Book Review: Rules for Second Chances by Maggie North

Brimming with heart and heat, Rules for Second Chances explores the hardest relationship question of all: can true love happen twice...with the same person?

Liz Lewis has tried everything to be what people want. But she’s always been labeled different from everyone else in the boisterous world of wilderness expeditions—that is, if anyone notices her at all. Her marriage to popular adventure guide Tobin Renner-Lewis is a sinkhole of toxic positivity where she’s the only one saying no. In a mountain resort town built around excitement, introverted Liz gets…spreadsheets.

When she gets mistaken for a server at her own thirtieth birthday party and her last line of communication with Tobin finally snaps, Liz vows to stop playing a minor character in her own life. The (incredibly well-researched and scientific) plan? A crash course in confidence…via improv comedy class.

The catch? She’s terrible at it, and the only person willing to practice with her is a certain extroverted wilderness guide who seems dead set on saving their marriage one bonkers improv scenario at a time. But as Liz and Tobin get closer (...again), she’s forced to confront all the reasons they didn’t work the first time, along with her growing suspicion that there might be more to her social awkwardness than anyone realized. Liz has just eight weeks to learn improv’s most important lesson—"yes, and"—or she’ll have to choose between the love she always wanted and the dreams that got away.

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My Review:

I am so grateful that I was one of the lucky readers that this book just worked for. I can tell by some of the feedback I’ve seen that it takes the right kind of personality to truly appreciate the chaotic magic of this story. I loved seeing the amount of growth Liz and Tobin undergo. But be aware that this story was somewhat composed of lots of different tangents that don’t necessarily feel like they’re going anywhere specific, until you get to the end and realize how each of those steps layered together to build the journey Liz needed to take. The one thing I would have killed for would have been Tobin’s view of everything going on; however, I realize that would have completely changed the feeling of this book and I think it needed to be exactly the way it was. The quirky, social awkwardness of our heroine was exactly what I needed to read right now. I enjoyed this book so much and I can’t wait to dig into the next one from the author.