Sometimes, couples who marry young go the distance. Other times, life's challenges send them in opposite directions. But occasionally, if they're lucky, they get a second chance with the one who never left their heart.

I've been waiting for this final chapter of Miranda Liasson's Seashell Harbor series since first meeting Nick and Darla in book one and it did not disappoint. I love when a couple gets a second chance to make better decisions. It's been ten years since Nick and Darla divorced. They've each moved on but as hard as they try the love that first flickered in grade school and matured in high school still simmers. They can't - really, they shouldn't - go back but Liasson gives them the chance to move forward, to create something new, something better.

Both Nick and Darla have significant emotional baggage to conquer before they can claim their second chance. The author guides them carefully through a series of emotional obstacles in their journey of growth. Nick, in particular, has evolved a great deal over the past decade. I enjoyed watching the "new and improved" man show through his actions - rather than words - how much he's matured. Darla, on the other hand, still has work to do. Her journey is one of fear, vulnerability, forgiveness, and acceptance. I can't begin to imagine what it must be like to move forward in life knowing the cancer you defeated has the ability to return at any time. There are many layers within Darla (broken family, trust issues, obsessive independence, fear) that are addressed with realistic and relatable compassion that drew me into her journey, cheering her on and feeling every emotion right alongside her.

Friendship is once again a key facet of this third Seashell Harbor book with both couples from books one and two front and center, lending support, offering unsolicited - but wise - advice, and showing, again, the importance of solid and unwavering friendship/family. While emotional topics are central to this book, rest assured you will find plenty of humor, endearing characters, poignant moments, hope, happiness, and romantic chemistry to keep it from becoming too heavy. Darla's young nieces and nephew, in particular, had me laughing out loud more than once. And, the sigh-worthy happy ending is a fitting farewell to a group of friends who captured my heart. You could enjoy The Summer of Second Chances as a standalone but I believe you'll have a much better understanding of the characters and deeper appreciation for their journeys if you read the three books in order.

*ARC received from publisher via NetGalley. Fair and unbiased review.

Review will be posted on 8/8/23

Darla Manning is tough. She survived cancer, a divorce, and is now living back home in Seashell Harbor and writing her next book. At least she has her best friends here and her support system. Living as a cancer survivor isn't easy. All the follow-up tests and worries take their toll. When her ex, Nick Cammereri, re-enters her life (how could he not, he lives in Seashell Harbor) they start to spend time together. Their paths are bound to cross when they are helping to plan their best friends' wedding. How can Darla tell everyone the truth though? She accepted a very exciting teaching position in California for the fall. She needs to finish up her book, sell her house, and say goodbye to everyone she loves. All this time with Nick has her second-guessing things though as he has clearly changed. The Summer of Second Chances by Miranda Liasson has everything fans of the series enjoy: the small-town vibes, a second chance romance, great friendships, and more.

Darla is a character that I always enjoyed as she is a survivor, an author, and has handled difficult moments in her life with grace. Her relationship with her ex was always a curious topic in the other novels, so I was glad to see it fleshed out in The Summer of Second Chances. What I didn't love about this book was the focus on cancer. While I don't mind it playing a small role, it seemed to be bringing the story down in this novel and made it a little heavier than I liked for a beach read. Other than that, I enjoy the town of Seashell Harbor and the stories of second-chance romances and female friendships. If a beach read and a Hallmark movie had a baby, it would be this series.

The Summer of Second Chances follows exes Darla and Nick when Darla returns to town. The coupe divorced years earlier and Darla was treated for cancer.

The third book in the Seashell Harbor series by Miranda Liasson follows the couple as they deal with house renovations, book deadlines, wedding planning for a friend, Darla’s health, and the fact that they haven’t really ever let go of their love for each other.

While this is the third book in a series, it can easily be read as a stand alone without reading the previous books. This is a fun beachy take on second chance love. Perfect for fans of Sweet Magnolias and Virgin River.

