As Hurricane Katrina ravages New Orleans, attorney Tully Badeaux's life follows suit when betrayal leads to heartbreak...
Tully Gaston Badeaux might be successful in the courtroom but at home her relationships with her partner, Dr. Jessica Badeaux, and their children are falling apart.
In one life-changing moment precipitated by a spilled cup of coffee, the world Tully had so carefully constructed comes to an end. As Tully struggles to pick up the pieces, two women add to the complications—Dr. Kara Nicolas, the woman who stole her wife, and Libby Dexter, the young woman who moves in to assist Tully with the kids. Kara becomes her focus in the courtroom, and Libby offers more than a helping hand around the house.
Ali Vali is the author of the long-running Cain Casey "Devil" series and the Genesis Clan "Forces" series, as well as numerous standalone romances including two Lambda Literary Award finalists, Calling the Dead and Love Match, and her 2017 release, Beauty and the Boss. Ali also has a novella in the collection Girls with Guns. Originally from Cuba, Ali has retained much of her family's traditions and language and uses them frequently in her stories. Having her father read her stories and poetry before bed every night as a child infused her with a love of reading, which she carries till today. Ali currently lives outside New Orleans, Louisiana, and she has discovered that living in Louisiana provides plenty of material to draw from in creating her novels and short stories.
This was a pretty fast paced read, set in New Orleans just before Hurricane Katrina, during it, and the aftermath. Although Katrina was not the focus of the novel, it certainly played a significant role in the plot. I liked the character of Tully, she sort of reminded me of Julianna Margulies' character in The Good Wife once she got her feet under her. Tully was certainly good for a bit of verbal sparring. While the relationship between Tully and Libby was sweet, I didn't really feel the sparks fly. This was basically a bit of everything, death, betrayal, law suits, disaster, revenge, addiction, and love. It is a page turner and well worth the read.
Ali Vali throws in a little bit of everything but it still didn't ring true. Like a home made gravy that doesn't quite work, add anything till it taste's OK - like mine yesterday when the yogurt went lumpy. Didn't really like the MCs except for the angelic Libby & even she was too good to be true. Kept me entertained.
I love Tully and Libby. She wants to do right and help others. She is a workaholic though and starts to feel lost at home with her kids and Jessica. I love the way she goes about repairing the damage to her relationship with her kids Bailey and Ralph. I love the relationship and love between the four of them by the end of the book. Libby helps bring them back together. She is a friend and another dependable and loving adult that Bailey and Ralph can rely on. She provides Tully with an adult someone to talk to and lean on and Tully provides Libby with the same. Their friendship only depends the more time they spend together. Libby worries at first that Tully doesn’t feel the same and that she may still be in love with Jessica. Tully worries that she is to old for Libby. Once they both figure out that what their hearts desire most is each other and the family they are building things seem to be headed in the right place until Katrina comes. The experience only brings the four of them closer and helps them win the case they all have had a hand in trying to win from the beginning. I loved the end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Listened to the audiobook. Some of the voices the narrator used were inconsistent but the story was good. Hurricanes! Family, love and heroics. What's not to like!
I’ve been reading a lot of Ali Vali’s books recently and enjoying them. This romance is set around the time of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The main characters live in New Orleans so the hurricanes are paramount in the part of the novel that occurs during that time.
This one starts with the attorney Tully finding her doctor partner Jessica in their bed at home with another woman after a couple of scenes setting the stage of an unhappy family. The kids are unhappy and everyone thinks Tully works too much. Everything changes after that catalyst. Tully meets someone, or rather, gets to know her better since Libby has been working at the café Tully frequents for a while. The kids start to accept her again, and she takes on a terrible malpractice case.
The novel is mostly a romance but also a family drama and a bit of a mystery as Tully unravels the how’s and why’s of the suit she’s taken on. And there is the hurricane which tears up their lives more. It held my attention so much that I stayed up late and avoided all my chores and errands in order to read this.
Although I've read Second Season several times, this was my first time listening to the audiobook. Lori Prince does an outstanding job of narrating. She adds just the right amount of snark to Tully's smartass comments, which often had me laughing out loud. You could also feel the caring Tully had for her children in her tone, and the soft, southern drawl of Libby's voice. Absolutely loved it!
I love your writing style. You bring ur characters to life. They have depth and each r unique. Your description of the location and the changing scenes give u a sense of being there (your scene descriptions r perfect in length. You do not go into such extensive descriptions as to bore someone like me lol). The Devil Within series was captivating and I couldn't wait for the next book in the series!! My favorite genre is lesbian mystery with romance and family and u checked all the boxes!! I hope u do another series like that Ali. I am a fan and can't wait to read whatever comes next!!
I enjoyed this book by Ali Vali. It has a second chance theme, which reminds you to take care of what is important to you. I loved the cast of characters. They were well developed and added beautifully to the story. The chemistry between the MCs was vibrant. Both MCs had cause for growth, and we got to see them bloom. The angst is mainly from outside characters, yet beautifully wrapped up in a nice package. I love Vali's books and will continue to follow her.
“True love doesn’t need time to grow. It just needs a heart to take root in.”… “And it needs its other half to flourish.” + • + • + • +
This is a story about losing everything you had being the catalyst to finding everything you wanted. A really good story, although progress happens way too quickly to be realistic or to get fully invested in the events. But it's still good reading.
I really didnt think I was going to like this book because it had cheating in it but after listening to Jessica, man I couldn't stand her and I wanted to throat punch Kara 😂. I started to like the growth of the relationship between Tully and Libby and the relationship grow between Tully and her children.
I enjoyed this story and watching Tully work so hard to reinvent herself and make herself worth of her kids and Libby. Overall I liked this book quite a bit but the love story seemed rush and I really wanted more of a comeuppance for Jessica and Kara. Jessica especially seemed to get off light and very little character growth, but maybe I’m just petty.
This is so far my least favorite book of Ali Vali. I found myself skipping many pages because the same topic was talked about again and again and I was more annoyed with the main character than I cared for her.
I enjoyed listening to Second Season by Ali Vali. It was a sweet love story mixed with a little bit of drama and excitement. My only complaint was that there wasn't enough chemistry between Tully and Libby. There probably could have been a bit more in the build up. Still an enjoyable listen.
Het boek begon wat langdradig maar de laatste 150 paginas waren heel goed. Ik heb wel eens betere boeken gelezen van Ali maar deze krijgt wel 4 sterren van mij!
I must say I might be a little prejudiced when it comes to the stories in New Orleans that this author loves to write about. I look forward to each one and I must say take the time to read all of her books which make you feel a part of the city and the characters she shares.
Tully Badeaux is 42 years old in a loveless relationship to Dr.Jessica Badeaux her college sweetheart. Their relationship has drifted into hello and goodbye and not much else. Their two children are typical insecure youngsters. Bailey is funny and very much in tune. Ralph is also aware and just wants to make sure that love is still around. Although likable, Tully has allowed her successful law practice to consume most of her time and now she has to face the consequences. Jessica wants more out the relationship and feels she is not getting what she needs from Tully. Luckily for Tully part of her life includes a daily coffee bought from 24 year old law student and part time cashier Libby. Libby has been crushing on Tully for some time and could prove to be the ideal person for Tully and her children.
This read has much more involved then how to move on after a broken relationship. These are real people with real problems. As readers, we hear from Tully, Jessica, Libby, Bailey, Ralph and Kara.
The story lines dealing with physician malpractice, infidelity, fighting, first love, hurricanes, murder, drugs and cover up makes this quite the intriguing read.
This book was much like all of her others. She values certain things and that comes through in her writing one of which is family. I think that her books could be great if she didn't spend so much time being sappy, over-dramatic and just way too do-goody. Other than that she weaves a good tale. What I disliked most about this book is just how jaded Jessica was, I think in real life it would have turned out differently.
Description on the back cover was a bit misleading insofar that it focused on the story taking place during Hurricane Katrina - when in fact two thirds of it happened prior to the event. Storyline did meander a bit, but the last 100 or so pages the pace quickened up substantially. All in all a good read.
Vali writes strong characters, strong plotting. While the outcome is predictible, the ride is nevertheless a good one. I expected to see more of NO ravaged by Katrina, it was nevertheless realistic. I wish all people had been so prepared.
Another great book by Ali Vali. After reading the Cain Casey books I went looking for more by this author. I have not been disappointed. Every book has plenty of action and plenty of romance.
One of my favorite book from the author! Heart tugging plot with lovable characters and a fast-paced writing. Tully and Libby are so cool I wish there's another book planned about them.