not too late!
I’ll be honest- the second chance and “marriage in trouble” trope would not make any top ten lists for me. While I can appreciate this kind of story emotionally and can respect it narratively, I am a cynic at heart and a long-term grudge holder. The buy in is much higher for me to accept a HEA when one or both parties in the relationship have tried and failed at this very relationship before. That being said, the three books I have for you this week are all doing really interesting, nuanced things with the concept of second chances, and in 2023 I’m trying to be more forgiving and open minded. Leave me a comment if you agree/disagree with my opinions on second chance romances! I’m curious if I’m alone in this!
The Road Trip by Beth O'Leary. At the start of a road trip to Scotland for a friend’s wedding, Addie and her sister are rear-ended by non other than her ex, Dylan, and his best friend on their way to the very same wedding. With Dylan’s car now totaled, Addie agrees to give them a ride, along with a similarly stranded wedding-bound guest, and as the trip goes from bad to worse, they must reckon with the traumatic incident that ended their whirlwind romance two years earlier in order make peace, get to the wedding on time, and, hopefully, find a way forward together.
This book is a beautiful contradiction, with some heartbreaking twists (scheming narcissist friends, workplace sexual harassment, traumatic misunderstandings and miscommunication) as well as some hysterical ones (a man has to be tied up and left in a hotel room when they finally reach the wedding, someone gets some with an older truck driver while stuck on the side of the road), which is a hallmark of Beth O’Leary’s style. Something I appreciate about her books is that they’re all completely unique and she always takes a swing with structure and form. Her writing frequently stresses me out (in all the best ways), and they aren’t always re-readable as a result, but at the end I’m always like “holy shit that was a master class in craft.”
Rating: 4.5/5
How hot? 🔥 (no on-page sex scenes)
All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover. I didn’t know until a few weeks after reading this book that Colleen Hoover was the reigning queen of the romance bestsellers list. At the time, I just knew I’d maxed out my hold limit on Libby and was itching for something, anything, to read in the meantime. This just happened to be on the first page of available to borrow contemporary romance e-books, so I checked it out.
Our meet cute takes place many years before the main narrative of this novel, when Quinn and Graham discover their partners are cheating on them… with the other person’s partner. It’s hard to feel too broken up about their breakups when they discover their own chemistry is much stronger. This split chronology novel follows their early love story and all its drama as well as their battles with infertility later in their marriage which is the catalyst for a reckoning between two people, seemingly perfect for one another, who are on the verge of losing what brought them together in the first place.
This book deals with infertility, as I mentioned, but also with infidelity and mental health. It’s not for the faint of heart, and for every chapter with a genuinely panty-dropping moment of sweetness, there’s two that punch you in the gut for believing in love. We get a HFN/HEA in the end, of course, but the road there is fraught, so buyer beware.
Rating: 4.5/5
How hot? 🔥🔥
Seven Days in June by Tia Williams. Eva, a supernatural romance author, has an intense public interaction with Shane, a literary fiction author, on a black authors panel, and it turns out they not only knew each other briefly [but intensely] as teenagers, but they've been secretly communicating through their books ever since. She’s immortalized Shane as a damaged but sexy supernatural creature, he’s immortalized Eva as a damaged but scrappy literary POV.
With flashbacks between then (those titular days in June) sprinkled throughout the now (Eva’s life as a single mom with chronic pain and a complicated relationship with her career, Shane’s recent sobriety and complicated relationship with his career and also his legacy), this book paints a beautifully detailed, often painful but ultimately hopeful portrayal of two deeply troubled, talented people whose love for one another helped them heal, even while they were apart.
Rating: 4.5/5
How hot? 🔥🔥🔥
Next week, I’m coming in hot (🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥) with another fake dating round up, because I simply Cannot Get Enough. Join me!
What should I be reading next? Let me know in the comments!
I feel the same way you do about second chance romances. It's maybe a bias I have though, as someone who generally can forgive but can never forget. I have a hard time even reconnecting with friends I haven't stayed in touch and grown with; it feels like going backwards and unnecessarily reopening doors. I think it's rare for 2 people who've been apart to grow and change in ways that make them compatible again years later without bringing the baggage of their old selves and their old perceptions of each other into it; so I find the buy in much harder for that kind of story (which is why 7 Days was such a pleasant surprise for me because it really worked in ways I didn't think it could).