Enjoyed the narration of this book. Initially it took me a while to understand what was going on but eventually realized it fit with the character's point of view and her ability to share and express her thoughts in a clearer manner as the book went on. Tobin and Liz were sweet, it was nice to see them falling in love all over again. It was a nice take on a traditional romance. The saving of a marriage is not always the kind of meet cute we encounter but it was refreshing.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the advanced audio copy.

Thank you @macmillianaudio and @netgalley for the ALC of Rules for Second Chances by @mnorthauthor in exchange for an honest review.

🎧🎧 Book Review 🎧🎧 Liz Lewis is so many of us women, people-pleasing and trying to do whatever it takes to blend in and make life easy for those around her. After sitting in quiet desperation, the final straw is when a partygoer thinks she is the hired help at her own birthday party. Liz decides that this is her time to shine and finally put herself first. A beautiful journey that readers will delight in listening to. Rules for Second Chances is honest and captivating, Liz’s vulnerability is relatable and lends itself to the reader rooting for her the whole book! Maggie North creates endearing and real characters that are brought to life perfectly with the narrator!

4.5/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Review is posted on Goodreads and the final review will be on Instagram ahead of the publication date.

I think Rules for Second Chances is the first romance I’ve ever read about a couple trying to save their marriage!! It was so refreshing and unique!
Liz has consistently felt like no one sees her and because of that, she tends to hide behind her husband, Tobin. To me, this book showed a couple who got so used to being together, stopped communicating their problems, and just assumed everything was fine. Liz is portrayed as a neurodivergent person, and as a neurodivergent person, Maggie North, wrote her perfectly. Every neurodivergent person is very different but I think she truly took the times to handle this character with grace. I think everyone should read this book. It’s a fun romance and you’ll have some laughs but I thought there were great general life lessons in this book. Everyone could use a perspective change and to learn some improve. This will be one of my favorite romances for the year and will stick with me!

I received the audio book from NetGalley. The narrator was fantastic and brought both voices to life.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an arc of Rules for Second Chances!

I was so excited for this title, but sadly it fell short. I love a marriage in trouble, but our FMC's reasons for walking away from her relationship were incredibly cloudy to me. This was made more confusing by the book being in single POV. It would have soared if I could see what the heck was going on in this golden retriever man's brain. I had no idea what he saw in her when all we saw was her POV about how lackluster she was. And frankly, she kinda seemed lackluster! Would have been so great to see from his perspective why he wanted to make things work when it felt like there was nothing in their relationship to really build upon.

The premise is definitely interesting, though I found myself really questioning what the heck was going on from time to time.

Generally, the book was well written and I could see myself picking up a different title from this author in the future.

Thank you, NetGalley, MacMillan Audio, and St Martin's Press, for the opportunity to listen, read, and review this advanced copy.

Liz is trying to change her life and stop sitting in the wings, bending herself to fit what she thinks society wants from her. That includes working on getting her dream job and attempting a radical form of therapy to find her inner strength – improv!

Through an improv comedy class she needs to take for work, Liz makes friends and learns to champion her ideas. When her improv teacher writes a self-help book for couples, she attempts to take the same tools and apply them to her romance with Tobin.

Why I Liked It: Improv as therapy was a new concept for me but ended up being a clever hook. The scenarios Liz and Tobin acted out were quite comical, and Liz’s overall growth and self-assurance seemed to blossom with her newfound improv skills.

Thank you MacMillan for the review copy of Rules for Second Chances. I really valued this story that examined experiences, and awakenings, related to self and neurodiversity in adulthood, this kind of representation is increasingly important because each story offers the needed different perspectives on this identity.
I appreciated Maggie North's writing and the use of an improv class to help the MC explore and challenge herself, it was fun but also just right for how to explore facets of identity and neurodivergence (social cues, lack of predictability, trying to fit in and find a space, learning to open up... all things many of us work on!). The romance was sweet, if a little too heavy on miscommunication for me, and the story was a fun escape. The narration was perfect for capturing the nuances of the main character.

I really enjoyed our narrator in this story. She is a new one for me and I’ll have to keep my eyes out for more of her work. As for the story itself— This is a sweet second chance romance with wonderful neurodiversity representation. I also appreciate a romance with characters who are not 22 years old. The use of an improve class to both strengthen the FMC confidence but also used as a technique to help her marriage was a fresh take. I will say— I felt like the decision to leave her spouse was very rushed from the readers POV. The marriage collapse was due to a of lack of open communication. While that is a common problem in second chance romance I appreciated the refreshing twist this story had. I also felt like the character growth experienced by our FMC was reliable and consistent. Overall- a sweet story!

