Such a good read that I enjoyed! I'm so glad that I got the chance to read it early and will definitely be recommending it to multiple people who enjoy these types of novels. I enjoyed the characters and especially enjoyed the writing by this author. I'm excited to see what the author comes out with next as I'll definitely be reading it! Thank you to the publisher for my early copy of this book!

Rules for Second Chances is the debut novel for Maggie North. This is the story of Liz Lewis, her husband Tobin Renner-Lewis, her sister Amber, and niece Eleanor as they weather a particular season that effects them all.

At the party celebrating Liz’s 30 birthday, the party the lady that was more wallflower than life of the party dreaded, things begin to come to a head when one of the new West by North employees mistakes Liz for the help. This sends her promptly scurrying to her home next door from her mother-in-law’s, Marijka Renner, home.

When Liz first met Tobin they had both just begun working for West by North a decade ago, both working as wilderness guides, and had complemented each other so well. But as outgoing Tobin moved ahead in the outdoors, reserved Liz found herself becoming a numbers person in a back office. True, Liz had a gift with numbers and organization and was a whiz at expediting orders and deliveries over his fishing expeditions, but Liz was tired of being unseen, barely more than a fixture in the company.

Later the night of the party, and as intimacy was brewing with Tobin, something made her feel unseen even in his eyes, prompting Liz to pack a bag and head further down the street to her parents’ home where currently only Amber and Eleanor were living as their parents were at their winter home in Arizona. Grudgingly single mother Amber took her sister in, but there were conditions like helping with Eleanor.

Through a series of developments, disappointments, and near disasters, Liz learns to make herself seen and allows others to see what they’ve missed. This is a very well told tale of a young woman struggling with her identity as she also comes to terms with the fact that she may have the same autism as her niece. But once Liz stops trying to fit into a box defined by others and begins being true to herself many good things come her way.

I found this story enlightening and enjoyable and I do recommend it!

This main character was so dramatic about everything for no reason. Like omg your husband looked at you after you left him over nothing... get over it. I probably should have DNFd this because I really struggled to make it through. I was intrigued by a second chance romance with her husband, but not with this girl.

Always love a book by Maggie. The tropes were on point, and will be recommending to people I know. I will be looking for a copy in my bookstore.

I really enjoyed the witty writing and neurodivergent representation in this book. I'm all for socially awkward FMC's discovering themselves!

Although second chance romance has become one of my favourite tropes, this was my first time reading about it from the perspective of a seemingly perfect married couple - which was different. Main characters Liz and Tobin appear to have a very loving relationship so I wasn't fully convinced that their marriage would have been at such a crossroads. The conflict between them seemed a little unrealistic to me, as did Tobin himself (he was far too flawless in my opinion). I think I needed a little more grit and a lot more authenticity to break through the surface level of the story and get to the good stuff. I would have liked to see more depth from the main characters and a little less from the side characters/side story plot lines - which I found to be distracting and a little hard to follow.

Overall, this was an entertaining read with a unique premise and I appreciated what the author was attempting to do with the important themes.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for access to the e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

The cover for Maggie North’s debut Rules for Second Chances is what first drew me to the book, but then I read the synopsis and felt seen. As someone who developed anxiety and social anxiety late in life, but is married to an extravert who (thankfully) draws most of the attention, sometimes you want to be seen…. but not seen. Which only a fellow introvert will probably understand. This is where Liz finds herself when she is mistaken for the server at her own birthday party, when suddenly she can’t handle the loneliness anymore and decides she needs and wants a change, including a break from her husband Tobin.

This is mostly Liz’s story about discovering herself, but along the way she rediscovers those around her, rebuilding relationships, including her marriage. While it seems like this is a predictable story of a second-chance-romance, North has some surprises up her sleeve, which was a nice surprise.

Rules for Second Chances currently has a mix of reviews, but I can see how those who don’t understand anxiety or introversion might feel like Liz is frustrating. For me, being inside her head was very familiar, as well as inspiring.

Liz decides to join an improv group to help her feel more comfortable in social situations, especially for work. She’s hoping her pitch for a new idea will win her the promotion up for grabs. She’s tired of being behind the scenes and wants to be appreciated as an important member of the team.

Along the way Liz discovers she’s terrible at improv and needs to find someone to practice with. The best available choice? Her boisterous husband who’s determined to get her back. The reader gets some sweet and steamy moments between the two, and even though the setup had a very rom-com feel, I enjoyed it immensely.

Liz and Tobin are not perfect. They make mistakes, which only made this one more enjoyable for me. I enjoyed Liz’s journey to find herself, admit her failures, and accept—and embrace—her uniqueness. I feel like this is one I’ll be thinking about for a while. It may even stick with me until the end of the year. If you’re an introvert, deal with anxiety, or discovered you’re on the spectrum as an adult, you might enjoy this one!

This one just wasn't for me, which breaks my heart because second chance romance is my jam.. but this marriage in crisis book took on a much heavier and self deprecating tone than I bargained for, add in the improv plot- one of my least favorite plot devices, and I was pretty much checked out.

