Second Chance Romance

Harlot's Bay #2

by Olivia Dade

💕When a mistaken obituary reunites two old crushes, sparks fly and a second chance at love ignites. But will the one that got away finally stay?

Karl and Molly were never together. There was a time, right after high school, where it seemed like they might finally cross the line from friends to lovers . . . but instead, a foolish misunderstanding meant they never spoke again. Molly went to LA and got married. Karl stayed in Harlot's Bay and bought a bakery.

The only connection the pair has shared over the years is painfully Now divorced, Molly narrates monster romance audiobooks, and Karl is an ever-diligent listener, clinging to his only piece of the one that got away.

Still, Molly hasn't totally left Harlot's Bay behind. When she hears that Karl's obituary has run in the local paper, unexpected grief prompts her to hop on the next flight to Maryland . . . where she finds Karl very much alive, the victim of nothing but an accidental obituary.

As the pair reunite, they finally hash out their missed connection. True, Molly isn't quite ready to trust again, but Karl is determined to prove himself worthy of her faith and devotion. And as her remaining time in Harlot's Bay ticks down, Molly, the habitual cynic, just might find that Karl, the cranky town curmudgeon, is impossible to leave behind a second time.

This hilarious grumpy/grumpy romance, second in the Harlot's Bay series, is packed with Dade's signature body positivity and a delicious amount of spice ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

💕Why readers LOVE Olivia Dade💕

'Charming, witty, and heartfelt' KYLIE SCOTT

'Olivia Dade never fails to make me laugh, blush, and feel like I'm being wrapped in a warm blanket. Cannot recommend enough!' KATEE ROBERT

'At First Spite is one of the most romantic books I've ever read . . . With its delicious pastries, erotica book club, used bookstore complete with emotional support chicken, and surplus of kind, sexy residents, Harlot's Bay is my dream town' ROSIE DANAN

'With richly drawn characters you'll love to root for, Olivia Dade's books are a gem of the genre - full of humour, heart and heat' KATE CLAYBORN

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Adult, Second Chance, Audiobook, Fiction

379 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 25, 2025

About the author

Olivia Dade grew up an undeniable nerd, prone to ignoring the world around her as she read any book she could find. Her favorites, though, were always, always romances. As an adult, she earned an M.A. in American history and worked in a variety of jobs that required the donning of actual pants: Colonial Williamsburg interpreter, high school teacher, academic tutor, and (of course) librarian. Now, however, she has finally achieved her lifelong goal of wearing pajamas all day as a hermit-like writer and enthusiastic hag. She currently lives outside Stockholm with her delightful family and their ever-burgeoning collection of books.

*******

If you want to find me online, here’s where to go!

Website: https://oliviadade.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/OliviaWrites
Newsletter: https://go.oliviadade.com/Newsletter

Reviews

[romancelibrary]

KARL AND THE SADIE BRAZEN NARRATOR!!!!! I NEED IT!!!!!!!

[TheConnieFox · Rating 4 out of 5]

This second chance romance novel was charming and heartfelt! This book was emotionally satisfying, as it made me laugh many times throughout the book! I really enjoyed the main characters! The banter between the main characters was hilarious. The dual point of views were great, because I can really get to know what they are thinking. I love the plus size representations and how it came with both of the main characters. I found this book to have a very intriguing plot and I also found it to be well executed. I love the scenery of a small town, it gives off cozy atmospheric vibes. I really felt the chemistry between these two! This was more of a mature romance, with a dash of spice to it!

These characters were strongly developed in the story. Furthermore, the characters were all lovable, except for Molly’s Ex. It is easy to read, well structured and the setting fit the story. The only critique I have is the miscommunication trope, I feel like these two could have spoken to each other a lot sooner. Overall, I loved this grumpy and grumpy trope romance! It was addictive and I was fully immersed while reading it!

“Second Chance Romance” is a small town romantic comedy. It centers around the characters of Molly and Karl. These two used to be friends back in high school. Molly thought that Karl had passed away, but he is very much alive! They end up seeing each other again at a reunion. As the story unfolds, these two friends turn into lovers. I rate this book a 4 out of 5 stars!

Content warnings include strong profanity and sexual content. I think fans of romantic comedies would really enjoy reading this one!

Thank you to NetGalley, author Olivia Dade and Avon and Harper Voyager | Avon for this electronic ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

This book is expected to be published on November 25, 2025!

[Kristin]

YEEEESSS, Karl!!!!!

[Ellie]

No freaking way!!! A Karl book?!

[megan ◡̈ · Rating 2 out of 5]

i have been highly anticipating this book since reading book one at the end of june, so it very much pains me to rate & review this the way i am… this book completely lost me around 75%, i straight up just did not give a single care anymore and had to force myself to not dnf. what do you mean at almost 40 years old NEITHER OF THEM can effectively communicate a single emotion to one another like they are in kindergarten? WHY at 75% am i still listening to “well, he cant tell me he likes me so im not telling him i like him” vice versa, YOU ARE ALMOST FORTY GROW UP. im so beyond annoyed and upset that this went from being a 4.5 to a 2 because they couldnt get their shit together until the last 3 chapters.

[Addie]

We’re just... titling books after tropes now?

[_blondebooknerd · Rating 2 out of 5]

When a Second Chance Feels Like Déjà Vu… But Not in a Good Way 😴💔📖
ARC provided by NetGalley, Avon, and Harper Voyager — thank you! 🖤📚✨

💥 So what’s it about?
A monster romance audiobook narrator thinks her high school crush is dead — only to discover he’s very much alive after a fake obituary. Cue all the “what just happened?!” drama. Molly is bold, sassy, and thriving in her dream job. Karl? Classic bearded sunshine/grump energy with a cinnamon-roll center… buried under a mountain of swear words. 😬💀

😳 My Thoughts
Listen… I wanted to love this. I really did. The setup screamed chaos, romance, and laughs — snacks in hand, Kindle charged, READY. And yet… somewhere between Karl’s excessive F-bombs and the repetitive grumpy-sunshine formula, my engagement flatlined HARD.

Molly is amazing — plus-size, smart, unapologetic, and doing her thing in the coolest niche career (audiobook narrator = dream job 👏📖). Karl? Sweet, but his POV often pulled me out of the story. The chemistry was there… but it felt very familiar. Like déjà vu… but the kind that makes you sigh and scroll. 😴💔

⚡ The Bottom Line
Fans of Olivia Dade’s signature bold heroines + grumpy, soft-hearted heroes will likely enjoy this. For me personally? I found myself hoping for a fresh twist. Not every story needs to be the exact same blueprint — and honestly, I might not pick up another one unless she shakes things up.

Rating: ⭐⭐ / 5

[Ash (so there’s this book)]

DNF @60%

Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Spice: 1/5 🌶️spice at 60% when I DNFed

The Catalog: F/M, second chance romance, high school friends, grumpy baker MMC, competence porn, forced proximity, trust exercise dates, emotionally immature MCs

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.

Thoughts:
I have to say that I have read one other Olivia Dade book and enjoyed it enough to finish, but there were issues with that one as well. Like this book, it too suffered from 0 to 100% sexual attraction, poor pacing, and an unorganized, unfocused plot.

In terms of Second Chance Romance, the main issue is that I don’t feel the plot matches what was advertised in the blurb. I wasn’t expecting this bizarre, overly repetitious, story line involving two extraordinarily emotionally immature 40 year olds completing stereotypical trust exercises.

The FMC’s emotional conflict seems SO forced and unrealistic.

I love that Olivia writes fat characters, and I really wanted to love this one because fat MMCs are my absolute favorite body diversity representation, but I could not continue when, at 60%, the story nor the MCs relationship had progressed in any meaningful way.

At this point I might need to accept that Olivia Dade is not the author for me, as I find her storytelling style to be quite dry and tedious.

[1stTimeReader]

I really wish we had kept the original title - “Dearly Departed”.

Some things from "At First Spite" suddenly make so much more sense!
Will read!

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://smexybooks.com/2025/11/review...

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to preface with saying I LOVED book one, At First Spite. I've been looking forward to this book since I finished AFS. So, when I say rating this one 3 stars did pain me.

I was really enjoying it in the beginning. There were plenty of quirks in the story, but the writing was well done and enjoyable. But as the story continued, I felt my enjoyment waning. There was a lot of immaturity in the relationship between the two MCs, and with them being around 40 I found myself giving a stink face more than I should have. There was potential, but the last third of this book really fell off for me.

[book bruin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved the set up for this contemporary romance. Coming back to your hometown because of an obituary mix-up, and coming face to face with the one who maybe got away?!? This is book 2 in the series, but can be read as a standalone (though it would be most enjoyed in order since the couple in book 1 makes several appearances and we meet the MMC, Karl, in book 1).

Things to expect:
- Second chance with the one that got away
- Friends to lovers
- Grumpy MMC who's really a cinnamon roll
- Main characters in their late 30's
- Grumpy + grumpy
- He falls first and harder
- So much pining
- Hilarious small town shenanigans
- Lots of laugh out loud moments
- Amazing found family and friend group

This was lower angst overall, but the lack of communication between Molly and Karl was frustrating. I understand both were guarded because of their histories, but I wanted more from two grown adults. I did like that they both showed growth through the course of the novel though. I enjoyed the beginning and middle of the book a lot, but the last 25-30% was much slower for me and the book felt a bit too long. The ending was very sweet though and I loved that the epilogue was set quite a bit into the future.

The audiobook was wonderfully narrated by Joy Nash and Stephen Dexter. Their voices complemented each other well and I thought the casting was pretty spot on.

Audiobook Review
Overall 4 stars
Performance 4.5 stars
Story 3.5-4 stars

CW: parental infidelity and abandonment, antagonistic and manipulative ex-husband

*I voluntarily read and listened to a review copy of this book*

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Friends from high school, Karl and Molly get a second chance to right the wrongs that kept them apart for 2 decades. On the positive side, I love that Olivia Dade hits all different notes when she writes plus size/fat lead characters. While a lot of romances rightly spend time exploring the complexities of body positivity both within the MC and those who come in contact with them, it was refreshing reading a romance where this body type just....was. Now, to the rest of the book, I found the writing style really odd. It read like a Classic Lit novel in language and structure. And while that's not necessarily a bad thing, it felt really disparate to me. I'm sure some readers will really love this aspect of the writing style, but I failed to connect with it. And on top of that, the chemistry between characters was more told than felt. But the spicy scenes were fantastic! Can't end a book review without discussing the spice. Overall I kind of liked it, kind of bored me. But mostly it was a good and cute book. I guess it is a good book that just didn't resonate with me, but I am certain a ton of other readers will love it.

***I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

[suonnahbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Olivia Dade did it again with this one 😩🥰🫶🏾

[monica • · Rating 4 out of 5]

these two were so sweet. i loved the little glimpses of matthew and athena too. love this series alot!

[Saloua · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was about 100 pages too long for what it was

[Meghan]

Um yes I loved Karl and his obsession with monster fucking books BRING MY FAVORITE BAKER SOME LOVE

[Gretal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an absolute delight! I love Karl and Molly, I love Sadie Brazen's romance novels, and I cannot wait for the next one (which I so hope is following Lise!)

[romancelibrary · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received an ARC from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

Second Chance Romance was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. So it pains me to say that I didn't really enjoy it. Karl and Molly were high school friends. They had feelings for each other, but the timing wasn't right, and Karl was kind of an idiot when it came to communication. 22 years later, Molly is an audiobook narrator, and Karl has listened to all of her monster romance audiobooks. A misleading obituary leads Molly to believe that Karl has died, so she returns to Harlot's Bay to pay her respects...only to find out that Karl is very much alive. Now that Molly is back, Karl is determined to win her heart, even though Molly has trust issues.

To be honest, everything about this story felt forced. There's so much more that could've been done with this interesting premise. We barely dive into Molly's audiobook career. Instead, we get endless trust exercises, with Karl trying to convince Molly to stay in Harlot's Bay permanently. I also did not buy their connection after so many years. 22 years is a long time, especially when these two never talked to each other ever again after high school. It just didn't feel plausible. And personally, this isn't how I like my second chance romances. For me, personally, angst is a must. Yearning without knowing how the other feels is a must. We get none of that here, and so my interest was flatlined from the start.

The other thing that really irritated me was the author inserting her own opinions about romance novels and certain subgenres through the main characters. Do I know for sure that's what the author was doing? No, but the way it was written very much felt like the author was pontificating about what qualifies as "good romance."

Obviously, this is a very subjective review. Just because Karl and Molly failed to make me feel anything about their romance, doesn't mean that other readers will have the same experience. I think it all comes to down expectations and Second Chance Romance just didn't meet mine.

[Megan | Megan.Reads.Romance · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars

thanks to Harper Audio for the gifted audiobook and Avon Romance for the finished copy! these are my honest thoughts.

After not really enjoying Harlot's Bay #1 last year, I am SO GLAD I gave Olivia Dade a second chance (hehe). This story was so fun and I was hooked on the audiobook from minute one. Stephen Dexter as Karl was PERFECT. I loved him so much! Joy Nash is a new-to-me narrator (I think?), but I enjoyed her portrayal of Molly.

This is a story about Karl and Molly, who were almost more than friends in high school (until they weren't). Karl never *really* moved on from his crush on Molly, and when he finds out she's a narrator present day, he buys/listens to her stories on repeat while he's running his bakery. Molly moved to California, got married and divorced, and finds Karl's accidental obituary from her one remaining connection from Harlot's Bay. She has regrets about not seeing Karl again once she left Harlot's Bay at the end of her senior year, so she takes this chance to go mourn the loss of Karl. Only... Karl isn't gone.

And this second chance encounter has Karl shooting his shot. He gives himself one month to win Molly's trust. She wants a vacation fling, but he wants so much more.

Karl is the STAR of this show. He's grumpy and likes to hide away in the back of the bakery, but he's so soft + ooey gooey on the inside. He takes care of his people, especially his friends and employees. He was pining after Molly always in high school, believing he wasn't good enough to be with her so why bother trying. When she walks back through his doors, he physically cannot let her get away again. He squares away her housing, talks to her about things he doesn't open up about, PLANS TEAM BUILDING EXERCISES FOR THEM to build trust, and gives Molly this space to be exactly who she is. When she finally realizes the walls she's put up aren't keeping her heart safe but keeping people who love and care about her out, it's Karl that she has to thank for that transformation.

Read if you love:
- Grumpy baker x romance audiobook narrator
- An accidental obituary that forces a reunion
- He wants to take care of her
- Plus-sized rep
- Small town shenanigans
- Found family
- Baked goods, book clubs, + meddling friends
- Monster romances
- PINING
- Cinnamon roll MMC
- Hesitant FMC
- Love after divorce
- (Literal) sugar, (tons of) spice, + (EVERYTHING) nice

Out November 25th!

[Carly · Rating 5 out of 5]

What else is there to say other than perfection? I always know what I'm going to get when I pick up an Olivia Dade romance novel — something with the perfect amount of steam, humor, and emotion — and this was no different. Karl is the ultimate pining hero, having listened to Molly's audiobook narration for years, but a hilariously morbid mix-up brings her back to Harlot's Bay to verify his well-being and one thing very quickly leads to another. I love the way Dade writes this couple who have always been attracted to each other (and the passage of time hasn't dimmed things in that regard) but need more time before lowering their emotional walls with each other. All that aside, this is just a great small-town romance with so many fun supporting characters, so I can't wait to see who gets the next book.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this edition from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[alana ☁️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I have a somewhat love-hate relationship with this book. there were so many moments that were genuinely fun and had me smiling, but also several that had me rolling my eyes. Molly and Karl are both grumpy and reserved, yet undeniably sweet together. their banter consistently made me laugh, but their inability to communicate about the things that really mattered became frustrating after a while. at one point, their friends even had to step in and explicitly point out the need for communication… that said, I really appreciated the small-town setting and the plus-size representation. it’s nice to take a break from the usual rock-hard abs and model-like figures.

if you like any of the following, this is definitely for you.
-second chance with the one that got away
-he falls first and harder
-grumpy x grumpy
-witty banter
-found family
-plus size rep

[Lauren 🍓 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Harper Audio for the ALC and eARC!! (love you forever <3)

The narrators were fantastic, it had one of my faves, Stephen Dexter so of course I had so much fun listening along while reading the ebook!!

She writes the best romcoms, I am absolutely obsessed. The characters feel so real and silly at the same time and yet so heart-felt too!!

Also second chance?!! A hell yes every single time.

[K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Content warnings: toxic relationship (in the past), emotional abuse, body shaming, gaslighting, cheating (in the past)

4.5 stars

I've been waiting desperately for this book to come out since I first read At First Spite. Karl is such a grumpy joy of a secondary character and I couldn't wait for him to get his own story. I loved him as a protagonist, and I loved Molly too. The relationship between them is lovely and the town continues to be utterly charming. But at the same time, I wanted their relationship to be just a TINY bit less focused on the physical than it was. Don't get me wrong, the sex scenes were sex scening. But there were times when I wanted them to Use Their Words Please And Have An Actual Conversation.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the early 2010s small town romances were supported by an abundance of cupcake shops, and this one has rival sex shops. We've come a long way.

Anyway, really liked this look at a second chance that's not exactly because there ultimately wasn't a first chance. It's a book for people who are always like why won't people use their words, because the characters are told repeatedly to do so and yet still can't, which is the most incredibly human thing in the world.

Also, I would like to eat all those sandwiches. Would not recommend reading while doing colonoscopy prep if you do not want to exacerbate a hungry situation.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Karl's fragment-based communication style was an attack upon me personally...

[Tyler Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for the audiobook ARC! A sweet, body-positive, grumpy/grumpy romance between Karl, a gruff baker, and Molly, a freshly-divorced audiobook narrator, set in a cozy, idyllic town. This was lovely - I enjoyed the characters’ journeys back to each other after their unrealized mutual crushes during high school, and the ending was especially heartwarming! Occasionally I found myself cringing at Karl’s blustery outbursts - there was more anger (and weird threats?) in this romance than I expected - but overall this was a delightful, tender, satisfying read!

[Sydney Lau · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up!

Second Chance Romance features Molly and Karl. High school besties that secretly harbor a crush on one another. After both fail to express their feelings, Molly moves away and Karl stays put in Historic Harlot’s Bay. A misunderstanding breaks their line of communication, and the two reconnect after 20 years when Molly discovers Karl’s accidental obituary. This book features many tropes like friends to lovers, grumpy sunshine, and second chances.

First off, I’d like to commend Olivia Dade for her representation of the plus size community for both men and women in this book. I found it extremely refreshing to read a book where both of the MC’s were plus size and desirable!

I found Molly to be such an intriguing FMC. Her nontraditional style and cynical personality played well with Karl’s gruff-yet-squishy demeanor. The chemistry between the two really worked for me. I enjoyed the fact that Molly was straightforward and confident in herself. I do feel like some of the language Karl used could be dialed back. He curses in nearly every other sentence and it started to feel redundant.

Karl’s relationship with Charlotte was very endearing, and I wish we had seen more interaction between her and Molly. However, I really liked how Karl’s position in his community was on full display throughout the book. This really gave the town a charming feel even though there were some silly parts with other townsfolk.

My favorite thing about this book was the ending. It really brought everything full circle and was extremely satisfying to read. Every base was covered and tied into a pretty bow!

Overall, I enjoyed this one! Even the silly parts balanced in well once you got a feel for Harlot’s Bay and how it operates. Thank you NetGalley, Avon & Harper Voyager, and o author for an eARC in exchange for my honest review!

[Kait · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alexa play “You’re My Home” by Billy Joel

It’s nearly 4am but i have 0 regrets staying up to finish bc it was so freaking good. Honestly might be my top romance of the year.

Two things particularly stuck out to me.

1) THIS is how you do miscommunication!!! Help us understand WHY they won’t just talk to each other damn it instead of letting us think they’re just annoying and emotionally immature.

2) Bring back multi chapter long sex scenes. AWOOOO! This was so so hot. When he…just took her in?! I sweat. I melted. I swooned.

The spicy scenes were also so so good bc they actually contributed to the plot and character development. Like you can’t skip these without missing vital aspects of that growth. Which, yes. More pls.

Lastly, the explicit communication and negotiating?!The toys?! There was no forced good girl here, just perfect dirty talk that FIT the characters.

This books was truly a love letter to those of us who’ve been forced to guard our hearts and keep our feelings close to our chest. I cried so much in the last like 12%. These characters are flawed—some might call them unlikeable—but that made their HEAall the sweeter.

TY to Avon and Netgalley for the e-arc. All opinions are my own.

[Marlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are towns named Climax in Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia, and those are just the ones that are officially incorporated. There are towns named Intercourse in Alabama and Pennsylvania. Why couldn’t there be a town named Harlot’s Bay in Maryland? Why shouldn’t there be come to that? And why shouldn’t the town lean ALL THE WAY into their name? Think of the opportunities!

The first book in this series, At First Spite, definitely put the ‘harlot’ in Harlot’s Bay. Literally. Into the air, as the FMC (female main character) broadcasts her love of extremely spicy romance over the rooftops of Harlot’s Bay by playing erotic audiobooks at high volume through the open window of her ‘Spite House.’

The FMC of THIS second book is the professional narrator of those audiobooks, Molly Dearborn, who once upon a time managed to stick a couple of years in Harlot’s Bay, long enough to graduate high school and actually make friends and put down roots. Roots that were ripped out by the, well, roots when her father’s wandering everything caught up to the family and she had to leave.

She left behind some unfinished business in the person of Karl Dean. Not an ex, not the one that got away – but more of a best friend and definitely an opportunity missed. Missed like an aching limb in spite of the twenty years and 2,500 miles that lay between them, along with her seventeen year marriage and acrimonious divorce, as well as Karl’s on-again, off-again relationship with one of their classmates.

They have history – just not the type of history or as much of it as either of them wished way back when. Still, it’s more than enough to make the news of Karl’s death hit Molly like a punch to the gut – or a kick in the head. She doesn’t even try to confirm it all that hard, she just gets on a plane from LA to Harlot’s Bay to attend his funeral.

Which is when she discovers that reports of Karl’s death, to paraphrase Mark Twain, were greatly exaggerated.

Discovering that Karl is alive after all just about brings Molly to her knees – and her heart into her sneakers. Even though they never were, he’s still the one she never got over. And very much vice versa.

Karl has a month to convince Molly that he’s worth her trust. She has a month to get this famously taciturn man to use his damn words for once in his damn life – although those cusswords wouldn’t be “damns” if Karl had even thought that sentence.

Their 20-year high school reunion is coming up, and the scene is going to be epic one way or another. The question is whether it’s going to be epic like a 90’s high school romcom or epic like a 90’s teen slasher movie.

Everyone in Harlot’s Bay has their cameras poised just waiting to capture the moment. Whatever it turns out to be.

Escape Rating A-: I wanted to say this was a romance featuring a ‘cinnamon roll’ character who also bakes delicious cinnamon rolls. But Karl is a bit too salty for that. Or it’s true if the recipe not only overdid the cinnamon but maybe included some pumpkin pie spice that went a bit too heavy on the ginger, cloves and allspice.

On the inside Karl is a marshmallow. Or, as one of his friends describes him, a Cadbury Creme Egg – “hard shell, gooey innards, very sweet, albeit somewhat off-putting to many and widely unavailable most times of the year.” That Karl is hesitant to let anyone close enough to even BE a friend, as well as his reluctance to admit that he even has actual friends, is definitely the icing on this particular cinnamon roll.

The title of this book doesn’t lie, this is very much a second chance romance. Even if they technically didn’t back in high school, they both knew that’s where they were headed if they could manage to get out of their own way – or get over their individual fears about trusting themselves and each other.

The central conflict is both freaking HUGE and totally real. Molly knows Karl can’t tell a lie to save his life, so whatever comes out of his mouth is the absolute, honest, well, everything. But he doesn’t EVER talk about his own emotions. While Molly, OTOH, has been lied to and betrayed by both her father and her douchecanoe ex-husband. Even though she admits they did – and in the case of her ex still very much DO – all their lying and betraying with words, she still needs to hear them from Karl if she’s going to uproot her whole life.

Women, in particular, are all too prone to trying to read a partner’s mind through their actions and being taken in by even scraps of affection and care. Molly’s not doing that again and Karl isn’t giving her what she needs, even though he’s damn good at giving her everything else she needs.

(I’ll fully admit that this part of the story, as important and real as it is, made its point way a whole lot faster than the page count devoted to it. It’s what made this an A- read instead of an A for THIS reader. Your reading mileage may vary.)

Still and all, I do like Harlot’s Bay quite a lot, both the town AND the people in it. At First Spite was a lot of fun and Second Chance Romance absolutely was too – even if, or especially because, it’s another book NOT to read when you’re hungry. I also adored the positive, realistic, body images AND aches and pains, not just that neither Karl nor Molly is a size zero or the male equivalent, but also the realism of pushing 40 – or 50 in the epilog – and the way that 40 and 50 push back, but that love has neither a size nor an age even when the lovers have a bit of a backache or a twinge in the knees.

In the end, I enjoyed the romance and LOVED the characters (in multiple senses of that word) in Harlot’s Bay. (I have a big soft spot in my heart for the Nasty Wenches Book Club.) I really hope we get to go back.

OMG it just hit me that the author’s paranormal romances, Zomromcom and the upcoming World’s Okayest Oracle (Reluctantly) Seeks Demon, are awfully close to the kind of books that Sadie Brazen, the monster romance author featured as a side character (so far) in the Harlot’s Bay series, writes. (Minus the finned cocks and beakgasms [not a typo, I swear].) Maybe, possibly, hopefully, one of these days we’ll have Sadie Brazen’s very own Harlot’s Bay romance to look forward to. She’s earned it, she deserves it, she’s entitled to it – and so are we!

Originally published at Reading Reality