Joey Greer is done having her heart broken. Eight years ago, after a horrific car accident, Jackson Pierce—her high school sweetheart—abandoned her. Abandoned his family. Abandoned the town they'd both grown up in, and fled to Hollywood. He never looked back, and she never forgot him.
Or forgave him.
Now he's back, pretending like the past doesn't exist, wanting another chance. And even though she still feels the undeniable connection between them, the fiery attraction that burns her up from the inside out, Joey’s determined to keep him at a safe distance.
Jackson Pierce can't tell Joey the truth about the night when he left her in the hospital. It would ruin more than just their relationship, and he can't do that to her.
The entire town of Blue Moon knows that Jax and Joey are meant for each other, but Joey isn’t interested in giving him a second chance. All he can do is give her flowers. And picnic lunches. And a dog.
Oh, and handcuff himself to her for charity.
Will this second chance be the last one Jax needs to win back Joey's heart, or is the past too much to forgive?
Lucy Score is an instant #1 New York Times bestselling author. She grew up in a literary family who insisted that the dinner table was for reading and earned a degree in journalism.
She writes full-time from the Pennsylvania home she and Mr. Lucy share with their obnoxious cat, Cleo. When not spending hours crafting heartbreaker heroes and kick-ass heroines, Lucy can be found on the couch, in the kitchen, or at the gym.
She hopes to someday write from a sailboat, oceanfront condo, or tropical island with reliable Wi-Fi.
I loved two previous books in this series, and since I have light OCD - I can’t skip books in series, either I read them all or I skip them all - I read this one too.
What I liked: - I was happy to meet MCs from 1st & 2nd books. Two amazing couples! - They (even the H – his only action I liked) adopted animals from animal shelter. Adorable, sweet, funny – loved it!!! - Epilogue about dad’s day – sweet!
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Second chance is my less favorite trope ever. Ugh!
I couldn’t stand the hero in previous books. But I gave him a chance. I still didn’t like him at the end.
Coward. Plain and simple – coward. He left her after the accident, he didn’t contact her and then just forced himself in her life and literally wore her out. His reasons to leave were NOT enough, IMO.
Everyone just accepted him. He didn’t even think she wouldn’t forgive him, it was a done deal, just the deadline was blurred.
He wore her out. And she gave in, coz it was fate and since everyone was sure these two were meant to be together -> yada yada HEA.
He wasn’t celibate and thanks God she wasn’t celibate either!!!
But….. sex without condom -> eww. Birth control doesn’t protect from STDs. Common, you’re smarter than that!!! No talk about health status + unprotected sex. And all this with a man, whom she saw with many OWs (she saw his pics online). Sorry, it was just stupid.
I didn’t hate the heroine, but I didn’t like her either. She wasn’t cool as I expected her to be, or maybe it’s my disappointment speaking – it’s hard for me to support a woman, who forgave a coward.
Lucy did an amazing job to make the hero’s character likable. Really great job. But Alex is a hard nut.
My feelings about the hero and my secret wish this heroine did exact this thing to him:
What a disappointing read. I did not like this one at all and that's completely surprising because I loved the previous two books so much. The only reason I am giving this two stars is because of the side characters and getting to see Carter and Summer and Beckett and Gianna again. Other than that, this was a very bland, frustrating read with a terrible hero. So much so that I ended up skimming the latter half. I really did not like Jax. He is such a coward and selfish. The one thing that annoyed me the most was he came back and just tried to continue things with Joey like he hadn't been gone for 8 years. It was like he expected her to just wait around for him and be available since he was back now.
Since this was the third book in the series, Jax has been back for sometime now and it really shocked me that he still hadn't given Joey any apology and/or explanation for why he had been gone for 8 years with no contact whatsoever. Instead of just trying to buy her love with gestures, he should've been a man and just talked to Joey from the beginning like an adult. And then after talking, he could do the big romantic gestures.