Aside from the issues mentioned above I struggled with the FMC, the pacing, and just connecting with the story in any meaningful way. There was a lot going on in this book, like 10 different sub plots, that made this feel chaotic and lacking in depth. I felt like when push came to shove we couldn't focus on or dig into the nitty gritty of any one thing because the FMC was trying to fix EVERYTHING all at once.

All in all this is one I can't and won't be recommending. I'm sure it'll find its audience, I'm just not it, and that's okay!

I tried this one on my kindle and when I couldn't get past the 20% point I swapped to the audio version to power through. Although the narration made the process quicker I can't even recommend the audio as the performance I felt was poorly done. It was all written from the FMC's POV so its one narrator and when she switches to the husbands voice it pulled me out of the story every single time. Not the best I've heard, and im a pretty forgiving audio listener!


thanks to the publisher and net galley for the E-ARC as well as McMillan Audio for the ALC, I wish I enjoyed this one more than I did!

This was not the journey of self-discovery I was anticipating. Am I disappointed? Nope!
I love a good second-chance, marriage-in-crisis, it's something about the hope of it all..

This book was a lot more relatable than I thought I would find it. Liz finding out that she is neurodivergent later than you'd typically be diagnosed was a nail-on-the-head moment. I feel like so many women are experiencing that right now. Was extremely validating to read and I think other women would also find it important. Another piece that I believe a lot of women many stages of life will be able to relate to is the idea of "you lose yourself and it takes a bit to find YOU again" whether you lose yourself in marriage, motherhood or maybe even the workplace.

Overall this whole novel felt more real than typical second-chance books. Showed off the messy and rough sides to marriage and family. Big props to North for not being afraid to write it. I do want to read more of their work! But many just a teeny-tiny bit more happy!

I was surprised by how much I liked this book. I requested an ARC after my friend recommended it to me, but I did this without reading the summary. When I found out this was a second-chance marriage I was skeptical, because I am usually not a fan of that trope, but this book ended up being the exception!

I think this worked for me because the romance was not the primary focus. The book was more about self discovery and learning to step out of your comfort zone. Since I share a lot of traits in common with the main character, I really enjoyed watching her transformation. Using improv to make changes both personally and romantically was a really creative touch. Personally, I am not a fan of improv, but in a way, I think that made it more appealing- she was able to put herself out there even though others might judge her for it. Similarly, I can see how improv could help couples with communication, since they might be more willing to share their feelings under the guise of "being in character."

Overall, I really enjoyed watching Liz push herself and grow. The romance was cute too, although it certainly was not what stood out for me. If you enjoy women's fiction, shy FMCs, and second-chances, I highly recommend this. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

I kept pushing Rules for Second Chances down my prioritized reading list because I hadn't been having the best luck with debut or new=to-me authors, and I'm so mad at myself because I adored and deeply connected with this book.

Rules for Second Chances stars Liz, who is struggling to feel seen at work and in her personal life, so she decides she needs time away from her husband Tobin, who is easy-going, loved by all, and seemingly very different from Liz. During this break, Liz takes an improv class recommended by her boss as a way to help her prepare for a pitch competition at work. Tobin, who was not on board with the break, suggests that he works with Liz on her improv while working through an improv for relationships self-help style book.

There is a lot about that premise that made me nervous. I thought Rules for Second Chances was going to be cringy and instead found it to be singular, emotional, and lovely. Two things made this book a standout for me. First, I appreciated the focus on Liz understanding herself. I recently read something from an author (so frustrated I can't remember who) that the difference between their YA books and adult books is that their YA books focus more on identity. It's not something I'd thought of before, but I realized that YA's focus on identity is likely why I cannot stop reading YA as a 30-year-old. I love an exploration of better understanding who you are, and I'm so grateful to see an adult romance spend so much time on identity. It didn't hurt that I connected with and saw pieces of myself in Liz.

Second, I feel the need to preface this by saying I am usually lukewarm on second chance romance as a trope, having the second chance romance focus on a long-term/married couple right after they separated really worked for me. I've already made this review a lot about me, but to get even more personal: it was a lot easier to see my relationship in this romance than most others, partially because of the stage of their relationship. Not because I'm separated or near separation, but because the issues they faced felt real and realistic to my life. And instead of wanting to yell at Liz and Tobin when they could have communicated better, Rules for Second Chances had me reflecting on how I could be a better communicator in my relationship.

Also, the improv was actually funny and only made me want to die of embarrassment when it meant to - a real feat!

Loved this second chance romance book. It’s nice to get a romance book about an already married couple. Really enjoyed this debut novel!

Rules for Second Chances is a blend of a second chance romance and mixed with a coming-of-age novel. It has some nuanced and relatable themes, as well as important representation. And while I liked all the character growth, but the romance itself was underwhelming. It ended well, but for the majority of the book I was annoyed with Liz for completely ignoring Tobin, and a few scenes were a little cringey as well. As a whole, I do think it's a solid story, mostly for the aforementioned themes, but I can't say that I loved every minute of it.

