I loved this second chance story of Liz and Tobin. I really enjoyed the juxtapositioning of improv on both her career goals and on their relationship. I loved several of the side characters and I also loved how much Tobin loved his wife. It was a touching story that had funny moments. It was the kind of romance where you see where it's going and you're rooting for them fully.

with gratitude to netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Liz was at a point in her life where she needed to make some changes. She felt awkward at best most of the time. She was never good enough for a job promotion and her husband (Tobin) did not want to acknowledge there were problems in their marriage. Now on her 30th birthday she told Tobin she wanted to separate. Only living a few houses down at her parents’ house, they would see each other often. She wanted to work on their marriage but after three years of begging Tobin to go to marriage counseling, she didn’t have high expectations. It turns out that was exactly the fire she needed to light under him. He was eager to get back together with her and would do anything.

The next thing she needed to do was build her confidence that’s where joining an improv group comes in. She needs help with practicing her improv and the only one willing to help is of course Tobin. Through these improv lessons, Liz and Tobin learn about each other in a different way. They are communicating more, and she is very clear that she wants to be her own person, not just Tobin’s wife. She wants and needs to be able to stand on her own two feet and go after what she wants.

The characters are relatable, and the desire Tobin has for his wife had me nearly in tears. I was never quite sure what Liz would decide since they had a lot of ups and downs in rebuilding their lives together. For anyone looking for an honest, well written story about the trials of marriage and seeing a partner for who they truly are, you will love Liz and Tobin’s story.

As a Canadian, I deeply enjoyed and appreciated how the author described the setting throughout the beautiful story. A wonderful debut novel and heartwarming and fulfilling love story. I read a lot of romance and this was a breath of fresh air - new and diverse. Thank you for the privilege of reading it early.

56% through this book and Maggie North has already become my new auto-buy author!

Update: a must-read. Filled with awkward conversation starters, hard truths and real introspection Maggie North’s debut novel is an ode to self-discovery. Liz and Tobin are both beautiful, lost people who found each other just to feel lost in their marriage. This book follows them as they discover their truths and find ways to practice a joint “yes, and….”

Themes to expect: 2nd chance romance, marriage in crisis, late in life autism diagnosis, small town, outdoorsy, workplace romance, opposites attract, and poorly executed but brilliant cosplay and improv.

Star: 5/5
Spice: 1/5

Note: Story has been posted to Instagram. And goodreads review is up. Instapost will go up about two weeks before pub date.

This book takes you on a journey of a complex relationship. It brings light to the subject of autism and was an excellent debut book by this author. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an e ARC of this book. I look forward to reading more by this author.

I wasn't sure how much I'll like RfSC when i started it although i requested it because some of my fav romance authors were promoting it.
It wasn't exactly what i expected and I was thrown off by the MC's (Liz) improv classes and what was happening.
Even though the book is advertised as contemporary romance and there is romance in it, it's really in the center of everything Liz is going through, the book is definitely more about Liz and her journey than it is about the second chance romance. Not having Tobin's POV also didn't help, I don't think he was fleshed out enough.
I struggled a little with Liz in the beginning because I didn't find her too relatable though I could put myself in her shoes. I definitely loved the second half of the book better, the romance and Liz's development were great.
Regardless, I liked both Liz and Tobin and I was rooting for them, some parts really made me tear up.
Their chemistry was great and I loved the hot scenes between them.
Also, can I just point out that the dialogue between McHuge and Liz in the first half was a little ridiculous. I kept asking myself "who talks that way?". It felt like it was trying to be forcefully funny, and a little extra, it works in some comedy movies but in RfSC was a little too much. I didn't hate it but I could've done without it.
All in all this was a good debut, I'd definitely read more by Maggie North in the future.

eternal gratitude to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc

Rules for Second Chances by Maggie North is an ambitious debut.

The main plot line is Liz and Tobin, whose marriage in trouble. Then there are competing plot lines: neurodivergence, improv classes, workplace frustrations and dysfunctional family relationships.

The book would be benefited from simplification. However, the author has a lot of promise—this is a book unlike any other I’ve read in the genre.

Read if you like:
🩵 Marriage in trouble
🩵 Second chance romance
🩵 Found family

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for an eARC in exchange for my honest review! Don’t miss this book when it’s available on 6/25/24.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC of Rules for Second Chances by Maggie North! I think this might be one of the first true "second chance" romance books I've ever read, and I can say I did enjoy it! It's a compelling scenario and I found myself rooting for the couple pretty early on! I liked the main character Liz and her husband Tobin a lot! They were well-written characters and their problems did feel real. I found myself invested in seeing how they could work through their issues. I also enjoyed Liz's growth as a her own person. Her journey of self-discovery while trying to work with her husband to see if their marriage can be saved made for a very solid story. If you're a fan of contemporary romances I think this book will be a good pick! Even more so if you believe in second chances at love!

3ish stars! I'm not married to the rating. I am definitely not giving a 2 because I really appreciate the premise of the book AND I think there are some great quotes in here. But I am definitely not giving a 4 or 5 because there were some serious things lacking here. I would love to read a different and better version of this book one day.


I appreciate the draft that inspired this book. I appreciate the quotes that made me pause and relish. I appreciate the pining and falling in love with your spouse all over again. Also, I appreciate Tobin's physical description.

