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Violet Hill #3
Second Chance
Serena Nolan's summer isn't going how she planned. Fortunately, her cousin, Anna, is there to rescue her from spending her time off from college with parents who don't understand (or want to understand) her. Serena's thrilled to be living with Anna and her girlfriend, Lacey in Lacey's studio, and working in the Violet Hill Cafe. She's even adores Lacey's cat, Murder.
What she definitely didn't plan was running into her ex, Fiona Davis. They'd been best friends that had turned into something else, but everything had crashed and burned before the end of high school several years ago.
Serena is still smarting from the heartbreak, but she can't say no to spending some time with Fi. Against her better judgement, old feelings are mixing with new ones, and she doesn't know what to do. Serena will have to decide if past heartbreak is going to keep her from a potential future with Fiona.
Other books by Chelsea M. Cameron:
Nocturnal (The Noctalis Chronicles, Book One)
Nightmare (The Noctalis Chronicles, Book Two)
Neither (The Noctalis Chronicles, Book Three)
Neverend (The Noctalis Chronicles, Book Four)
Whisper (The Whisper Trilogy, Book One)
Deeper We Fall (Fall and Rise, Book One)
Faster We Burn (Fall and Rise, Book Two)
Together We Heal
My Favorite Mistake (Available from Harlequin)
My Sweetest Escape (Available from Harlequin)
Our Favorite Days (My Favorite Mistake, Book Three)
Sweet Surrendering
Surrendering to Us
Dark Surrendering
For Real (Rules of Love, Book One)
For Now (Rules of Love, Book Two)
Deep Surrendering
UnWritten
Behind Your Back
Back to Back
Bend Me, Break Me
Style
Brooks (Benson Brothers, Book One)
Second Kiss (Violet Hill, Book One)
Double Exposure (Violet Hill, Book Two)
What she definitely didn't plan was running into her ex, Fiona Davis. They'd been best friends that had turned into something else, but everything had crashed and burned before the end of high school several years ago.
Serena is still smarting from the heartbreak, but she can't say no to spending some time with Fi. Against her better judgement, old feelings are mixing with new ones, and she doesn't know what to do. Serena will have to decide if past heartbreak is going to keep her from a potential future with Fiona.
Other books by Chelsea M. Cameron:
Nocturnal (The Noctalis Chronicles, Book One)
Nightmare (The Noctalis Chronicles, Book Two)
Neither (The Noctalis Chronicles, Book Three)
Neverend (The Noctalis Chronicles, Book Four)
Whisper (The Whisper Trilogy, Book One)
Deeper We Fall (Fall and Rise, Book One)
Faster We Burn (Fall and Rise, Book Two)
Together We Heal
My Favorite Mistake (Available from Harlequin)
My Sweetest Escape (Available from Harlequin)
Our Favorite Days (My Favorite Mistake, Book Three)
Sweet Surrendering
Surrendering to Us
Dark Surrendering
For Real (Rules of Love, Book One)
For Now (Rules of Love, Book Two)
Deep Surrendering
UnWritten
Behind Your Back
Back to Back
Bend Me, Break Me
Style
Brooks (Benson Brothers, Book One)
Second Kiss (Violet Hill, Book One)
Double Exposure (Violet Hill, Book Two)
75 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 20, 2017
7 people are currently reading
195 people want to read
About the author
Chelsea M. Cameron
114 books4,880 followersChelsea M. Cameron is a New York Times/USA Today/Internationally Best Selling author from Maine who now lives and works in Boston. She's a red velvet cake enthusiast, obsessive tea drinker, former cheerleader, and world's worst video gamer. When not writing, she enjoys watching infomercials, eating brunch in bed, tweeting, and playing fetch with her cat, Sassenach. She has a degree in journalism from the University of Maine, Orono that she promptly abandoned to write about the people in her own head. More often than not, these people turn out to be just as weird as she is.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
June 28, 2018
“Second Chance (Violet Hill #3)” is the third of three novella length (2 hours) stories that feature friends and family members who work at, or frequent, an LGBTQ friendly cafe.
“Second Chance” is similar to the first book, in that one MC left the other several years ago, and now wants…wait for it….a second chance.
But “Second Chance” is also like the second book, in that we learn about the characters, and as they discuss the break up and parents, I became invested in their relationship. Both Serena and Fiona are young, btw…they’re still in college and the story takes place during summer break.
My favorite line in the book is when they are checking into a hotel during a road trip:
Once again, the narrator did an excellent job. I rate “Second Chance” 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4*.