3.5 Stars

FOMO got me to request this book when one of the romance books groups I’m in were all chatting about it. I have the eBook and audio versions.i did listen to the audio more as I wanted to get through it, but I should have done the eBook because I don’t prefer when the narrator read all the characters and makes up voices for the rest. It’s okay if it’s like female to female and male to male but when it’s opposite sexes it just sounds silly. I didn’t really enjoy this one as much as I thought I would. I honestly thought our main character was going to end up with McHuge lol. But alas, she went back to her husband. The characters were fine. Sharon was my fave because she was so interesting. I did think that having a self help book inside a book was a neat idea. I do feel like there was a lot going on, relationships, jobs, family, an old cat, an autistic niece and then a autistic main character, a bi best friend who knew Sharon who knew McHuge. Like there’s no way their world is that small that they all knew each other I’m sorry. I just wasn’t interested in this storyline, or the characters really. Also, her boss whatever his name was, was a total dick.
I’d still recommend this book to maybe slight romance readers, there wasn’t any steaminess to the story.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for the review copy.

This one was an interesting read and I truly wanted to like it because I love reading about relationships that are not picture perfect. However, even though the MMC is interesting and lovable, the FMC is difficult to connect with. Liz and Tobin are a married couple working together for a wilderness expedition company. Liz is more of an introvert than Tobin and has a hard time living under his shadow. As she realizes she is in need of a change so that she can find herself and become who she truly longs to be, she decides to separate from Tobin. She begins by trying for a promotion at work, but in order to do this, she must first take an improv class. The improv class will hopefully be the answer to everything Liz is searching for. But while she is making changes in her personal life, Tobin is still there, knocking on the door to her heart.

I seriously wish Liz was more likable. This entire book depended on her. Tobin is wonderful, Liz's friends are delightful and the improv class really takes the cake. But Liz, Liz, Liz. I just couldn't stand her whiny childishness and "me, me, me" attitude. The couple challenge they take on to fix their relationship was enjoyable, as they were sort of starting to date all over again. This definitely worked for the story since we didn't have much of their relationship from the start - so it felt new. By the end, even though there were a lot of story lines and I had to sit through Liz's torturous personality, I was happy to see where the story went. North definitely has talent and I would love to read more from her, especially how well she writes conversations between characters. This was ok for me.

Loved this one!! Great ND rep, and it was my first time with the “marriage in trouble” type trope but I was pleasantly surprised.

DNF @ 25%

I am so confused and the more I read the more I don’t understand half of what’s happening. I don’t think this authors writing is for me.

My immediate reaction: good for her!

Liz & Tobin's marriage in trouble story is fantastic. I enjoyed the different take on this trope - sex works for them, but they struggle to communicate in other aspects of their relationship. The author did a wonderful job portraying Liz's feeling trapped and Tobin's yearning. Their story is about balancing life, work, and relationships and not letting others run you over. I also appreciated the discussion of what gets people to the top in their professional lives - privilege, barriers, and bias all played a role in this story.

It did get a little draining as I just wanted them to sit down and talk, especially as Liz learned to work out and articulate her frustrations. Overall, this story wasn't quite what I expected and I loved it.

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

2.75⭐️

Rules for Second Chances is a second chance romance between married couple Liz and Tobin. The story is told from Liz's perspective, and she struggles to find ways to stand out in her company and to make her husband 'see' her again.

Liz is unknowingly autistic, and has spent her life trying to fit a different mold of how she should act and what she should say. Feeling unseen, she decides to sign up for an improv class, and Tobin volunteers to be her practice partner despite no longer living together.

I wish I felt more connected to the characters than I did. The narration kept hinting at different things that had happened in Tobin's and Liz's lives, but because of the narrative style, it did not feel as in-depth as it could have been.

The improv was definitely unique to the storyline! I loved when it pushed Tobin and Liz to really talk. I do wish there was more of Tobin and Liz together, as some plot lines became very repetitive, leaving the romance at an odd pacing.

This novel is sweet, has autism representation, and has a spin on the 'second-chance' romance trope I haven't seen too often! Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

An emotional, dynamic story about a woman with undiagnosed autism and how it affects her marriage.

Liz feels invisible and stuck in her life and decides to try to reclaim her identity by trying stand-up comedy. This was the part I didn't love as much; the stand-up, role-playing stuff was just too out there for me. Felt a lot second-hand embarrassment.

I did love the tender conversations with Tobin, Liz's husband.. I'm a sucker for a marriage-in-crisis plot though. I ached when Liz confessed to Tobin that she was trying to make herself better for him. I loved their deep conversations as they worked through their issues.

Unfortunately I keep starting and stopping this one. I should enjoy it, because it has everything I look for in books, but it just isn't working for me right now. I was hopeful maybe I was just in a slump, but in reading other books and trying to come back to it, it just can't hold my attention. I'm hoping to try again in a few months.