Love, Second Chances and Other Nonsense

by Katie Ivey

Moving to my fiance Adam's hometown was supposed to be an adventure, the beginning of our life together. Instead, I'm met by his unwelcoming family and an old friend who wants more than friendship from Adam.
Adam swears Millie is just a friend, like a little sister to him. That their feelings for each other are completely platonic.
I just wonder if she believes this.
To his family and friends, I'm the outsider standing in the way of Adam and Millie's destined love story.
And when Adam proves repeatedly that he will choose Millie over me? I decide to choose myself and leave.
There is nothing like hard work to distract you from a broken heart, and so I throw myself into fixing up my grandmother's derelict house and helping in my family's struggling restaurant.
But now Adam is back. And he says he's going to prove to me I'm the one he wants.
My aunt and uncle are clearly softening towards him. My cousin wants to help me hide his body.
He let me down once.
Dare I trust him with my heart again?

Genres: Second Chance, Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Second Chance Romance, Family Drama, Small Town Romance

426 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 15, 2025

Reviews

[Val ⚓️ Shameless Handmaiden ⚓️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

The first 50% of this book was exactly what I wanted it to be...so much delicious angst.

And then the second 50% came and I was...bored, quite honestly. Which is why it took me so long to finish this. Overall a decent read that quenched my thirst for this trope.

[Irene · Rating 1 out of 5]

such a big fat loser, cooking for ow multiple times a week sometimes in their own home without telling her, going on a cruise with her and his family without her DURING THANKSGIVING AND LEAVING HER ALONE IN A TOWN WHERE SHE DOESN'T KNOW ANYONE, constantly leaving her alone, the whole Halloween debacle, never standing up for her to his narc mom etc.

she left everyone she knew for him to end up like this,,,,

Punishment never fits the crime imo, sure it was longer, and they never returned to that town, but it still makes me sick, he never planned to tell her they shared a room on the cruise (he knew it was iffy but not too iffy) it took him ow kissing her to wake up (ow even said you picked me over and over again)

i get narc moms manipulations, but you are 30 years old man you should have woken up sooner

ow and him dated in senior year (he never did beyond kissing her in hs, never wanted to date her, his mom pushed him)

[Jac K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, but I LOVE OW drama and am partial to this scenario… when the H is completely blind to the machinations of his female best friend. I even have an entire shelf dedicated to it. Add in even more drama from his bitchy mom and sister… Yum! But and this is a big BUT, you have to enjoy the drama of a second-best situation or you’re going to HATE this.

The blurb sets it up; Adam and Caitlin are engaged and have recently moved to his hometown. The book opens with them at Millie (his childhood friend) dad’s funeral. This starts the cycle of Millie falling apart and incessantly needing her emotional support person, Adam, and him being at her beck and call.

We all have different opinions, but if we have similar tastes in books, I didn’t consider this emotional cheating. For me that requires a level of intimacy, a deep emotional connection, sharing secrets, dreams, and intense feelings. I didn’t pick up any of that from Adam, but he did CONTINUALLY prioritize Millie over Caitlin. He was basically her bitch, but it was because he was under his mommy’s thumb not because he had feelings for Millie.

The Good
💌 I loved the way the author portrayed Caitlin. I was feeling all the feels right along with her: anger, frustration, hurt, jealousy, etc. She wasn’t a doormat, communicated, tried to be supportive, but set healthy boundaries.
💌 I like how she handled Adam’s “expectation” issues. Many readers will walk away and say Adam was a wimp, but I’ve worked within youth groups for years and have seen how much damage parents can do to children with their words. I liked how he took responsibility because ultimately, we are responsible for our actions, and so many authors want to use trauma as a means to brush off shitty behavior, but I also appreciated that it was acknowledged as a factor.
💌 The groveling was extensive in word and deed. He respected her pace and didn’t bully his way into her life or force things. I do think she should have followed up with him attending therapy since she opened the door with the uncle suggesting it and bringing his childhood brainwashing into the plot.

The Not-so Good
⚫ This is a Jac thing, but I dislike flashbacks. It makes for a disjointed narrative and messes with my flow.
⚫ The middle hunk got monotonous and started to drag. I think she could’ve shaved 50-70 pages out easily.

Bottom Line- This is one of those books that I purchased and highlighted scenes that I will reread repeatedly when I’m in the mood for OW, second best, aggravation drama. If that doesn’t sound appealing to you, I’d skip it. The first half was so dramatic, and the second half was Adam groveling and trying to make amends. It drags a bit but picks up again towards the end.

[Jen ♥]

DNF at 54%.

I thought I could go through with this, but nope, I'm done. After the epic disaster in all proportions of this first half, I don't think any amount of groveling would suffice for Adam's stupidity. The things he did and the way he made Caitlyn feel are absolutely unforgivable. I could rant on and on about how dumb he is, but that would take time and energy, which I lost just reading this. So no, I won't be writing another long review. It's just a matter of preference, and this book is definitely not for me. 🤷🏼‍♀️

[Koryne · Rating 5 out of 5]

okay let me say that i LOVED the h. she had her moments where i wanted to yell at her for giving the H two chances after he messed up but she openly communicated her feelings, her doubts, and her expectations for how she wanted to get over the hurdle that is the H’s childhood best friend (the ow) and when he didn’t keep his promises she left him. it’s not her fault that the H is a dumbass and kept fucking up.

i need to get the big question out of the way in that yes the H and ow dated in high school. he was literally raised to believe that her happiness and well being was THE most important thing and that really plays a part in why he acted the way he did. HOWEVER. he NEVER loved her like that. he only dated her (for a his senior year of high school) because everyone in their town pressured him to do it. they only ever kissed and he never once slept with her or wanted to sleep with her. he broke up with her because he wanted to get away from the pressures of always having to take care of the ow. and that’s why he went to college out of state and eventually met the h.

did he make MULTIPLE bad choices and neglect the h? yes he did. he would be at the ow’s beck and call basically and she would always be “having a crisis” when the h and H spent time together. he invited her over to their house without the h knowing and never stood up for her when his friends ignored her, when his mother and sister would belittle her, NOTHINGGGGGG. he was trash. like rage inducing hot garbage juice. the thing that saved this for me? the h. she stood on business and she was petty and she didn’t take him back until like 90% 😂

i don’t want to spoil like the ENTIRE book but the H had me wanting to throw my kindle into a fire but then you kind of understand why he acted that way and most importantly HE understood why he did what he did but he didn’t make excuses. he did what needed to be done in relation to his family and the ow and in the end i believe everyone got what they deserved 😏😏😏


there is some MINIMAL om drama in someone the h’s cousin sets her up with and she goes on a coffee date with him and immediately tells him she only wants to be friends and he is actually amazing and nice and knows everyone and i hope he gets a book and he also had the H super jealous for no reason which was SO fun to read about.



SUPER SPOILER FOR THE SAFETY SQUAD: 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩













it is important (for me) to not that the ow always told the h that she was the H’s first EVERYTHING. but she wasn’t. she wasn’t even his first kiss. he had a girlfriend that he dated in secret (as to not upset the ow and his mom 🙄🙄🙄🙄) but he felt bad for neglecting her so they broke up and THATS when he dated the ow. so he already had his firsts with someone else but the ow made it seem like they were soulmates to make the h feel some type of way. they both seemed to have healthy lives prior to dating but none was mentioned in detail and the prologue was literally just the H gushing about how much he loves the h.

[Raffaella · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was curious about this book after reading many reviews that were not exactly positive. But the plot is one of my favorites, so I gave it a try. Basically when the hero puts his female bestie and childhood sweetheart before the heroine again and again until the heroine leaves him.
And sue me, I liked it.
The hero is actually a dumb fugg, and the heroine is quite dense herself since it took her months of neglect and mistreatment before she decided to leave.
The books starts when hero’s bestie has just lost her dad. The funeral itself is a study in second hand embarrassment. The heroine is left alone while he takes care of ow as if she were his gf.
The hero’s family are awful people except one of his sister and her husband. They don’t consider the heroine as family even if she and the hero’s are actually engaged and living together for two years.
Every time they’re excluding from some event they repeat that it’s just for family, meaning she’s not.
She’s hurt and the hero being a people pleaser does exactly nothing.
Ow was his childhood bff and one with a lot of health issues, heart congenital defect, leukemia as a teenager, and he was guilt tripped on staying with her and becoming her living support since he was a child, so now that she’s lost her father his mother, ow mother and one of his sisters always call him for support insisting that the girl is severely depressed and frail and it’s his duty to take care of her.
As it was his duty to move back home and to take care of his father’s business when his father had a heart attack.
Basically dude can’t have a life.
He’s quite spineless and doesn’t even try to say no, and it’s embarrassing how he neglects the heroine very time ow is around or calls.
Eventually his mother forces him to go to a cruise with the family and ow and her mother excluding the heroine because she is not family and the hero’s accepts, even if he feels quite guilty.
And this happens at thanksgiving.
Leaving the heroine alone in a town where she barely knows someone, and she has no parents because her mother left her when she was a child and she lived with her old grandmother until she died and afterwards with her uncle and cousins.
The heroine at this point has enough and dumps his sorry ass without even say goodbye.
She waits until the hero has left for the cruise and goes back home ghosting him.
That was quite good because she didn’t even give him an explanation or a word.
He didn’t deserve it.
The cruise is a living hell and ow makes her move, kissing the hero forcibly while he doesn’t even want to have her around.
When he realizes he’s been ghosted by his fiancee it’s too late.
Then he decides that, even if the heroine has definitely dumped him he wants to show her he’s trustworthy and loyal, so he breaks up with his family and ow, he sells his business and he moves to the heroine’s town, working as a waiter in her uncle’s restaurant.
Nice.
He even helps her rebuilding her grandmother house that she wants for herself.
The heroine is conflicted but seeing how he’s changed in the end decides to give him a chance after some months.
So, what I liked.
I like this kind of plot, because there’s nothing romantic in the hero’s feeling for a female friend, but only obligations and guilt, so it’s not as if he’s cheating or dreaming of ow in any way.
- he doesn’t love her nor wants her, he just feels guilty because she was always frail and unwell, so it’s pity and his family pressure.
- they were dating briefly in high school because he was pressured by his mother but he broke up with her because he didn’t love her that way, and there was never sex between them, she was not his first love and not his first gf.
- ow is evil and manipulative but hero’s mother is the real villain, always making the hero feel small and unworthy and always pressuring him with duty he has to his family. The woman is really toxic and eventually the hero himself realizes it and decides to break up with her and his younger sister.
- the heroine may seem quite meek and passive but she was trying to salvage her relationship, I understand the boundaries are not always so clear and neat when it’s a friend and not a romantic interest so I wasn’t annoyed because she didn’t leave at once. She eventually left and for good, and I liked that she ghosted him, it was the ultimate rejection as if to say, you’re not even worth an explanation.
- I liked that the hero cut ties with his whole family except his older sister and husband, the only one who were decent to the heroine.
- the kiss. The hero was forcibly kissed by ow and he rejected her immediately after it. There were no feelings involved, just surprise and rejection from his part. I don’t find him guilty for the kiss since it was forced on him, and well he could have slapped ow but after all she was a woman and a friend and I wouldn’t have liked if he hit her. I’m not double standard and if it happened to the heroine I would say the same thing, even a man can be forced with a kiss, especially if he knows the woman well.
What I didn’t like.
- the book is quite long, sometimes there were repetitions of concepts and thoughts.
- the whole town where the hero lived looks like a bunch of unfriendly hillbillies. They never treated the heroine friendly and they never tried to be fair with her, I don’t know why, since she was kind and nice. Are all the people biased? Are they so rude and uncouth that they can’t even make an effort to make her feel welcome?
- the whole thing that hero dated ow for a couple of months during high school so every person twelve years later wants them to be a couple, well, that was kind of too much.
- at a certain point the heroines uncle says the hero was abused as a child because his mother forced him to take care of ow because she was a ick child, well, maybe, surely there were toxic relationships between him and his family especially the mother. Mothers can really ruin their children’s life.
- I liked the ending. The hero never went back to his hometown and never tried to mend things with his mother and sister. ow and evil sister got their comeuppance, while his ghost father decided to divorce his wife and to defend his son, better late than never.
- safety is good. Someone could say it was emotional cheating but it was more the hero always putting the heroine second to every one of his family members and ow than hi being invested in ow romantically. There’s a kiss but it was forced. The heroine dates another man but she just had dinner, nothing else.

