The Summer of Second Chances

by Sage Parker

After catching her husband at a seedy motel with another woman, 54-year-old therapist Maggie Mitchell watches her carefully constructed life implode.

When a viral video of her parking lot confrontation destroys her reputation as a relationship expert, Maggie faces a cascade of canceled appointments, lost speaking engagements, and a marriage in ruins. Worse yet, her husband Greg claims she's the one who's been lying—about a secret that could shatter their daughter's world.

Desperate for escape, Maggie accepts an invitation from Liz, her pen pal of 27 years whom she's never actually met. In a remote mountain cabin in North Carolina, surrounded by nothing but trees and possibilities, Maggie begins to question her marriage, her career, and the safe, predictable life she's built.

As long-buried truths surface and her professional world crumbles around her, Maggie must decide—will she fight to salvage the life she's known for twenty years, or embrace the terrifying freedom of starting over?

A summer story about second chances, female friendship, and discovering who you really are when everything you've built falls apart.

This is Book 3 of 6 in the Gingercake Mountain series. Pre-order your copy now!

Genres: Fiction

80 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 15, 2025

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

After catching her husband at a seedy motel with another woman, 54-year-old therapist Maggie Mitchell watches her carefully constructed life implode—on camera.

When a viral video of her parking lot confrontation destroys her reputation as a relationship expert, Maggie faces a cascade of canceled appointments, lost speaking engagements, and a marriage in ruins. Worse yet, her husband Greg claims she's the one who's been lying about a secret that could shatter their daughter's world.

Desperate for escape, Maggie accepts an invitation from Liz, her pen pal of 27 years, whom she's never actually met. In a remote mountain cabin in North Carolina, surrounded by nothing but trees and possibilities, Maggie begins to question everything: her marriage, her career, and the safe, predictable life she's built.

As long-buried truths surface and her professional world crumbles around her, Maggie must decide—will she fight to salvage the life she's known for twenty years, or embrace the terrifying freedom of starting over?

This contemporary, clean, and wholesome starting-over, small-town friends-to-lovers second-chance romance is page-turning with exceptional world-building in the small town of Gingercake Mountain, North Carolina, where the sunrises and sunsets are magnificently painted across the majestic sky in vibrant hues, and characters who are resilient, independent, heartbroken, overwhelmed, emotionally wrecked, captivating, and realistic. Their journey is enthralling with the summer of second chances, a tame romance, divorce, later-in-life romance, second chances, female friendships, discovering who you are when everything you've built falls apart, drama, heartfelt emotions that will leave readers needing Kleenex/Puffs to wipe away the tears that are threatening to spill down their cheeks, romantic suspense, action, adventure, and more. I recommend reading this book by an extraordinary author who knows how to captivate her readers' hearts and attention with the summer of second chances and a friends-to-lovers romance in a world where love and loss collide, making for one unforgettable journey of self-discovery.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Megann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maggie has gone to North Carolina to be with her friend and try and figure out how her life has gone so wrong. She made a mistake in blaming her husband for something but her friend Liz is not going to let her just skate on what has happened but make her face the consequences of her actions and decide where her life is going in the future.
The fact that she lied to Greg and all the facts have come out and that she really has never come to terms with her feelings for Chase are something she is gong to have to deal with.
Since she is in the mountains she has decided that she is going to get into shape and so she starts walking up the mountain. She comes to an area that she feels is safe and wades into the water. She knows that Liz's neighbor is called Lumberjack and she turns to find him watching her. She is startled and asks him to leave but when she attempts to exit the water she slips and is pulled down the river.
Lumberjack grabs her and even though she has hit her head and is hurting he manages to get her out of the water and back on dry land.
Yep, this is one of the ends of book three and Sage makes sure that the last lines are letting us know that the mystery is continuing as Maggie looks into the eyes of someone that makes her heart thump and who she thought she would never see again.
This story is really getting good.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Mae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maggie is still having a hard time adjusting to what’s going on in her life. Her husband has found out her deep dark secret she has kept all the years of their marriage. He is furious with her & tells her, he is NOT having an affair, but the woman came to tell him about the secret she has been keeping. The problems with their marriage just keeps increasing. They both have a lot of thinking to do. Both are wondering if they ever loved each other, other than the fact that they were best friends.They don’t even know if they want to save their marriage. It’s weird how life can change in the blink of an eye! While Liz is at work, Maggie decides to take a hike by herself, even though she was warned not to try to walk on the rocks because they were slick. She went ahead & did it anyway & of course she fell in the icy stream & it was pulling her downstream. Oh no, now what?

