I was charmed by these characters. Sally Thorne has quickly become one of my favorite authors. I felt that the ending got wrapped up in a little too neat of a bow but overall I really enjoyed this book.

Sally Thorne is one of my favorite authors and she once again does not disappoint! Second First Impressions is a bubble bath and a hug in book form. I loved Ruthie as a flawed heroine who is stuck in her life. Teddy is the sweetest, most cinnamon roll hero ever written. The secondary characters are fleshed out and loveable. I want her quirky assistant to have her own book! Overall, if you're having a bad day, and need a pick up, this is the book for you.

This book is everything. I am blown away by how much I loved Second First Impressions. I loved every single thing about this book. The characters are amazing, the setting is so unique and fun, and the romance is sexy. Sally Thorne can write sexual tension like no other. 5 amazing stars for Second First Impressions!

Ruthie’s inner monologue of naughty involves the inked man riding a motorcycle who she pays it forward by purchasing his gas. Unfortunately the tattooed goddess with his luscious locks of hair and leather jacket, believes she is dressed as an elderly person off to costume party.

Ruthie is 25 living a very simple life working at a retirement village, adorning herself in thrift store cardigans and skirts and acting 10x her age. She has forgotten she is young, beautiful and full of life.

Teddy who is born to run is back in town, short on cash with his eye on the prize - owning his own tattoo parlor. Faithful to his word, he arrives the next day at her employers office with cash to pay her back but he soon finds himself working along side her. He accepts the role as assistant for two women residents flush with cash.

Throughout the book, she is constantly reminded “he is not your type” while Teddy is told don’t corrupt her and run-off leaving her broken hearted. Can Ruthie and Teddy change their first impressions of each other to reset their reputations as the love them leave them and frugal prude?

The beginning got off to a shaky start but once I found the books stride I couldn’t put it down. The secondary cast of characters are highly entertaining from Mel to rich biddies. This book explores family trauma, self-loathing and letting-go to finally be you.

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for an ARC for an honest review.
Publication date - April 13

This book is the perfect read if you need something easy, breezy, funny, and loaded with lustful romantic ramblings from the main character (not a bad thing if you are in the mood for that!). Parts of this book flew by for me and other parts not so much... I had a hard time with the overall tug and war between the main character and her crush, who just so happened to be a tattoo artist that was head over heels crushing on this shy, zero experience spinster type. I tried really hard to imagine the scenes and the exchanges, but they truly seemed like they were from different worlds. I didn't like that Ruthie basically was a pushover and took on roll as doting neighbor with a hot piece of hunk, who came of honestly rude and like he was just using her for her cooking and bath tub? I was hoping for her to really GROW and come into her own. The details of her being so oblivious to so much around her, come on.... she is ON TOP of her job 24/7, but didn't realize she was grossly underpaid or that the thrift store guy was into her. I felt like Ruthie's character wasn't consistent. Overall though, I revert back to my first sentence that if you are in the mood for something easy, with lots of tension and two opposites, then Sally Thorne has written the book for you!

This was a fun forbidden romance with a larger focus on character growth. I loved watching Ruthie blossom, but the real heroes of this book are the Parlonis. Focusing on a pair of eccentric octogenarians who enjoy hazing their personal assistant was pure genius. This book is fairly light on the steam, but I didn't mind because the plot really drew me in.

DNF @ 25%. I can tell this one just isn't for me, and possibly The Hating Game was a unicorn find for me as a reader. I'm just not connecting with the main characters, but the elderly residents of the living facility are absolute dolls.

Sally Thorne is a master of writing the cutest love stories! The Hating Game was an amazing debut that I will forever return to for a hearty dose of warm and fuzzies. Second First Impressions did not disappoint. This book was adorable and both the main and side characters were the perfect amount of quirky.

The book is heart-warming and just an absolute delight to read. The plot centers around Ruthie, a very. sheltered employee of a small retirement community. She is left in charge and has to deal with some of the wild and extremely demanding tenants all while fighting to keep the community open after its purchase by a conglomerate. Her life get even messier when Teddy, her complete opposite, enters her life

My only issue was that I found the first 10% of the book to be a bit confusing in direction and tone, and had a hard time following the sort of stream-of-consciousness writing. Once I got used to this different form, I really fell in love with the characters and the settings. I was also a bit surprised at the focus on religion, as I got further into the book it didn't jar me as much, I just found it to be very different from her previous books.

GIVE and TAKE. Teddy has those words tattooed across the knuckles of his hands. And at its heart, that's the theme of this romance, a story of learning to give and to take and determining what sacrifices to make.

Ruthie is twenty-five and has lived and worked on site of a retirement village for six years. The new temp, Melanie, decides to help her get out more through her soon-to-be copyrighted dating method. When unbelievably gorgeous tattoo artist Teddy arrives, Mel immediately advises the Ruthie and Teddy to stay away from each other, as he would only break her heart.

I love the close friendships in this book. Watching Ruthie blossom as she gets to know Mel and Teddy is beautiful. Equally, Renata and Aggie, two of the seniors living in the retirement village, are amazing characters. Every character faces challenges and grows during the book. I also loved the incorporation of endangered tortoises.

This was my first Sally Thorne book. Her writing was excellent, and I expect to read all she has written.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the eARC.

4.5/5

Such a cute book! I really enjoyed t his one and recommend! I enjoyed the characters and how they developed.