[Annika · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Limp noodle alert ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The premise was good, but once she left him, the romance and my feels, flatlined. 💤 I really enjoyed the first 50%.

The moment it flips into the grovel arc, the story kind of loses tension instead of escalating, and I was skimming through.

Caitlin moves to her fiancé’s hometown in Iowa, expecting a future, and instead she walks straight into a setup where she will always come last..

His family treats her like an outsider and with rudeness. Adam never stands up for her,
and his “she’s like a sister” best friend Millie who is very much not just a friend, keep demanding his time. He obliges her every time 🖤while Caitlin sits alone in a new town surrounded by strangers.

So Adam kept choosing wrong. Not once, not twice, but all the time. There was a lot of “Millie is sad” and needs support.😳

Caitlin is lonely and isolated and the whole town pretty much works to set Millie and Adam up even though he is engaged.

The final straw being a family trip she’s not invited to…and he still goes. 😳🖤
Caitlin quietly packs up and leaves. She really did try to talk to him but he was never available..

The second half is pure grovel, but because he kind of beta, the redemption fell a little flat for me. She was better off without him.
Mean hero > Weak hero.

To his credit, he does the work. He dismantles his entire life, shows up, stays consistent, and proves change through action, not words. Yawn.

Should you read it? Nah

Chance of divorce? 70%

[Colleen · Rating 1 out of 5]

If Caitlin murdered Adam, Millie and his family too actually and if she had kept a journal during her relationship and after and then the judge read it, she’d get off scot free. He might even reward her.

This was a rage read, I read from 25% onwards. I could not have physically stomached reading the start because the aftermath was bad enough and then hearing about it when Caitlin was asking him stuff. Uhh I hate him so much!

[Grisette · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

In recent years, the betrayal/ grovel genre has known increasing recognition, with a plethora of new authors spinning quickly books. This is one development that I will always be grateful for. However, the quality, the emotionality and that little spark that makes them a good story is not always there. Many times, the idea is there but the execution is awkward, lacking and unsatisfactory. With this perspective, I was a little bit wary of this book since KI is amongst the newest to be published. I am glad to say that my apprehension was for naught.

Because this book, was the text book perfect example of what a satisfactory betrayal/grovel book ought to be. It was not flashy, over the top drama (which can also be epic as a b/g book if done well, but in practice they rarely are), but instead, it was entirely wholesome, realistic and true. That realism edge is what I particularly admired; the relationship ups and downs between Caitlin and Adam felt real and adult. The characterisation, the character growth and the psychological reasoning were extremely well done. Every word, every thought, every action made sense. The writing style and tone were so professional that I was floored - for a first time published work, this was indeed a feat. The drama component was there through toxic parents/OW and it was just the level needed without it feeling unrealistic. Those b/g readers looking solely for drama llama happenings might feel that this book was boring, but personally, I can only admire the thoughtfulness and sensibility the author poured in her story in every scene.

“Love isn’t always enough,” Peter says, echoing words Caitlin had said to me in November.

