I stayed up late finishing this, so it must have been pretty good. However, I wish it had been a bit shorter or more concise so it didn't require the 1:26 am finish time. Not a lot happens, plot-wise, so it's mostly just a lot of dialogue (good dialogue--but just so much of it) and introspection. The protagonist, Thea, felt authentic in her characterization, although the sequence of events in her life seemed overly fortuitous--she gets fired, discovers her husband's affair, moves out, inherits a house, money, and rare book collection, and falls into fast friendships and employment in her new town, all with very little down time. The angst of aging Gen-Xers feels spot on though--and that's why the character of the love interest didn't bother me, because I kept picturing Ethan Hawke's character from Reality Bites turning 50. But really, who doesn't like bookstores, beach days, and stories set in Scotland?

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

I really enjoyed this book, finding it quirky and very readable. I loved how the main characters were unique and full of personality - especially the gruff lord who gave up his title.

The Bookshop of Second Chances is a rather quiet book about Thea, a woman who’s inherited a house from a great-uncle, at just the right time because she’s also currently separated from her husband who’s been cheating on her with one of her friends. Thea settles in to her new neighborhood, and it’s all very quaint and the writing style seems very British (if that’s a thing). I liked Thea’s characterization. She seems like a well-adjusted person with just the right humor. Edward provides a good balance, with a similar sense of humor. They were good together. There wasn’t really that much of a plot; this was more of a book where the characters settle into a new place and find acceptance from others and more importantly, themselves.

If you’re looking for a slow, cozy read, this book fits the bill.

Thanks to Ballantine, the publisher, for providing me with a digital ARC of this book via NetGalley!

I thoroughly enjoyed this delightful book. It was an unabashedly romantic look at a forty-something woman whose life was rapidly falling apart around her. As the book opens, she’s just lost her job, her husband to a close friend and her house. When a distant relative leaves her his home and book collection, she heads to Scotland to check out her inheritance. It’s there that her new life begins. Is it all smooth sailing? Of course not. Is it predictable? Of course, but it is also fun, sweet, and, oh so, enjoyable. This is a book that made me happy and one I will read again, especially when I’m sad and need cheering up.

My copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to the the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review it.

Thanks for a Arc of this book so I enjoyed the writing and the atmosphere of the book I also enjoyed that it was a second chance for the main character since she is having a bad time in her marriage is over but other than that it mostly fell flat for me.

I loved the setting of The Bookshop of Second Chances and the idea of working and falling in love in a bookshop, but this novel fell kind of flat for me. This one was almost a did not finish for me, but I decided to stick it out. I did like that the characters were a bit older than your typical 20 something romance. * Spoiler alert* The plot line where one of the main characters Edward gets back at his brother for a prank ( albeit a mean one) pulled on him in high school by sleeping with his brother's wife and all his ex girlfriends really turned me off of this one. For characters that are supposed to be around 40 they seemed immature, and I just had a hard time connecting with this one.

The Bookshop of Second Chances was both a feel-good book and still had lots of substance! I really enjoyed the starting over plot after the main character leaves an unfaithful husband, as well as all the details of working in a small independent bookstore. What great description of places and food too!

3.75 stars rounded up

When Thea realizes her husband is having an affair with one of her friends and plans on leaving their marriage, she's left heartbroken, blind-sighted, and confused. Then, she gets a call about a distant relative, an Uncle who she never met, but who left her his home and extensive library collection. The need to go settle the estate allows her to escape her town, and her crumbling life, for a period. She plans to only stay for a short time, but soon she finds herself making a home for herself that she didn't expect.

This was a fast, cute romance that I stayed up late and woke up early to read. I appreciated Thea as a main character because she was intelligent, witty, and handled her heartbreak in a realistic way. She is in her forties and is starting over, learning who she is on her own after spending 20 years with someone who hurt her deeply. Thea let everyone in her uncle's town know she wasn't ready to jump into a new relationship and put boundaries around herself that were healthy. At times, I found myself still wondering why she reacted to certain things with what felt like self-loathing, but I think it illustrated that she was heartbroken and her confidence was shaken, if not broken.

The infidelity thread in this book was heartbreaking. You can feel Thea's emotions and sadness and anger. My stomach turned a few times when reading about it -- it's just so cruel and thoughtless and I really despised her husband and the woman he cheated on Thea with, which is the point.

I really enjoyed this one.

Thea Mottram is having a bad month. Her husband of nearly twenty years has just left her for one of her friends, and she is let go from her office job--on Valentine's Day, of all days. Bewildered and completely lost, Thea doesn't know what to do. But when she learns that a distant great uncle in Scotland has passed away, leaving her his home and a hefty antique book collection, she decides to leave Sussex for a few weeks. Escaping to a small coastal town where no one knows her seems to be exactly what she needs.

Almost instantly, Thea becomes enamored with the quaint cottage, comforted by its cozy rooms and shaggy, tulip-covered lawn. The locals in nearby Baldochrie are just as warm, quirky, and inviting. The only person she can't seem to win over is bookshop owner Edward Maltravers, to whom she hopes to sell her uncle's antique novel collection. His gruff attitude--fueled by an infamous, long-standing feud with his brother, a local lord--tests Thea's patience. But bickering with Edward proves oddly refreshing and exciting, leading Thea to develop feelings she hasn't felt in a long time. As she follows a thrilling yet terrifying impulse to stay in Scotland indefinitely, Thea realizes that her new life may quickly become just as complicated as the one she was running from.- Goodreads

Getting right down to it, the story is, the meat of it, the foundation, the premise of the story, is good. Which is why it was so disappointing. This book was boring and painstakingly slow. The characters, lacked personality and depth. I completely understand that this is a small rural town that takes this slow and loves their community gossip but. . . geeze it was boring.

In regards to the romance, it was just as boring to read but I thought it was cute. I liked the fact that they were older and had experiences to bring to the table. But I really liked was the fact that although there was some grey area/fears, they were adults about the whole situation and I loved it.

Overall, not exactly the romance book I thought it would be.

2 Pickles

Cute story about starting over and second chances. I enjoyed the book although it did drag a bit and I felt the f word was used way to often.

Thea Hamilton is in her forties, recently lost her job and discovered that her husband cheated on her with her friend. Needless to say, it has not been a good year. Suddenly, an unexpected windfall arrives in the guise of an inheritance and Thea finds herself the new owner of an old house and a very old book collection. In The Bookshop of Second Chances, author Jackie Fraser has created a story that makes one want to curl up by the fire with a cup of tea. Full of interesting and sympathetic characters Fraser explores the themes of change, love and ultimately that elusive of all things, a second chance. This is a story worth having on your bookshelf to remind oneself that even the difficult days can still have a silver lining..

This was a total feel good, rise up, you go girl kind of read and I was here for it!

Coming off of reading a slew of dark (depressing!) and haunting thrillers, this was the break I needed. I loved this story and following along and the message of second chances.

Book review: The Bookshop of Second Chances 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Jackie Fraser drew me in from the beginning of this book. Thea Mottram is DOWN ON HER LUCK! The book’s first few pages fly by as one bad thing after the other happens. Thea’s job has been discovered as “redundant” at work and she’s let go. Within a week or two, she finds out her husband has been cheating on her with one of their friends and is leaving her for the other woman. Can we pause for a moment? This truly happens in the first ten pages, and oh my goodness, I was invested. Then, as Thea is packing up her items to leave their marital home, her soon to be ex-husband hands her the mail, in it is a letter from her great uncle’s solicitor. Her great uncle has recently passed and decided to leave her his home and books. Now unattached to Sussex, Thea decides to head out to Baldochrie and use this time as a great distraction for her life.

What Thea doesn’t expect to find is the charming village with it’s mostly friendly locals and the mysterious quality of the estate her great uncle’s cottage is located on that previously belonged to a wealthy family. Additionally, Thea discovered her great uncle’s book collection and asked local Edward Maltravers to help her determine its value. Edward owns a bookshop in town and Thea offers to help out in the shop while she’s deciding what to do with her uncle’s property and belongings.

This book holds some of the quintessential small-town qualities where everyone knows each other and their secrets, but it also continued to surprise me. As I turned the pages of Fraser’s novel, I found myself caught off guard by the developing and changing emotions Thea experienced. Baldochrie breathes new life into Thea who is excited by how alive she feels. The emotions Fraser pens to this protagonist made her so gosh darn related. Her excitement, nosiness, and embarrassment thought the book felt so authentic that I found myself occasionally blushing for her and just like her wondering why on Earth I should feel embarrassed.

If you’re looking for a down to earth, related, and refreshing read about a woman finding herself, you’ll love this book. It’s terrifying and exhilarating to start over, there’s so much promise of new opportunities and so much fear of the past repeating itself. Quick start, slow burn, twists and turns, and ultimately a story about self-love and being loved.

Thank you Netgalley for my copy. I really enjoyed the premise and set up of this story: Thea moving to Scotland after losing her job and marriage. I loved the town and her learning more about her ancestors, and her relationship with Edward. However, Edward and Charles and their feud was a little too ridiculous and immature for me.

With so much delicious possibility, with all the desirable elements floating about and hints about second chances, I had high hopes for this one. Unfortunately it left a lot to be desired.

Despite the charming setting, which was quaint as well as inviting in size, atmosphere, and company, the story itself ended up devolving into a tangled mass of juvenile conflict. For starters, the major point of contention between the two brothers, Edward and Charles, was ridiculous. Unnecessary. Downright infantile. The revenge angle wasn't what I found to be so grating about it either, but rather that it felt untoward and skeezy to learn that Edward, a supposedly grown-up middle-aged man, had cheated with all of his brother's girlfriends and wives for most of his adult life because of an adolescent slight he hadn't been able to get over in the thirty years hence. He also instituted a misogynistic "no girls allowed" policy at his bookstore, too, seeing as how he was afraid if a woman worked there she would fall in love with him or vice versa. Needless to say both of these things rubbed me the wrong way.

I understand the storytelling power of lasting resentment, I really do. Conflict-wise I will even venture to say I'm delighted when grudges exist between family members because it can give emotional density to the plot as well as to the characters. However, in this case, it felt half-baked and unpleasant. The needless immaturity of it all made me scrunch up my nose in distaste over and over again. The behavior seemed too teenager-y coming from men their age, I don't know. It didn't mesh well with Thea's second chance arc either, in my opinion. Just seemed to rehash all the hurtful drama she'd left behind her in England.

The stalled dialogue, with all the ellipses and interruptive 'but's,' got to be wearying after a while, too. Not only was it jarring in a bad way but it highlighted how there weren't any distinctive or marked features in any of their voices.

Thea did have some shining moments, though. I liked her for her quick wit, her literary musings, her ability to put those who hurt her in their rightful place. You could feel the despair and humiliation she experienced over the ending of her marriage keenly, which I appreciated, just as you could sense her overwhelming love of books.

This book was okay. Just not my cup of tea.

*Review to be published to my Tumblr blog "A Skirmish of Wit and Lit" closer to publication date in May*

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group, and Ballantine Books for the ARC!

I really enjoyed this book! Good character development, well written and good pacing. I liked that the main characters were in their 40s, and the setting was great. I would normally give a title like this one that I enjoyed 4 stars, but I am only giving it 3 stars because for me, there was a lot of swearing that was unnecessary and added absolutely nothing to the story.

After a shocking end to her marriage, expertly coinciding in her redundancy at work, Thea Mottram is met with even more (as in additional, probably not equally as shocking as the end of a marriage she believed to be quite healthy!) shocking news. Thea's great uncle has died and left her with some land and a home in Scotland. Determined to make the most of this time away from her home and other responsibilities, Thea travels to Scotland to see what can be salvaged of her late uncle's estate.

Everything about this book was wonderful. There's an actual Lord! There are friends who don't pull punches and say it like it is. Thea realistically approaches heartbreak and the reader experiences her loss, grief, and growth through the book. The characters that make up the tiny Scottish town are diverse and interesting and I couldn't get enough of it! This is a romance book, but really it's so much more - it's about friends, loss, hope, and growth; it's about not settling for good enough. The romance is just a small part of the story. I would love to know so much more about this town and the other characters in the story. This book could easily become a series, giving the reader a look into the lives of this quirky cast of characters.

4/5 Stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

So, so cute. I’m inspired to be bluntly honest in most situations, especially if I can be funny while I do it.

This wasn’t the You’ve Got Mail/The Holiday mashup I’d hoped, but here’s to second chances and moving on!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. Thea finds out her husband is having an affair with one of her friends. She moves to a flat in town while this women moves in with her husband. She receives a letter that a long lost uncle passed away and he gifted his house with an extensive library of rare books to her. Given this amazing opportunity to leave town, she moves to his "lodge" and speaks to the local used book store about buying these books. Edward, the owner of the bookstore is grouchy, angry and set in his ways. Thea needs a job to take care of this new house and asks to work at the bookshop. Edward, who doesn't hire women is desperate and has agreed to a temporary position. Can Thea show him there is more to life than hiding in a bookstore? Cute read!!! #thebookshopofsecondchances #jackiefraser #apr2021