Okay I absolutely ADORED this book! I’m a total mood reader and it was just what I needed. I laughed out loud too many times at the *very specific and sometimes graphic* middle aged body/sexual jokes. The perfect amount of female humor and just enough steam. Gimme this as a movie and I’m inviting my mom and my aunties out for a girls night.

This was a dnf for me. I'm not really sure why, I've read other books by Jenny Bayliss and liked them, however this one just didn't suck me in. It seemed like it was taking forever to meet the love interest and I really had to push myself to even get to that point.

This book made Jenny Bayliss an auto-buy for me. A perfect spin on the second-chance romance, with the second chance not being for the couple in question, but for a woman making a new life for herself after decades in an unfaithful and unfulfilling marriage. Full of heart, charm and wisdom, and with a happy dose of holiday at the end, this is a perfect winter read for Christmas season or beyond.

This was a really cute romance, perfect for just before or after the holidays. For a full review I have included my Goodreads link

Story
When Annie’s life goes off the rails and she loses her spark, she decides to take on a role essentially housesitting for an elderly woman who will be away from her beachside home for the winter season. Annie moves to the cute little town to watch over the house and keep it running, rent-free, from the fall through the spring. She has to contend with the woman’s nephew, though, who is trying to sell the property to a developer. Naturally you can imagine the Hallmark movie moments that occur from there!

Overall, this was a super cute story with a low-key, breezy plot. I loved the setting, cast of quirky locals, and the easy (not truly “easy” but more like drama-free) romance.

Wintery Setting & Holiday Feels
Beachside holiday or winter books can be really fun – I know that I personally love visiting the beach and going for a walk whenever I visit Maine, regardless of weather. Having a cute seaside town transition into a little Christmassy village in England? Love those vibes. Because the book didn’t take place strictly in December or around the Christmas holidays, it wasn’t quite as Christmassy as it could have been… BUT it was super cute to see how the town went crazy for other fall holidays like Halloween and Thanksgiving. This was the perfect book to read in November to kick off holiday reads on a lighter note.

Overall
I definitely recommend this one for your first holiday-ish read of the season, definitely safe for before Thanksgiving if you’re the type of person who usually likes to wait! Bayliss writes charming characters in small, adorable English villages better than anyone out there. I can’t wait to read her next release that came out this year!

This was a great winter book! I loved that Annie went out on her own in an unknown place and made a life and friends. The setting was gorgeous, though treacherous at times. I loved how Annie embraced the new home and village and everything that came with it. I can't wait for another Jenny Bayliss book!

I absolutely loved A Season of Second Chances by @jennibayliss!

Annie’s marriage is ending, her kids are grown up and she’s looking for the next chapter in her life. She finds a job as a house sitter in a charming seaside village. This tiny village is the English Stars Hollow! The town has lots of traditions and festivities. The house she is watching has a small cafe in it that closes for the winter. Restless without anything to do, she reopens the tea shop and everyone loves it! Except the surly nephew of the owner- who wants to sell the place. With the spirit of the holidays and a little love in the air, they find a happy middle place to meet.

I absolutely loved the cast of characters in this book! Annie helps start a local book club that reads Victorian novels, she has an adorable cat named Mrs, Tiggy Winkle, the elderly owner sounds very lovely, and her nephew really grows on us by the end! I would love to come visit Willow Bay!

Jenny’s books are some of my absolute favorite Christmas novels. This book was like a warm mug of tea on a cold day. It warmed my heart to the very core. I’m very excited for her newest book called Meet Me Under the Mistletoe that’s out September 27! Thank you so much to @putnambooks for my gifted copy.

I am beyond ready for cozy season and this delightful book has made me even more so! A Season for Second Chances was such a lovely read and perfect for the holidays (or those eager for the season like in my case).

This story held so much charm and read like a Hallmark movie. The second-chance romance made my heart soar and at the times the dialogue had me laughing and grinning from ear to ear. I absolutely fell in love with the small seaside town setting here and the cast of loveable characters. Annie, our main character, was particularly wonderful to come alongside. She was real, relatable, and well-developed, and I walked away inspired by her determination and strength as she endeavored to start over. By the end she even felt like a friend!

I truly enjoyed my time with this book from start to finish and I can confidently say it’s one I would highly recommend to my fellow rom-com loving, holiday book loving reader friends!

Many thanks to Putnam and NetGalley for the gifted e-copy!

Thank you to NetGalley, G.P. Putnam's Sons, & Penguin Publishing Group for the opportunity to read and review this book before it's publication date! This in no way affected my review, opinions are my own.

DNF @ 25%, ~120 pgs

Really struggled to get into this one, and with so many other holiday titles to read I made the decision to give something else a try. Not entirely sure if it was the characters or the plot, but I found it difficult to get invested.

Perfect for fans of Jenny Colgan and Domnhait Monaghan!

This story is great fun for so many reasons, but mainly I adored it because it was a winter novel that WASN'T about Christmas, featured a protagonist who wasn't between the ages of 20-30, and took place in a dreamy seaside setting.

Second chances at love are such a fun trope, and when the main character has the depth that this one does... it can't be missed!

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book! The title and this beautiful cover drew me in and i was excited to read this book! I will be recommending this book to others for readers advisory.

I met Jenni Bayliss when I produced her interview for A Mighty Blaze. I loved this fun, sweet, and cozy novel, filled with hope and good cheer. Yes, the main character is middle aged and lonely, but when she moves to a small seaside town as a caretaker, a lovely cast of characters fill her life and our hearts with entertaining style. Bayliss writes with what I think of as "Brit Wit," a particularly funny style of writing that only the English seem to get right. I went on to read her other book afterwards.

Really enjoyed this book. I liked that the character was in her forties and making a big life change. She made mistakes but was strong enough to learn from them and find happiness. I also enjoyed the setting of the book and it added to the coziness and warmth. Would be interested in more stories about the town!

This was a really sweet read. I read Bayliss's 12 Dates of Christmas last year and felt that this one did get a better job fleshing out the secondary characters. It was a sweet story about community and friendship and giving yourself a chance at happiness. I felt it dragged on a bit at times but overall really enjoyed this sweet and funny crew of characters.

A Season For Second Chances is a terrific option for anyone who wants a fall/winter novel but isn’t ready for the full on Christmas spirit!

It takes place over the course of a few months, covering Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the holidays.

Annie is looking for a change, so when an opportunity to be a winter caretaker of a seaside cottage arises, it seems like a godsend.

She is charmed by her new town and neighbors, but discovers the homeowner’s nephew will be a constant thorn in her side. As the holidays approach and tensions rise, we’ll discover if a little Christmas spirit can get her through this difficult time.

Pick this one up to add to your wintry books collection!

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ugh. I really wanted to love this one, and the premise sounded like the perfect, sweet holiday read. Unfortunately, for me it was just very boring - not much happened and a lot of the interactions and conflict felt forced. I also found a lot of it to be just telling the reader what happened or what someone was feeling, instead of showing, which just made it even harder to connect to. I can see how many readers would enjoy this book, but it just wasn't for me.

This is the second book by this author that I’ve read. I read Twelve Dates of Christmas last year, and it wasn’t my favorite.

As the title suggests, it’s the season for second chances…. So I decided to give it a go.

This book was about a second chance at love featuring Annie, a middle-aged woman going through a divorce after she walks in on her husband cheating on her. I really enjoyed the characters, especially Annie. The community of Willow Bay was so charming! Jenny Bayliss creates such lovely communities in both of her books. They are dream-worthy.

Overall, the book was decent. If you’re looking for a feel-good story with seasonal winter charm, this one is for you.

This features the most quaint small town I think I’ve ever come across! Its quirky, fun, and very atmospheric. The characters are all interesting and unique. The lead characters were flawed and easy to root for. This is a second chance romance but the story really shines with the lead character and her life reboot. Her journey was incredible and I was invested in her story. 4⭐️

After find her husband her husband with a waitress in booth 9, Annie decides to leave him and her restaurant. Needing to start over, Annie takes a housesitting position at beach cottage in Willow Bay. Everyone welcomes her with open arms - except the homeowner’s nephew.

I loved this story of starting over, and I liked Annie more and more throughout the book. For the record, I wouldn’t say this is a Christmas book, but I liked this SO much more than The Twelve Dates of Christmas by Jenny Bayliss. I would love to move to a town like Willow Bay, and I love to have a book club like Annie! I would say this is more women’s fiction (think Evvie Drake Starts over) than romance, but Annie does have a love interest.

Thanks to @NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for my ARC!

This was such a sweet, fun wintery read.

I really loved our main character in this one. Annie leaves her cheating husband and the restaurant they own together to start a new life in Willow Bay after an almost too good to be true offer falls in her lap to serve as temporary caretaker of a charming house on the water while its owner is away for winter. I loved Annie's book club and the almost Stars Hollow-y town events the whole town partakes in. It has such a great cast of characters too. The community aspect of this was even more entertaining than the romance she finds in this cute little town. And honestly, it's not so much a romance as I expected though I did love John and Annie together.

This book was sweet and funny and definitely one to add to your fall/winter reading list.