“I know that now. Love without courage, without action, it’s meaningless.”

Readers of the genre routinely ask what constitute a good grovel. Quantity wise, some do not need any grovel, some like OTT grovel. For my part, I like when the grovel is at least to the measure of the betrayal. In this book, the quantity was more than satisfactory with I think ⅔ of the book being the redemption path of the Hero. But where the book really shines, is at the quality level because KI smartly brought all the components of what a complete, real, and adult grovelling should be:

🏡 Acknowledgment, self-awareness and internalisation of the betrayal
🏡 Admission and acceptance of how you failed your partner
🏡 Empathy and realisation of what your partner went through
🏡 Take responsibility for the failure without hiding behind excuses
🏡 Seeing the consequences of the betrayal with open eyes
🏡 Verbal apologies, thoroughly and repeatedly
🏡 Take real action to make amendments
🏡 Real regrets, acting with genuine humility and no bulldozing
🏡 Self-realisation that you need to become a better person for your own sake
🏡 Patience and hope with no expectation or pressure
🏡 Growth and real change

This was my TED talk on Grovelling 101, courtesy of Katie Ivey 😁. Jokes beside, I know this all sounds very serious business, but I promise that this book was no self-help book. It was effective fiction that entertained me. But I could not finish this review without noting the strong psychology at work.

💯 recommended if you are looking for a solid and real b/g book.

[Miki’s⚠️ Safety Reviews & Rants⚠️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5
This was a emotional and angsty read!
At first I was sure I wouldn’t forgive the H. But alas the author did a great job of making me forgive and even feel bad for him.

I did wish the healing together had another chapter maybe.

This is Adam and Caitlin’s story. Originally on WATTPAD. Minor things have changed bit nothing majors


Sorry but OW does not need to be redeemed or fixed
His mom got her just deserts

Second chance/ betrayal Grovel

-Adam’s dad had a stroke and he moves back home w his fiancé to run the family business.

-His family is horrid. His mother and sister are seriously horrid and manipulative.

-A few months pass and Adam’s childhood bestie and ex GF and close friend of the family’s dad dies.now this Ex is a real piece of work.

-Over the next months Adam chooses OW over Caitlin. Has romantic dinners w OW. Is OW full grief support. S at her beck and call. Defends the OW. They have a Halloween party and the H ignores the h and spends all his time w OW while his friends and family treat her like crap.
Basically he is real inappropriate w OW. He is also super defensive.
The whole town, Adam’s family and friends, basically everyone throws OW in Caitlin’s face. About how OW is such a saint and ment to be w the H forever.
Adam sees all this to!

Caitlin does everything she can to support Adam while he is supporting the ex.
See OW is his childhood friend. She had cancer as a kid and the H was her only friend and protector. He has been OW everything since they were weeee little ones. Everyone thought they would marry.

Adam’s mom and sister are just absolutely horrendous to Caitlin. Of course the H does nothing. Also OW dad that died was like a second father to the H.

Thing genre and worse till Thanksgiving
Weekend. H tells h he has a going on a cruise w him s family and the OW to celebrate the OW dad and the h isn’t really invited. She is like…. The fuck? She she legit asked him not to go and tries to get him to see this is all wrong but he goes anyways.

She moves out and say back home.
H realizes he fucked up bad.
OW knows she’s him and tells him they should be together.
He sees he was all wrong.

He then chases after h.
She tells him to fuck off
H finally stands up to his family and OW

We find out that the H was pushes and manipulated by his mom his whole line. Basically he was abused and groomed to be everything his mom wanted and she wanted her son w OW. She he sees how they all manipulated him. But he also sees it’s been going on since birth

He moves to where the h lives and the grovel begins.


This was good. Gah I was sooooo mad at him. But once you see how broken he is from his mom’s abuse it made me feel bad for him. I was still mad but at least there was a reason. It’s so had to break that kind down for abuse and hold.

So eventually they reconcile. He fixes all the things important to her.
He does a good job. Ugh poor guy. But also mother fucker😡 lol

So anyways mom and others get their just deserts
H and h are married and have a daughter they are so happy. Epi 5 years out

safe w exception
OWD galore! He is really stupid
Ow kisses him but he pushed her away
He totally prioritized the OW and his family over her but the author did a good min with how brainwashed and abused he was. Total manipulation and control from birth by his mom. I do think his actions were so bad but also he groveled good and made it right and events broke that pattern of abuse
No virgins
Def emotional cheating but also not sure it is cause he was totally programmed. It’s a hard one.
No physical cheating but she does kiss him

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25⭐️

[Serial Romance Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the angsty plot and the epilogues. This was an excellent book! I was glad Hailey, Paula, and Millie got their comeuppance. Poor, dumb Adam!

[Amee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Living in a big city I’m all about reading books with small town vibes. After reading this I’m thankful all my relationships dating back to elementary school aren’t conversation fodder when standing in line at the local bakery. This definitely can give you the devils advocate viewpoint of what can be in a smaller town, especially when your family are the biggest instigators. The mom of our MMC, and the dad to a lesser but no less important degree, were just awful. And not only with how they initially treated our fmc, but with the parental pressure put on MMC so early in life until present. I felt for him, even as I was calling him mommy’s little biatch. The OW that is at the center is also manipulating our MMC and as much as her backstory made me feel sorry for her, your lot in life doesn’t give you the ok to hurt others. There was definitely a groveling tour, and during that time our MMC learns a lot about himself and his family. I will say there were some lagging parts, especially those heavy on construction of a house, but overall I enjoyed the characters, the angst and the ending. For authors first published book I was very impressed.

