Rules for Second Chances by Maggie North on June 25, 2024
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Contemporary, Fiction / Women
Pages: 352
Format: ARC
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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. A crash course in confidence… via an improv comedy class. 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.
I really wanted to love this, but it just didn’t feel realistic. There was so much back and forth, such a lack of interest and effort. I also really didn’t understand or see the point of the whole improv scenarios. It seemed very immature and could have easily been an adult conversation instead of acting out ridiculous things. I found the main female character to be very annoying, childish, and very selfish. Maybe that was the point? So we can see her growth, but from early on, I just couldn’t get past my dislike for her. I wish we could have gotten a few points of view from Tobin. I never really knew where he was coming from and it just felt like their entire relationship was based on a lie that neither of them were be truthful and instead of making me love their growth, I just got mad and annoyed that you can be that lazy and selfish in your marriage for that long.
I gave this novel a three star rating. I found the ending to be rather predicable and with my annoyance of the characters prior to that, it just fell flat for me. It read more of a woman’s fiction than a romance to me, and that could be where it lost me as well.
Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin Publishing for sharing this hard lesson on love book digital reviewer copy in exchange for my honest opinions.