Second Chance Christmas by Jahquel J is a feel good romance about second chances and what we do for family. I enjoyed the character development and downhome/small town feel to the story and town.

I wanted to love this bookm because i was excited for it but it just didnt vibe with me. the writing style just kept me out of the story.Iit was repetive and it drove me crazy. i started to skim and skip

It’s was cute but definitely lacking when it came to the Christmas aspect. This started out a bit darker than I was expecting and if I’m being honest it was kinda sad until maybe halfway through. I do appreciate how Jahquel approached the second chance aspect but it fell a bit short. I didn’t need to hear from Ashton at all and I wish those chapters could have been dedicated to Faith/Rome. It almost read like a Hallmark movie at times and I wanted more of that. I did love Faith building a relationship with Marie and the way she and Rome just fell back into things with each other. It was a quick reunion but it felt right. I’d say check it out, Jahquel hasn’t written a book I haven’t enjoyed.

One unforgettable night, a few words exchanged in anger turned everything upside down for Rome and Faith. Can a journey back home help mend the wounds of their past?

I love a second-chance romance! There's something special about seeing someone acknowledge their mistakes and work to make things right.

If you're in the mood for a quick, feel-good read that captures that cozy vibe of Lifetime and Netflix Christmas movies, then this book is just what you need!

This was a heavy read. It was so powerfully written and the characters were so strong. Rome and Faith had the perfect second-chance romance. They were perfect for each other, I loved how they helped each other through their individual trials.

I love an angsty and sexy second chance romance, and this one delivered. Faith is a divorced mother of twins who has been summoned back to her small home town to help her Dad. She's never visited home since she fled with tears in her eyes after a tragedy took two important people from her.

She almost instantly reconnects with her high school boyfriend Rome, and all those feelings of heartbreak, betrayal, and longing come flooding back. Rome has been stuck in limbo for years. The tragedy his family has faced was more far reaching than even Faith could imagine. She finds herself falling back into old habits with the kid who broke her heart all those years ago.

Things between them are easy, fun, and exciting, and I really love how this author wrote their romance. Rediscovering themselves through love is something special, and these two grow together beautifully.

First of all the chemistry between these two characters was off the chart. I love a good second chance romance I feel this two had the best redemption set up and story. I love how realistical these two were, they weren’t the perfect couple but just perfect for each other.

However the dialogue did not seem like Normal folks talking at times. There was also a very unrealistic way I feel like the Mc’s came together. You mean to tell me after all that grief and time spent y’all go back like y'all didn’t miss a beat. Ehhhhhh.

And lastly I don’t understand the point of the ex husband’s POV. It was unnecessary to the plot.

I will say the pain of the sins of the mother was felt through the pages and I loved that.

I liked this & I would still recommend this for a short festive read however I didn’t love it, I’m usually a big fan of second chance romances but this one just fell a little short for me.

Overall: 4
Spice: 2

Miscommunication when you are young and parents that don’t like each other lead to them breaking up and later reconnecting in life. A great story that you can go home again, but home doesn’t always look the same when you do. Great redemption story that you aren't your parents and parents do make mistakes.

Faith and Rome thought they had their life planned out but all that changes one night when tragedy strikes. Faith decides to leave their small coastal Florida town to get away from the hurt and sadness from that night. Fast forward 15 years and Faith is forced to return home to help her Father through an illness. However, Faith is not the same and neither is her small town. Fresh off of a divorce and learning to split custody with her kids, Faith has given up on love until she bumps into Rome. They both have to travel the road to get over past hurts and words unspoken. Jahquel has created an amazing book about processing grief and forgiveness while fighting for the love you deserve.

I received the book through NetGalley and am sad it took me so long to read it. My heart ached for Rome and Faith and I am glad they got some closure and are now able to live the life they both deserve. One of my new holiday favorites.

Loved this. This was a perfect holiday read. This book will get you in the spirit. I also loved that this was a black romance. If you want all the feels check it out.

I am a first reader of this author Jahquel J. I must say that I enjoyed reading about Faith and Rome’s journey to a second chance at romance during the Christmas holiday. I will most definitely be looking out this author’s next book. Faith and Rome were teenage sweethearts when a car accident tore the two families apart. Fifteen years have passed and Faith finds herself now divorced raising her 8-year-old twin daughters and back home in Sageport. Faith is back in Sageport to attend to father’s ailing health. She is not only attending to her twins, father and helping out the restaurant. Rome who never left Sageport is still ever present helping out with his sick mom. Faith isn’t to happy with her ex-husband when he continues to not show up for his girls. Faith and Rome see each other and the two pick up where they left off. Each are facing life’s challenges but they prevail and get a second chance at romance.

I received an ARC via NetGalley and Black Odyssey Media and I am leaving my review voluntarily.

Faith and Rome were high school sweethearts with
aspirations of forever until a fatal car crash ruins their relationship. So when Faith left their hometown, she never planned on returning. But when life brings her back 15 years later this might just be the chance these two need for a second chance at romance.

Man this book is the perfect mix of heavy realities and a Hallmark Christmas movie ending! This book doesn’t shy from harsh realities such as parental abuse, dementia, stroke and more. But it does beautifully look at positive co-parenting and a chance to have the life you’ve always deserved to have wrapped up and served warm for Christmas! I love these characters so much! I love the reconnections, I just love looking at heavy realities and I adore Hallmark Christmas movies!!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Black Odyssey Media publishers for this ARC!!

4,5⭐️

Faith is adjusting to life after her divorce. With twin 8 year old girls you know things get hectic especially since she has to cover for her ex when he doesn’t show up for her kids like he should. She receives a phone call about her father’s health and has to return home to not only help out with his restaurant but to the memories of her past some good and some bad.

I enjoyed this one. I am happy Faith and Rome found their way back to each other because I originally thought there would be no coming back from what happened that horrible night. Rome was attentive to faith and her needs while being apologetic about how he handle things between them back in the day. I didn’t really care for Faith’s ex husband or his girl Francis. I don’t think Ashton can be in a relationship right now because he hasn’t figured out work and home balance at all. Rome’s mother’s health and how they handled her was tear jerking. I couldn’t imagine being stuck in the past before grief happened to have to constantly relive it as a part of a cycle. This one has its heavy moments but the love between the main characters shined the most.

📕: Second Chance Christmas-standalone


✍️ By: Jahquel J. -new to me author


📃 Page Count: 282, eBook


🗓️ Publication Date: 9-24-24, Read 9-25-24


🙏🏾Thanks to NetGalley, Black Odyssey Media, and Jahquel J. for this ARC 🩷! I voluntarily give my honest review, and all opinions are my own.

🌎Setting: Atlanta to Sageport, FL

Genre: AA Interests, Holiday Romance

Tropes:
🎄small town
🎄childhood sweethearts
🎄Christmas
🎄family drama/tragedy
🎄divorce/single parent -h
🎄2nd chance romance

POV: multiple

⚠️TW: grief, death of parent and sibling, cancer-side character, dementia-side character, SA (past), alcoholism/drug use

💭Summary: Faith is navigating being a divorced, single mom who really wanted to keep her family together. When her father has a mild stroke and his fiancée asks her to come back home, Faith reluctantly agrees. There are some terrible memories in Sageport especially with Faith's high school sweetheart Rome Atkins. They reconnect but has time healed all wounds?

🚺 Heroine: Faith Stone-32 stay-at-home mom of 8-year-old-twin daughters.

🚹 Hero: Rome Atkins-32 runs family dealership business. Caring for mother w/ dementia

🎭Side cast:

• Kimba Stone-Faith's mother-deceased

•Allen Atkins-Rome's brother-deceased

• Carl-Faith's father owns a restaurant and coffee shop

• Ashton-Faith's ex-husband, an investment banker

• Madison and Mayven-Faith's kids

•Debra Atkins-Rome's mother w/ dementia

•Tierra-Faith's BFF, Ashton's former assistant

•Marie-Carl's fiancée

•Patrick-Rome's BFF

🤔My Thoughts: A tragedy turned into a beautiful reunion. Faith and Rome struggled with a lot of past and present trauma. The past creeped in but they reconciled and got a HEA!

Range of emotions: 😬🤔🙄
🌶️: Spice 4/5
😭: Emotion 5/5
❤️: Couple 4/5
⭐️: Rating 4/5

I enjoyed this book so much! It definitely put me in the Christmas spirit. I enjoyed the characters and their journey to love.

Second Chance Christmas by Jahquel J was a beautiful and emotional story.
I absolutely loved reading this book, I found it easy to read.
This was such a perfect read for the holiday season.
A delightful holiday romance that captures the magic of the season.

Thank You NetGalley and Black Odyssey Media for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Thanks to NetGalley and Black Odyssey Media for this read. This was another great treat to read before Christmas and it was a fun read. I have read a lot of Jahquel’s books and this was a great addition to the pile.

I was a little worried in the beginning that my fluffy holiday romance dreams were about to be crushed because our girl Faith went THROUGH it. I really loved Faith and Rome, though again, I was concerned how I was supposed to root for him after the beginning of the book. I'm glad Jaquel J. was able to pull him around, because it was touch and go for a minute.

Also Ashton's chapters, it was so cool to get his perspective, since we usually don't get that, but I did want to unlovingly bonk him on the head repeatedly for being like "I want to do better" and then does everything in his power to not do better. But it was still a fun.

perspective. Faith and Rome were so cute, and I really loved how they got time to spend together before doing the "how are we going to make this work" dance. Because I find that my issue with people who are long distances, or at least appear to be that way when getting together, are together and happy for point 2 seconds and then are immediately trying to problem solve how to be together. I loved that they got to breath and enjoy each other before having to worry about logistics. And the logistics weren't the main plot point at the end.

All in all it was a fun time, I just wish Faith didn't have to suffer as much.

Thank you to Black Odyssey Media and Netgalley for an e-copy.

I'll give the trigger warning that the beginning of this book was so hard. There is a very familial death in the beginning in a car crash. It broke me, it made me so mad. I loved how everything fell and they met again. It was hard for them to connect again and work and want to be together again. It was lovely.

I got an e-arc of this book on NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.