A romantic delight. Fran is the owner of a bridal shop like no other. She has a knack for helping these women with just the right dress. It has proven time and again to put each bride in a light not expected for that once in a lifetime moment. I loved every page. Especially when Fran becomes to the one to find just the right dress only to discover something new about herself.

I really enjoyed this charming book. The dress description was so lovely that I wanted it for myself too! This book was a great read and you won't be disappointed!

This was a well-written book filled with enjoyable, real characters, I loved the flow of the prose and deep connections between the characters.

I totally enjoyed reading this book. Couldn't put it down. Perfect read at the end of the day. Definitely recommend.

Francesca can match any girl to a wedding dress but she fines an 1950"s dress that speaks to her. Great cozy story!

Thank you so much for the copy of The Second Change Boutique. I tried to pick this one up a few times, but I was not able to connect with the story line and characters. Unfortunately, it did not work for me. Thank you again for the opportunity to read this one.

I will not be sharing my thoughts/reviews outside of Netgalley in a review

This is a sweet novel that romance lovers will not want to miss! (And, a big bonus for vintage fashion lovers!) The story is charming but it is not a strong debut and there are some ups and downs with the pacing and overall storytelling.

This novel is cute, quirky and really easy to read. I enjoyed it a lot, great characters, very sweet and romantic!

This book was so fun! It was warm, genuine and interesting! I enjoyed it and read it in one sitting! I highly recommend!

I loved this book. The story of Fran being a “dress whisperer” was so interesting and. had me captivated. Reading this book was a great escape for an afternoon.
Many thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A charming and beautiful book filled with engaging characters. I loved it.

A nice romantic read from a new author with real potential.

The writing style grabbed me from the beginning and I like the way the author structures her sentences. The story itself is a somewhat fantastical and the writing tends towards florid for some of the romantic scenes, but overall a pleasant and sometimes amusing romance.

Some editing errors and it appears to have been written for an American audience despite being set in the UK with British characters, which always irks me. E.g. Dumpsters don’t exist in the UK, they’re called bins. Why do American publishers think Americans can’t figure out foreign dialects for themselves? I’m sure Americans can Google just as well as everyone else.

Please make your writing style authentic to the time and place the story is set in. Otherwise you do your readers a disservice.

A page turner that the reader observes both an affluent lifestyle and a lifestyle that deals with how the main character had struggled to get where she is and that’s without a lot of financial backing.

Amazing book!!!! Loved it - I wished I could get married again (fingers crossed) so I could have an experience like this...

I loved the concept of The Second Chance Boutique. Francesca Delaney has built her wedding dress business around some simple concepts: 1) Never covet a dress and 2) Never sell a dress that led to a doomed marriage. Fran researches all of her shop's vintage wedding dresses to find the stories behind each one, the brides that wore them and the marriages that were created. Fran has recently discovered a very unusual and beautiful vintage gown, but as she is tracking down the story of its bride, she crosses paths with Rafael Colt, whose mother and grandmother wore the gown. Rafael is the ultimate playboy, but he is also a philanthropist heading up his family's foundation. He and Fran consistently butt heads over almost everything, but sometimes love and hate are more closely related than we realize.

I did love the parts of the stories about connecting the brides with the unique dresses described and simply the concept of the wedding dress shop itself. I felt that the exchanges between Fran and Rafael were a bit contrived and somewhat predictable. I would have preferred their relationship to have developed a little differently in order to be more believable for me.

I received this book courtesy of Sourcebooks Landmark through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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This was a charming and entertaining book that I really enjoyed. I wasn't sure about it when I first got started, but it improved as the book went on and I ended up reading it in one sitting. The characters were well-drawn and the book was well written. 4 stars.

Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Francesca is a woman whose whole life is about bringing brides together with their perfect wedding dress; while she herself is incapable of seeing herself in the same situation. In finding a 1950's couture wedding dress at a house clearance sale she stumbles upon a dress with history and a man who can change her view of her own life. Rich with fashion, an enjoyable romantic journey.

