“But the truth is, magic is the only thing that matters. Without it, I’ll always be a side character. I’ll always be a voice that gets talked over. I’ll always feel pinned by fear, poisoned with frustration and resentment.”

This book is definitely in my top 5 reads this year! It made me laugh and it made me cry, it was the perfect amount of steamy & was so heartwarming! The spicy tension between Liz and Tobin was so thick I felt like I was feeling it myself!

The character development in this book was unbelievable and I have never felt like I’ve known book characters better than I do Liz & Tobin! The struggles of social anxiety are so common & rarely talked about in everyday life let alone in a book. I feel anyone who reads this would understand the impact of social anxiety just a little bit better!

Overall this was a great read that went at a steady comfortable pace & I can’t wait to read more by Maggie North!!

Second chance romance girlies, we rise, with scorching fulfillment that are angst filled yearning hearts will be battered then swept clean with attentive care of being pieced back together. I loved this debut, and I love this journey Maggie North has written in such a heartfelt way.

I loved Liz and Tobin in a way that works for love rather than letting it sit idly by and staring at it in hopes it’ll fill up the spaces we need if we just stare at it long enough.

And I love Rules for Second Chances in way that shares a need for self, the actualization of our truths and who we are, and wanting to share it with people who recognizes it and loves it ten times more than we could ever have hoped for.

An incredibly beautiful second chance story that will grip you from the beginning, tug at your heart throughout, and gently heal you at the end.

Maggie North spins words together in such a consistently warm and inviting way, that you’re simultaneously invested in the storytelling while taking moments to gasp at her delicately strong prose. The emotions packed into this book had me taking moments for reprieve because of how visceral it all felt.

Marriage in trouble/marriage reconciliation are some of my favorite types of romance books to read (though there aren’t enough in the genre) and Rules to Second Chances is prime example as to everything done right with this trope. The stakes were high and realistic, the chemistry between the characters was established early on and palpable and believable, and outside characters and storylines were pertinent to the main event and held their own importance and weight. This was a love story between two people meant to be together, but also between a woman and her own self-discovery. And this was also a sorry about Yeti, a himbo of a cat who deserves all the accolades.

The ending of this this story was spectacular and absolutely hard earned. This book is for the people who long to be seen for who they are and accepted in the same right. This is for the independent souls who still need to be taken care of. This is for the romantic hearts that truly believe in second chances. This is a book I will be recommending until my last breath.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this advance copy. All opinions are my own!

Achingly tender, beautifully written, RULES FOR SECOND CHANCES is an unflinching marriage in crisis romance that hinges brilliantly on both humor and heart. An ode to neurodivergence, self-discovery, the work and wonder of vulnerable, intimate long term partnership, and the magic of making an authentic life with those we love. I adored it!