“Second Chance” is similar to the first book, in that one MC left the other several years ago, and now wants…wait for it….a second chance.
But “Second Chance” is also like the second book, in that we learn about the characters, and as they discuss the break up and parents, I became invested in their relationship. Both Serena and Fiona are young, btw…they’re still in college and the story takes place during summer break.
My favorite line in the book is when they are checking into a hotel during a road trip:
“There are always Bibles in hotel rooms, why not strap-ons too?”
Once again, the narrator did an excellent job. I rate “Second Chance” 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4*.
December 14, 2017
This was so so cute! This entire series made me so happy
July 4, 2018
Full review originally posted on my blog:
Word Wonders
THIS ONE WAS SO FUCKING GOOD!! It doesn’t follow any of the characters we meet in the previous book (although I was betting all my money on a girl we meet in book 2) but still ties in perfectly with the story.
The MC is Second Chance is Serena, Anna’s cousin and very close friend and she’s a demiromantic demisexual bisexual girl and DO YOU KNOW HOW HAPPY I WAS to see the demiromantic part of my identity represented for the first time ever? And in a way that was really relatable to me as well and that also helped me understand some of my experiences. And I’m grateful that I was able to experience that because I’ve been screaming for a long time that I want a demiromantic character and I FINALLY GOT IT.
Similarly to Second Kiss, Serena and Fiona were high school best friends but where the two differ is that in this one they date for a few years in high school but break up and go on their separate ways, which breaks both of their hearts. Reading the development of them picking up the pieces and fixing their Relationship was honestly so real and heartwarming because it wasn’t just easy. Serena’s wariness, doubts and hesitation made the novella all the more amazing to read because it was just… REAL.
Little by little the two of them find their marks around each other again which were the same and different at the same time and seeing how they fit together again easily once trust is established made me swoon hard. The two girls also balance each other where one is impulse the other is carefulness, where one is stress, the other is carefree and so on and so forth and that was interesting to see play out.
THIS ONE WAS SO FUCKING GOOD!! It doesn’t follow any of the characters we meet in the previous book (although I was betting all my money on a girl we meet in book 2) but still ties in perfectly with the story.
The MC is Second Chance is Serena, Anna’s cousin and very close friend and she’s a demiromantic demisexual bisexual girl and DO YOU KNOW HOW HAPPY I WAS to see the demiromantic part of my identity represented for the first time ever? And in a way that was really relatable to me as well and that also helped me understand some of my experiences. And I’m grateful that I was able to experience that because I’ve been screaming for a long time that I want a demiromantic character and I FINALLY GOT IT.
Similarly to Second Kiss, Serena and Fiona were high school best friends but where the two differ is that in this one they date for a few years in high school but break up and go on their separate ways, which breaks both of their hearts. Reading the development of them picking up the pieces and fixing their Relationship was honestly so real and heartwarming because it wasn’t just easy. Serena’s wariness, doubts and hesitation made the novella all the more amazing to read because it was just… REAL.
Little by little the two of them find their marks around each other again which were the same and different at the same time and seeing how they fit together again easily once trust is established made me swoon hard. The two girls also balance each other where one is impulse the other is carefulness, where one is stress, the other is carefree and so on and so forth and that was interesting to see play out.
December 17, 2017
Second Chance is an adorable, fluffy love story, and I wish I had enjoyed it more than I did. It feels like I could never get *into* it. I kept reading, and thinking "this is nice" and also "I feel I should be more excited about this". In my opinion, the problem is that for a story that is all about rebuilding bridges from a broken relationship, you never get to know exactly what happened. When it comes to showing that they are very into each other, Cameron does a great job. When it comes to demonstrating why it fell through the first time, and how that relentlessly affects Serena still? Not so much. Still, they are adorable together. I just wish I'd had more of working-through-stuff before they get to Epic Romantic Outing and Sex.
As for the demiro and demisexual rep, nothing major to flag there. I did expect sexual and romantic attraction to be less of a central element in the story (it's everywhere, every single scene, almost every single paragraph) but it makes sense if you consider Serena's attractions never diminished after the break-up. (In short, it feels to me like this is one way demis can experience their attractions, but do refer to actual demi readers on this). Also, the phrase "just friends" is used. Again.
This novella contains explicit sex.
As for the demiro and demisexual rep, nothing major to flag there. I did expect sexual and romantic attraction to be less of a central element in the story (it's everywhere, every single scene, almost every single paragraph) but it makes sense if you consider Serena's attractions never diminished after the break-up. (In short, it feels to me like this is one way demis can experience their attractions, but do refer to actual demi readers on this). Also, the phrase "just friends" is used. Again.
This novella contains explicit sex.
June 7, 2018
It was cute? That's fore sure. But this story look too much like the first one to truly surprise me.
It's about demiromantic, demisexual, bisexual Serena, coming home from uni for the Summer holidays. Because her parents don't accept her being queer, she decides to live with her cousin, Anna — and Anna's gf, Lacey. She starts working at Violet Hill, and there she fins herself face to face with her high school girlfriend, Fiona. Thing is, she never stopped being in love with Fiona.
Like I said, it was cute, but nothing spectacular. It was okay, but it felt repetitive.
3.25
It's about demiromantic, demisexual, bisexual Serena, coming home from uni for the Summer holidays. Because her parents don't accept her being queer, she decides to live with her cousin, Anna — and Anna's gf, Lacey. She starts working at Violet Hill, and there she fins herself face to face with her high school girlfriend, Fiona. Thing is, she never stopped being in love with Fiona.
Like I said, it was cute, but nothing spectacular. It was okay, but it felt repetitive.
3.25
June 5, 2018
My favourite of the series. Though I wish there had been more exploration of the character's demisexuality and demiromanticism but since she was reconnecting with a previous partner those feelings were already established (and she noted that, too).
March 4, 2018
A similar plot to the first one, but still enjoyable.
January 2, 2018
This, again, was pretty cute! I loved that the mc was bi and demiromantic and demisexual, and that she mentioned all those things. It makes me happy when I see people acknowledging that romantic and sexual orientation can be different.
I also loved that the name tags at Violet Hill had pronouns on them, and that the line "she has a girlfriend and a partner" was used, implying a polya side character.
The second story was probably my favourite, but I'm glad this series exists and grateful for the safe space it offers, to me and many others.
I also loved that the name tags at Violet Hill had pronouns on them, and that the line "she has a girlfriend and a partner" was used, implying a polya side character.
The second story was probably my favourite, but I'm glad this series exists and grateful for the safe space it offers, to me and many others.
February 16, 2018
“This is everything,” she said as the sun peeked over the horizon and set the sky on fire.
“You’re everything,” I said. I was only looking at her. At her wonder as another day began.
Estos libros han sido cortos pero demasiado adorables <3
June 27, 2018
rep: bisexual, demisexual, and demiromantic main character, queer love interest, lgbt+ side characters
full review here.
full review here.
December 14, 2017
Full review to come on Books and Ladders!
May 10, 2024
CW: implied homophobia (unsupportive parents), sexual content
This is the ace/sapphic novella I intended to read before I was roped into reading the series. How is it that the ace book has the most graphic sex?? lol. I mean, she is demiromantic and demisexual, so I suppose feels sexual attraction once she develops an emotional bond, but it really threw me for a loop. I sort of felt like the author copped out with making the main character demi. They wanted to have hot sex and so demi it is. Ace lite. Wish Cameron challenged herself a bit more. Since it is such a short story with low stakes, it has to be so much more in a short amount of time. Also cop out with having their love interest as a prior gf. They didn’t have to do any work, basically.
I felt like this book was just a copy of Second Kiss, really. Pretty much the same plot with the same issues, so I rated it a 2.
This is the ace/sapphic novella I intended to read before I was roped into reading the series. How is it that the ace book has the most graphic sex?? lol. I mean, she is demiromantic and demisexual, so I suppose feels sexual attraction once she develops an emotional bond, but it really threw me for a loop. I sort of felt like the author copped out with making the main character demi. They wanted to have hot sex and so demi it is. Ace lite. Wish Cameron challenged herself a bit more. Since it is such a short story with low stakes, it has to be so much more in a short amount of time. Also cop out with having their love interest as a prior gf. They didn’t have to do any work, basically.
I felt like this book was just a copy of Second Kiss, really. Pretty much the same plot with the same issues, so I rated it a 2.
March 20, 2020
It's wrong for me to mark this 3 stars b/c I wanted more sex, but I wanted more sex. I've read/listened to enough mmf mm mf books that have loads of sex. Some good, some ok, some down right awful and unrealistic. What I have yet to read/listen to is a good ff story with good sex. It seems it's always more fade to black. I get better mf pussy eating in my books and was really hoping for some great ff pussy eating in this series. Is that too much to ask? I guess so since this is book 3 of a ff series and yet no great or good pussy eating. Actually I believe all the 'sex' that happens is generally a fade to black. whomp whomp whomp.