The summer of second chances.
My miranda liasson

The perfect ending to a wonderful series.

Darla,
Has come home to sea shell harbor for her friends wedding, But a surprise is awaiting her. One she wasn't expecting. Sometimes those surprises can turn out to be more than you was inspecting..
Darla Has gotten through some tough times of her own.. And being a Author. She's had a lot going on.. But being there for her friends is her main goal. And then leaving to go home to california.. soon.


Nick,
Darla Ex Would love to have her back in his life. Willing to do whatever it takes.. But not sure how much he will have to do.. To find the right key to get darla back. Will love win in the End.

Will darla and nick have that second chance romance. Only way to find out pick up a copy of this wonderful Book. I really enjoyed it this book and the two previous books. However this one could be read as a standalone I feel.


Thank you Miranda Liasson for another wonderful story..

The h comes back home to sell her family’s house and finds her ex husband living there while it is being renovated. She has come home for her best friend’s wedding. Her ex, the H, is the best man. The h is a writer of thrillers and has been offered a position at Stanford as a professor of writing. A cancer survivor, the h has to decide if she wants to start a new life at Stanford, or stay and work things out with her ex.
I received an ARC from net galley

A heartwarming story about a Darla who is a cancer survivor. I really liked Darla….she tries to be strong with all she has gone through.
Loved the journey Darla and Nick went through getting back to each other.
Getting a second chance at life is the theme of this story.
Heartwarming read for summer reading.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Heartwarming novel!

Ms. Liasson brings us back to Seashell Harbor for the 3rd installment of the series. We are greeted by old friends Hadley, Kit and Darla, who have been friends for what seems like forever. Hadley is about to marry Tony, one of the Cammareri brothers, while Kit is dating their best friend Alex, and Darla is divorced from Tony's brother, Nick. Darla comes back to town 10 years after her divorce, after surviving cancer. She is finishing her novel while between jobs, and winds up planning Hadley's wedding, finishing her house renovation (with Nick, of course!), surviving a cancer recurrence scare and mentoring a cancer patient.

This book reminds us that we are resilient, but mostly that none of us are islands. We need our friends and families all the time, but especially when we are going through difficult times. Darla has to learn to open herself up to receiving support from others, not just going it alone. If she manages to do this, maybe there is a future for her and Nick.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book, but my opinions are my own.

Apparently, this is the final book in a trilogy, however, it worked well as a standalone. I enjoyed Darla and Nick's second-chance romance and all the baggage they needed to process to reach their happily ever after.

Life is filled with ups and downs, and I felt this was a realistic portrayal of how we let ourselves get screwed up sometimes by the things that happen to us.

If you enjoy happily ever afters that are achieved under trying circumstances, you'll enjoy "The Summer of Second Chances."

Thank you to Miranda Liasson, Forever, and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

This is the 3rd and final book of the Seashell Harbor series. We've met Nick and Darla in the books before this one. I've always felt there was still chemistry between them, and they weren't really over each other. Darla has gone to some extremes to put Nick behind her, including going to CA to teach and work on her book. While she's been gone, Nick has been doing some remodeling and repairs on her home. When she comes back to get her house ready to sell so she can move to CA permanently, Nick is always around. That makes it hard for Darla to move on. Nick is determined to show her he has changed. Before she can leave, her friends move up their wedding, so she can be there and there's her cancer checkup to get through. She gets close again with Nick, just when she thinks maybe they can make it work, she's faced with a health scare. This solidifies her thoughts on why she and Nick can't be together. Will Nick be able to break through and show Darla that he wants to be there for better or worse, again? I received an ARC and am voluntarily leaving my review.

The Summer of Second Chances is the final book in Miranda Liasson’s Seashell Harbor series and it is an emotional and heartfelt story of two people finding their way back to one another. It’s always difficult when two people have divorced, but have never been able to get the other person completely out of their system or their life, and for this couple it’s been ten years since their divorce and many changes in their lives.