[reeder (reviews) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two and a half stars, rounding up to 3.

[What is this trope called? It's not second best, it's not cheating. Our MMC just relentlessly prioritizes someone else above his love interest.]

A number of plot points in this grovelmance are going to be familiar to readers of Siena Sloane's Pulled Away. When his father's health begins to fail, Adam and his fiancée Caitlin move from (somewhere else...I am the world's most inattentive reader when it's not feeding my angst monster) to his hometown in Iowa so he can run his father's business. Adam's mother and mean sister look down on Caitlin for both her non-nuclear family background and her lack of a college degree, but things get worse when the father of Adam's childhood friend/high school girlfriend Millie dies and Adam is drafted to support the incredibly fragile Millie through her loss. Caitlin feels abandoned as Adam devotes ALL his free time to Millie and the whole busybody town views it as a righteous rekindling of their high school romance. Caitlin's breaking point comes when Adam agrees to go on a Thanksgiving cruise his mother arranged for their family and Millie's, claiming she couldn't invite Caitlin because Adam's fiancée wouldn't be able to get time off from her new job on such short notice. Abandoned for the holiday, Caitlin takes the opportunity to leave this toxic environment and return to her family in Oregon. Adam soon follows and between his acts of service and her aunt re-framing Adam's behavior as the result of emotional child abuse by his mother, Caitlin eventually forgives him.

So...I feel a little guilty about the mediocre rating here. This book does much better than average on groveling and how to build a healthy relationship out of the ashes of a betrayal. The problem is that while I want good groveling and a believable relationship restart, I also want drama and outrage and confrontation. It seems like the new trend in grovelmance is redeeming a weak MMC (see also: Pulled Away and more Maya Alden stories than I can name), but I don't want a milquetoast hero. I want to revel in a MMC who defiantly does the wrong thing and resents being called out for his behavior until he finally realizes what it has cost him.

[Cc · Rating 4 out of 5]

I marked this maybe a couple weeks after it came out and then forgot about it, lol. But on the bright side, I had it to read when I was getting desperate for some angst. Some purpley prose, not enough to irritate, just enough to notice. Lotsa hero feeling sowwy for himself, but....I did feel the burn. I loooovveee the burn! Hero was a moron and a wuss, a beta moron wuss to boot,* but I totally enjoyed this. Finally, angst that got to me a bit. Author writes well, the story she told was her own and you could tell she enjoyed piling on the hurt and I hope she continues to write this way.
* I am aware that later the author wrote it as abuse from parents, and I get that. Maybe? But I'm not sure I get the angle, so maybe I'll waffle on the wuss, but not the beta and well, some of the stuff he pulled was moronic.

Triggers: Every single trigger known to irritate is in here. So if that's not what you like, you shouldn't read it. Indigestion awaits. As for me, I didn't even burp.
The Heather Wife: The Laird’s Redemption. Another, weak beta hero, but I totally loved Sorcha. Lady balls. I read Serial Romance Librarian's review and jumped on it.

[Nix Kharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this on Wattpad. At first it was quite a rollercoaster, but I got bored towards the end and started skipping while reading.

[Kathleen Lemke (Kathy Page) · Rating 4 out of 5]

My rating: 4 stars

What I loved: I loved how Adam(H) finally stood up to his family. I also liked how Adam’s dad divorced the mom. Loved Caitlin(h)’s family, especially her cousin and how she threatened Adam. Lastly, I liked how the ow went and got help after Adam’s sister stole her man. We rarely read in books how the ow gets the help she needs (even when it’s late)

What I didn’t like: It would have been nice if we got a chapter of seeing the sister and mother suffering instead of it just being mentioned. Also, it would have been great with a scene of the ow apologizing to the H and h.

