This book was so cute!! The characters were so funny and I had such a good time reading this!

The second chance in this book was such a cute aspect! The longing from both of the characters was felt through the pages!! One of my favourite aspects was the sharks!!

The diversity in this book was also so refreshing!

I loved the shark influencer aspect of this book. It was really interesting and unique. However, I struggled to get and stay engaged with the romance. There was a lot of miscommunication or lack of communication and I felt like the romance really took place in the past. Since that was the case I would have liked it to be dual timeline. I felt like I was missing parts. Overall this book wasn't for me but I might recommend it for big fans of second chance romance.

Second chance romance featuring shark researchers?! Sign me up!

I loved this from the first page to the last. All of the ocean puns, the science talk, the actual showing of them working with the sharks with the added layer of social media? It was so good I ate it up!

This is fun, flirty, and just nerdy enough for those of us who geek out over Shark Week! A perfect summer time read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for providing an ARC of “Second Tide’s the Charm” by Chandra Blumberg in exchange for an honest review.

I’m giving this book 3 stars for its unique setting and unconventional love story that felt original and extremely smart.

What Worked: The main characters, Hope and Adrian, are marine biologists who specialize in studying sharks. They fell in love almost a decade ago at the age of 22 while working on a boat one summer conducting research. Their relationship lasted for five years, but they ultimately split because they couldn’t agree on their future, and the strain of long distance became too much to bear.

The story picks up three years later when Hope unexpectedly moves back to her hometown in Michigan to help her best friend, who suddenly becomes a widow with three children. Hope’s career as a marine biologist has stalled, so she signs up to spend the summer on a boat conducting research about sharks. The twist? The conductor of the boat and the leader of the project is none other than her ex, Adrian. This is their first time seeing each other in three years, and they will be in enforced proximity for three months. I found this setup incredibly smart. I really enjoyed learning about sharks and marine biology, which added a level of investment to the plot. The forced proximity trope worked well, and the unique setting made the romance feel fresh and distinct. I also appreciated the side characters; it was clear that both Hope’s and Adrian’s families loved and supported them deeply.

Where It Fell Short: Unfortunately, the chemistry between the two main characters didn’t quite land for me. While the author tells us that they love each other deeply, I didn’t feel it on the page. The slow burn was a bit too slow for my taste; the acceptance of love between the characters didn’t happen until the last 30 pages, which felt like too long of a wait. Additionally, while I appreciated the unique plot and background, I would have liked more romance injected with the marine biology details to create a better balance. As a romance novel, there wasn’t enough focus on the romantic connection, and the lack of spicy scenes left the relationship feeling flat. Even without explicit scenes, the chemistry or genuine connection between the characters should have been more palpable.

Final Thoughts: Despite these shortcomings, I really enjoyed the author’s writing and prose. Chandra Blumberg has a talent for crafting unique settings and thoughtful character dynamics, which is why I would definitely read more from her, particularly if she were to publish in contemporary fiction or another genre where romance isn’t the central focus. I believe her storytelling potential shines through, even if this particular romance didn’t quite hit the mark for me.

3.75 star, rounding up

I feel like this book is a softer love story. Not a huge grand sweep you off your feet kind of romance but one that will show a couple as they stopped communicating their needs/wants/fears with one another and how that translated into a miscommunication that culminated in their breakup. It felt realistic in the sense that communication is so centered to relationships and within a long distance one even more so and holding back can have a blow to the relationship and intimacy with one another. That is Hope and Adrian.

These two are still hung up on one another and that is either going to be a selling point for you or one that could frustrate you even more with the lack of communication that is happening. I didn’t mind the lack of communication but I struggled with not seeing the fall. I am a sucker for watching couples fall in love which is why I love romance so much. But with this one, they are still in love. They are still hung up on one another so we don’t get to see the moments that led to it. I think that if there had been some flashbacks to them falling/ falling out it would have helped me feel more connected to the romance aspect of the story.

I also feel that some of the reasons for Hope’s camera internet shy was not 100% flushed out for me. I wanted more. It didn’t seem like there was really the backlash to a degree where you would be as nervous as she was for potential backlash with people finding the old video.

I loved the side characters and even Hope & Adrian as characters they are funny, nerdy in their love of sharks which was so cool to see. I really hope we get other books with the side characters because I am def invested in them.

When your ex is your surprise coworker for the summer and you two haven't spoken in 3 years.. This is a second chance romance that doesn't hurt your feelings. I personally found it relatively low/medium angst because they are clearly soulmates so I was really excited to watch them fall back in love (or did they ever fall out?) all while researching sharks on the coast of North Carolina.

