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Second Chances
Eight years ago, Eva Sterling left Walnut Hill without a backward glance, her heart and pride shattered. Until recently, she had been living the life she always wanted with her husband Matt, when tragedy struck and turned her world upside down once again. Her hometown has never given her what she needed and has always been more draining than sustaining. Now she must return home to the life...the family...everything upon which she once turned her back and hope the place from whence she came has what she needs to heal. Jesse Hawthorne instigated Eva's departure. He was utterly responsible for breaking her heart more times than he could count and has carried with him the knowledge and burden that caused her to run away. With her arrival back in his life, he is determined to be the man he always knew she deserved. Second Chances asks its characters and its reader's one question, "Is it possible to build a future on a foundation of regret?"
- GenresRomance
370 pages, Hardcover
First published June 9, 2010
296 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
no-dull-mwh-dmh-tstl-unsafe
November 22, 2018Writing style not for me.
April 5, 2011
What a breath of fresh air! Don't get me wrong I love my PNR, UF and all that jazz, but reading something different totally refreshed me.
Eva is struggling to cope with her husband's death. Packing up and moving back home is the only thing that she feels will allow her to move on with her life the right way. But moving back home means that she's being force to face the thing that made her run away from it in the first place.
Though she's living back with her parents in their antique, clutter filled home, she sudden finds herself becoming inspired by her surroundings. Taking a step towards a new life, and a second chance, Eva decides to open an antiques store. What she doesn't realize is that renovating her store will throw her right back into a daily relationship with the man who broke her heart more then anyone ever has, Jesse Hawthorne.
You know from the beginning that the unresolved feelings between these two are going to cause some major friction. The author does a great job of not pushing their relationship too fast, and respecting the death of Eva's husbands. There's no feeling as though he's been forgotten or pushed aside, Eva is constantly dealing with his death, and at the same time struggling to understand what she's feeling for Jesse underneath all her surpressed hatred. With a few great side stories, they made the plot in this book as a whole really great. I would definetly suggest this book if you were looking for a little break from the paranormal and just wanted a great heart tugging read!
4/5
Eva is struggling to cope with her husband's death. Packing up and moving back home is the only thing that she feels will allow her to move on with her life the right way. But moving back home means that she's being force to face the thing that made her run away from it in the first place.
Though she's living back with her parents in their antique, clutter filled home, she sudden finds herself becoming inspired by her surroundings. Taking a step towards a new life, and a second chance, Eva decides to open an antiques store. What she doesn't realize is that renovating her store will throw her right back into a daily relationship with the man who broke her heart more then anyone ever has, Jesse Hawthorne.
You know from the beginning that the unresolved feelings between these two are going to cause some major friction. The author does a great job of not pushing their relationship too fast, and respecting the death of Eva's husbands. There's no feeling as though he's been forgotten or pushed aside, Eva is constantly dealing with his death, and at the same time struggling to understand what she's feeling for Jesse underneath all her surpressed hatred. With a few great side stories, they made the plot in this book as a whole really great. I would definetly suggest this book if you were looking for a little break from the paranormal and just wanted a great heart tugging read!
4/5
July 22, 2010
If you've ever lived in a small town...if you've ever needed the comfort that only the familiar could bring...if you've ever wondered "what if" about your first love...this book will strike a chord.
The reader follows Eva Sterling as she looks towards her future, while navigating the minefield of her past. She is one of the most realistic characters I've ever come across. She is fallible, makes the wrong decisions, fights with her friends, and ends up endearing herself to the reader because of it all. I was actually saddened when the book ended because I felt as if I was closing the book on an actual friend.
Do yourself a favor and pick up this book!
The reader follows Eva Sterling as she looks towards her future, while navigating the minefield of her past. She is one of the most realistic characters I've ever come across. She is fallible, makes the wrong decisions, fights with her friends, and ends up endearing herself to the reader because of it all. I was actually saddened when the book ended because I felt as if I was closing the book on an actual friend.
Do yourself a favor and pick up this book!
January 1, 2011
I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway...thank you, Jennifer! As I progressed through the story, I became more and more involved in the lives of the characters. When the story finished, I wanted more...I'm hoping that Jennifer Place has another story in mind.
November 22, 2018
Good story about second chances and forgiveness.