High school sweethearts Nick and Darla married young and while Darla had goals and aspirations of doing big things with her life, Nick felt stuck in their small hometown working for his father while his big brother was out playing in the NFL. As Darla worked day and night to make her dream of becoming a published author come true, they grew apart and their relationship fell apart. Nick’s biggest regret was not fighting for their marriage and Darla when she served him with divorce papers especially after she was diagnosed with cancer and refused to let him help her through it. When Darla returns from a year teaching a college course in California, she intends to sell her house and accept the full time job she was offered there. But one of her best friends announces she is getting married in 2 weeks, her other best friend is acting a bit strange, and Nick….Nick is there remodeling her bathroom and being all kinds of wonderful.

I liked both these characters well enough but I will also admit I grew very weary of Darla’s “have to do everything on my own” attitude. There is being strong and there is being stubborn and she was the latter. I get that having cancer changes a person and their outlook on life, and it didn’t help that Darla’s mother was very anti-men and stressed to her girls they had to be strong and self sufficient and there is nothing wrong with that except when it makes you refuse help from people who love you and hurt them in the process. I felt Nick had to work and try way too hard to show Darla that he was not the same man she divorced. It was obvious in everything he did that he was settled, capable, and mostly satisfied with every part of his life. He still felt that his dad didn’t trust him enough to take over the business despite everything he’d done to make it more successful than it had ever been, and I felt that not having that acceptance and Darla not trusting him enough to carry her load really affected him more than anyone realized. The thing is he didn’t give up; he just kept showing up each and every day in both his business life and his private life and I really admired that about him.

Darla’s friendship with Hadley and Kit was one of my favorite thing about this series and Darla reaching out and making friends with a young cancer patient and helping her to not make the same mistakes she did showed me she was learning to let others share her load, I just wish we would have seen more of it.

Ms. Liasson did a wonderful job of wrapping this series up including giving readers the final piece of the puzzle about Darla’s ancestor’s home and relationship. A wonderful, thought-provoking story filled with love and compassion, The Summer of Second Chances is a not to be missed summer romance.

Darla Manning has beaten cancer and has decided to start anew. She has obtained a teaching position in California for the fall so it's time to wrap things up in her hometown. She needs to find a buyer for her home, finish her next book, and somehow tell all the people in her life she is moving away. She gets a shock when she returns home to start handling everything and finds her ex-husband in her home. He was only suppose to do a few fixes around her home seems to have added onto that list. It also looks as if he is staying there. Darla loved Nick but the two didn't communicate well which ended in them getting divorced. She soon realizes the man she new is no longer, Nick has changed and for the better. Follow along as Darla begins to doubt up ending her life and starting over, is there still something between her and Nick or should she just move on without looking back?

Darla returns to her hometown with a set plan. 1) Finish her latest thriller, 2) Sell her house so she can return to California, 3) avoid her ex-husband Nick at all costs. But things go sideways when their friends decide to get married, throwing Nick and Darla back together and lighting their old flame.

Nick has grown up and is no longer the same person he was when Darla divorced him. He has established himself at his Dad's company and is completing his MBA. Deep down, he has never stopped loving Darla and will do whatever it takes to win her back

I enjoyed the premise of this book, but I really struggled with the timeline as well as not loving the MC. She was so set in her ways of being alone, but then complaining about being lonely the entire book. Not to mention that I lost count of how many times she was ready to "try" again with Nick, only to turn cowardly and change her mind back. With this being said, I will try another book from Liasson to see if it was just that this particular book just wasn't for me.

A well written story of second chances and realizing pain shared lessens the grief. Darla and Nick fell in love and married you g. He was disappointed with his future being mapped out and jealous of his wife's dedication and successful writing career. As they grew apart he didn't fight for Darla when she wanted a divorce.

His biggest regret is not fighting for their love. But over the years, through thick and thin his love for Darla is unwavering. He supports her in secret as she received cancer treatments. When they get a second chance at love , can Darla put aside her fears of facing future health scares to realize she needs Nick ?