I got all the way to the end before realizing there was no on page spice (and not really even FTB). I finally understand what "high steam, low spice" means because their chemistry was so hot and undeniable, their mutual attraction was just so good!! Especially with dual POV.

I loved the nerdy STEM rep, the MMC being an influencer didn't bother me at all because it was all about the science. There were really fun close proximity moments weaved in and really sweet found family. I also liked that this tackled a common external pressure that can affect relationships where both people have their careers pulling them in different directions and like literal locations. And how to decide if it's a sacrifice and who will sacrifice to potentially move to be together and how to communicate effectively about it.

Thank you to HTP Hive for the eARC!

I picked up this book because I was excited to see POC leads in STEM, especially marine biology, which is such a fascinating and underrepresented field in fiction. The premise of a second-chance romance between two shark scientists was irresistible to me, and I was eager to dive in.

From the start, I loved how the book balanced the romance with shark research—something I didn’t realize I’d like so much! The dual POVs made it easy to connect with both Hope and Adrian, whose past relationship adds tension and depth to their interactions. It was good to see them communicate openly about their issues, rather than dragging out misunderstandings, which kept the story engaging.

That said, I wish we’d spent more time with them as a couple, reconnecting and learning about each other. The book sometimes lingered too much on their past.

Overall, this book was a good mix of romance and STEM , and I hope to see more stories like this with diverse leads in the future. If you're looking for a light, educational read this is it.

Oh my heart, the angst in this book was perfectly angsting. This is second chance done so well plus we love women in stem and forced proximity, this time featuring sharks.

Three years ago, scared of love tying her down, Hope moved back home to Michigan and she and her boyfriend of five years, Adrian, lost touch, ending their relationship. Now she’s trying to get back into shark science and she’s been offered a job on a shark research ship. The catch? It’s Adrian’s boat and the research is being shown on tik tok and YouTube and Instagram to Adrian’s millions of followers. Now Adrian and Hope have to face their past, the feelings they both still harbor, and their forced summer on a small boat.

My heart hurt so bad for Adrian and Hope - neither clearly wanted to separate but did such a terrible job communicating and are so clearly still so in love with each other. I did struggle a little bit with how they broke up cause it was hard to believe that a five year relationship would just fizzle. But I loved them together so much that I moved on from that hiccup. I love that I feel like I learned about sharks, I love a forced proximity, I loved loved the side characters who felt real and cared about both so much. And I loved that neither forced the other to change to make it work. If you’re looking for an academic romance like Ali Hazelwood’s or Nellie Wilson’s, check out Second Tide’s a Charm

Overall, I thought this was a cute book! I liked how they were both passionate about science, sharks, and educating others! I like Second chance romances, however this fell a little flat for me at the end. Just when they came back together, he needed space as she left for her internship. Then he came to surprise her and then just left?? The ending felt a little rushed and was slightly frustrating. With that said, I did enjoy this book! Thank you to NetGalley for this arc!

This was a book that truly breaks the rules of a traditional love story. To have Black characters that are lovers of the sea and to have sharks be the thing that brings them together was unexpected. I read this story because I was attracted to the cover and the premise. The characters are easy to like, though at times it feels like the stakes could be higher, it's an easy, if not predictable, love story. I appreciate the educational elements, the friendship at the core of a romantic relationship, and the empowered women that are showcased in this story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for an arc in exchange for an honest review. The premise of this story seemed really cute but it didnt quite hit the mark.

Second Change romances will never win in my eyes! Finding out that they dated for years and stopped talking when Hope moved into help her suddeenly widowed best friend. There was no breakup just the two of them too prideful to speak. That is beyond immature but in this case they both behaved like children so I guess they were meant to be.

I liked how much each of them loved sharks and how they incoprorated it into their careers. I also think the author did a good job of having Hope and Adrian take turns choosing themselves. Overall its a cute story but not super memorable.

Hope Evans is a marine biologist who specializes in sharks. The only problem is that she's not working with sharks currently because she left her job 3 years ago to help out a friend whose husband had passed away. Can she return to the ocean for a job with her ex-boyfriend Adrian, who now creates viral shark videos?
This second chances romance has some great characters, realistic witty dialog, while providing lots of interesting shark content. I sometimes have a hard time with the miscommunication trope, or in this case non-communication, as a reason why two people who are clearly in love are not together. I looked the other way with this one because I liked Hope and Adrian together.
I enjoyed the author's writing, the cast of characters (except for a few who were introduced but then never really fleshed out), and found the shark science in the background very interesting. I think it's a great summer read and I will be recommending it to many others.

