I want to start out saying that I do not think I was in the best mental state to read this when I did. I loved the author's first book, and enjoyed her second. I can say that this one was lack luster for me. It's cute, funny and sparky, but it just doesn't have the extra I wanted and know Thorne can bring.

I love Sally Thorne and will read anything that woman puts out. She is number one for writing adorable relationships--and I mean, smushing your cheeks with your hands because you can't get over how freaking adorable the couples are. And Ruthie and Teddy were no exception.

Basic plot line: Ruthie is working in a retirement community at a job that she is basically planning to retire from. She has created her own safe bubble in her world. Enter Teddy, who fantastically smashes Ruthie's world wide open and makes her see possibilities for more.

I did have to rate this book lower than average because everything was wrapped up very fast. I was so looking forward to the talk that Ruthie would finally have with her parents, especially because her relationship with her dad was so strained. The fact that we didn't get to see Ruthie's relationship mending with her parents definitely knocked off a star, mainly because it was such a huge point in the book. And I WANTED TO SEE THE TATTOO SCENE! I WANTED TO BE THERE WHEN RUTHIE GOT HER FIRST TATTOO!

Everyone who knows me or reads this blog knows my absolute undying love for The Hating Game. I’m forever a loyal reader of Thorne’s for this reason alone…but, Second First Impressions seriously failed to impress me.

Ruthie is a manager’s assistant for a retirement community for the wealthy. It’s the only job she’s ever held, and it’s definitely aging her. That, and the two Parloni sisters with ridiculous requests that make the days last forever. This is her little piece of heaven, of simplicity and order. When the retirement home is bought out by a larger company, her boss heads out on a month long cruise and leaves Ruthie in charge.

This new company comes with baggage, however. Teddy, the boss’ son, is a tattooed mess trying to get it together and seek the approval of his family. When he runs out of couches, he ends up at the retirement community, an assistant to the Parloni sisters – and a wrench in Ruthie’s day to day. Despite her love for the straight and narrow, she finds herself drawn to him and his wild life.

I think one of the strengths of Thorne’s first novels was the strong personalities of her female characters, which falls short in this new book. Ruthie is meek and nervous, and doesn’t have the same sense of direction and assertiveness that Thorne’s other characters have had. I missed it. There’s nothing wrong with the way Ruthie’s character acts, other than I can’t relate to it.

ALSO, this may be totally ridiculous, but I hate romantic interests with long hair?? Hate it. Not into it. I don’t mind a man bun, but luscious locks make me A) jealous and B) convinced they must be some sort of man-child. Teddy didn’t do it for me. He was like the human version of every annoying golden retriever trait.

Bums me out that this book is not as good as The Hating Game. Sally Thorne set the bar high for the whole genre when she wrote that book, and nothing, even her own work, will ever measure up. I still quite liked this story, felt that the characters were well fleshed out (that is certainly one of her strengths in all her novels) but nothing will ever match the authenticity of Josh & Lucy. I will always be a loyal reader for Thorne, constantly chasing the high of an office romance like no other, but this one certainly didn’t make my favorites list.

There are tons of authors that hit their mark every time, but this one isn’t even going to make it onto my personal shelf or my library recommendations. This was a let down.

I received an advance readers copy of Second First Impressions by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this book. Ruthie and Teddy have an amazing chemistry and the shenanigans of the Perloni sisters was incredible. I’ll be recommending this one to everybody.

How do I describe this? It made me angry at youth.

It made me defensive of cardigans.

It made me want to send my therapist's number to the characters in this book with a gift card for the first few sessions on me.

It annoyed me that there was a promise of character development and somewhat steamy times, but the most we got was a fade-to-black light sex scene (EXCUSE ME SALLY THORNE: I've read your two earlier books. I know you can do better seggy scenes). And the character development never really happened. There was so much potential for good conflict and growth and it just fizzled and died like my hope for fun banter.

We also got a weird hair cut and "grand gesture" that was so painfully awkward, insincere, and obviously not sustainable that I couldn't handle it.

