I really struggle with this one. It was so had to get into and I didn’t connect with the characters. I ended up dnfing it at 58% after putting it down and trying again twice.

This is a marriage-in-trouble romance that got heavier than I anticipated. Liz Lewis could never understand what her husband saw in her. She often feels overlooked and unseen by everyone, including him. Meanwhile, Tobin is the life of the party. Everyone loves him and can't understand why he married Liz. At her birthday party, she tells Tobin she can't take it anymore and moves out.

I struggled with the lack of communication in this one. It can be hard to talk about things but I felt like these two really should have tried at all before she completely leaves him without him even understanding what was wrong. I could relate to her feelings of awkwardness and not being understood. This is handled really well by the author. I also enjoyed the sideline of Tobin and Liz's jobs and her working through an Improv class with Tobin's best friend. I did like how Liz gained confidence throughout the novel. Tobin had his own issues as well especially surrounding the situation with his parents. While I did like this book, it was tough at times to understand why they just didn't talk it out more. Once they did begin talking, I found their conversations to be helpful.

Overall, I would recommend this one but not if you are looking for that lighthearted second-chance romance. This is a very real-feeling marriage with issues and North addresses this as such. I really liked Tobin's best friend, and hope we get a book about him in the future. 3.5 stars rounded up.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I can totally see why so many people are loving this book and seeing themselves in Liz, who I think is a really unique heroine and relatable. I thought the writing was absolutely incredible, especially considering that this is a debut. I'm really excited to see what Maggie North writes next.

This book had an uphill battle for me because marriage in trouble is really a trope that is *not for me*. I did actually like this more than I anticipated and do think that this is a fairly unique take on it which I appreciated. I got a teensy bit frustrated with Liz not listening to Tobin and not recognizing that she too had things that she needed to work on for their marriage. I did like the ending though it felt like everything happened so rapidly at the end.

I also loved the narration by Gail Shalan! I'm so glad I waited to listen to the audio as I think it really enhanced my experience.

Rules for Second Chances was by Maggie North and the audiobook was narrated by Gail Shalan.
I read over half of this and then switched to the audiobook to the end. I’m not going to lie I struggled getting through it. I thought Gail Shalan was good and I enjoyed her part. But I think it was the story itself. Liz was difficult to follow. I couldn’t see what she was so upset about. I just couldn’t draw a connection to her and her plight. But besides that I enjoyed Tobin and many of the side characters. I guess I was just wanting a better reason to struggle with. I’m only giving this a 3 ⭐️.
Thanks Macmillan audio and St. Martins Press via NetGalley.

This and the potential to be so good, sadly it did not deliver. It was okay but we were told so much about the main couple and didn’t see any of it. Why are they in love? Why do they have conflict? The FMC is annoying and always making the wrong decisions but never standing up for herself. I would check out what this author writes next to see their writing and story development.

I enjoyed the narrator in this novel. The book has a serious tone, and you can feel the heroine’s frustration with her inability to fit in.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and listen to this book.

I was given the ebook and the audiobook of this book and I loved it so so much. This narrators were amazing. And truly brought the characters to life. I’m so glad I was able to listen to it.

This was my first marriage in crisis book but I thought it was very well written. I thought this was excellently written and while there was some miscommunication, there wasn’t a lot where I felt like I needed to shake the characters and say what are you doing.

I will definitely read more by this author in the future! Her writing style is incredible.

I picked this book because it had a beautiful cover and I loved the premise of the book but unfortunately I could not get over the annoyance of the main character. Just seemed like it was a little too much.

Do you ever have a book and after reading you're like wait........this can't be a debut it's FANTASTIC?! That's Maggie North's Rules for Second Chances for me.

Liz has wanted a promotion and to be valued by her work for quite some time. Sadly, she's pushed to the sidelines as she's not a man. She's okay sticking to the sidelines elsewhere. Heck, she's a homebody and loves spending quality time alone...even with her husband, Tobin, around. One faithful night, her world gets thrown on its axis and she's had enough. Enough of others mistreating her and enough of Tobin being well....Tobin. So, she does what she does best, runs down the street.

Thrown into a messy situation, she's told she may be up for that promotion if she takes some improv classes- the one thing she ABSOLUTELY can't do. Yet, it'll be in these classes that she makes friends, finds her true self and finds love again. Who says there needs to be rules to give someone else a second chance? Maybe you need to give yourself that second chance first.

I was OBSESSED with Maggie North's debut (especially the last 25%) because of how relatable it was. It's 2024 and time that neurodivergent readers see themselves on the page. I admired the journey that readers got to take as Liz discovered her voice! The improve scenes were hilarious and I was anticipating each one with bated breath. As a huge fan of The Little Mermaid, there was a scene that North writes that had me squealing with delight and cackling at the end result. I just can't wait to discover where Maggie takes these characters next and really am rooting for some other "found family" members to find their happy as well. This book is so well done narrated by Gail Shalan and I truly felt immersed in the story and like I was walking right alongside Liz.

The foundation for this second-chance romance starts off extremely crumbly.  Rules for Second Chances opens with an image that didn’t make much sense to me.  Not revealing anything outside of the synopsis, the circumstances around Liz and how she comes to be mistaken for a server at her own birthday party follow the rules of perfectly ordered logic.  All other circumstances aside, this opener was pretty weak to me.  A poor foundation really built a less than stellar story. This one was a bit of a flop for me.

Liz Lewis loves the outdoors.  She’s married to a Viking lumberjacking mountaineer.  Their marriage should be perfect.  But Liz keeps getting overlooked and only identified in conjunction with her husband, who is a very popular wilderness guide with both the customers and his fellow co-workers.  ANYONE would find this frustrating, but Liz’s frustration is compounded by extenuating factors, so she takes her life back from everyone and shoots high for a promotion at work by enrolling herself in an improv class.  Thus, the them for this story is “Yes, and,” as the rule for improv dictates.

Liz and Tobin didn’t feel like they had much chemistry to me.  Even when reading about their backstory and the original meet cute that got them started, I couldn’t quite envision them as a couple.  I didn’t really connect with Liz as  a main character.  She felt very self-centered.  Though it is quite well established that she needs to feel more fulfilled in her life, I had the impression that her fulfillment came from recognition and attention instead of more meaningful and deeper relationships with those around her.  The lack of communication with everyone around her certainly diminished with her attendance to the improv workshops, but the plot device felt very thin for the fictional circumstances.

The audiobook narration for this one sounded fair-to-middling.  While the narrator did an excellent job with the female characters and the enunciation and intonation of the general story, many of the male characters sounded like much older than they were.  I mean Gandalf old.  

Overall, 3/5 for the story and 3.5-4/5 for the narration.  I just couldn’t find myself connecting with the characters or computing the logic for this one.  I’m sure it will connect for some.

My thanks to Macmillan Audio for the ALC, for which I willingly give my own, honest opinion.

I was very interested in this audiobook because there are very few second chance romances with two characters already married. I think they are hard to do. This book was just okay for me. I made it through but the pacing was kind of slow at times for me. I just didn't connect with Liz and Tobin as well as I would have liked. They just didn't feel like they were a married couple, therefore I didn't have a desire to root for them. I'm positive there are lots of readers who will love this story though. It just wasn't for me. The audiobook narrator did a fine job narrating. Big thanks to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for allowing me to listen and review this book.

I love second chance romances but this book had an interesting twist with its socially awkward main character, while I could relate to some aspects of their personality, it didn't completely win me over. The story had its moments especially in how the character navigated social situations. The narrator did a good job portraying the main character's emotions which helped keep me engaged despite my mixed feelings. The romance aspect was sweet and it was nice to see the character grow throughout the story. The plot was fairly straightforward with some predictable moments, but it still provided a pleasant escape. (3.5stars)

I did not expect this book--it was such a delight! A married couple who have hit some snags in their marriage as they are still figuring themselves out. So real. I loved that the book they used to work on their relationship was a book based on working on relationships through assignments using improv. This, boys and girls, was magic! It worked for these two to break down walls and it delivered extremely entertaining reading (or in this case, listening).

It was a joy to watch Liz realize so many things about herself and her husband, including the fact that she is on the autism spectrum. I have known adults who have realized all kinds of undiagnosed things about themselves and it is real. Just like understanding personal things about the people we associate with helps us see them differently--more clearly--we likewise can do the same with ourselves.

Many thanks to #netgalley and #MacmillanAudio for this ARC audiobook

Rules for Second Chances was a wonderful read. I loved the sheer emotion North was able to evoke alternating between comedic relief, heartbreak, and jaw dropping self revelations. North also did an amazing job with setting scenes. There were so many cinematic scenes that live rent free in my head, especially a certain mermaid scene, IYKYK. I also really appreciated the character development arc for the FMC, Liz. The relationship development was also incredibly well done between the FMC and MMC as they found their way back to each other and learned to work together rather than assuming what the other needs. I read this via audiobook, which was narrated by Gail Shalan. Shalan brought the story to life and made it thoroughly enjoyable. I would recommend checking out the audiobook for this story.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the ALC of Rules for Second Chances by Maggie North. All opinions are my own.

