I absolutely loved this book! It is the most entertaining piece of women's fiction/romance I have read in a long time. Not only would I read another book by this author, I will seek out future publications by Jackie Fraser. In fact, I hope she revisits this cast of characters.
Thea's situation immediately grabbed my interest. Her husband just dumped her because he's having an affair with one of her friends, she lost her job, and her great uncle died leaving her a house in Scotland. Off to Scotland she goes to put her deceased uncle's affairs in order and to deal with her own situation. She makes new friends and gets a little job in a bookstore. The owner, who has a reputation for being a grouch, becomes one of her new buddies.
I would like to personally thank the author for writing a book about a middle aged female central character whose life does not revolve around children and/or grandchildren. By choice. She does not have children. She did not want children, and this is not why her marriage failed. I think many authors are afraid of alienating the majority of middle aged female readers whose lives are child-focused. Thea is also not a ravenous career woman. She is the type of character I have rarely seen in women's fiction. She's an average woman who just happens not to have children.
The supporting cast is also filled with interesting personalities. Edward and his brother throw in a bunch of twists and surprises. I also love that one of Thea's best friends is named Xanthe.
The dialogue in this novel is completely believable and amusing. Narration from Thea's POV is so effective, I could feel her discomfort, embarrassment, awkwardness, etc. Some of her predicaments were laugh out loud funny. I cannot remember the last time I actually laughed while reading a book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

T H E B O O K S H O P O F S E C O N D C H A N C E S by Jackie Fraser

📖📖📖📖

👏🏻 Bravo 👏🏻 to author Jackie Fraser for this heart string pulling debut novel!

This book follows Thea, a middle aged woman whose life was just turned upside down. Thea runs away to a tiny town in Scotland when she learns she inherited land (and more) from a distant great uncle.
- Thea is a witty, sarcastic character who can also be emotional about what she’s going through
- Thea finds herself working with a bit of a grump, Edward & they end up spending copious amounts of time together.
- I’m a sucker for romantic comedy movies and books & The Bookshop of Second Chances didn’t disappoint
- This is a well written, full of emotion & sarcasm (my favorite combination) book set in a town Scotland that I would love to visit and take it the scenery & the people.
- Mark your calendars for May 4, 2021 & grab yourself a copy, you won’t regret it 🥰

•Thanks to @netgalley & Ballantine Books for a free ARC in exchange for my completely honest & original review

•Thanks to Hurricane Sally for granting me the time to finish this book in a quick manner. Can always count on hurricanes, am I right? On a real note - very thankful that my family fared well in the storm when many others didn’t. Prayers to those affected by Sally 🙏🏻

•Thanks to @amazonkindle for being a wonderful hurricane buddy, ya girl couldn’t have read this book without it & no lights.

QOTD - what book do you have your calendar marked for release day??

#beansbooknook #bookstagram #advancedreadingcopy #netgalleybooks #ballantinebooks #thebookshopofsecondchances

Happy Valentines Day! Thea Mottram loses her job and learns her husband of nearly twenty years Has been having an affair for the last several years with one of her best friends and now wants a divorce. She leaves her home and all her memories behind when she learns a distant relative In Scotland has left his home and book collection To her, his only relative. Desperate to find some distance, she heads to the small village of Baldochrie on the wild coast of Scotland. Once there, the lovely little cottage becomes a haven and she learns to love the anonymity. Thinking she will stay a few weeks and sort out the antique book collection for sale her plans rapidly change. She takes a job at a local bookstore and finds herself in an emotional tug of war between two curmudgeonly brothers jumping from one emotional fire into another.
You’ll fall in love with the folks in this lovely little Scottish village and root for Thea to find some happiness. She’s funny, charming, and has a razor sharp sense of humor. She’s trying to find some sense of balance in this middle aged emotional mess she’s found herself in. Great little story. Wonderful characters.
3.5 stars

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in return for my comments.

Heya,

I stayed up all night just so I could finish this book. I really enjoyed it. I think it’s because I’m an avid reader that I really love books about bookstores. I loved the love interest, although felt like he was a bit emotionally immature for his age. That’s the other thing, I really enjoyed reading a book about a main character who isn’t 25 with a hot body, the best hair, and her whole life ahead of her to find love.

I also loved that time passes in the book and you can really see the character arcs. However, I felt like the time jumps weren’t strong enough. They seemed to be thrown in, and some of the true emotional growth is glazed over.

I would give this book 3.5 stars! I did really enjoy it and feel like the romance was just as great as the setting. How amazing would it be to go to Scotland and talk long walks, hang on the beach at the book’s Shed, and own such expensive and rare novels from Classics around the world?

An enjoyable read for a cool fall day. Thea is a likeable character. There are some issues for me with how nonchalant she is regarding Edward's past. That seems unbelievable considering her own past. But overall still a good read.

This book was given to me as an ARC via the publisher. All opinions are my own.

I finished this book and I liked some parts of it but sadly didn't love it like I thought I would.
The setting of Scotland and a bookshop was so lovely and the premise of a divorcee finding love again was one I don't see much in literature so I was curious to read it however the amount of cursing in the book was extremely off putting and felt out of character for the type of novel it was. The other issue is the characterization of Thea. In the book Thea constantly put herself down and said she was ugly , trying to pass it off as a joke or made comments or had thoughts that she wasn't worthy of love or didn't think the positive things being said about her could possibly be true. It was uncomfortable and heartbreaking to read and sends a message I don’t think the author intended for a character getting a second chance at love. I look forward to more from the author nevertheless.

Thank you Netgalley for this book!

The beginning of this book had me chuckling a bit, but then it started drifting to a far away land and I just got lost. Not in a good way. The characters are flat and I couldn't connect with any of them.
I literally rolled my eyes 20% into the book after I read, "No girls allowed!" When the main character inquires about a job opening at the local bookstore. When she asks why he won't hire girls, the owner says, "because they fall in love with me or I fall in love with them." *Cringe*
There isn't a lot of witty banter or chemistry between the two main characters and I just felt....bored.

This book felt like a bowl of plain popcorn. No salt, no butter, no carmel cheese mix, just plain popcorn. Like you keep eating it because it's there, but there isn't much flavor.
I can appreciate the book for what it is, but it wasn't for me.

I received a ARC copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book just fizzled in my eyes. It was a lot longer than it needed to be and slow paced. The whole reason Edward coming into Thea's life to help sell her uncle's vast collection of first edition books. After he agrees to help her, that is the last time we hear about the books. I also wonder if outside Edward, there isn't anyone left in town that could fill her in on her uncle's life. She doesn't even think until months later to even visit his grave. There are missed opportunities throughout the entire book flush out the characters but she just does not take them. I personally found both brothers, Edward and Charles, unlikeable and I am not sure I even liked Thea. Without giving away spoilers, my suggestion would be skip this book.

This was a cute book with really lovable main characters! I thoroughly enjoyed it very much. A cute and a fast read with an emotional punch. A great book, overall! Highly recommended!

Thea, the British heroine of "The Bookshop of Second Chances," doesn't pretend to be something she's not. She's a 40-something woman who just lost her job and her marriage within a week. When a distant relative leaves her a small house in Scotland, there's nothing to stop her from moving in and trying to start over. The book unfolds pleasantly enough from there, as Thea discovers her great-uncle also left behind a valuable book collection and as she meets the inhabitants of the small town nearby. Sometimes you go out to eat to try something exotic; other times you are really in the mood for a big bowl of mac and cheese. This is a mac and cheese kind of novel. Somewhat predictable, but also satisfying and homey.

Note: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Ballantine Books for giving me a free digital galley in exchange for feedback.

Here it is, readers. The perfect escape.

Thea recently lost her job. Also, she recently found out that her husband was having an affair with her friend. While Thea is at her old house, moving out her most important possessions so that her husband’s new girlfriend can move in, she gets a letter. A great-uncle she didn’t know well has passed away, and left her his beautiful old home full of antiquarian books, in a small town in Scotland full of quirky secondary characters.

Everything about this story was just what I wanted it to be, and of COURSE there are two brothers, the wealthy lord and the cantankerous bookshop proprietor, both handsome, both appealing and difficult in their own unique ways, and each hating the other. Will Thea find a second chance for a better life? Is a second, better love possible for Thea? You can probably make a really good guess at the answers to both of those questions, but read the novel anyway, because the writing, characters, and plot are well executed and the whole thing is just a delightful escape.. It’s like good comfort food, a big pan of macaroni and cheese made by your favorite aunt.

I liked it so much that I decided to read everything else Jackie Fraser has written - frustratingly, it turns out that this is her first novel. Well, I’ll read everything else starting now.

I want to first thank Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read an eARC of The Bookshop of Second Chances by Jackie Fraser.

This story gave me instant Evvie Drake Starts Over Feels and is impossible not to adore!

Thea, an overly direct, intelligent and extremely relatable 44-year-old woman is extremely down on her luck. She starts her year by losing her job, to then only find out her husband has been cheating on her with one of her friends. Just as her world is being turned upside down, she inherits a house with an amazing book collection and a large sum of money from her great uncle who has passed. Thea uses this opportunity to see what else life might have to offer. She travels to Baldochrie, Scotland to see the house and falls in love with the small Scottish town instantly. But what is a cute Scottish town without a Scottish boy, or should I say man. Edward.

Edward is best described as a lovable grump, and maybe not even so lovable at first and more of just a grump. No longer believing in love and relationships, with a dysfunctional sex life to say the least, between family drama and a bleak outlook on life, he spends his day hidden away in his secondhand bookshop. That is until Thea wonders in and a friendship begins to slowly blossom.

Together, Thea and Edward slowly realize they are both deserving of happiness and second chances, even if at times their fears and self-doubts get in the way.

Fraser is such a talented writer and has created two extremely lovable and relatable characters in Thea and Edward. My only complaint is I would have loved to see more chemistry between the two with some witty banter, a few sparks and some elements that made their growing love more believable.

This book hits stores on 5/4/2021 and should absolutely be on your TBR.

This is not your typical "meet cute". These are more mature characters with a lot of baggage! The story is complex but the setting is a book lovers dream. I would read more books by this author.

I adored this story. Glad I was given a chance to review this. It was a small step back from the in your face hard romance that I usually read. This was a slow burn of second chances set in a quaint, idyllic town in Scotland.

Thea and her husband have separated after 25 years of being together; he was cheating on her with a friend. The blows keep coming as she is also let go from her job. The only shining light seems to be that a Great Uncle Andrew has left her his lodge and books in his will. Keep in mind, she had only met this man a few times. But this is the diversion she needs.

While in Scotland she meets the Maltravers brothers: Edward and Charles. One is actually Lord Hollinshaw (Charles) as the first born (Edward) gave up the title. Charles is a curmudgeon who often keeps to himself and runs a second hand bookshop.Too keep herself occupied while deciding what to do with her new inheritance she asks for a job working for Edward.

He warns her about working for him. That he usually employs a rule of not hiring females as they fall in love with him. But Thea is most definitely looking for a relationship right now,

Their friendship is beautiful in its slow progression. Thea becomes friends with other towns people and thinks she might actually stay there after all.

Like I said the slow progression of this book was a welcome change/diversion. I loved the characters and was able to envision the town and surrounding countryside. The description brings you there. I was also able to tap into the heartfelt emotions of Thea from her sadness over her divorce, anger, feelings of inadequacy to the butterflies of kindling romance.

Definitely one-click this now! You won't be disappointed.

I have this obsession with what I like to call 'divorcee romances’, which I think are more respectably called 'second-chance romances' but not quite as fun. Books and movies like Eat, Pray, Love or Under the Tuscan Sun that really just tug at my heart strings. Unsure where this love stems from as I’m a 27-year-old who has never been married, but alas the heart wants what it wants. The Bookshop of Second Chances fits perfectly in this category and I’m also an absolute simp for romances about bookstores (so I can feel extra highbrow when I understand the literary references) and so I was thrilled when I was granted the opportunity to read this bad boy early.

Jackie Fraser writes a lovely debut novel about finding love and belonging in Scotland after she finds out her husband is having an affair with one of her friends. The novel is sweet and hopeful and all the things a romance book should be. The beginning was a bit slow for me and lacked some depth in what the characters were feeling. However, our leading lady, Thea, makes up for it as she slowly comes out of her shell to become quite a spitfire, as she regains confidence in herself. I was left a bit confused about her proclaimed love for her husband by the lack of anger she showed towards him, especially with how much anger she showed towards Edward (our hero) when they’d merely been friends. Overall, a nice story that serves as a reminder of the endless possibilities’ life can hold, even when it feels all has been lost.

Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book early!

Thea Mottram nee Hamilton has just had her worst day ever. Her husband accidentally sends her an intimate picture meant for his girlfriend and she loses her job. Weeks later Thea learns her Scottish uncle has died and left her his lodge and some money. With nothing to lose, she heads to the small town of Baldochrie and finds herself in the middle of a family fight between the Lord of the manor and his bookstore-owning brother. Her initial hope was to sell the lodge and find a small apartment back in England, but the lure of the small town and the unconventional bookstore tugs at her. A charming tale of second chances in a extraordinary town.

This was such a charming, comforting read - a little cozy, a little escapist. The two protagonists are well-sketched and believable.

I wanted to like this... and really, I do know the exact customers in my shop that will love it, but from the male perspective, this fairy-tale feels short-sighted. It's about a long-term relationship that is no more and the transformation of the main character. Everything is well written, the characters are well developed, but it feels a little shallow. The only real struggle is the main character coming to terms with the fact that she needs to find her way in the world. The settings are magical and I know some of my clients will love it. I think I'm just not the target market for this read.

This book was received as an ARC from Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

There was a sign that I had to read this book. Any book that is about overcoming hardships and new beginnings is very heartwarming for me and I could not help but love every page of this book. I loved how warm and welcoming the community was with Thea moving into her uncle's house and when she discovers her uncle's antique book collection in hoping to sell them to the bookshop owner around the corner. The thing is, the owner is not so welcoming to Thea and holds grudges to almost everyone that wrongs him or reminds him of anyone who has wronged him (such as Thea). Thea is very persistent on winning over the owner no matter the circumstance that she ends up discovering more about herself than she has ever known and her new life is becoming more complicated than the one she escaped from. Even though there were many complications to this book, it was such an enjoyment to read and I know our library community will love it.

We will consider adding this title to our Fiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.
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I loved this sweet, funny romance and story of a middle aged, recently separated woman finding herself.

I will be reading other books by this author!

The book features those who love to read, a great plot and a strong central female character, all of which makes for book perfection!