***Major Spoilers/ Details/Triggers: OW drama, H’s mom and sister doesn’t like the h, death of a father figure.
H and h are engaged. H and h move to H’s home town to take over his dad’s company. Ow is a childhood friend that the H was told to look after. Ow’s mom and H’s mom are best friends. Ow battle cancer growing up so the H was always there helping her. They dated for a year in high school but decided “they” were better just friends. Ow’s dad passed away and the ow uses that to get the H to spend time with her. H constantly puts the ow first. When the H and h eat over at his parent’s house, they constantly talk about the H and ow together. They make the h feel like an outsider. Ow is constantly around the H, making sure to need him especially whenever he had plans with the h. When h hosts a Halloween party, the H’s friends ignore her and the H stays by the ow side the whole night. When h tells the H how she feels he tells her that the ow isn’t handling her dad’s death well. When h tells him that she should leave he begs her not to go, that he will put boundaries in place. When H’s mom decides to take the family on a cruise for Thanksgiving, she knows that the h won’t be able to get off of work since she just got hired there. H doesn’t want to go but his mom guilt trips him into agreeing to go. H asks the h to go but h can’t get off of work on a short notice. h tells him that she will be all alone and asks him not to go. h realizing the H is going, decides to end the relationship and move back home. H goes and h packs up and leaves. H tries calling the h but she ignores his calls. When he sees a picture of her on her cousin’s social media page having fun, he realizes the h left him. H starts to realize how his mother, ow’s mother and ow have been manipulating him. That they wanted the h to leave him so he could get back together with the ow. When ow kisses the H, he knows how much he messed up. As soon as he gets off the cruise he goes after the h. h tells him she is done and he should marry the ow. H goes back home and lets his family and ow know that he is done with them and that he would never be with the ow. That he loves the h. H packs, lets his sister have the family business and moves to where the h is. H gets a job at the h’s family restaurant and goes about earning the h’s forgiveness. H starts working on the h’s house that she grew up in with her grandmother. While working on it together they talk and H explains why he did what he did. When H’s dad has a heart attack, him and the h go to see him. H’s dad apologizes for his part and gets a divorce. H stands up to his family in front of the h. H and h go back home and they get their HEA…married and they have a daughter.

Final thoughts: This was my first book I read from this author. I truly enjoyed it especially the ow drama. I will definitely keep an eye out for more of her work.

[wrkatreading · Rating 2 out of 5]

not for me

MMC took way too long to stand up to his controlling manipulative mother, an ex childhood friend who had many childhood ailments, and a mean girl sister. The poor MMF stayed too long. Read at you own risk.

[Tiffany]

This is a good book. It’s long but I did like it. The problem was that it was long. And I was bored. I’m pretty sure I read this when it was on Wattpad also.
I quit at 60% but it’s just a me thing. I’ve been in a slump

[Bookish.Midnight. and. black · Rating 5 out of 5]

a perfect rage read
millie, the best friend, always put first

[pannit · Rating 3 out of 5]

สนุกแบบอ่านเพลินเลยแหละ เริ่มมาพระ-นางก็รักกันแล้ว หมั้นกันมา 2 ปี นางเอกย้ายไปอยู่เมืองบ้านเกิดกับพระเอก แต่ครอบครัวพระเอกไม่ต้อนรับมาก ๆ แถมยังมีเพื่อนวัยเด็กที่เคยคบกันกับพระเอกอีก หลาย ๆ เหตุการณ์พระเอกเอานางเอกไว้ลำดับท้ายสุดของความสำคัญ เจอบ่อย ๆ มันก็ไม่ไหวเนาะ จนมีเหตุการณ์หนึ่งที่นางเอกพอละ หนีไปเลยแบบไม่บอกไม่กล่าว นั่นแหละพระเอกถึงได้คิดได้

ถ้าอยากได้ angst กับ grovel นะ เรื่องนี้เสิร์ฟสุด ๆ หวานน้อยหน่วงทั้งเรื่อง ช่วงครึ่งแรกสงสารนางเอกมากกกกก พระเอกก็ง่าวละเกิน อ่านไปก็เข้าใจปมของพระเอกนะแต่ก็อดหงุดหงิดไม่ได้อยู่ดี ใด ๆ นักเขียนก็เขียนให้เห็นพัฒนาการของพระเอกอยู่ redemption arc ก้เริ่ด สาแก่ใจนัก

3.75/5

[Aarann · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

This was so good! I mean, yeah, I've read similar stories, but they tend to get way too bogged down in the guy's grovel, and no lie, this one did too, but just as that happened, the story actually progressed and I was back in.

Adam and Caitlin fell in love and were engaged to be married, and things were great until they moved back to Adam's hometown, and closer to his uber controlling mother, who always wanted him to get together with her best friend's daughter instead. Adam is never into the daughter, despite the fact that he used to date her, but a sort of emotional affair (not really, but it's the closest way to describe it) occurs anyway because he continually puts OW's needs ahead of Caitlin's and even his own. Eventually Caitlin has enough and her shut down is just so good. Even his awful monster mother doesn't know what to do with Shut Down Caitlin.

She returns to her own family, and it isn't long before Adam, realizing what he's done (to some extent, the full ramifications aren't fleshed out until later in the book) follows her. He finally realizes he needs to be away from his family and choose her, only Caitlin isn't having it.

My issue lately with the group of healthy grovel books that have been coming out is that they tend to get bogged down in the MMC's grovel. Quite frankly, they're a little too healthy (I know, I know) to be fun. I mean, yeah, I want the MMC who screwed up to grovel, but I also want him to fight and realistically, a healthy grovel tends to mean he backs off and gives the FMC space. That's no fun for me in a romance novel. I guess I need a little bit of unhealthy stalking, in my fantasy. That isn't to say the "new" grovel books featuring heroes to seek therapy and give space are bad, they aren't, and I still like them, keep them coming. But after a while, I start craving the unhealthy ones where he's invading her space and essentially just wearing her down and using dirty tricks to get her back (it's fantasy, not real life, sometimes I want what I want).

This was a great balance though. Adam gives space, but he also does his best to ingratiate himself into her life, getting to know her family and town (which is far more welcoming than his own). And even better, the book made me feel badly for him too, which is kind of rare in these books. At best, I usually just sort of understand what the MMC went through but I'm misandrist enough that I'm usually still totally Team FMC. I am happy to say I liked both here.