Honestly, I didn't feel for their relationship at all. I felt that Jax just continually forced himself onto Joey and just kept on wearing her down until she gave up and accepted him again because he was so annoying and everybody else wanted them together. Joey was supposed to be this badass, but I felt like she just lost her backbone sometimes with Jax. I just didn't connect to their relationship at all. And also, I don't buy the reason for jax leaving. I don't think the reason was good enough and made up for him leaving for 8 years and hooking up with other women during that time (I'm glad Joey wasn't celibate). He could've easily contacted her or came back earlier to talk it out.
Sorry for the rant, I'm just very annoyed and disappointed. The series was going so well so I really wanted to like it and obviously I'm in the minority here so I don't know what's wrong with me. Oh well.
I wasn't sure how I would go with reading The Last Second Chance. Was the how and why of Jax's abandonment going to satisfy me enough to believe in their love story? Did Jax leave Joey just to seek fame and fortune? Should Joey be left alone because she says she's content on her own and her horses make her happy? Like Joey's concerns, how was Jax going to convince me that he's staying for good this time? Well, the truth is in the 4-star rating. I'm convinced that Jax WAS a dinglebat...but I'm also convinced that he learnt his lesson and knows where his heart is at.
Jax and Joey are completely lovable and from the start, I knew they were meant for each other. But, I also know that Jax hurt Joey and won't tell her why. How am I supposed to forgive him...I mean...How is Joey supposed to forgive him? It was going to have to be a really good reason to convince me...I mean Joey, that those eight years apart were necessary.
I completely understood Joey's hesitation in giving Jax a second chance. There was an undeniable spark that hasn't dimmed from when they were teenagers. Joey is not willing to risk her heart again, but she can't deny her body still yearns for his touch. Jax wants Joey's body...but he wants her heart more. It's going to take a lot of grovelling, plenty of sweet words, and a few big gestures to win Joey's heart again.
Lucy Score does a wonderful job of convincing me that Jax is worth taking a risk on and Joey will really only be happy with Jax by her side. This story is sweet, sexy and at times very funny which balanced out my frustration, confusion and sadness. I knew that is was going to be rough at times, but it was never too rough or heartbreaking.
This series is quickly becoming a favourite. I love these imperfect characters who just want to love and be loved warts and all. Their town is quirky and full of funny and very original characters. Jax and Joey's family are exactly what a family should be...loyal but annoying. I admit that I'm always reading this series hungry as food is mentioned quite a lot. I want Joey's recipes...to give hubby. ;-)
Sorry, this review is a little bit rambly. I'm a wee bit tired but I was determined to not go to bed until I'd got my thoughts down. If you love a good small-town romance, I highly recommend giving this series a go. Lucy Score writes funny, heartwarming and original stories that always leave me satisfied.
Decided to do an official DNF and no official review.
Hallmarks of Rom Com again, and the H really does try and woo his heroine so hurray for that. However, and it's a biggie for me, his reason for leaving with no word for eight years was weak. Plus, the big men (the H, his father and the h's father) making decisions for the little lady was just a little gross, dated and I'm just not in the mood for that crap. So, it's a little it's me, not you,. Not the least of which is the h was a pretty kickass heroine who did not need to be protected and betrayed like that.
Deeply frustrating. Presumption and demands when it comes to love is probably my least favorite modus operandi in a hero or heroine, but a hero with amends to make and an explanation to give after years of silence being presumptuous and demanding? That is guaranteed to keep me solidly out of the story.
At no point did I feel invested in the reconciliation and I am totally #TeamSecondChanceRomance. I should have loved this, but couldn't get there. I finished only because I'm a completionist.
Jackson should have lead with the reason for leaving, making absolutely no demands, then spent the next however many pages demonstrating, with his actions, his plan to stay and his love. As it was, he just strong-armed and manipulated his way back into Joey's life and her bed.
I read the first book in the series, so I know the ground was seeded for his return, there, but the jerk's first action upon arrival is to give Joey a non-consensual kiss when he sees her, so the dye was already cast, I suppose.