I chose to read this book because the synopsis sounded cute. I haven’t read many romance books with the marriage in crisis trope, but the ones I have read, I enjoyed. Unfortunately, this book just wasn’t for me.

The idea of this book is unique and interesting, but the execution was not great for me. I ended up only reading 60% of this book and just couldn’t make myself finish it.

I think my biggest issue was the characters in this story.

Liz and Tobin had such a weird marriage. On one hand, they seemed to know certain things about each other that no one else knew. On the other hand, they often acted like they didn’t know each other at all. They didn’t feel like a married couple, so I had a hard time rooting for them. The chemistry just wasn’t there, and they didn’t really suit each other.

None of the other characters really stood out to me except Liz’s sister, which I really disliked. She was so mean to Liz all the time even though Liz did so many things for her.

Also, while I think the improv idea is unique, it ended up feeling very weird reading about it.

Side note: one thing that always pulls me out of a story and makes me angry is when characters are bad pet owners. I did not like how Liz and her family treated their cat and were so irresponsible with it.

The narrator for this story was fine, but the narration didn’t stand out to me. I was able to easily understand them while listening at 2x speed though.

Overall, I think some readers will really enjoy this story, but this book just wasn’t for me.

Rules for Second Chances is indeed a second chance romance. I will be honest and say that I had no idea what was going on for the entirety of the book and felt incredibly lost. I was unable to connect to any of the characters. I was initially so excited for autism representation as an autistic woman, but unfortunately that storyline fell flat for me and I was unable to relate to that as well. I could definitely see how others might like this book and I thought the ending was sweet!

This audiobook was narrated by Gail Shalan. The female voice was done so well but I am not a fan of how this narrator read the male voice.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Maggie North, and Macmillan Audio for providing this free ARC. This is my honest review! This publishes on June 25th.

I have posted my review on Goodreads, in my Facebook book club, and will post a Tiktok review within the week before it releases.

Absolutely spectacular narration. The characterization was done so wonderfully, and each character was voiced with carefully crafted emotion. The story itself was wonderful, as well. I appreciated how seamlessly the narration and story came together.

3.75 out of 5 stars

Thank you to #macaudio2024 and netgalley for this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this audiobook! I feel like the angst was written really well. Both characters reflected on their behaviors and made positive changes to create a new relationship with one another. The FMC, Liz, didn't completely blame Tobin, the MMC, for her feelings and how her life got the way it did. She definitely blamed her own actions at times. Tobin also did a fair bit of growing himself.

Liz finally seeing Tobin and his struggles and realizing that things she thought were things he enjoyed actually weren't was a thoughtful edition to the story. I think that the couple learned to communicate via crazy improv scenarios made everything better and more lighthearted in an otherwise angsty story. I found myself laughing out loud at some of them ( the mermaid in particular).

The narrator was great! She definitely brought the story to life.

I didn't like some of the side characters, particularly Liz's sister. She seemed very of her sister’s feelings. Tobin's dad was also a rather annoying as well, overall, this was a great story of a second chance romance.

Closed door modifications: Chapter 10, 15, 16,19.

Marriage in trouble or second chance romance novels are not my favorite book because it usually always starts with them hurting because of the state of their relationship.
I did really enjoy this one despite this. It was really interesting to see them getting closer together again using lessons from improv. I never saw this take on relationship therapy before.
What I really loved was the autism representation in this story. The pacing of the book was really good and the steamy scenes really added to the story.
I do wish the story was told from both perspectives.
The narrator did a great job and I loved the little improve snippets at the beginning of the chapters.

The narrator was very good!

I wasn’t sure about this one at first but by the end I really liked it. I think going into it I thought this was a second chance romance but really it’s more marriage in trouble which is different and I liked more. Honestly, I was more invested in Liz (the MFC) and her relationship with others and at work than I did with her husband 😬 As a communication professor I was fascinated by the idea of improv as a way to get people to communicate, work on relationships and help neurodivergent people feel seen in conversations.

Liz is stuck. Stuck in her job, in her marriage and in her family. She believes no one sees her and she wants to be seen as she own person. She wants to “get magic” like her husband does in a room full of people. On her quest to find magic she separates from her husband, Tobin, who is obviously upset and asks her to work on their relationship by doing this improv relationship book together.