Rules for Second Chances made me laugh, cry, and fall in love. It’s the ultimate second chance romance which has some deep soul searching. What good would a second chance be if we stayed the same? Keep reading this book review of Rules for Second Chances for my full thoughts.
Summary
Liz Lewis has tried everything to be what people want, but she’s always been labeled different in the boisterous world of wilderness expeditions. Her marriage to popular adventure guide Tobin Renner-Lewis is a sinkhole of toxic positivity where she’s the only one saying no.
When she gets mistaken for a server at her own thirtieth birthday party, Liz vows to stop playing a minor character in her own life. The (incredibly well-researched and scientific) plan? A crash course in confidence . . . via an improv comedy class. The catch? She’s terrible at it, and the only person willing to practice with her is a certain extroverted wilderness guide who seems dead set on saving their marriage.
But as Liz and Tobin get closer again, she’s forced to confront all the reasons they didn’t work the first time, along with her growing suspicion that her social awkwardness might mean something deeper. Liz must learn improv’s most important lesson—“Yes, and”—or she’ll have to choose between the love she always wanted and the dreams that got away.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Rules for Second Chances fed my second chance romance soul. From the very beginning we can feel the distance between them. The ways they stop speaking the same language. All the ways they don’t get each other anymore. I deeply empathized with Liz’s feeling of being a secondary character. To feel like we’re taking the back seat of our own life. With queer and autistic representation, Rules for Second Chances is a romance that I loved. If that scene from “Runaway Bride” where Julia Roberts has to figure out how she likes her eggs is your vibe, then go pick up Rules for Second Chances.
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It’s for those who feel like they’ve forgotten themselves in a relationship. And that we deserve to be who we are and with someone who sees that. All the ways we read the silences wrong. Rules for Second Chances is for anyone who self-edits themselves, who feels unseen, and who needs to admit they need help. It’s a journey of self-discovery. And it feels so good to read. Rules for Second Chances is empowering and swoony all at once. Especially if you love a character who falls in love with herself. And who starts to see herself for who she is. We can have this idea of what we think we want, what we think someone else wants, but what if we’re wrong?
I listened to Rules for Second Chances on audiobook and appreciated Gail Shalan’s narration. The ways Shalan is able to infuse so much heart and vulnerability into Liz. It’s a book that requires just the right tone and Shalan nails it.
Find Rules for Second Chances on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.