I enjoyed parts of it, but the characters in this were pretty immature and had so many issues to work through that this was not a cohesive story. It felt really choppy and the main character was a sad doormat who let this random man-bunned, tattooed man-child walk all over her just because he...washed her dishes (not a euphemism)? Because he was covered in tattooed doodles that were "interesting"? Because he helped one turtle? Why were there turtles anyway? Are turtles now a euphemism? Especially since they were compared to his eyes at one point in the novel?

1.5 stars.

Second First Impressions is charming romance about two people who might have started off with a terrible first impression but grow to see the best in each other. Getting to know Ruthie and Teddy was such a delight and I couldn't help fall in love with their love story. Seeing Ruthie's confidence in herself grow and her realization that she deserved to be loved and cherished was the shining moment of this novel. And Teddy's flirtatious nature only endeared me to his character as I watched him help Ruthie bloom into the person she was meant to be. This story was such a gentle, sweet love story between two people who took the chance to become friends and then more.

Loved it! Probably 4.5 stars, as I felt the ending was a tad bit rushed. Sally Thorne has become an auto buy for me.

This book is the perfect summer pick-me-up, it has a bit of everything from spunky older women to attractive tattooed men. Can not recommend enough

Sally Thorne wins me again with this charming romance between people who have sort of lost their way - a borderline agoraphobic and a wayward rich boy. The setting of a retirement community might throw you but Thorne has filled it with all sorts of cantankerous, meddling and FUNNY old folks. The story proves that everybody needs somebody. Heartwarming and happy to handsell to my customers.

No surprise here, but Sally Thorne has written another sweet, funny, sexy, and supremely readable novel. From the acerbic and hilarious Parlani sisters to the smoking hot and surprising tender hearted Teddy, to Mel’s take no prisoners makeover approach (I would like the Sasaki Method for myself please!) and to the tortoises marked with lipstick, this was a charmer through and through. At the heart of it all is Ruthie, an anxiety ridden and extremely buttoned up and broke manager of an elite retirement community who has spent nearly her entire adult life surrounded by people over the age of 80 and has a lifestyle to match them. Watching Ruthie bloom under the care and affection of her friends and colleagues was magical, and Teddy in all his tattooed glory made for a near perfect foil. Their sizzling chemistry and flirtatious banter just sealed the deal. Definitely one to watch out for!

Ruth is an old person in a young body who works at Providence Retirement Home. She is a simple caring person who lives at her job and rarely leaves the premises. She is a lost soul until she meets Teddy and Melanie. Teddy, a tattoo artist and the retirement home’s owner’s son, who is a charismatic overconfident guy with beautiful hair and can’t make a commitment to anything or anyone. Melanie is a quirky office temp that is always willing to help Ruth and ready to experience everything. The story is about these characters helping to save the business from being closed while helping themselves overcome their personal obstacles. It’s a cute story with a few humorous witty lines, but there isn’t much for me to say was overwhelmingly awesome about it. I liked reading it, but it was just okay.

This is a light and entertaining romance. The ending seemed kind of quick - with everything getting tied up and long strained relationships being healed. Ruthie and Teddy are interesting and unique characters and Sally Thorne writes some smart dialogue and scenes. I would liken the book to a romcom movie - a bit predictable, sweet, unlikely in real life, but fun to experience/read.

The first thing I have to say(more like, warn) that Second First Impressions was more on the contemporary side rather than the romance. If you're expecting something along the lines of The Hating game or 99 % Mine, you'll be disappointed too.

Things I loved were the different plot, the setting, Renata, Melanie, and the endangered tortoises.

The book was so very slow, and never did I spend a solid ten minutes of my attention reading this book- which is saying a lot! Halfway through, nothing was happening, but I still wanted to continue. The MCs Teddy and Ruthie were just average characters, nothing memorable, I would say. Although Ruthie did have an interesting backstory, and I thought we would see the closure(if she got it) in the end but we didn't. The ending was a mashup of so many things happening at once, which left me dissatisfied.