May 8, 2018
3.5 stars
I enjoyed this fluffy first summer after starting college second chance with your high school girlfriend who broke your heart story. It felt very NA in all the right ways, so specific to that time of life. I love the queer haven the characters create/find away from their parents. I found the demisexual and demiromantic representation mostly incidental, but with nice quiet moments of recognition.
Content Warnings
I enjoyed this fluffy first summer after starting college second chance with your high school girlfriend who broke your heart story. It felt very NA in all the right ways, so specific to that time of life. I love the queer haven the characters create/find away from their parents. I found the demisexual and demiromantic representation mostly incidental, but with nice quiet moments of recognition.
Content Warnings
December 23, 2017
This one wasn’t as good as the first two, because I felt like we didn’t get to know the main characters of this one as well. I feel like that is partially because the story telling involved a lot more being explicitly told to the reader by the first-person narrator, which wasn’t the case in the first 2 books.
And since this is a fluffy love story, how well it works for the reader is very dependent on how well we know the characters
And since this is a fluffy love story, how well it works for the reader is very dependent on how well we know the characters
December 18, 2017
If you ever need a book to cheer you up, go read one of Chelsea M. Cameron's stories because she writes the cutest f/f romances 😍💕 I just finished reading SECOND CHANCE, which features a demisexual, demiromantic, bi MC, and I loved it! 💜 Give me all the novellas in the Violet Hill series, because I can't get enough of them 💖
March 18, 2020
What a heckin' disappointment. I was hoping these stories would get better as we moved on, but they didn't. I felt no connection to the characters at all, they had no personalities and I didn't even care that they got together. I actually think it would have been more radical for them to have become friends again instead of falling back into a relationship.
April 7, 2020
Super cute and my favourite of the three I think, BUT they all flirt with being formulaic and thus very similar. It doesn't help that the narrator's voice is the same in all the Violet Hill novellas. Still, they're not bad for a quick hit of f/f romance.
December 23, 2017
I wanted to love this bc a-spec mc but it was kinda boring?
April 21, 2019
This one was so cute omg :(
May 19, 2020
Super cute!
December 24, 2021
so cute. out of the 3 books this one was my favorite
April 11, 2022
2.5 the whole series was rather average, though still pretty enjoyable
September 24, 2022
For all the diversity in this series, I do feel like I have just read the same story three times, but with different names attached to it.
Read
April 25, 2023Trigger & Content Warnings:
Alcohol consumption
Alcohol consumption
January 13, 2018
Serena, the protagonist in Second Chance, is demisexual, demiromantic and bisexual. It was really nice to see such representation in a book.
I think my main problem with this series is the writing. It’s not convincing. The characters nor the plot seem authentic and sometimes, the writing is just plain awkward. Serena for instance thought “A few lemon slices landed in my glass, but I didn’t care.” Then why mention it? This doesn’t add anything to the story, it’s just filler. There are plenty of similar sentences in these novellas and it really disrupted the flow for me.
Because this is a novella, the writing didn’t always add up. Two pages ago Serena couldn’t even imagine being friends with Fiona, now she’s imagining having a relationship with her…
On top of that, the way Serena acted was so bold, I don’t think anyone would say what she said. Her ex walks in with another person and one of the first things Serena said to her was: “I’m working, and you’ve moved on so… I don’t know what there is to say.” Who says that?! They broke up years ago and you’re mad she is sitting their with someone else?
Immediately after finishing this, I couldn’t remember the characters’ names anymore. I really wish I could be more positive in my reviews, but I only wrote down negative remarks while reading… These novellas are by no means bad, they just didn’t work for me.
Trigger and content warning for underage drinking
I think my main problem with this series is the writing. It’s not convincing. The characters nor the plot seem authentic and sometimes, the writing is just plain awkward. Serena for instance thought “A few lemon slices landed in my glass, but I didn’t care.” Then why mention it? This doesn’t add anything to the story, it’s just filler. There are plenty of similar sentences in these novellas and it really disrupted the flow for me.
Because this is a novella, the writing didn’t always add up. Two pages ago Serena couldn’t even imagine being friends with Fiona, now she’s imagining having a relationship with her…
On top of that, the way Serena acted was so bold, I don’t think anyone would say what she said. Her ex walks in with another person and one of the first things Serena said to her was: “I’m working, and you’ve moved on so… I don’t know what there is to say.” Who says that?! They broke up years ago and you’re mad she is sitting their with someone else?
Immediately after finishing this, I couldn’t remember the characters’ names anymore. I really wish I could be more positive in my reviews, but I only wrote down negative remarks while reading… These novellas are by no means bad, they just didn’t work for me.
Trigger and content warning for underage drinking
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews