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Jokes, Java, and Second Chances: A Sweet Southern Small-Town Second-Chance Romcom
Rachel Hollis has a joke for everything.
Bad mornings. Burned biscuits. Nosy townspeople. Festival disasters. Men who walk back into your life carrying coffee beans and unfinished business.
Especially Sam Carter.
Years ago, Sam got too close to the real Rachel—the woman behind the fast mouth, bright smile, and perfectly timed punchlines. He wanted more. She wanted him too much to admit it. So Rachel did what she does she made a joke, made it harmless, and ran before wanting him could turn into losing him.
Now Sam is back in her daily orbit as the steady coffee genius behind Sugar Bend’s new Porchlight Festival coffee-and-dessert pop-up, and the town is watching every shared tasting, every late-night planning session, and every look Rachel pretends not to notice.
Sam still loves her humor. He always has.
But this time, he refuses to be turned into the punchline when things get real.
As their festival pop-up becomes the talk of Sugar Bend, Rachel has to face the truth she’s spent years laughing Sam was never temporary. Never harmless. Never just almost.
He was the man she wanted too much to risk.
And if Rachel wants a second chance with him, she’ll have to do the one thing that scares her more than losing control of a room.
She’ll have to tell the truth with no punchline.
Jokes, Java, and Second Chances is a sweet, closed-door Southern small-town romantic comedy featuring a second-chance romance, a heroine who hides behind humor, a steady coffee-shop hero who never stopped seeing her, meddling sisters, town gossip, Porchlight Festival chaos, and a happily ever after with cream, sugar, and no emotional escape hatch required.
Bad mornings. Burned biscuits. Nosy townspeople. Festival disasters. Men who walk back into your life carrying coffee beans and unfinished business.
Especially Sam Carter.
Years ago, Sam got too close to the real Rachel—the woman behind the fast mouth, bright smile, and perfectly timed punchlines. He wanted more. She wanted him too much to admit it. So Rachel did what she does she made a joke, made it harmless, and ran before wanting him could turn into losing him.
Now Sam is back in her daily orbit as the steady coffee genius behind Sugar Bend’s new Porchlight Festival coffee-and-dessert pop-up, and the town is watching every shared tasting, every late-night planning session, and every look Rachel pretends not to notice.
Sam still loves her humor. He always has.
But this time, he refuses to be turned into the punchline when things get real.
As their festival pop-up becomes the talk of Sugar Bend, Rachel has to face the truth she’s spent years laughing Sam was never temporary. Never harmless. Never just almost.
He was the man she wanted too much to risk.
And if Rachel wants a second chance with him, she’ll have to do the one thing that scares her more than losing control of a room.
She’ll have to tell the truth with no punchline.
Jokes, Java, and Second Chances is a sweet, closed-door Southern small-town romantic comedy featuring a second-chance romance, a heroine who hides behind humor, a steady coffee-shop hero who never stopped seeing her, meddling sisters, town gossip, Porchlight Festival chaos, and a happily ever after with cream, sugar, and no emotional escape hatch required.
454 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 21, 2026
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