A few things that had me wanting more: poor indentation in the texting scenes, more development in the beginning to understand the reasoning behind the FMC's decision, more boundaries with the MIL, the whole sub-plot of the FIL to be removed...the sub-plot with the niece was unnecessary in my opinion. And, the last chapter...the name. Please. Please change it.

I am new to ARCS and Netgalley so I honestly assumed that all of the grammatical errors that I saw were normal for ARCs. I feel like this book would benefit from a new set of eyes to really weed out plot points.

This book was so good!
I loved watching Liz find someone to love her for who she is! I loved her quirks so much! She was an amazing heroine, and not to mention super relatable

In an effort to avoid reality and responsibility, I picked up Rules for Second Chances on a whim and a prayer. Or also know as... I adored books this year from her critique group (Jessica Joyce and Alexandra Kiley) and just assumed they were blessed with some sort of magic that must have impacted all of them. After finishing this one, I don't think I'm wrong.
Liz is a secondary character in her own life story. She sees the spells her husband can weave on a crowd and feels less than. Toby can't even seem to share anything of importance with her these days. Despite their chemistry and the love she has for him, Liz takes a stand and walks away. But not too far because her support system is three houses down the street. With a promotion carrot dangling at work, Liz forces herself to join an improve class and learn how to shine just as bright as the other candidates.
Maggie's writing is incredible. I can't believe some of the ways she brought emotive feeling to the page with such a small turn of phrase. It's beautiful and pulled at my heartstrings. Liz broke my heart with her self worth but the growth and drive to make things better had me rooting for her every step of the way.
Thank you to St Martin's Press and Netgalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

I’m confused and a little turned off by the chaos of this book.

It could be formatting issues but it’s all so random and hard to follow.

I don’t understand why an outdoor company needs an improv class? And the improv class is run by the ex’s 6ft tall bff who’s also a doctor and relationship coach and famous online?

I’ve laughed out loud a few times but overall I’m confused and really think this could be great with a little more attention to detail. It needs another round of editing.

I particularly love the marriage in crisis trope. Especially with a neurodivergent female lead. I really really wanted to love it but I couldn’t lose myself in the book when I kept getting confused.

I loved the set up for this book. I haven't read a lot of second chance romance and I loved the twist that it was a married couple working through long held issues. The book felt realistic as their relationship issues weren't easily resolved and both sides struggled the whole way through to get out of their established patterns. And the Improve as therapy idea was just really well done. I didn't think I'd buy into it at first, but then it made me wish it was a real relationship book. Plus the development of other characters and friendships were nice and rounded out the story.

I thought the whole thing was really well done and I enjoyed it even more than I thought I would.

**I received an ARC from Netgalley.**

I loved this book so much I'm going to pre-order it so I can have a physical copy for myself!

I love "marriage in trouble" romances, and I can't believe this is Maggie North's first book! So much emotion conveyed through her writing! I loved this book! I hope Maggie North has many more books in her future because I will look forward to reading them!

2023 has been such an up and down reading year for me, and I've been finishing the year in quite a slump until I saw that I had been approved for this on Netgalley! It was exactly what I needed!

-Perfect amount of angst
-Had funny moments (even made me LOL at one point)
-Romantic/Funny "role playing"

Thank you so much for the advance copy for review! I really enjoyed how realistic the neurodivergent characters felt. This was my first marriage in trouble story, so it was an interesting premise for me! I also haven't read a book with improv in it before, and I thought that was a very unique element to include. I wish there was a little bit more romance to the story, though Liz's journey of self-acceptance was lovely to experience. All in all I thought it was a unique read and I will absolutely check out more by this author.

Characters 5.5/10
Atmosphere 5.5/10
Writing 6/10
Plot 4/10
Intrigue 5.5/10
Logic 4.5/10
Enjoyment 5.5/10

The main character was the only one that seemed fully three-dimensional to me. Her sister and her relationship with her absolutely drove me insane because there was almost no redeeming quality about her until the very end. The conflict in the plot seemed a bit forced to me as well.

Liz and Tobin relationship was cute but it ended up not working for me. Is usually love "second chances romances" but the conflict in this one seemed absurd to me. The writing style ended up making it harder for me to enjoy this one.

𝘙𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 follows Liz and Tobin as they work to save their marriage and Liz undertaking her journey to self acceptance.

- ~ -

This book was decidedly not for me, it was mostly a woman's fiction with a romantic sub-plot, which would have fine but even the romance wasn't what I wished for. It was mostly vanilla and much less angsty for a marriage in trouble trope.

Tobin's character felt like an amalgamation of all the perfect characteristics a husband should have but in the end it wasn't worth all that much because Liz didn't even seem to be trying 😭.

3.42 / 5✩

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘵. 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯'𝘴 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

I love second chance books, and this one is no exception. It was so interesting to read, and I loved getting to know all of the characters.

I really wanted to love this book but it didn't click for me. It started off really strong with her not being seen or understood by anyone and getting mistaken as a waiter at her own birthday party but as the story progressed, I just didn't connect. The writing was really good but the concept of improv completely fixing her life was a stretch to me. I finished and liked the ending with them coming back together but wasn't my favorite.