Joey, for her part, should have been a character I liked. In fact, I liked her in Book 1. I never mind a heroine that's introverted and a little curmudgeonly, who goes against romantic heroine type. But, her characterization as determined and principled fell apart when the author spent the entire book letting her be batted around by the decisions of the principal men in her life.
That situation with her father and Jackson telling her she had to forgive him, in essence, because of the projection of his issues with his own dad? I'm sorry, what?
I cannot deal with this series any longer. I have TRIED my HARDEST to love this series because aesthetically, I am obsessed with them: the cover designs, the page length, and the books generally feel so nice to hold. However, these suck!
The first book, No More Secrets, was my second ever Lucy Score book after HATING Things We Never Got Over. I picked it up because it was a small-town romance, and it was the shortest Score book I'd ever seen. I did not end up loving that book at all and settled on a three-star rating, but I chalked it up to being mid because I was in the worst reading slump of my life late 2024.
Then, in May, I read book two, Fall Into Temptation. I had medium expectations, partially because I found book one mid, but still held out hope this series could be something for me. Book two was a two-star read all throughout until the last 80-100 pages. Those pages were GOOD, but the rest? I wouldn't recommend those to my worst enemy.
Now, I'm on book three, and I just can't take it.
The Last Second Chance had PROMISE. Especially with how book two ended so well, I had high expectations that this would deliver. At first, it did. There was drama and flirtatious yearning that I sought in my contemporary romances, but as the chapters got longer, my attention span wavered. The drama I sought after ended up being too much. I was 70 pages in, and there was already enough drama to fill up this entire 384-page read. I didn't understand how we could have THAT MUCH. If there was any Lucy Score book that actually deserved to be as big [in page count] as she normally does, it would be this one. I've found the pacing of this series to be oddly prioritized, but this one takes the cake.
The entire premise of this book is that Joey Greer and Jax Pierce had a wild love story when they were high schoolers. They were going to be something together. When an accident happens that leaves Joey alone, and Jax goes to Los Angeles to build his career and stray from being a small-town nobody, Joey vows never to forgive him. Now, Jax is back in town as a bigshot screenwriter, and he's finally back home to claim his woman, but she isn't making it easy on him.
We don't see much of Jax's career, and we also don't see much of Joey's passiveness towards him. I wanted more angst, and instead I was given a fast-paced yet somehow boring romance.
I want to love this series, but these books make it impossible to.
I hate it when authors forget their own characters...what they were like when they first introduce them . When the 2nd and 3rd book comes out I felt I was launched into another universe. What a ridiculous bunch of clowns. I can't believe how this has spiralled into a circus. Ug. It was bad with Gia in book 2. I was hoping to get back on track in 3 but it's awful. Summer is an airhead, Gia is still not worthy of Beckett (barely know each other and now playing house) and their mom is such a bimbo. Seriously where is her class? I don't care if her sons are grown men. Have some self respect and dignity of being their mother...don't let them catch you playing “stuff the sausage” with another man (even if you are a widow) at any age. Then she acted nonchalant about it. Not funny. Speaking of not funny let's get back to the airheaded women. Summer was normal (book 1) then Gia happened and now it's all prepubescent squealie girls. Seriously they lost their I.Q. "Did you say penis? Tell me about the penis. So you had sex. Tell me everything." On and on this poor attempt at humor was vomited throughout the pages. I had to skim through any and all girl gatherings to find substance. As for Jax. Hmmm. I was hoping for something more I guess. I mean he abandoned "the love of his life" for a seemingly fair reason. In those 8 years he says it was always Joey. "I only loved her and blah, blah , blah." Yeah right. He learned from his momma and danced in bed with many women during those pinning years. One of his play things Joey meets and she believes all his sweet nothing's which are nothing because if he loved her he wouldn't have screwed around for EIGHT years. Don't even get me started on the lack of privacy and group harassment with the whole family and town. The beautification committee is so dumb. Soooo many clowns in this circus. I'm done with this series.
3.5 stars This was a fluffy read. h/H were in love eight years back & after a car accident he walked away with no word . He has spent the past eight years in Hollywood, dating models & actresses & thinks now that he is back h should fall back into his arms coz he has always loved her. Yeah! Thankfully h has not been celibate either pining for him instead she hates his guts and makes him work for it. When she finds out why he left she is more pissed. This was decent though I don't know why the author had to throw in a run-in to the hero's ex, I always hate that in books.
Life got crazy and i feel like this took me an entire month to finish BUT I STILL LOVED IT!! These characters story were so hyped up in the first two books that i just KNEW i would love it!
I was skeptical going into it, knowing some of the story from the previous books, and ended up liking it more than I thought. But a lot of things still bothered me.
For one, I felt like Jax’s confidence that she would take him back sometimes made him seem like he wasn’t remorseful/didn’t think it was a big deal. Also the fact that he wouldn’t tell her why he left for so long… if you wanted to win her back, you should be all in with honesty.
Then onto why he left. I get it - I understand it, he was young and her dad scared him and took advantage of a terrible moment. But to stay away 8 years!! That seemed too long to me and made me sad for their wasted time. (Also, her dad refused to say sorry!! What?? This was a huge, life altering event for her and he won’t even apologize for causing it.)
One thing I did like - Joey’s reluctance. It was drawn out at times, but if felt realistic to me that someone would be back and forth in trusting him.
To some extent, Jax won me over. But he claims to have loved her the wholeee time without once contacting her and while dating other women. We even have to meet one of his exes, who was nice and assured Joey it wasn’t serious but she really seemed to serve no other purpose except to remind me he was with other women. No thanks. (they also have a discussion about if her boobs are real which I really didn’t need. I guess Joey is cooler than I am about that stuff.)
Overall, I liked it more than I thought, but didn’t feel as swoony as I wanted to.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
“Don’t ever let anyone make you feel less than, and that includes yourself.”
I knew it. I knew this was going to be my favorite of the Pierce brother’s stories. I already loved Joey. I already loved Jax. Add to it a second chance and color me gone.
Behind all that, Mr. Hollywood is just a boy still in love with his childhood friend and high school sweetheart. And Jojo never stopped being the 5 year old girl infatuated with her kindergarten best friend.
They may be all grown up. They may have two broken hearts they had to learn how to live with. They may have worked hard to make every other dream come true. But they will never stop being Ace & Jojo. Because unconditional love is loving someone even if you think they don’t love you back anymore.
Heartbreaking, funny, swooning. With rescue dogs, crazy goats and a nosy town. What else is there to ask for?
What’s inside: 🖤second chance 🖤small town romance 🖤secrets 🖤childhood friends to lovers 🖤found family
Definitely, definitely my favorite of the series so far!! I adore books where the guy makes a mistake and bends over backward to get the love of his life back!
Joey and Jax’s story - finally! I loved, loved this story. The journey to their reconciliation was painfully beautiful and wonderfully healing for the reader as well as Joey and Jax. You will feel all the things while reading this book - one minute I was snort laughing, then swooning, then gasping, then gritting my teeth, and then I was crying. This was a swoony, hilarious, fun, sweet, steamy, heartwarming second chance story with some angst. Joey is in charge of the riding program at Pearce Acres Farm in quirky small-town Blue Moon Bend. She grew up with the Pearce family and thought Jackson Pearce was her soulmate until he left on the eve of HS graduation in the middle of the night while she lay injured in the hospital. When Jackson, a famous and rich Hollywood writer and producer, returns home after 8 years, Joey is not interested in rekindling what they had. But Ajax came home for Joey, and he is willing to wait. The interplay between the main characters, the interplay between the Pearce brothers, the interplay between Joey and the Pearce wives, and the ridiculous but loving town all combine to make this story heart warming feel good perfection. This is a funny story, but it’s also a deeply emotional story, which includes witty dialogue, characters with depth, growth, and an engaging storyline. I love this series and this town.
I found it hilarious that Jax would walk on his family half-naked/post sex. 😂 😂😂
**Second chance **Small town romance **Childhood friends to lovers 💕 **Slow burn (8 years) **Chemistry 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Here’s the thing. My immediate rating after finishing was a five. The things that bothered me (I am getting to them) bothered me the whole book. But that Blue Moon magic and my love for the Pierce brothers left me with a happy feeling after I read it. I blame serotonin from excessive laughing😂
Then, my partner in reading crime finally finished it today and we got to chatting (as one does) and the same crap that dug at me the whole book also bothered her. And a day removed from the finishing glow, well, I started thinking. And thinking some more. Particularly about Joey’s asshat Dad and Jax’s life in the 8 years before returning to town.
So now it’s a three:
⭐️ for the awesomeness that is Blue Moon and the side characters. I freaking want to move to this town just to see the Facebook group madness😂 But also, the way the town takes care of its own- it’s beautiful and magical. ⭐️The John Pierce writings🥺🥺 ⭐️The magnificence that is the Pierce family- I love their dynamic and seeing SummerCarter and GiaBeckett again. The epilogue 😭😭
Listen, Joey training Clementine 🐐 to attack Jax deserves it’s own star😂
The amount of laughing to the point of tears at this book I did makes me still really like it.
BUT
Jackson F-ing Pierce- you sir did not do right by your love for Joey. Let me count the ways. 1. I was pissed when Jax returned in book 1 and immediately kissed her. She slapped him- I would have added a kick to the groin. No way should he have touched her without an explanation as to why he abruptly left. 2. You cannot convince me you only loved her those 8 years you were gone while also sticking your 🍆 multiple places. I didn’t need the Didi scene, but here we are. More plausible would be he thought he’d never see her agian, was doing his bit, saw the picture on Summer’s blog and realized he needed to go make it right. 3. Him not realizing he needed to apologize for HOW HE LEFT and not the accident itself makes zero sense. 4. Jackson being mad Beckett and she made out one time while he was with all those other women. Please son. Sit down😂 5. His reasoning for not telling her everything when he arrived made no sense. Grovel more, also be honest at the start. If she chose you over her jackass dad, it’s her choice to make.
Her DAD. Nope - no sir. You NEVER apologized to Joey for what you did. You would be dead to me. Cut out of my life. You don’t crush your daughter’s heart, threaten the livelihood of an entire family, and blackmail an 18 year old kid because you were SCARED. No fucking way. The reconciliation with him never made sense to me.
In the end, the town, the familial bond and dynamic, the family secrets revealed scene in the closet 😂, and the epilogue save the book for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
so each book in the series is basically a slightly different variation of the last one, but i’ve enjoyed every single one even if they aren’t exactly well written.
I adore the Pierce brothers and would love to live in Blue Moon, but this book irritated me. Joey was in a traumatic car accident, abandoned, left heartbroken, and was questioning her self worth. The blow to her young self-esteem would have been something else. Then to have Jax off in Hollywood living his life and her witnessing from afar all the women he was with. I understand he was young when everything went down and he had his own self worth issues, but he was gone for 8 freaking years. I just don’t buy that he was so in love with her that entire time, but never attempted to contact her and paraded around with various women knowing Joey could easily see those photos. (Don’t get me started on Joey having to meet Didi and the whole boob conversation) It came off to me like he was done sowing his wild oats, saw Joey’s photo, and decided it was time to settle down. Joey, in the meantime, ended up building up these walls and tried to prevent herself from getting hurt again. The moment he came back he should have been honest with her and then maybe they could start rebuilding their relationship. Instead, he just kisses her after all this time and declares he is back for her. He was more confident than he should have been.
Secondly, her father is a jerk. I have nothing nice to say about this man. The way he treated Jax was so ridiculous. A deer ran in front of the car. It wasn’t like Jax was drinking and driving. Deciding to threaten a lawsuit to take away a family’s home and livelihood is too much. He threatened his own daughter’s future career. At the end he is telling Jax he better never hurt Joey, but the reason Joey was hurt in the first place was because of her self-righteous jackass of a father. He never even said he was sorry. His daughter’s heart was wrecked and 8 years of her life was wasted. I’m sorry, but I live in Pettyville and there is no way I would have let him off the hook so easily.