I received a free advanced copy of this book from Booksprout & am voluntarily leaving a review in my own words.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

an accidental dip in icy waters has Maggie facing more than one icy shock.

bubbling up out of one mess tumbles her into the arms of a piece of her past and roads not taken.

Warriors should really disabuse themselves of the notion that making a choice to walk away from you is noble.

it might be simpler for them.

but if you're the one who has no active choice left, it just leaves you feeling a fool. And Maggie was left with a "safe" choice, or none.

Sarah seems to have stumbled into drama as well, as the ladies work to untangle to weight of the choices thry made, and of the choices that bubbled upmor trickled down on them.

intense ongoing drama, suspense and action.

[Baby Girl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story gets better by the book. The challenges facing Maggie and her marriag keep increasing in intensity. Maggie has a lot of sould searching to do and she needs to decide whether her marriage to Greg is worth fixing or if she should just let go of being afraid to be alone and let the marriage go. Maggie also has to truly put her daughter, Sarah first and have a heart to heart with her about everything. The cliffhanger has me anxious to find out what Sarah did and why is she sorry. This is so good and feels so real that I have to remind myself that it is just a story written by a fantastic author for entertainment purposes and nothing more. So good!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[June Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The man with the piercing blue eyes is a man from Maggie’s past. What is he doing here? How can she ever make things right with her husband with Chase here? Thank goodness for her friend Liz, who acts more like a therapist than Maggie is able to do, when dealing with her own personal issues So many buried, unresolved issues and emotions that neither Maggie nor Chase ever expected to have to deal with and possibly some that were totally unknown to one or the other!
Life can have a way of making us face things we don’t want to and often at the most difficult and unlikely times.

Great Author who really develops her characters You need to read this entire series of books.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maggie goes next door to talk to Chase and finds herself worked up about her life and feelings about something that happened 20 years ago. Chase was in the war for 15 years and retired to his parents home. Maggie’s daughter really wants to know what’s happening between her mom and dad but they are keeping it private. Maggie and Greg are keeping in contact about once a week to keep up with things. Maggie and Liz were out for dinner when Maggie called back her daughter Sara who was crying on the phone, she interfered in her parents business and made everything worse..

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Violet Batejan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Satisfying Read-on to the next book (4)

A riveting story of heartbreak, long-lost love, and a grown daughter unaware of her true father. To divorce, or not to divorce? How will Sarah put her once successful psychology practice back together? The video of her accusing her husband of infideĺity went viral, ruining her practice. With no clients and her email blowing up, Sarah goes on vacation with the pen pal, who is now her best friend. To fix her life, her friend advises she fix herself first. But we'll have to go to Book 4 for that! Highly recommended. Start the series now!

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maggie has had her life change in a split second. She was taking a walk and one misstep finds her falling into the water and is rescued by a man from her past.
She had no idea that her world was going to be totally turned unside down. I can not wait for the next book in the series. My heart is so into Maggie's life and how she will make decisions on what is coming next.
A phone call from her daughter is about to change things quickly!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Debdutch · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Summer of Second Chances: Book 3” by Sage Parker

-Another installment in Maggie’s life and problems. I received a free copy and am voluntarily sharing my honest thoughts.

Maggie’s secret finally explodes, shaking the foundation of her marriage.
An accident reunites her with a man from her past, stirring up buried emotions.
The story delivers intense drama, emotional tension, and a gripping cliffhanger.
A shocking phone call at the end sets the stage for even more upheaval in the next book.

[Berta Greenleaf Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

In book 3 of Gingercake Mountain "The Summer of Second Chances, Maggie is still trying to fix her marriage. Then she runs into Chase, the man from her past. She gets some answers about their past but it only makes more questions. Sarah her daughter then calls her and sobs that she might have made it more difficult between her father and mother. I can not wait for the next book. I highly recommend this book to all women's fiction readers.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Debbie Eyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Did not see that coming, though thinking about it, it’s make perfect sense! Poor Maggie, 1st she thinks her hubby is cheating on her, then she discovers that no Greg isn’t cheating but he was meeting with a mysterious woman whose told Greg, Maggies deep dark secret and then after she has run away to get away from everything and finds out that the neighbour is no other then her first true Chase, back from the war. The surprises just keep on coming and I cannot wait to see what happens next!

[PW · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally, Chase enters the picture. Maggie has come to a fork in the road where she is being pushed to find out or acknowledge the truth. Is her marriage what she wants? Does she want revisit her past?? What does she tell her daughter, Sarah? There are sooo many possible ways this can go sideways. Come on next book to give a little insight into what Maggie, Greg, and Chase are thinking.