A heartwarming story with lots of laughs (from her niece's and nephew's shenanigans), tears (to supporting her friends), that you won't want to miss!

Although I received a free ARC eBook from Net Galley and the publisher, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

To my sadness, the end of another wonderful series. The Summer of Second Chances by Miranda Liasson concludes our journey with the Seashell Harbor series.

In this book, the focus is on Darla and NIck. With their past history together, they’ve been through a lot of ups and downs. With her cancer behind her, Darla returns to Seashell Harbor to tie up some loose ends before beginning the next chapter in her life starting in the upcoming fall. With a book deadline approaching, a secured teaching position across the country and beginning the process to sell her home, she definitely has her plate full. The last thing she ever expected was for her ex-husband to interfere with the trajectory of her life plan or ignite a spark inspiring unresolved feelings and nostalgia.

Nick isn’t the same person he once was. Once young and immature, he’s changed and wants a better life. He’s taking on more responsibility with his family’s business and going to school to get his education to build a better future. One thing for sure that he’s known for infinity is something that has never changed, his big heart for Darla. Taking on the task to do some repairs on her home, he finds himself spending more time with her trying to show how much he truly cares and how much he’s changed. He foolishly gave up before but is determined to do anything not to make the same mistake twice.

As they say, home is where the heart is and as their summer blossoms a new beginning, will this opportunity of a second chance be enough for Darla to embrace?

Overall, this book with Darla and Nick showed how time can heal old wounds. If you allow your heart to open, love can find its way back stronger for longevity. Darla is a strong, independent woman who deserves to be loved. When you experience the pain she did in her life, it's hard to open your heart again, let alone to the one person who broke it. So, what I loved is how their experiences in life changed them but she allowed him to show her which slowly opened her heart to allow the possibility of a second chance. Sometimes we find the right people at the wrong time. If we’re lucky, the right time will be on time.

Also, the book wrapped up the series wonderfully with some amazing exciting news happening with Hadley and Kit. Their beautiful friendship and love for each other warmed the pages and the joy of strolling through this small town just was a joy to escape into. Their journey of friendship, love and second chances made this another wonderful series.

There was so much about this book that just touched me. There were times in the book where I cried over someone's anguish, but times I happy cried as well. Miranda Liasson definitely has written a gem of a story here. This book was my favorite in the series. You see one of the main characters, Darla, have this internal struggle after being a cancer survivor. She struggles with not being afraid to just live life, and let her guard down to open herself up to show her vulnerability. Darla let her cancer push Nick away, but he never really went away. He was always in the background showing love to Darla in ways she was oblivious to. These two come together again in this book so beautifully. Miranda wrote their story in a way that the reader can feel every emotion so raw and vividly. This is a book that is going to stick with me, and one I will definitely return to again and again.

The Summer of Second Chances is the third book in Miranda Liasson’s Seashell Harbor series. In this edition author Darla Manning is the focus of the story. Darla has just returned from a stint as guest professor at Berkeley with goals of selling her beachfront home and returning to take on a full time teaching position. In this time home, Darla will reconnect with family and friends as well as follow through on her regular check ups as a Hodgkin’s lymphoma survivor. This is a trying trip for Darla. Not only will she part with her sister and mom and her best friends since childhood, but she will also be severing ties to her ex husband, Nick Cammareri.
Having fallen and married young, immaturity rather than lack of feelings caused their breakup. And it seems Nick has been doing all he can think of to make up for his part of it, including renovations to her home and buying and working to restore the home that had belonged to her several greats grandmother.
In the course of this visit, one of her best friends, Hadley Wells, will be tying the knot with Tony Cammareri, Darla’s former brother-in-law, drawing Darla and Nick together to plan and carry out the festivities. Plus, there is a young college age girl dealing with lymphoma that Darla befriends all while dealing with the wedding, an impossible deadline, and unfinished business.
This is such a well written, nuanced study of the human spirit. Ms. Liasson’s description of dealing with these health concerns is spot on and the characters are so precisely drawn. I very much enjoyed this book and do recommend it!

The Summer of Second Chances is the third book in the Seashell Harbor series by Miranda Liasson, but it can definitely be read as a standalone if you haven't read the previous books.

Darla Manning has returned to Seashell Harbor after a year away guest teaching in California. She's also a successful suspense novelist who is working on her next book, but she's struggling with this one more than she ever has before. Her focus and drive the past decade has been on her career and when she tells her friends and family that her homecoming isn't for good like they thought, they are beyond surprised, that includes her ex-husband, Nick.

Nick Cammareri runs the family construction company along side his father for the time being. He's trying to get his Dad to retire and then he'll take it over for good, but he's not sure his Dad is ever going to be ready for that. Nick was never the one that wanted his marriage to Darla to end, so when she shows back up in town, and he knows he's going to be around her given all that's going on with their friend group, he's determined to figure out if things might not be as over between them as she once thought.

Besides the fact that her career drove a wedge between them, Darla also dealt with a cancer diagnosis after their marriage broke up. While she is in remission, she deals with the reality of her illness every day and how it could come back or there could be other complications. Could she ever saddle Nick with that regardless of how much they love one another?

I enjoy these types of stories because there is such a realistic base to them. The storyline focusing on Darla's illness, how she deals with her fears, the way she interacts with others who are facing the same illness, and also those in her family/friend group is what happens in real life and I think it's so important to shine a light on those things. This was a very well written book and it kept me engaged and entertained while also sharing important messages.

**I voluntarily read an early copy of this title courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

A heavy hitter where emotions run deep and surprises abound. The Summer of Second Chances turns an unfinished heartache into a maybe this time. Liasson never ceases to deliver thought provoking romance that you feel deep down in your soul.

"Summer of Second Chances" is the ultimate feel-good book that'll leave you with a heart full of warmth and a smile on your face. Get ready for an enchanting story about Darla, a resilient and fiercely independent woman who's faced her fair share of challenges. When her ex-husband, Nick, unexpectedly reenters her life, sparks fly and second chances abound.

This delightful read is all about love, friendship, and the beauty of embracing new beginnings. The author skillfully crafts a captivating tale that'll have you laughing, shedding a tear or two, and cheering for Darla every step of the way. Set against the charming backdrop of Seashell Harbor, with a cast of lovable characters, I was transported to a world where anything is possible.

Whether you're a hopeless romantic or simply seeking a heartwarming escape, "Summer of Second Chances" is the perfect book. It's a rollercoaster of emotions that'll leave you feeling uplifted, inspired, and believing in the magic of second chances. I loved this enchanting story that proves love can find its way back, even in the most unexpected circumstances.

Let's start off this review with some love for the cover art. I just love this cover. It is telling me to move to the beach and I'm not a water baby.

Since we've known who this story was going to be about and we've meet them and have a bit of their story from the prior books there is no surprise that we are going to have a couple fall in love, again. The title kind of gave it away.

Even though we already have a clue about where the story is going, we don't mind because we already love the characters. Darla is a fighter. She has survived cancer and come out the other end with a pretty good life. Her only really big issue right now is trying to get away from an ex-husband that she's really in love with still but won't admit it. Even to herself.

I really like Darla, but I worried that the story was going to be about her over and over explaining how she's leaving. And yes you have some of that but you also get to watch these two fall in love all over again.

I'm glad that Nick has grown and finally become a man that Darla could love and want to be with. You get peeks of his love and maturity when you hear about him being there for Darla even though they are no longer together. We all need to time to grow and become the person we should be.

This is a good story and I really enjoyed their love. It's the perfect ending for them. The story is full of all the emotions you want in your romance. Yes this can be read as a standalone, but I will say I feel that the story would be better for the bits you get from the prior books. Plus you'll love these friends.