I enjoyed the setting but had a really hard time getting in to this one. It was much slower paced than I anticipated. I think I was hoping for more of a Maeve Binchy vibe tho so perhaps it was just me.

Fun! I've purchased it for the library. I'm currently clearing out all of the books that were published in 2019-21 from my title feedback view!

3.5/5 stars. I really enjoyed the characters and the story, but I found it a little slow-paced and hard to pick up once I put it down. It was lovely, though - a good holiday read.

4 out of 5 stars - If you ask me, I’ll tell you to read it

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this advanced copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

Book Summary:

Thea Mottram is having a bad month. She’s been let go from her office job with no notice and her husband has decided to leave her for one of her friends. 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.

Thea falls for the quaint cottage and small town. She loves the locals, except bookshop owner Edward Maltravers. His attitude, ingrained by his long standing feud with his brother, tests Thea. As considers the 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.

Review:

I really enjoyed getting lost in small town Scotland for this story. The interplay between all the characters kept me on my toes! I really enjoyed getting to know Thea and Edward, and I’ve always wondered about used book store practices. The value of some of the vintage books mentioned was shocking! The descriptions of some of the areas they visited made me want to visit Scotland sometime and go stay in a little village to get lost in the world for a bit.

A woman receives a chance to restart her life after she discovers her husband cheated on her with her best friend. She receives an inheritance that includes a cottage in Scotland. While she settles the cottage for market and puts her life back together, she doesn't anticipate finding a new place to call home or new love. Will her mercurial love interest open his heart and can she ever trust another man again.

This was a great slice of life story. More women's fiction than romance, the story really is about Thea learning how to navigate the world after 15 years of marriage ends abruptly. In my favorite romance trope, enemies to lovers, this book has a great setting, a great cast of small-town characters and a love interest with serious flaws, The romance part is definitely slow-burn. Thea coming into her own though is not and it is great to see how she comes alive when she has time to discover who she is.

A few sections lag, but all in all this was a fast satisfying read for readers who enjoy women's fiction with romantic elements. I loved the bookshop vibes and of course the Scottish setting. Great alternative for Jenny Colgan fans.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine for the opportunity to read and review The Bookshop of Second Chances. I am sharing this review voluntarily. I was really excited by this synopsis. This was really well written but I had a hard time staying engaged. The characters were well developed but I found them to be irritating. I know Thea had a hard hand dealt but I just didn’t empathize with her the way I think was intended. The book is incredibly detailed, to a point of being unnecessary and it was very long. I felt like I wasn’t getting anywhere with the hours of reading I was investing.

This book was great! I loved the character of Thea and Edward and the Scottish setting. Also as a librarian, I loved that it took place in the book shop! I could definitely see this novel being turned into a movie.

Thea is having a rough time: she lost her job, and her husband left her for one of her friends. When she finds out that her great uncle left her his home in Scotland, she decides to escape her life for awhile. She ends up working for grumpy Edward at his bookshop.

I really enjoyed The Bookshop of Second Chances - it was a delightful read. I liked that the main characters were older, and I liked that Thea’s feelings (and hesitancy to start a new relationship) felt real, and I liked Edward’s grumpiness. This was just quaint.

Thanks to @NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for my ARC!

Sweet, engaging, delightful story of finding love again while finding a fresh start. I really enjoyed it!

Thea is such a better person than I am because if I had found out my husband was cheating on me with my friend I would have went ballistic, but fortunately for her things turned out so much better for her in the end. I loved Thea, I felt she was realistic and down to earth, even if she was a bit too down to earth. I was not sure about Edward at first, I thought he was going to just be a complete Jerk the entire time but he proved me wrong.

Their romance was subtle and somewhat of a slow burn which I loved. You see them become friends, then you see them start to have feelings. It was great to watch their relationship blossom. I loved the small town vibes but wished they included the townfolk just a little bit more, but I could understand why they didn't

Overall, a nice start again romance for those of us a bit older.

What a lovely book and great fun to read. I adored the exasperation expressed so perfectly. As a reader, I wanted to see the rare titles and get cozy in the book shop. As an older woman, I admired the pluck to pick up and move forward. A great read!

I really liked this book! The descriptions of Scotland are lovely, and the characters are interesting and relatable.
Thea Mottram is at a crossroads in her life. Her husband left her, and she lost her job. Just in time, she finds out that an uncle left her a cottage in Scotland and an antique book collection in his will. She has nothing to lose, so she goes to Scotland. Thea instantly falls in love with the cottage and the town. She doesn’t care for Edward Maltravers, the owner of the local bookshop.
Thea and Edward love verbally sparring with each other, and as she stays longer and longer she realizes she’s falling for him. This was a charming romance, 4 stars.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This was sadly not a favorite read of mine. The characters lacked depth and chemistry to me. I think this book had a lot of promise but didn't live up to the expectations. I went in expecting it be.a lighter read.

I loved this book! Thea’s quick wit made her a great character to follow. I found myself committed to following her story and curious to find the way it would end. Highly recommend this novel!

The Bookshop of Second Chances is a contemporary romance about a woman who moves away to the Scottish coast while going through a divorce. Thea found out that her husband had been cheating on her for some time with one of her friends. When she found out, she left, leaving the house to her husband. Shortly after, the friend who’d been sleeping with the husband moved in. Devastated and feeling lost, Thea decides to spend some time at a cottage she inherited from her great uncle in a small coastal town, and it’s while there she’s able to heal and find love again.

I liked the story. It was a bit slow-going, but I didn’t mind because I think the pace matches the emotional journey Thea is on because Thea allowed herself time to heal from her relationship before rushing into a new one. Plus, she also needed to build her confidence up again. I like that the changes in Thea occurred gradually until happiness began to return to her again.

This novel made me admit to myself that I love romances that begin in bookstores. Such stories warm my book-loving heart, so that was one of the reasons why I enjoyed the story — although I think Thea’s romantic interest is an immature ass at times. I often didn’t like him. I also like that the story is set in a small coastal town and that Thea stays at a cottage. Those two aspects added a sweet, cozy vibe to the story that made me want to see it adapted for a Hallmark movie.

I really think the setting, the cottage, and the romance in the bookshop are the reasons why I liked the story because I didn’t care much for Thea and thought she was a bit too concerned about her age, and the side characters didn’t stand out enough to make me care for them either. But I liked the story and would recommend it, especially to those seeking romances that feature an older character. I’m so used to seeing contemporary romances featuring protagonists in their mid-to late 20s that it’s always refreshing to encounter someone a little older.

OVERALL: ★★★☆☆ ½

I liked it. It felt like a cozy read to me, but I think that’s because of the setting.

DNF @ 42%. I give Net Galley ARCs a generous leeway, finishing them when I might not otherwise. However, I could not finish this. Edward was such a terrible person. I understand that he was going to get a second chance, but revenge sex with your brother's partners into your 40s is gross, especially as a love interest whose husband cheated on her. Maybe it got better. It wasn't worth my time to find out.

This was a slow start but I’m still thinking of it days later. Thea had such a sense of self I almost didn’t mind that Edward was kind of a jerk - I trusted her judgement.

Loved this fun book! Thea is hilarious...enjoyed her wit, dry humor and personality in general. Edward is a quirky yet enjoyable character. Enjoy the read ❤️

Bookshop of Second Chances describes the life changes encountered by the main character Thea, and her responses to these changes. Thea moves to Scotland to claim a cottage and its contents, left to her by an aged relative. Thea has lost her job and her marriage has fallen apart, so this seems the ideal chance for a new beginning.

This book held a lot of promise, but never quite hit the mark. I found the characters to be shallow and self-serving, too caught up with socializing. I would have thought being middle-aged, they would be beyond this lifestyle. The casual drug use and more casual sexual exploits, plus all the profanity, ruined the book for me. I also felt the book contained too much detail about conversations and locations. I think the story could have held its own merit without all the drama, drugs, and profanity.

I received this book from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Absolutely loved this book. Heavy on dialogue, but it was so fun to see the relationship between Thea and Edward evolve. I did not want it to end, and I do not say that very often about a book. Usually I read it and I may like it, but I am usually ok with it ending and ready to go on to the next one. Not here. This one will stay with me awhile.