I must be getting old because modern day chick lit books irritate me to no end. Vapid and vacuous characters I cannot relate to and I never manage to finish these books.

A brilliant book which will make you cry and then laugh. A story with a strong relationships theme and how difficult this can be. How taking chances and allowing oneself to step out of a comfort zone can change the course of your life. Beautifully set in Cornwall the descriptions take you to the coastal scenes and the reinvention of the chalets.

Rachel Dove has expertly entwined a group of people with their own needs and insecurities who need to find resolutions to enable them to move on. A moving story that was difficult to put down but I wouldn't want to spoil any of it by giving away any spoilers. It is a story that captures you and propels you through the book until the last page. I was disappointed it ended but it actually finished exceptionally well. There were definitely no questions left unanswered. I would thoroughly recommend.

Received an ARC of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of this story had me very intrigued. It’s a story about a woman named April, 35, recently divorced and in the outskirts of life. She’s torn on where to go and what to do next, so she invest her life savings on a rundown chalet/lodge, which in turn means more to her than people think. With this new venture of bringing this chalet park back to life, she discovers new friendships, old love stories, and perhaps a second chance at love herself.

I truly enjoyed this read from start to finish. I’d say this is like an adorable hallmark movie.

Dual POV, A second chance in life.

April Statham is escaping the place that doesn't fit her anymore and trying to find her new path

She had just left her husband, (the abusive one) and moved to Shady Pines where she bought a hotel property. And to fix the hotel comes a miserable single father Cillian.

This is the story of finding a new beginning working through all the hard balls life has dealt us with.

I have never read anything by this author before, but I will be looking out for more to read after this. A beautiful light read

What a charming read! Delightful beach reading. I really enjoyed the banter.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

The cover on the book is lovely. Grabbed my attention. And I wasn’t disappointed after reading it. The book was lovely to read. A book of second chances. It was good fun. Very well written

A romance that is torn between being either a light fluffy read or a serious read that sadly isn't all that memorable and with characters that actually came across as a little annoying.

One that didn't work that well for me

The Second Chance Hotel by Rachel Dove
Source: NetGalley, HQ Digital, and Purchase
Rating: 4/5 stars

April Statham’s life was not meant to turn out this way! At thirty-five, she was meant to still be happily married with a growing family. As it happens, life doesn’t always turn out the way you mean for it to and adjustments have to be made. In April’s case, two adjustments included running from the fallout of her old life and investing nearly every cent she had in an old, run-down chalet park.

Some of April’s greatest childhood memories are from her time at the Shady Pines Chalet Park. Sadly, April’s memories of the site are far better than the site itself. After years of neglect and incompetent management, April has a load of work to do if she is going to bring the Shady Pines back to its former glory. Though April has a small budget for repairs and updates, she doesn’t have unlimited funds. What she also doesn’t have is the skill set necessary to do many of the repairs herself. To that end, she hires Cillian O’Leary.

Cillian O’Leary has enough baggage for himself and four other adults. His ex is an addict who does nothing but further damage to their daughter, he doesn’t yet have sole legal custody of his daughter, and he needs a job that will be flexible enough to care for his daughter yet still earn a decent income. Thankfully, alongside his baggage, Cillian also has all the skills April is looking for in a handyman and her job offer comes with a home for he and his daughter.

From the moment they meet April and Cillian are at odds and often have serious miscommunications. Cillian is grumpy and wary of women while April is determined and wary of men. If it weren’t for Martha, the crusty old artist who lives permanently onsite, Cillian and April would likely never get over their issues and realize they actually care for one another. Working together is difficult, but Martha finds ways - subtle manipulations – to put the two together and force cooperation. As Martha is playing matchmaker, she is also dealing with the implications of her own baggage, her past, and how it has seemingly comeback to haunt her.

The Bottom Line: The Second Chance Hotel isn’t just April’s story of love and redemption, but also a story of love and redemption for Martha, Cillian, and Cillian’s daughter. All their lives have been turned upside down and Shady Pines feels like their last hope. As the four learn to trust one another, they also learn to like and even love one another. While there are plenty of obstacles to their various HEAs, there is still an HEA for each. While I can’t say this is an overly emotional read, it does have loads of feels and it is a nice mix of the past and the present which I am always a fan of. The setting is also lovely and evolves as the characters evolve. In all, this is a sweet read that will most certainly appeal to romance readers.