I know this was supposed to be about them growing and coming back together older and as individuals since they were so young when they got together, but it didn’t work for me.
I did love the brothers interactions, rescuing the animals, John’s writings, the twins birth, and the epilogue. I just wish Jax really would have truly earned back her trust and love. I also wish someone would have banished her dad to the other side of the country.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Reasonably, rationally, morally I'm not at all cool with an ex-love waltzing back into the partner they abandoned's life and demanding a second chance. The fuck is that behaviour? However... fictionally I'm not all that bothered. Fiction makes my morals and sense take a well deserved nap and lets goblin-me enjoy the notion of presumptuous love like that being normal human behaviour.
I love goblin-me. She's a messy, ravenous monster and she gobbles down all the absurd tropes. And Dax and Joey's story left me very sated. It was a lot tamer than the previous two stories, the only real problem these two had was each other and really, it wasn't such a huge a problem they couldn't, I dunno, have a chat and figure their shit out reasonably? But I'm a sucker for a heroine who makes the H work for forgiveness when they've fucked up royally, especially when the H in question is a human fucking Labrador and impossible to resist.
The push and pull between them was just right, their final coming together expected but no less enjoyable. This was simply a comforting read. All the Blue Moon books are, which is why I'm glad there are five more and a novella in the series to go. Yay for sappy comfort reads with a little smut thrown in.
...but it was definitely the LONGEST. I, as I imagine most people would, gave up about midway through, when there was no end in sight. All I was looking for, was a simple, easy to read in an afternoon, romance. What I got instead, was more of a ‘good grief almighty, does this thing END? We don’t need miles and miles of endless narratives to stretch a book to kingdom come. More isn’t always better. Sometimes, it’s just...more.
3.5⭐️ I really wanted to love this one, but, alas, I did not. I liked it. But it was about 100 pages too long. I’ve been rooting for this couple since book 1, so it was fun to have them together, but it just got repetitive and unbelievable and some of the dialogue is cringey. But I’m still enjoying the Blue Moon characters and this series overall.
Friends to lovers to 9 years apart to lovers. I was waiting for joeys book. Joey runs the stables. Jax comes back because he realizes he’ll never love anyone else. He fights/grovels for her. The epilogue was a good closer for the brothers books.
Have I mentioned my love of Lucy Score? If you've talked to me or read anything I've written, chances are you know that by now so it shouldn't surprise you I'm on a mission to read her backlist. My dear friend Tracy started reading the first book in her Blue Moon series a while ago and I knew I had to stop what I was doing to pick it up. I was most excited for this one, the third book in the series.
If you've read any of the Blue Moon books, you know Jax Pierce came back to his hometown to finally, finally lay claim to Joey Greer. They were high school sweethearts until Jax was driving the night of their swerve and try to avoid hitting a deer car accident that landed Joey in the hospital unconscious. Jax disappeared after that and 8 years later showed back up. In books one and two, we saw the two fight and be at odds, yet always with some tension and chemistry. Can they overcome their dramatic past and have a future together?
Unpopular opinion... I didn't love this one. I enjoyed it, yes, but I think I had higher hopes and this didn't do it for me. I suppose there was plenty of push and pull in books one and two but I anticipated more in this one. I also figured out the reason why Jax left pretty early on so nothing was too surprising for me. I freaking love Joey's character. She's so candid and stubborn. Such a tomboy. She was entertaining as hell. I enjoyed it, but didn't love it. You know I'll still pick up book four though because I love this town and the characters in it. It reminds me so much of Knockemout in Things We Never Got Over.
Once again, I loved this book. But unlike the others, this book made me cry. And there were moments of gasping when secrets came out. Still a perfect rom com, I was also laughing out loud several times throughout the book. Just some added depth ♥️