3,25 stars!

Thank you to SMP & Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to review the e-galley and audiobook of Rules for Second Chances. I really enjoyed reading this in both formats. The narrator did a fantastic job!

Overall, this story was sweet. I enjoyed it. I read it all in one sitting. I feel like Maggie North is an exceptional author. Her ability to draw you in from the start is a 10/10. She developed characters with depth that you just couldn't help rooting for. The reason this book is not a 4 or 5 star for me is because I felt like the conflict was something that could have been solved through communication. It felt like it took a huge backroad journey when the highway could have gotten you there way faster, ya know? I loved watching Lix and Tobin fix their relationship through improv. It was a fresh, new take on repairing a relationship so I enjoyed that.

I just felt like some parts of the book were a little redundant and unnecessary.

4 ⭐️

Synopsis: Liz feels like she’s living in the background of her own life. In order to repair her marriage and be more visible at work, she participates in an improv class. Along the way, she puts herself in new situations, makes friends, and discovers that she may be neurodivergent.

I’m honestly a little surprised by how much I enjoyed this audiobook. The narrator was wonderful, I found the main and supporting characters to be relatively well developed and I loved the way improv helped create and mend Liz’s relationships. The miscommunication trope is my least favorite, but I thought it worked in this story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy of this audiobook.

Thank you netgalley, MacMillan audio and st martins press for the #gifted #freebook e-arc and ALCin exchange for my honest review. Miscommunication is my most disliked trop. I am glad I did the audio in edition as it helped me fall in love with the story. She is a proud Canadian and I love reading Canadians authors.

4.5/☆

I enjoyed the previous book by North, but this was just not for me. The whole book could have been wrapped up with a conversation and that kind of miscommunication is just not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I usually don’t enjoy second chance romances, because they tend to focus on the process of falling out of love, but I found myself enjoying this one - because it’s not about the undoing of love, but about finding it again in a more honest way.

I appreciated the complexity of Liz and her plight to find voice after silencing herself for so many years both in her professional and personal life. You can feel her struggling with her anxiety and another issue as she joins an improv training - and has to learn to excel in the exact area she fails. I did enjoy how improv was used as a vehicle to help Liz find her voice as well as help both Tobin and Liz navigate misunderstandings and their relationship. At first, I thought Tobin was painted a little too perfect, but as the story unfolds, we come to appreciate the truth and how he’s been hiding his own insecurities.

Overall, I thought the book was well written. As someone who has social anxiety - Liz’s thought processes and quirks are certainly understood. I loved the dynamic between Liz and her friends and the messy way in which her journey unfolds. Also, as a 30 something, I get the feeling of losing yourself and wanting to rediscover your “magic”.

The only thing I question is her being bisexual. It’s thrown into the book twice and it just seems as an excuse as to why she might watch pirate porn or have a close friend that is a woman…almost as just a box to check as opposed to being meaningfully integrated. But, that aside, I’m glad I got to read it in advance and hope others enjoy it.

5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🎧

I am a sucker for a second-chance romance. But this is so much more than that. Liz is trying to be what everyone wants her to be, but what does she want? She is tired of being "different" and is not taken seriously or ignored altogether.

Tobin, her husband, is everyone's man. He is the center of attention, and everyone loves him, but Liz is drowning in the shadow of being the only one saying no all the time. He won't talk to her; he wants to bury his head in the sand.

Liz has had enough. She needs to take the reins of her life, and she needs to do it now.
She and Tobin need a break, and she needs to get out of her shell, so she is suggested to take an improv comedy class. Well, if that doesn't get her out of her shell, I don't know what will.

Tobin is shaken and stirred by Liz's revolution and wants to make their marriage work. But Liz is terrible at improv, so it's suggested she get a partner, and Tobin is the first to sign up. Liz goes along with it because she also wants to work on them. She has been trying for three years just alone.

The story is amazing. It shows heart and commitment and that life is hard. If you want something to work, you both must want it. You both must put the work in. My gosh, I need more stories like this. Falling in love with the man you already fell in love with once is that possible?