A beautiful tale that makes love shine through as absolutely precious. Not without some good laughs too throughout, and the romance was just pure sigh and swoon-worthy. This is the kind of read that warms the heart and does the soul good

Lovely read, quite a rollercoaster of ups and downs. The three main characters pack a punch throughout. The story delves into their past and back into the present to provide some history and context to their stories. I enjoyed this. For a relatively short book it contains a lot and isn’t lacking in the laughs or the tears departments.

Thank you Netgalley

I enjoyed reading this book but cannot say it was a favourite. The storyline was quite weak and predictable therefore I cannot say it was page turner.

I was really looking forward to reading this book but I did soon get confused as the “hotel” seemed to be a chalet park. Quite a crucial part of the story already a bit flimsy.

I also didn’t feel there was much flirtation between them and again this was disappointing. I still finished it but it wasn’t as good as the cover or blurb made me feel.

I only give 3 stars to this book because it was in my opinion it was very good at the beginning, I was so happy, I thought I would love this book and that I would read it in no time and then it quickly became a bit too slow paced for me and also a bit boring. Nothing very exciting happens in this book, and it's also a bit too sad and depressing. I prefer when books are a little more cheerful and happier but it's only my own opinion and maybe it was not the right time to read this book because usually I absolutely adore Rachel Dove books! They are all so brilliant! Let's hope that I will love her next book!

Pretty good, though I'd have to admit that the title was wrong - it's not a hotel, but a holiday park - and a little follow-the-formula for me. Had a little trouble with emphasising with the leads too.

This novel for me was badly written and repetitive, for example she says within the same sentence she had just bought the Chalet Park. April and Cillian were unlikeable and extremley abrasive, i find i didn't care anything about them. I didn't feel like I could connect with them and the Chalet Park didn't seem like somewhere you would want to go.

A pleasant romance with new beginnings for the characters. Definitely a feel good factor book set at Shady Pines holiday resort.

April has bought Shady Pines, running away to Cornwall to the place she remembers being happy on holiday with her Mum.
Martha is a long term resident of the holiday park and has her own secrets.
Cillian is back at Shady Pines as the handyman, wanting a safe place to live with his daughter.
As they all connect, wil lthey find their own happiness?

A great summer read.

The hotel isn't a hotel as such, it's a chalet park, and it actually sounds lovely (once it gets a refurb). I envy people who have the courage to up sticks and revamp their lives, and that's probably why I'm drawn to stories like this one.

Cillian is a grumpy dreamboat (and who doesn't love a brooding moody male lead??) and April is a downtrodden, bullied woman. Both are damaged - in fact, all the main characters in this book are to some extent, and it is their separate yet intertwined journeys that make the book so enjoyable.

The Second Chance Hotel was a really cute story about a woman who needed to leave her old life behind and start fresh! April is escaping a life that she has outgrown and doesn't want anything to do with her ex-husband and his new life. So, she packs it all up, buys a hotel, and starts a new journey.

So, I love that premise. Something about people taking charge of their lives and doing something crazy (like buying a hotel lol) just makes me happy. I have to say I did enjoy the story quite a bit. I loved how cute and cozy this romance was. My favorite part was really the hotel and seeing the changes April was making. However, this story was lacking for me in a lot of ways. Parts of the story felt like one of those games you play on your phone where you make money and upgrade a house or something. Things just happened overnight and the story felt unrealistic and also lacked substance at times.

The thing that really brought this fun story from an enjoyable 4 stars to an okay 3 stars was the weird relationship April had with Cillian. I just didn't like his character to start with. He is moody and grumpy and I felt like nothing ever made him happy. He seemed happy at times and then would have a total mood switch and it didn't make sense. So, he was my downfall in the book. I liked the romantic parts and whatnot but overall he just fell flat and annoyed me.

Overall, this is cute and fluffy. I did enjoy most of it but because I tend to be character driven I found the dislike I had for one of the main characters made it less enjoyable.

Enjoyable read. Would recommend to friends and family. I could sympathise with characters (important for any fiction novel!) and looked forward to picking it up and reading the next few chapters! Interesting plot line and a good ending. Will look out for more novels by the author. Thank you.