I enjoyed this book of second chances as Evie takes a trip to New York to visit her sister with her best friend. After losing her husband and raising her kids she is at a crossroads in her life, having abruptly quitting her job. New York seems to add new life into her, meeting new people, and some old. The diner is a great setting, for a portion of her adventures, and the waitress is a kindred spirit that leads her some perspective and laughter.

The story of a friend who disappears is a part of the story but it could have been easily left out. It dragged out the beginning few chapters and had no resolution, so that is my only criticism.

Where do I start? This book has made me feel so many things that my emotions are still swirling and I’m still sifting through them in my head but I’ll do my best to sort them in to some semblance of a coherent review. Suffice it to say, this book has absolutely blown me away by how much I love it. It has everything I love in a good book and, not only are all the elements there, they are delivered so perfectly; with so much warmth and charm and sincerity and sheer honesty that it has wriggled under my skin and settled there.

The book is the story of Evie, widowed mum of two who has lost the love of her life and is now facing an empty nest as her children reach adulthood and leave home. She has to face what she is going to do with the rest of her life, and that question currently has no clear answer. The main part of what I loved about this book was Evie and how much I could relate to her. From the very beginning, I felt like I knew her. she could be me, or one of my friends. She is my age, and I was totally on board with what she is going through. Her feelings leapt off the page in their authenticity and wrapped themselves around my heart. I was living the story with her from page one, and that doesn’t happen all that often in a book, where you are actually carried in to the story to live it with the main character, but when it does it is magical.

Aside from Evie, all of the other characters in this book were so well drawn and real that they just enhanced the feeling of being in a real person’s life. Evie’s sister and her friend, Rachel, were also people that I felt I recognised and I loved the dynamic between them. The storyline with Olivia was an interesting twist and, although it did not go the way I thought, I understood why the author did what she did with it and it was absolutely correct for the story. Daniel was a romantic lead that anyone would fall in love with, and the relationship between he and Evie was everything you could wish for. It put me through a whole wringer of emotions throughout the story and the plot was not at all predictable, I just loved it. The whole book is perfectly balanced with regard to the emotional rollercoaster.

This book has difficult elements included in it, and the author tackles them bravely and head on. Plots like this only work if you don’t shy away from the topic – if you are going to tackle them, you need to commit to it, and Jane really does that, I feel. This is not a light and fluffy romance, and I love that about it. The settings are also perfect. New York at Christmas, always appealing and the author really brings the city to life. It is festive enough to bring a pleasing warmth to your cockles, but not so twee that it makes your teeth ache, perfectly balanced – the salted caramel of Christmas novels.

The thing that struck me most about this book was that I could very clearly the author's voice throughout. This is definitively her book, her voice, it couldn’t have been written by anyone else and I really felt that this was her putting herself honestly on the page. This is a massive leap forward from her first book, you can feel the confidence flowing through the pages. This is an author who has hit her stride and is powering forward. The honesty pulses off the page and pulls the reader in to experience the story with her. This is what confident writing looks like.

As you may have gathered, I adored this book. I’ve just ordered a paperback copy to add to my library. It is for the discovery stories like this that I read and I could not be happier for Jane at what she has achieved with this novel.

I am glad that I waited right up until Christmas time to read this book because it is well and truly festive and set in one of those cities where Christmas is super-magical. I just love love loved the setting and it was what really made it feel even more festive for me. If you like books with Manhattan settings then this is definitely one to go on your list, although I would love to know where the diner from this book is, it sounds great!

Evie is a great character to lead this book, its a bit like she has a clean slate. Her kids aren't at home anymore, she is a widow and she really needs to get rid of her awful boss and so she can really take you anywhere in this book, she has nothing to loose. Rachel and Kate are great supporting characters because they both have their own issues and we do see them work through those in over the course of the novel, but also they have been there for Evie before and they are ready to do it again! And then we have Evi's possible love interest who I am absolutely sure is actually Hugh Grant, he feels very like Hugh Grant and I pictured him as such when I was reading. I didn't warm to him 100% during the bulk of the story but I liked his ending...

There are a few subplots in this book that make it feel very real such as an engagement, trouble at work and a new friend met in a diner. Then there are a couple that provide reasons to go to New York that I would have liked to have seen developed a little more and left me with questions. I would have liked to have heard a little more about repercussions from Evi's job and also like to have been given an ending to the storyline involving Olivia. Aside from these points I thought that the secondary plot lines and the ending made the book feel very real and very festive.

If you're looking for an ebook to download and enjoy over the festive period then I can definitely recommend this one.

Evie Grant, widowed and with children who have other holiday plans, is facing the prospect of a lonely Christmas. However, after brazenly quitting her job, she embarks with her best friend on a visit to her sister in New York City. Determined to make the most of the hustle and bustle, she almost immediately runs into Daniel Roberts, a former college boyfriend … who also happens to now be a famous actor. As his world of Hollywood clashes with her own steady, peaceful life, Evie must face her past and the potential for a new beginning.