This Booksprout ARC is well on the way to providing some answers.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Jeannine Wickliffe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maggie's dilemma continues

Maggie's run in with Chase is bringing up so much of the past. Then trying to deal with her husband by text isn't helping. Thankfully, her friend, Liz is there helping her face the truth. Maggie knows she has to tell Greg, her husband, the full truth and that Chase is living next door. She also has to face her feelings for Chase. Then you add in what and when to tell the truth to her daughter, Sara. While trying to make decisions about moving forward, she gets a frantic call from Sara

[Barb Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gets more interesting with every installment. Maggie continues to see horrible things online discussing her life. When one blog gets really deep and personal, she is upset but not sure where it came from. Maggie needs to deal with Greg and the appearance of Chase. As she struggles through it, Sarah calls and is upset as she admits she was the one who gave info to the blog. Wow! I received an advanced reader copy of this book from BookSprout, and this is my honest review.

[Carmela Dimattia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book three in this series and it was just as insightful and compelling as the previous two. A blast from Maggie’s past appears on the horizon and now it has Maggie wondering if she still in love with her first love, Chase, or whether she should be trying to resolve her marriage to Greg. And what exactly has her daughter done by speaking to bloggers? This a fabulous series and I'm eager for the next book.

[Vicki Stephens · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Summer of Second Chances, Book Three, has Maggie reviewing her marriage and what Greg;s sparse communication indicates to their relationship. She continues to stay with Liz in the mountains of North Carolina. While wading in a mountain stream and evaluating her life, Maggie slips and goes under the water only to be saved by a stranger who is actually not a stranger. The book ends in a cliffhanger.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Curvy Girl Book Nerd (Jen S) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Summer of Second Chances (Book 3 of Gingercake Mountain) continues Maggie's story. Her marriage is still in trouble. Greg tells her he wasn't having an affair, rather finding out about her secrets. It seems they all have secrets, even her daughter. And Maggie finds herself in danger. I can't wait to see what happens in the next book.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Tami Willard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Must read in order. A meltdown in a parking lot went viral. Her marriage is on the rocks over a twenty year secret. Her daughter wants answers. She's now forced to face her past while deciding what to do about her future.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Dianne Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unexpected encounter!

Wow - an unexpected encounter after tumbling into an icy stream sends Maggie for a tail spin. How is it possible? This series just keeps getting better and better as new revelations emerge. I love it and highly recommend the book and the series.

I read this book as part of an advance reader team. I am voluntarily writing this review.

[Roslyn Simonin Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liz and Maggie are coming home from dinner, when Liz notices the neighbor standing on the porch, a few doors down.
Liz laughs and calls him a Lumberjack.
Maggie notices something familiar. WHO is it?
What a series.
Get me to book #4. Love it Sage.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Erika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maggie is trying to think about her marriage and if it is worth saving. Her long held secret has been revealed. She decides to go for a walk despite warnings not to do it. Someone from her past will find her when she needs help.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Rhonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the story continues to unfold from the fallout from a very serious event that happened. It's interesting to read how she is coping with what happened and leaning on Friends and her own inner strength to get through what happened. Like the setting and background of the story. Good read.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maggie is a smart, sweet, caring and stubborn woman who has a lot of changes coming and each step opens a new mystery.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Raylene Weber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maggie is trying to figure how to forgive herself because until she does she can move forward
. But her daughter Sarah call crying and now she has to figure out what she is talking about. Read and find out.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Vickie Hopkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like the book and the stutter I’m going have look up some her books and start buying and reading them this book Series is really good.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Jacqueline Johnston Cotton · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great and interesting story! Love, friendships, relationships, reconciliation??? I love how the characters relationsips are building. So many things up in the air with twists I wasn't expecting. An excellent, entertaining read and amazing writing makes this a must read.

[Beverly Kee · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a storyline!

I'm not sure why but in many ways this book seems like it could be a different version of my life. The person you once were was buried and hidden from all including yourself! Loved the story and can't wait for the next one!

[Jeanne Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read a lot of books written by Sage Parker; she is one of my favorite authors. I can’t wait to read more of her books.

This is the third book in the Gingercake Mountain Series; the story continues from the previous book and needs to be read in order.

[B E · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maggie and her husband continue with their problems. He insists he hasn’t had an affair but she doesn’t know what to believe. They need to decide if they want to be married.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.