This is a heartwarming look at a woman whose whole life is bringing brides together with their perfect wedding dress. When romance comes knocking for our heroine will she be ready? The thoughtful portrayal of a women assured of herself in work but a tad awkward at life is poignant and easily relatable. The added layer of fashion is sure to appeal to anyone who loves all things vintage and weddings.

The Second Chance Boutique, the promising début novel by Louisa Leaman, features an appealing heroine who delights in matching hopeful brides with the perfect vintage wedding dress.

Francesca Delaney has a passion for vintage wedding dresses. She not only collects the dresses themselves, she also collects their stories, researching the brides and grooms, the honeymoons they took, the children they sired. And, most importantly, she makes sure the marriages are successful. It’s one of her rules - “Never sell a dress that led to a doomed marriage”.

At an estate sale, Fran comes across the ultimate vintage dress - a one-of-a-kind gown made by a famous, but now defunct Parisian fashion house. Fran can’t wait to get the dress back to her shop and start the repairs, but she feels a little guilty as the dress is worth a good deal of money. She decides to talk to Rafael Colt, the man handling the house-clearing and the son of the bride who wore the dress.

“I find brilliant dresses,” she explains, “then match them to brides”...”The thing is, in order to make good matches, I need to understand my dresses as much as I understand my brides. You see, the best dresses - and I believe this could be one of them - don’t just bring their beauty to the occasion; they bring their energy, their truth. And I think this one,” she suggests, eyes alight, leaning forward with enthusiasm, “is capable of something close to magic. The ultimate life-changing statement dress. It needs life. It needs love.”

“Love it then,” says Rafael, turning back to the fireplace.

“You don’t appreciate what this represents, do you?” She snaps, her passion overcooking.

“Forgive me,” he says. “I forget how we must always cherish outdated, moth-eaten matrimonial regalia...because the other alternative” -- he suddenly grabs the holdall, the fabric spilling out, cascading onto the floor -- “is dumping it in the trash.”

Rafe proceeds to toss the dress into the dumpster and Fran returns home empty-handed. But not for long - the dress haunts Fran until she decides to return to the estate and save it. Unfortunately for Fran, she runs into Rafe again. She ends up taking the dress but quickly realizes it’s got “rotten energy” and she won’t sell a dress with bad vibes. She needs to know the story behind it.

There is no way Rafe is going to tell Fran the story of his parent’s failed marriage or his turbulent childhood. His family has always been in the spotlight - rich, powerful, and gossip-laden. He is running the family foundation now and it is doing great work - he cannot afford the scandal this eccentric woman could thrust his family into with all her snooping. He not-so-politely tells her to take the dress and leave them alone. But of course, Fran and Rafe find themselves together again and a sweet romance ensues.

One of the highlights of The Second Chance Boutique is watching Fran at work; the scenes of her matching bride-to-dress are a delight to read. Fran makes a sweet heroine - kind and loving to her brides, refreshing in her optimism. As Rafe says later in the book - “Oh, Fran, they were generous with the sprinkles when they made you.”  Rafe is perfect for readers who like a more stoic, misunderstood hero. Having lived his entire life under the cloud of his family and their missteps, he is now simply trying to build the family foundation, to add some good to the world, but he is suffocating under the public pressure. His examples of love and what it means to be a husband are abysmal, and he is reluctant to take the chance that his personal experience of love and marriage will be any better. This is a common hero theme in romance, but Ms. Leaman makes Rafe different by having him own and admit his feelings for Fran as soon as he suspects them.

Fran and Rafe’s romance worked well for me, and the writing is terrific. Ms. Leaman works at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and her obvious love of vintage-wear shines through and makes this a must-read for fashion enthusiasts. The only thing that kept the book from DIK territory was a few hiccups in the storyline towards the end. Fran does two things that are wildly naive and not believable. But overall, the writing, the fresh storyline, and the romance make The Second Chance Boutique a highly enjoyable read - just in time for a summer getaway to the backyard!

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I loved this book! Perfect escape for these anxious times. Francesca owns. Vintage wedding dress boutique where she works to find the story behind each dress and match the dress to the right bride. She stumbles upon one exquisite dress which changes her life. You’ll fall in love with the characters!