July 6, 2013
3.5 stars
My review can also be found on my blog:
http://www.read-love-blog.com/2013/07...
Second Chance by Jennifer L. Place is a story, quite simply, about second chances and all of the things that come with that… forgiveness, acceptance, trust and courage just to name a few.
Eva Sterling is at a crossroads in her life. The recently widowed wife of a police officer killed in the line of duty, she faces the unyielding question of “what now?”. Ultimately deciding to move back to her hometown, with the family and friends she had left behind years ago, she now must face all the memories she had been blissfully ignoring…memories of heartbreak and a lost love that she had never been able to get over.
Fresh from signing the divorce papers, and happily kissing his failed marriage goodbye, Jesse Hawthorne is ready to move on. Now, with the prospect of working on a new project for the construction company he manages, things are looking up. That is, until he realizes the new project he’s heading is for Eva Sterling….the girl he lost years ago and the girl he is still desperately in love with.
Eva and Jesse have both been through hell in their personal lives since the incident that ruined their relationship. Broken trust and shattered dreams aren’t something easily forgotten or easily regained. But, having gone their separate ways they now find themselves once again back in each other’s lives. Have they each earned a second chance at the happiness and love they let slip away all that time ago?
This was a heartwarming story that takes the readers through all of the emotions the characters are experiencing. It went from the sadness Eva is feeling from the death of her husband; to the remorse Jesse has for breaking Eva’s heart. But, also there were some great happy moments spent with Eva and her girlfriends and her family. I enjoyed Eva’s journey and watching as she decided to grab the second chance at life she has been given by moving back to her hometown and with her family and friends. I thought the last few pages with her and Jesse were really well done and ended the book on a great note.
Thank you, Jennifer, for an enjoyable read!
*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
My review can also be found on my blog:
http://www.read-love-blog.com/2013/07...
Second Chance by Jennifer L. Place is a story, quite simply, about second chances and all of the things that come with that… forgiveness, acceptance, trust and courage just to name a few.
Eva Sterling is at a crossroads in her life. The recently widowed wife of a police officer killed in the line of duty, she faces the unyielding question of “what now?”. Ultimately deciding to move back to her hometown, with the family and friends she had left behind years ago, she now must face all the memories she had been blissfully ignoring…memories of heartbreak and a lost love that she had never been able to get over.
Fresh from signing the divorce papers, and happily kissing his failed marriage goodbye, Jesse Hawthorne is ready to move on. Now, with the prospect of working on a new project for the construction company he manages, things are looking up. That is, until he realizes the new project he’s heading is for Eva Sterling….the girl he lost years ago and the girl he is still desperately in love with.
Eva and Jesse have both been through hell in their personal lives since the incident that ruined their relationship. Broken trust and shattered dreams aren’t something easily forgotten or easily regained. But, having gone their separate ways they now find themselves once again back in each other’s lives. Have they each earned a second chance at the happiness and love they let slip away all that time ago?
This was a heartwarming story that takes the readers through all of the emotions the characters are experiencing. It went from the sadness Eva is feeling from the death of her husband; to the remorse Jesse has for breaking Eva’s heart. But, also there were some great happy moments spent with Eva and her girlfriends and her family. I enjoyed Eva’s journey and watching as she decided to grab the second chance at life she has been given by moving back to her hometown and with her family and friends. I thought the last few pages with her and Jesse were really well done and ended the book on a great note.
Thank you, Jennifer, for an enjoyable read!
*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
March 14, 2016
This wasn't necessarily a terrible book, it was just really awkwardly written. And printed. It definitely reads like a first novel (that perhaps didn't have an editor?) with some oddly-detailed language that interrupted the flow and just weird extra bits that didn't add to the story. It ran on a bit and probably could have been a fair bit shorter and then it might have been a decent book. The story itself was ok (pretty typical fluffy romance novel) but I don't think I would recommend this to anyone who wasn't committed to overlooking a lot of the clumsiness in the language.
November 26, 2010
I won this book on first reads good reads. I didn't read all of this book. I got to about chapter 10 and had to quite because of the swearing. It seemed like almost everyone swore every other page or so. The layout of the book made it hard to read as well. It was all in the center of the page with lots of empty margin space, it wasted a lot of paper. The story might have been okay, but I was so disracted by the layout, swearing and cigarette smoking I couldn't finish it.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews