I loved the conceit of this book, a couple uses an improv based workbook to help rekindle their love in a strained marriage. And there was a lot to like in the book. The characters were interesting, well developed, and three dimensional. I would definitely be interested in a sequel featuring Stellar and McHuge. I appreciate the autism representation. It's nice to see folks with autism presented as capable, smart, having a full range of emotions, able to have sustained loving relationships, you know- as actual realized adults. This sadly rarely happens. The marital conflicts seemed real and grounded to me as a therapist. I didn't love the pacing of this book. Thenporse style also took a second to get into. But this book is a good read and a definite recommend. 4 stars. Thanks to St. Martin's Griffin and Net Galley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I am super picky about second chance romance, and while this one was okay, it did fall a bit short for me.

There were some cute moments, but there was truly a lot going on and it seemed a bit confusing. I didn’t think the work was done with the relationship.

This was just pretty bland for me, unfortunately.

My favorite thing about this book was Liz’s journey and growth. I wasn’t expecting the improv component but really enjoyed the side characters and their connections to Liz. If anything, there wasn’t enough romance for me. I wanted more of Liz and Tobin being happy together. I think I needed their second chance to start sooner. Overall a good read!

This was a unique take on a second chance romance. My heart broke for these characters several times throughout the story because they kept misreading each other and the situation. But it was worth hanging in there because I really did grow attached to both of them and was eager to see how their story resolved itself.

Liz and Tobin are married but have drifted apart. Liz feels like she's overlooked by everyone and that Tobin outshines her. Tobin is always trying to make their marriage appear perfect while not realizing that just because it "appears" perfect doesn't mean it is. They each have past issues that they have brought into the marriage and it's eroding it. Unless they do some quick repair, things will truly fall apart. At the same time, Liz is trying to obtain a job promotion and is going through some improv classes to help herself become more comfortable in front of people. It's a lot for her to be trying to work on at one time - - two major life events is a lot.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: I really enjoyed the audiobook narration. It was really well done and kept me invested in the storyline. I kept listening to this audio one day at work because it kept me mesmerized. 4 1/2 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for early copies of both the ebook and audiobook.

I typically really enjoy second chance romances and while this was OKAY, it wasn't anything great.

There was a lot jam packed into this novel which lead to a lot of unanswered questions and confusion while I read. I didn't fall in love with any of the characters and actually found Liz to be quite frustrating at times. Heres to hoping others like this book more than me!!

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press & Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to read / listen to this ARC.

This debut pulled me in quickly and I loved this book! The characters and the story kept me flipping the pages very quickly!! It is a second chance romance but with a twist. This book had me laughing and crying!! Very emotional read for me.

Liz and Tobin have been married for 8 years but neither one is happy. Liz is an introvert and is mainly unseen by everyone. Tobin is an outdoor adventure guide that everyone gravitates to. Liz decides to move out as she is so unhappy. Can she find the way to heal herself so her marriage can be healed?? Impov is recommended to Liz for a job competition and Tobin becomes her partner. They will explore a lot that will hopefully allow both of them to grow and ultimately heal their marriage.

Highly recommend this book that comes out on 6/25. Maggie North has written a stunning and heartfelt debut that will have readers captivated into this story!!!

This one had the promise of so many tropes that I love, but it ended up falling flat for me. There was a lot going on, but then also not a lot going on and the romance felt odd. Liz was often all over the place and I found the pacing stilted. Being only single POV, everything felt so one-sided and Tobin seemed to have zero character development that would warrant the couple getting back together. I really wanted to love this one, but it ended up being a miss for me.

This debut novel leans more into the women’s fiction zone than your typical small town, second chance romance. Thirty-year old Liz Lewis and her husband, Tobin Renner-Lewis, were very happily in love until the day of their actual wedding. On the big day, family drama on both sides stole Liz’s joy and left a bitterness behind that has continued to color her relationship with Tobin ever since. Liz finally makes the decision to move out to give herself the time and space to reevaluate her life and goals, which may or may not include Tobin.

I have decidedly mixed feelings about this one. I adore Tobin. He’s not perfect, but he’s so dang close to being a prince of dreams that none of his flaws mattered to me as a reader. He is kind, loyal, dependable, earnest, gentle, and always puts his own wants last. He adores Liz and everything that she is. Tobin is so great, in fact, that I found myself frustrated if not mad at Liz a majority of the book.

Liz is on the spectrum, which provides context for some of her behaviors like social anxiety, professional skills, and awkward interpersonal relationships with friends and family. Unfortunately, Liz as written on the page is also insecure, needy, and passive-aggressive. I quickly lost patience with her and, even at the end of the book, had no understanding why Tobin loved her in the first place. There is no explanation for Tobin’s devotion after she kept changing her mind about whether or not she wanted to try to make their marriage work, and manipulated his feelings over the course of the narrative.

This book is quite heavy in terms of Liz’s internal struggles to find her “true self” which she has always been uncomfortable acknowledging. She is plagued with self-doubt as a result of her role in her family of origin and her neurodiversity. But she is also incredibly melodramatic. I had to keep reminding myself that she is supposed to be thirty, and not 13.

My takeaway from the story was that Liz desperately needs Tobin, and Tobin has only ever desperately wanted Liz. He is concerned for her and is willing to sacrifice anything for her. But they are never equals in their relationship. She is always coming to him as a jar half empty needing his light and strength to fill her. I wanted more for Tobin than to be a caretaker to someone who never gets elevated from being a fragile person who will continually struggle to determine what she wants.

Thank you Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review this novel. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to St. Martins Press for the advanced reader copy and to Macmillan Audio for the complimentary audiobook. These opinions are my own.

I love a second chance romance, and this one was especially powerful. When Liz is struggling to be seen and to get considered for a promotion at work, she decides to try improv. And she simultaneously steps back from her marriage to Tobin.

Liz is neurodivergent. She sees the world differently, and that ends up being displayed as a powerful and helpful trait. I loved her representation, and I also related to an incredibly high number of her character traits.

We don't get to know Tobin quite as well since the story is told in Liz's first person POV. But we get to know what she sees in him. And Tobin seems fantastic and loving, but also another person who doesn't see her whole self. I wanted to see him grow as much as Liz did during the story.

This story made me so emotional in so many ways. And with the incorporation of improv, it had just the right balance of comedy to offset the tougher topics.

Gail Shalan narrated the audiobook. I didn't love her voice for Tobin, but I loved the rest of her performance. I highly recommend this amazing book in whichever format you choose. It left me saying, "Yes, and..."

4.5 stars rounded up

While I appreciate #NetGalley and the publisher for access to this book in exchange for an honest review, I ultimately decided to DNF at 50%.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was...painful. It was highly confusing and was trying too hard to be cute and interesting. The premise was intriguing to me - using improv to help a marriage out. However, the writing and formatting made it feel like treading against the current. It wasn't clear when an improv scene between Liz and Tobin started. I would read and suddenly realize that "oh" we're in a scene now. It was trying too much. If Liz was only using improv on her personal journey, fine. That would have been a more coherent book. But for improv to help her find herself AND her marriage, no. Now, her feelings about herself contributed to her wanting to end her marriage, but it felt like a stretch to end it completely. Furthermore, there was so much emphasis on her physical attraction to him. That preceded her "falling in love with him again." Please, less that and more the fact that they were more an opposites attract situation; they complemented each other.

Second chances don’t always work for me, but I did want to give this one a try because I loved the cover and the sound of it.

I don’t think the reason I didn’t get into this was because of the trope but the way that it was written. It was hard to feel the emotion that should have been present through the words. The book could have also used a second point-of-view that came from Liz’s husband, Tobin. The plot of the book surrounded her relationship but I didn’t feel like it was the main focus. It was more about her journey navigating work and wanting to stand out and not be pushed on the backburner, although that was to some of her own doing.

Overall, this was okay but I was just expecting more when it came to the romantic relationship.

Rules for second chances

Liz Lewis has always blended in and gone with the flow, content to be in the background, but she’s not willing to take it anymore. She wants to stand on her own two feet and stop being the supporting character in her own life. Her thirtieth birthday gives her the push she needs to take the lead and that means questioning everything she’s ever known, her marriage, her job, every choose she makes. Liz’s path to self discovery has her marriage hanging in the balance, but she’s determined to find her own footing no matter the cost. She’s about to find out if she can fall in love with the same person again, this time loving herself in the process.

I’ll admit when I picked this book up I didn’t look too much into it and was expecting your typical romance, but this book is heavier than that and I wasn’t fully prepared. The author explores many different facets in a relationship and internally. Instead of being a straightforward romance, this book explores a floundering marriage and the main characters happiness. I like the idea behind this book, but I just didn’t fully click with it. I really did enjoy the ending and how everything tied up, but the journey there was bumpy for me. This is not a bad read, just not the typical romance I was expecting and part of that is my fault for going on with that mindset. I think you could enjoy this book if second chances in marriage and discovering yourself are interests to you, it’s just not the first thing I want to read about.

Liz just wants to be seen. Her whole life she has tried to fit it but only just feels like she’s on the periphery. When she turned 30 and one of the guests doesn’t realize she’s the guest of honor she decides everything has to change. This sparks her to go for the promotion at work and to join an improv class to help her be more comfortable in front of people. As Liz steps out of her comfort zone and starts to work on herself she is lead down a path of self discovery that is so much fun to watch.

This story was a great read about a woman who is neurodivergent but never had anyone officially diagnosis her. She went thru life thinking there was something wrong with her and would focus on trying to change her very being. At parts of the book I became frustrated with the characters but by the end I loved the realistic growth they all had.

Thank you to Netgalley and to the publishers for allowing me to read this advanced copy.

After reading the premise for Rules for Second Chances, I immediately had to read because I love a good second chance romance, and I've hadn't yet read one that centered around a struggling marriage. I wanted so badly to love this, but I think it was just a case of the writing style not being for me. I don't love chapters that are super wordy, especially with romances, and the writing here was wordy and confusing. That's definitely a preference thing, so I decided to push through because I've seen lots of great things about this book.

I definitely understand opposites attract and feeling like you're someone's shadow. My husband and I are COMPLETE opposites, and that man is my best friend. But it was very hard to find the chemistry between Liz and Tobin. I went into this expecting a heartwarming romance, but I didn't feel the romance. It felt much more like women's literature.

I think expectations might need to be curbed going into this, as I think that could impact someone's reading journey. But I wouldn't say that I didn't like the book. It just wasn't what I was expecting and wasn't for me.

2.5 stars

As much I love second chance romances, especially with married or engaged couples, I'm sad to say that this did nothing for me in terms of that.

The issues didn't feel real enough for me... no to be honest I didn't fully understand WHAT the issue was for Liz.
Anyway sorry to say but thus book wasn't for me.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a tender romance book that handles a delicate situation of a married couple who are navigating the downs in their relationship and what that means for their future. We read a lot about how two people fall in love and the challenges they over come to be together, and see an HEA epilogue of years later. But this story looks at a more realistic idea of after two people commit to be together. In this marriage in trouble story, I couldn't help but root for both of them to work it out. And what advice, tools, or obstacles did they face to try to mend their problems? Improv!

Liz and Tobin both work at an outdoor travel adventure company, West by North (North being a nod to the author!) As opposites, Tobin is the easy going fun tour guide, while Liz is the quite one that works in spreadsheets. Always being past up for a more "fun" role, Liz is given the challenge to try improv, to learn to be more comfortable in speaking out. Their roles in their workplace are similar to their roles in their marriage.

Using improv as a help for both self development and to save a relationship definitely brought a novel and genius idea. The situations brought laughter, smiles, love, caring, and hope. This story was tender and just really well rounded and developed. Definitely recommend for a beautiful, deep, feel good book about self discovery and second chance romance.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

Liz is the polar opposite of her husband Tobin. They work for the same company and while Tobin is the life of the party, Liz is often overlooked or ignored. Their marriage is beginning to suffer, too, because instead of communicating, they are increasing the space between each other. Liz has decided that she needs to be more proactive and become a main character in her own life and decides upon a plan to do so, including taking improv classes. Her relationship with Tobin is also at stake because he will help her with the role playing.

For a marriage on the rocks, I liked a lot of things about this, but I wasn’t a huge fan of Liz separating from Tobin without offering him a chance to remediate before she went on her own path. Otherwise, the individual journey did prove to be valuable to her, branching out and making new friends while also taking more initiatives and discovering her own self worth. It was also cute to see how doing improv exercises would reconnect her with Tobin and they were finally having honest conversations. For as much as Liz grew, she and Tobin needed to be on the same page and seeing their commitment to support each other as a team is what marriage is about. I don’t think the improv route was necessary, but Liz did need to explore something on her own and spread her wings and the networking did prove to be beneficial in the end.

An interesting, busy journey of self-discovery that wasn't quite what I expected. I was excited to read this, as several of my favorite authors have championed it as one not to miss, and was intrigued by the concept of a marriage in crisis, a romance trope that seems to be rarely explored. While this contains several romantic elements as Liz and Tobin find their way back to each other after slowly drifting apart, it falls much more within the genre of women's fiction, which is not a complaint but more of a quibble with how it has been marketed. The plot is fairly packed, as it also focuses on Liz seeking a promotion at work, her participation in an improv class, her partnership with Tobin to act out scenarios in an effort of marital healing, and her complicated verging on toxic relationship with older sister Amber; it always felt like there was a lot going on to follow. I felt a little cheated out of getting to know Tobin better thanks to the single perspective presentation, especially since the complexities of his family end up playing an important overall role. However, I liked the idea of improv comedy converging with social anxiety and couples therapy to serve a valuable purpose as well as the subplot of Liz discovering that she is neurodivergent later in life, the latter of which many readers are sure to relate to and the visibility is extremely important. North's writing is often rather evocative with touches of humor throughout; I hope her next book pares things down a bit for a fully satisfying story.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of Rules for Second Chances.

I was looking forward to this book, but unfortunately it was not for me. It tried to do too many things, and as such everything felt a little half baked. There was not enough character development, and the ending felt incredibly rushed.

I was particularly putoff by the handling of the character's autism diagnosis. It felt like an afterthought, just tossed at the end and not handled with enough care.