Teddy and Ruthie's romance was sweet, but I wanted more tension; I wanted to feel their chemistry, but there was a lot of telling rather than showing.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend this book, and I can't believe I'm saying that. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was not prepared to love this book as much as I did. When I first started I thought the whole bad boy/good girl dynamic was going to be so cliché, but booooy was I wrong. There was so much more depth to the characters, the plot, and even the turtles than I initially gave it credit for. This was truly the sweetest little romance and I have been putting it in the hands of every romance reader coming to the library looking for a recommendation.

I really enjoyed this new title by Sally Thorne, and found parts of it to be laugh out loud funny. I struggled with the believability of the love between the main characters - it evolved quickly and didn't seem like it required much from either of them. But, this was still a delightful read!

I was given access to an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this book. I loved The Hating Game. It's one of my favorites. So when I saw that Sally Thorne was coming out with another book, I knew I had to read it. And it was kind of just meh.

I liked both Ruthie and Teddy as characters, but the story just felt really flat. The dialog felt stiff, and lacked the spark that I know Thorne can do. The plot was super basic and was resolved super easily without too much conflict. I just wasn't nearly as invested in it as I wanted to be.

It wasn't a bad book. Just very middle of the road for me.

While this book was a vast increase over 99 Percent Mine Thorne still missed the perfection that she found in The Hating Game. I wasn't as disappointed this go around, but I also didn't pre-order this title.

Thorne's writing style was different in this and I did like the change.

I will give props where they are due. With The Hating Game Thorne really kicked the contemporary romance genre into high gear. She changed what a hero could look like, and made characters so loveable they resonate with every person I've offered the book too. She's a good author, and one I'll continue to read.

This book was just the feel-good read I needed for the spring. I absolutely loved the main characters, Ruthie and Teddy have such a great way of being together honestly and comfortably, even though they are so different. And Melanie Sasaki, the sidekick friend, was fantastic. I really want more of her humor and want to be there when she finds her happily ever after--Sally Thorne, do you hear me? The Sasaki Method needs its own book! :)

What to love:
+Wonderful banter
+Endangered species love, and adorable interplay between tortoises and characters
+Fantastic and zany side characters
+An unexpected setting for romance (retirement community) that somehow really works
+Some great looks into family dynamics, but not heavy

I think if you liked The Hating Game and 99 Percent Mine, then you'll love this one. It's sweet, a little cheesy, and fun! It also did make me cry a little, so there's that. :) A great spring romance!

I was a HUGE fan of Sally Thorne’s The Hating Game, so I jumped at the chance to read her latest.

This book tells the story of Ruthie, the older-than-her-years woman who works at a retirement village and can’t imagine ever leaving or trying something new. Then Teddy, the wayward son of the retirement home’s new boss, walks into her life. Readers looking for a slow, sweet love story to sink into will find a lot to love here.

Unfortunately, this book fell flat for me. I had a very hard time getting into it and the characters didn’t seem to have much depth. This book really lacked the sparkle of The Hating Game. I know the author is capable of spectacular writing, but I have not been able to connect with her last two books. This book was fine, and will find it’s readers, but it wasn’t for me.

Ruthie works in the office of a retirement community populated by quirky personalities and endangered tortoises. She is devoted to her work, even though many of the residents are taking advantage of her sweet personality. When the son of the developer/owner of the site shows up in all his tattooed glory and forced to work at the villa in exchange for a place to stay, sparks fly. However, Ruthie thinks he’s a spoiled rich guy and decides she’ll teach him a lesson by having him work for the most demanding residents in the community.

What I liked about this book was that the supporting characters were strong. The two older women who hire and gently abuse Teddy are funny and their storyline has a great payoff.

Although I liked the main characters, I never felt any urgency that they might not get together. The stakes never felt that high, and I felt their characters were not quite fleshed out enough. It seemed like everything got resolved a little too quickly.

Not to say that there is anything terribly wrong with this book. There isn’t. But it’s hard not to compare it to The Hating Game, and this one suffers a bit by comparison. In The Hating Game the characters were quirky, but still believable, and the drama was much more compelling.