Thanks to Canary Book Press for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

DNF @ 25%
- MF
- Second Chance
- Sharks!
- Forced Proximity

I was so excited for this book! Who wouldn’t want to read a romcom with sharks?

But I lost most of my enthusiasm for this book when I figured out how Hope and Adrian broke up the first time. Which is to say they didn’t. They just stopped talking to each other and then pined for each other for years. This wasn’t even miscommunication it was just lack of communication.

I liked Hope. She was passionate about sharks and so kind and caring. How many people would drop everything to move to a different state and support their recently widowed friend for years!

And I liked Adrian. He was equally passionate about sharks and my heart just for his pain after the nonbreakup breakup. But the two of them had zero chemistry. Or at least I didn’t make it to the chemistry.

I tried for a couple weeks to read this book but I just wasn’t excited about picking it up and ultimately decided to DNF.

Imgur link goes to Instagram graphic scheduled for August 16th
Blog post goes live August 16th
Amazon Review submitted
Youtube review to come

TL;DR: This one has a setting and job field I love but the whole book felt like one giant third act breakup… which I did not love.
Source: Netgalley! Thank you to the publisher!

Plot: Hope and Adrian are shark researchers who fell out of a relationship three years ago and end up pushed together again.
Characters: This book was very in the heads of it’s primary two characters. So much so that it really started to feel the same, no matter the heading on the chapter.
Setting: I did like the setting! On the boat or on the pier, it was different and unique enough that I read on for those moments.
Romance: Like I mentioned, felt like one big third act breakup. It got… really exhausting by the end, I’m not going to lie.

Thoughts:

I always hate it when I get my hopes up, and they get drowned. Second Tide’s The Charm is a second chance romance where two shark researchers end up working together and taking a second chance at their relationship. I love sharks! I love romance! I was stoked! But this sadly wasn’t it for me.

The two characters spend so, so much time wrapped up in their own thoughts and by extension with us wrapped up in them that there was very little to be gained from the story. The two are working on tagging sharks, raising awareness of sharks in a social media setting, and just working together. But honestly, the amount of work they did was probably just double digits in a book that was the same thing inner monologue repeating over and over. ‘I shouldn’t be here’ or ‘She’s my ex. Not my girlfriend’ They stumble over the same arguments mentally and have the same hang-ups repeatedly, it felt like we’d just relive the same scenes over and over.

If you like an angsty, very in the mind kind of romance this could definitely work for you. I know readers who love that, but I’m not so much a fan. I loved the sharks, stayed for the little bit we got of that, but wasn’t wild about the rest. I adore this cover though, like wowza.

3 out of 5 Lemon Sharks

3.25 ⭐️
The title and cover alone were enough to make me want to read this book, both are so cute and fun. I really enjoyed the shark researcher aspect of the book, it was super unique and childhood me who was obsessed with sharks loved it. The romance storyline was sweet and the characters were likable. Overall this was a cute and easy read.

This was such a cute book! I’m not normally a second chance romance book, but this one was soo well written and I lived the characters.

This ended up being a really fun read. I thoroughly enjoyed the marine biology aspect of both of the main characters so that was an instant win for me. Second chance romances aren't always my thing, partially because you don't often get all the backstory, but I felt this one had a good balance to where there was enough to know their feelings and foundation of their story, but not so much that it was all about the past. Overall it was a fun story with characters that felt fully fleshed out, and honestly really wonderful.

4.5/5 stars
1/5 spice

Tropes:
Second chance romance
Microbiologist MCs
Forced proximity
Mutual pining
STEM/Shark research
No 3rd act break up
Dual POV

This was a quick read with likable characters and an interesting topic. I'm so glad books like this exist because not only does it highlight a STEM career (microbiology and sharks), but it also has BIPOC characters. I was also really happy that there wasn't a 3rd act break up. Hope and Adrian already went through a separation, and it was great to see how they matured enough to finally communicate all their wants and fears. I was rooting for these two from the start.

Overall, it is a cute read with low stakes and relatable characters. Very low in the spice, no more than heavy kissing, so would still be appropriate for 16+

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and offered voluntarily.

Chandra's latest was a delightful blend of sweetness and angst. Her signature charm shines through in the characters of Hope and Adrian, whose second-chance romance kept me invested. The aquatic world setting was a refreshing backdrop to their story.

This was really wholesome, cute, and angsty at the same time!

I've always enjoyed Chandra's writing and I really like the vibes of her characters'

Hope & Adrian's second chance romance had its ups and downs but they never stopped caring for each other. And I absolutely loved the aquatic lifestyle subplot.

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