Honestly, why was this 4.5 stars and not five? No idea. None. Not at all. Might have just been my mood when I woke up yesterday. Because I definitely want to buy this and reread it again someday. Props to the author and I am definitely going to be stalking her on Wattpad to see what else she has.

[Claudia]

This book really reminded me of Pulled Away by Sienna Sloan, though it’s by a new-to-me author. The story follows Adam and Caitlin, who have been together for a couple of years and are now engaged. They were living in Ohio when they met, but eventually moved back to Adam’s hometown — and that’s when everything started to go wrong.

Once back home, Adam begins emotionally cheating on Caitlin with Millie, a childhood family friend whose father has recently passed away. Adam convinces himself that he “owes it” to his family and to Millie, but in the process he neglects Caitlin completely. He lets his mother constantly talk down to her without ever standing up for her, and he spends nearly all his time with Millie — dinners, evenings, errands, you name it.

The breaking point comes after a Halloween party Caitlin worked hard to prepare, only for Adam to ignore her the whole night. Then, his mother convinces him to go on a family cruise and not bring Caitlin along — which he actually agrees to. Hurt, Caitlin quietly starts planning her escape. She keeps up the façade of being the supportive fiancée, but secretly prepares to move back to Ohio with her aunt, uncle, and cousin.

While Adam is away on the cruise, he finally has a reality check. He realizes Caitlin is pulling away, sees how Millie constantly tries to insert herself and manipulate the situation, and recognizes just how badly he’s treated Caitlin. By the time he returns, though, it’s too late — Caitlin tells him she’s done for good, that he can go back to Millie, and that she wants nothing more to do with him.

The rest of the book is Adam’s redemption arc. He follows Caitlin back to Ohio, where he spends months groveling — fixing up her nan’s house, working at her family’s restaurant, and proving that he’s serious about changing. There’s some added side-character drama, but it all wraps up by the end. The epilogue jumps ahead five years, showing Adam and Caitlin married with a daughter.

[Samantha Shadoin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got rage baited the whole time.

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has a lot of good angst for both the h and H! Some moments made me rage and made me tear up, it was satisfying in that regard. I thought both characters were very likable all the way through which is rare in these reads. The only scene I didn’t love her in was when she was leaving. I really liked how strong she tried to be with the H during their relationship so when she left without a word it was disappointing. It felt very much like a ‘I don’t want a confrontation so I’m just going to slink off in the middle of night’ type of thing. I was ready for her to really give it to him! The angst of her leaving from his end was great though, heart pounding greatness. Seeing him slowly lose it more and more wondering why she is and why she wasn’t answering and to then to see those instagram pictures was soooo delicious!! The h not turning into a rage full, vengeful, shrew was so so appreciated too. She always handled herself with poise and grace, even when she was being a tad sassy, every time she was around the awful mom, sister, and OW.

While the angst was great the passion was not. I love that he went after her and how much he inserted himself into her life—working together and working on her home restoration together. There was no heat or sexual tension at all though!! I wish he would have forced some seduction—crowd her, rub up against her, brush her fingers, remind her why she’s attracted and in love with you,—I need that kind of physicality in my reads especially when we aren’t getting sex since they aren’t together. There’s a good 30% of this book without any physicality which totally killed the chemistry for me.

Plus, he just came across as passive even though he’s not. He’s barely sleeping because he’s trying to do so much to win her back but it just felt very passive nonetheless. I wanted him to be way more aggressive with the OM too. He just grits his teeth and deals with seeing the woman he loves hanging around someone else. I’m not saying he needed to go start a fight or to lay any sort of claim when he had no right but like get him away from her by spilling a drink on him, asking for the hs help, etc etc. The time when they are broken up just got kind of boring and there were so many redundant conversations. It’s very wattpadish in that way and should have been edited down before publishing it on KU. We just needed some meatier, more substantial scenes and interactions to really push the romance here.

Overall: 3.5 read this one for the angst though and the angst was really good here for it was overall a win.

[Googly55 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Very similar storyline to her book Viper (which I read right before this). Good angst, but omg, Adam is so WEAK. He lets his family and that shrew Millie run roughshod. His mom and younger sister are transparently evil and manipulative and one wonders why he would ever spend any time with Millie, she was even worse!

Caitlin had to leave him in order for him to see the light. Most enjoyable part was when Caitlin finally had enough and decided she was going to leave him (unbeknownst to him) when he went on the Thanksgiving cruise without her. He had no idea. The way she played him was delightful.

He was actually pretty pathetic. He did a total turnaround, groveled, made amends and she took him back… but wow, I don’t know how she could forget how lame he was.

[Mo ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.35 🌟
I actually really loved this.
Obviously at first I thought there was NO way the MMC would ever grovel enough and I wanted him to DIE PLS.
BUT now that I've finished this book, I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the OW drama, I enjoyed how the FMC said not one word, she just left him which I loved, I enjoyed how he ran after her and worked to get her back. And I absolutely enjoyed how the evil characters got their karma. This definitely was a story of forgiveness, family and love. And I was here for all of that.
I would 💯 read more books by this author, I think Maya Alden should stop writing books and take some notes. ✋️🤷🏻‍♀️😭

[Callie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted a bit of a rage read and the beginning definitely had Adam being super dumb.