I loved this story and these characters and was 50% in. But I wanted to ensure I hadn't missed anything, so I started the book over. I don't think I have ever done that, hoping I would not miss anything because I loved the book so much.
I loved it; my heart is so full. The narration was perfect. Gail gives these characters life, and I, for one, will be looking for both the author and the narrator for more fantastic stories.

Oh goodness, my heart. I related to this book in so many ways that it broke me and also filled me back up. Lizzie lives in the background, no one sees her for her. She needs to find her magic. She just wants someone to listen to her and not see her as just Tobin's wife. She sets out on a journey of self discovery and needs to find herself without Tobin.
There are so many layers to this journey and while we don't get Tobin's POV (I wish we would have for some parts), we see her journey not ony of self discovery, but of realization. She finds her voice, only to discover that maybe the people that were listening to her the whole time are the ones who truly mattered anyways.
I love marriage in crisis books because I love to see the way that they find their way back to one another. At a few points, I was a little scared, but I had faith in the two of them.
Thanks to Macmillian, Netgalley and Maggie North for this early copy.

the narrating of this story was AMAZING!,!!! I loved reading this story as an arc and listening to it again made this already beautiful story absolutely captivating!

I absolutely loved this story! Marriage in crisis is one of my fav tropes, and this story was written so well! Liz's perspective here was written so well, as you see how she feels so isolated and lonely while surrounded by so many people who claim (and I believe do) love her. And as the story progresses and Liz finds ways to become more happy within herself, she's able to see and accept that love from her husband and family, while also explaining to them how they haven't been showing their love to her in the best way. I absolutely adored Tobin. It is clear right from the beginning how much he loves his wife, and will do anything and everything he can to save their relationship. Moreover, I love the way he's able to also speak up for his hurts and wants and that this whole "saving of the marriage" is put on both Liz and Tobin (not just one of them) because I believe that's how it actually has to work. It's clear Liz and Tobin love each other so much, and I loved reading them reconnect in their relationship so that they are both happy and fulfilled. One of my fav books! thank you for the ALC!!!!

Big thank you to Maggie North, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the audiobook arc. Personally, I really enjoyed the process these characters went through. Liz is confused, frustrated, and feels very alone even in a crowd of people. Her husband, Tobin, doesn’t seem to see it. He’s the life of the party, the yes man. At her thirtieth birthday party, Liz can’t do it anymore. She needs space and time to figure out what she wants. One thing she’s sure of is she wants that job promotion but she doesn’t have the it factor. How will she get it? Improve comedy and a book that seems less than helpful by Tobin’s best friend.

This book is about how communication is everything in a marriage, self discovery, and healing old family wounds. Gail Shalan does an amazing job with narrating.

DNF at 40%

I just could not get into it. The reason for her wanting to leave her husband just made zero sense to me. Miscommunication is not my jam.

Thank you @smpromance @macmillan.audio for a copy of this.

This was a dazzling debut filled with so much heart. It featured characters we don't often see in the romance world or don't see as much as we should: a woman not in her twenties, dealing with the collapse of her marriage, and featuring autism representation. I loved the second chance romance aspects of the story and the setting was beautiful. Updating to include that I loved the narrator for this story!

This book gave me all the feels- and that includes frustration, but justifyingly so. This story is such a beautiful one and I think Maggie North did a fantastic job writing a neurodivergent character. I loved Liz and I wanted to give her the biggest hug. I loved Tobin and his love for Liz. The prompts the pair did for improv- amazing. Especially that last one- it got me in my feels for sure! This is a story that you could read over and over again and I honestly can't wait to read it again! This narrator did a fantastic job as well!

I just couldn't connect to this. I was disappointed because, second chance marriage is my all-time favorite. The conflict that caused them to separate was absolutely ridiculous. Liz left because Tobin was more popular and possessed more self-confidence. She kept calling him her ex after only leaving to stay at her sister's but still lusted after him each time she was around him? Why would you automatically call your husband your ex when divorce wasn't even on the table? I also didn't agree with some of the underlying morals in this book and honestly put the nail in the coffin. I just can't get on board with some things, no matter how subtle they are. Unfortunately, I was also not a fan of the narration. I especially did not like her "dude voice."
Thank you, NetGalley, MacMillan Audio, and St Martin's Press, for the opportunity to listen, read, and review this advanced copy.