Book Review: Second Time Around

Author: Erin Kaye
Publication Date: July 5, 2012
Publisher: Avon

The path to true love never did run smooth….

With a successful interior design business and two loving children, divorcee Jennifer Irwin is quite content. But when her forty-fifth birthday approaches, she starts to feel lonely in her empty nest.

Then she meets the handsome and self-assured Ben Crawford, who, although sixteen years her junior sweeps Jennifer off her feet. Knowing the residents of their small town wouldn’t approve, they hide their affair.

But a secret is never a secret for long in Ballyfergus…

Enraged by her mother’s love life, Lucy seeks comfort in the arms of charismatic but troubled Oren. Jennifer knows he is no good, but can she convince her daughter before it’s too late? And with everything going against them, will Jennifer and Ben’s relationship survive?

 

 

Everyone deserves a second chance, right? That was the first thought that entered my mind upon seeing this book for the first time. I actually wrote to the author, personally, to ask for a copy to read and review. I love when the colors are so wonderfully selected for the front of books because color matters! This book has a beautiful front cover and I love how the tree is made so much bigger than the man and woman in the bottom right hand corner. As if to state that new beginnings will begin to grow within the pages of this book.

 

 

This book consists of many different relationships, not just a romantic one. That is one reason that I loved this book so much. When you look at the front cover and you read the synopsis, you might be tempted to assume that Jennifer Irwin is the only character getting a second try at love or life. You would be wrong. So many other characters bloom and blossom throughout the novel. There are so many different relationships happening, but the book is never confusing and it is very easy to maintain what is going on and whose perspective is being revealed.

 

One of my favorite characters was Jennifer’s daughter, Lucy. At first, I will tell you that I hated her and the way that she treated her mother. Lucy and Jennifer do not have the best relationship in the beginning of the story. One of my favorite parts was getting to know what was going on between them more than any of the other characters. Lucy was studying at university and was still trying to “define” herself, which is completely understandable if you have ever been to university. It is a big change in any young adult’s life and you find out a lot of things that you didn’t know about yourself prior to attending. Lucy has a lot of maturing to do at first; she is ungrateful and takes everything for granted. Her character was my favorite to analyze and guess what horrible decisions she would make next!

 

The fact that Jennifer and Ben’s relationship steps outside of the box, at least in their community, is what kept me so interested. Jennifer is a “cougar” as she would be called in America or at least where I grew up. I loved that they both felt such a strong connection to each other that the age did not seem to matter because in reality, it doesn’t. Jennifer had me from the start because I just respected her character so much. The way that she was able to be civil and even kind to her ex-husband who then married her ex-best friend is totally commendable. Jennifer was just such a poised character and even made her flaws seem sophisticated.

 

This was a charming read, by far. I loved finding this new author, whose work I am now going to obsess over! Erin has been so great and is one of the kindest authors that I have worked with. I highly suggest looking into this book and giving it a try if you think you can handle all the screwed up relationships that are involved, and I mean that in the best way possible. I just want to say a big thank you to Erin, and to all of my many readers who keep me pushing on even when I am covered up in schoolwork and my blog has to take the back seat!

 

***A big thank also to the publishers at Avon/Harper Collins for sending me a copy of this enjoyable read in exchange for my unbiased opinion***