The City of Second Chances opens with a bit of an explosion—multiple bodies are found in a deserted cabin in New York. Evie believes there’s a chance one of the victims is her friend, Olivia, who disappeared on holiday twenty years previously.

It’s a shocking beginning, but brilliant. Author Jane Lacey-Crane has dished up a masterful romance that isn’t afraid to examine the realities of depression and anxiety. She lays it all out right in the beginning—Evie has never really gotten over the disappearance of Olivia, a situation which was exacerbated by the death of her husband, Tom. It drives the beginning of the plot, and her intense need to get to New York is palpable on the page.

Even after arriving to the city, Lacey-Crane returns to the tragedies. These scenes where Evie attempts to reconcile them against her mostly happy life are some of the most gripping in the book. Particularly, an early moment between her and a diner server, Judy, is a highlight, and the personal wisdom passed between the two reads like a literary hug.

This all sounds heavy, and it is, but that’s not to suggest there isn’t a bit of fun and fluff. After all, Evie is looking for an escape for the holidays. Fortunately, her best friend Rachel comes along for the ride, and she likes nothing better than a good drink and a day shopping. However, it’s her sister, Kate, who lands most of the attention. It’s an amusing relationship, and anyone with a sibling will be able to appreciate the banter between these two women.

Of course, there’s also the romance aspect and, while this review has skirted around it, it plays a starring role. Daniel is a charming leading man, though external forces create tension for the pair. This was another great aspect—the conflict is completely believable and frustrating. However, Daniel performs some downright swoon-worthy actions, though I won’t spoil them.

It’s just refreshing to read a romance with so much honesty about personal mental health. Lacey-Crane is an absolutely wonderful writer with an original voice. While Evie introspects, it’s impossible not to get sucked into her world, rooting for her to discover whatever answers and closure she needs. And if she gets the man, all the better.

I had a lot of fun in reading this heartwarming and festive book.
I liked the style of writing and the characters.
The plot is engaging and entertaining.
I will surely look for other books by this author.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Aria and Netgalley for this ARC

Many thanks to Aria and Jane Lacy Crane for the opportunity to read and review this book. A lovely book to bring you into the festive period. Eva is at a crossroads in her life and is looking to make changes to her future but first she must face the past. An enjoyable read.

It was the book's cover art that grabbed my attention. Snowflakes are falling, New York City gleams in the distance. The blurb "Funny and heartwarming, the perfect winter read" sealed the deal as I requested an ARC of The City of Second Chances from NetGalley. (Thank you Author Jane Lacey-Crane and NetGalley ) For this reader the novel itself didn't come together as well as the cover art. I liked both the concept of a widow looking to change and the characters of Evie and Rachael and Evie's sister Kate, but for me, one especially sad subplot (one of many) driving the first part of the book derailed my enjoyment. It turned the novel away from funny and heartwarming. True, this mirrors life. Not everything is neat and tidy. Some may like this realism, but for this reader it felt like the book was trying to do too much.

Well written storyline around the struggles of grief and loss and how one is able to find love again. I doubted that Evie and Daniel would be together in the end, but was so glad to read that it worked out. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to a fellow reader.


*I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

This was a very enjoyable story about a couple of friends re-visiting New York just before Christmas.

Evie is the main character. She has been widowed a long time and has two grown children who are now at university. Then she reads in the news about the discovery of bodies in a cabin in the US, one of whom could be of a friend who went missing years ago. When Evie, Rachel and Olivia were young and at university they had a holiday to New York, but Olivia went missing after leaving a club on her own and her body was never found. The other girls came back to the UK and went on with their lives, now years later the mystery may be solved. So Evie and Rachel head back to New York, to find out about Olivia, but also to have a break as they both need to get away for different reasons.

When Evie and Rachel got to New York to stay with Kate, Rachel's high-flying sister, everything was going well and they were enjoying themselves. But then we find out Rachel's ulterior motive for getting away, and she soon goes back to the UK to try and sort things out. Evie stays on regardless and wanders around New York visiting the sights on her own and enjoying herself. Then she bumps into an old flame, now a big actor, and they start getting to know one another again. But the press intrudes into their lives, well Evie's as the new 'love interest' and cause lots of issues. But... the story does pick up a year later and there is a lovely ending!

​I really enjoyed the story and characters in this book, but the missing Olivia was a bit of an odd plot to throw into a more light romantic story, I really didn't understand why it was there as it fizzled out anyway - unless of course there's going to be more in a series of books and we find out what happened to her. Apart from that a very enjoyable story and I for one would love to find out more about other characters in another book.

I enjoyed this title more than I thought I would. The plot is pretty sharp though some parts didn't make complete sense, like Olivia's part. Other than that it's a good story as far as second chances theme goes.

Amazing book. Loved it from beginning to end.
Well written which kept me captivated throughout.
I will definitely be reading other books by this author