He basically caters to his childhood friend over his fiancee over and over, due to his mother’s insistence and a lifetime of caring for her. I give Caitlin kudos because she gave him ten more chances than I would’ve.

I love a good grovel story and this definitely had it, although to be honest, I found a bit of the middle a bit slow.

But overall, I did like Adam working on himself, realizing his traumas, and how they found a new way forward together.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story wasn’t perfect and could have used some further editing, but the author made a messy and angst-filled situation work.

This was a well done redemption story in more ways than one. The betrayal is hard to read, but the work that is done on the back end explains a lot of Adam’s behavior and the emotional abuse he endured since he was a child. It is abuse that he doesn’t even realize until he is forced to confront the loss of his fiancé.

The author allowed space for the characters to do the work and make this a believable story about a messy, imperfect, and beautiful relationship.

[Kiley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love, Second Chances, and Other Nonsense was about 30-year-old Adam Kelley, a construction worker/carpenter, and 25-year-old Caitlin Hughes, a cook at a diner.

Trigger Warning: If you have endured emotional and/or psychological abuse or even manipulation from a parent or parents, be aware that this book will rock your world with it.

The book's prologue opened with Caitlin preparing to meet Adam's family for the first time. He had not proposed to her at that point, but planned to once he got his family's approval. The book then skipped ahead a year without ever showing how that first meeting went. Adam and Caitlin had moved to the town where his family lived just two months earlier. However, it was at that point that Adam had already started showing signs of spending more time with his childhood friend and former (high school) girlfriend, Millie Greene. They were all in church for Millie's father's funeral. Adam had spent the entire two weeks before the man died with his female BFF, and during the funeral, he was sitting with her and not Caitlin. When the funeral was over, Adam told Caitlin that they were all going back to his parents' house...everyone but her. She wasn't invited and was even told it was for "only family". He didn't return home until well after noon the following day, when he said he'd be home in time for breakfast. Instead of spending some quality time with Caitlin, Adam went to bed and slept until dinner time. But once again, even though she had cooked their dinner, he was heading out to "check on Millie" and her mother, per his mother's request. They fought and he left, only to return late that night with take-out and for some "makeup sex". However, the next morning, the mother of his female bestie called, and he rushed to be at the other woman's side. He spent the next week or two gone more than he was home. Only Lauren, Adam's older sister, her husband, and perhaps his father, Gerald, had any kind of relationship with Caitlin.

When Caitlin and Adam threw a Halloween party, he spent the entire evening with Millie, only giving a moment of attention to Caitlin...long enough to fight with her before returning to Millie's side. He never returned to the bedroom that night, sleeping on the sofa instead. A week later, she learned that Adam had been inviting Millie over so he could cook her dinner while Caitlin wasn't home...he had also been taking her out to eat, or cooking her meals at her place as well.

When Thanksgiving rolled around, he informed Caitlin he was going on a cruise with his family...and Millie's...but once again, Caitlin wasn't invited. Adam put up a very weak defense in her absence, but like always, he caved to his mother's whims, and that of Millie as well, so he left Caitlin home alone, in a town where she didn't know anyone...and then he found out he was sharing a cabin on board with none other than Millie and her mother, even though his mother had assured him he would have a room to himself. What he wasn't aware of was the fact that, while he was on a plane flying to Miami from Iowa, Caitlin was on a plane flying from Iowa back to Oregon to be with her family, leaving behind everything to do with Adam. She left her engagement ring, her charm necklace he had given her, and anything else that would connect the two of them. She didn't even respond to his calls or messages.

Most of the story revolved around Adam and his family drama, specifically how he dealt with Millie, his father, Gerald, his mother, Paula, and his youngest sister, Hailey. Once he had that semi-resolved, the rest was about how he won back Caitlin, the love of his life. But it was more about his growth than his grovel, which made the story all the more poignant and less of a drudgery to read. Many readers have said that the MMC did cheat, even if they believed it was just emotional cheating. However, it wasn't even that, because he didn't love the other woman. He was only involved with her in the way he was because of emotional/psychological blackmail from both his mother and the other woman's mother. I loved how the author brought that truth to life and opened his eyes to all the manipulation over the years.

The angst, drama (more like melodrama), and push/pull were quite prevalent, and the emotional rollercoaster had more than its fair share of twists and turns. While there were some spicy scenes, this author didn't make the pages too full of them; therefore, the story wasn't overflowing with hormones and testosterone. It was nice to see an author provide more growth than sexual tension, as she focused more on rebuilding trust than deflecting with intimacies that could have been out of place with the way the plot was written.

While both main characters were fully developed, it was easy to see that the FMC was the more mature of the two, and the MMC was more stunted in his emotions because of the emotional and psychological abuse he had endured for his entire life. The growth he went through was a pleasure to read and be "a part of" because he really did a ton of soul-searching and growing. But then again, so did the FMC, so it evened out.

I gave this story a four-star rating because it honestly earned it. I would have given it five, but the length of the story and all of the repetitiveness detracted from the flow of the story, so I just couldn't go a full five stars.