Second First Impressions is a cute romance novel by Sally Thorne. Ruthie is a “old soul” – really, she dresses like an old lady at 25 years old - working in a retirement community. She cannot imagine herself anywhere else… ever. On one of rare occasions that she leaves the community to run an errand for one of the residents, Ruthie gives $25 to a customer at a gas station that didn’t have money to pay. When he goes thanks her, she is taken by surprise by a handsome face, tattooed arms, and long hair. He is taken by surprise that she was not an old lady, but his reaction puts Ruthie off. First impressions are not the best… so can a second first impressions make it better?

I loved this book! Loved it! It was so cute and funny. Renata makes the book with her humor and extreme expectations of her male assistants. Teddy and Melanie (the temp at the retirement community) took awhile to grow on me, but I enjoyed when Ruthie started to realized they were friends (Teddy, maybe something more). She discovers how nice it is to have friends and how much she will miss them when they both move on. Overall, a wonderful romantic comedy!

Thank you Netgalley and William Morrow and Custom House for this ARC. This is an book and I look forward to adding it to our library after its release.

I really liked this sweet romance! Providence was a charming location and the turtles were a nice touch. Both main characters were likeable and had great chemistry. I could relate with Ruthie a little bit about being embarrassed by her fan community involvement. I used to be heavily involved in an online fan community for a book series. I made some great friends who were there for me at some low points in my life.

I am a huge fan of The Hating Game, and while this one didn't suck me in as much, it's still really well done.

Second First Impressions is a great enemies to friends to loves story. Sally Thorne has a way with words that really helps bring me into the world she's creating and I was excited to read her third book.

I loved that Ruthie wanted to find herself and step outside of her comfort zone, not because someone told her to, but because she wanted to. I felt her insecurities and anxieties as if they were my own. I enjoyed watching Ruthie learn to love herself and open herself up to friendships. Teddy was such a great love interest. I wanted to protect him and also wanted him and Ruthie to communicate a little better at times. I enjoyed the will-they won't-they of their interactions.

I loved the secondary characters in this book. From Mel to the Parlonis they had it all. I felt immersed in the Providence Luxury Retirement Villa and found myself invested in the protection of the turtles, as well as the characters.

I thought the ending was a bit rushed with Teddy's family. As well as the issues Ruthie has with her parents. It felt as though they were glossed over at the ending.

I couldn't put this down and can't wait for Sally Thorne's next book!

TW: homophobia, diet culture, fat phobic comments, parental abandonment

I loved Thorne's Hating Game and was disappointed with 99% Mine. Second First Impressions is a mix between the two. The characters are relatable and quirky enough, but the transitions between dialogue and prose is clunky and leaves the reader disoriented. I'm not a fan of the repetitive nature of her character's thoughts (in both 99% Mine and Second First Impressions, I was hit over the head with how irresistible the male character was).

I flew through Second First Impressions by Sally Thorne, and I loved every minute of it. I finished and immediately missed the characters and living in their world. I loved this book and the sweet quirky characters.

Ruthie Midona is a quiet, quirky, organized woman who spends the entirety of her days working at a retirement community and guarding endangered tortoises. Teddy Prescott is the tattooed son of the property developer who owns the retirement community, and he appears to be Ruthie's total opposite. I completely and totally fell in love with both of the characters that Sally Thorne created in this story. The side characters in this story were also well developed and likable. I loved the banter and slow burn in this book, and I appreciated the growth in Ruthie's character throughout the story. This was a wonderfully entertaining read that grabbed me and didn't let go. It was funny, heartwarming, and sweet. I would highly recommend Second First Impressions.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this title. This did not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are honest and my own.

Ruthie, a 25 year-old preacher's daughter, has worked for the a retirement community for her entire adult life. She lives in a spare building on the property, which allows her to be available to the residents constantly-- and also makes it so she doesn't actually have to leave the property if she doesn't want to. Which she doesn't. At least, she thinks she doesn't.

This is proven when she goes to fill up the tank of a car of one of the residents, and a cute boy at the gas station mistakes her for an elderly woman. Which honestly wouldn't be difficult to do in her cardigan and sensible shoes, but still. But then it turns out this cute boy who needs his eyes checked is the son of the investor who recently purchased the retirement community-- the investor who previously had basically forgotten about them, thus not changing anything.

Theodore/Teddy is not known for sticking to doing anything except tattooing in his life-- leaving a string of broken hearts and really good tattoos behind him-- but Ruthie intrigues him. He takes a job assisting an outrageous old lady and her partner so he can make some crazy money in a short amount of time to fund a new tattoo studio-- and to get to know Ruthie better.

<i> Second First Impressions </i> was definitely a slow-burn-with-lots-of-chemistry-along-the-way book. It had very strong secondary characters, and Renata, Aggie, Melanie and the rampant tortoises had me cackling out loud several times. Honestly, this felt more like a YA romance just because of Ruthie's stunted personal growth. Even though she was living on her own as a 25 year old woman, it felt like she could have been a teenager with parents who were never around. It's not necessarily a bad thing because I get that she had a weird childhood, but it also wasn't completely what I think I wanted. Either way, I'm giving it 4 stars because of the laughs and burning chemistry between Ruthie and Teddie.

Thanks to Netgalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Let me start by saying I simply ADORED the hating game, it may be one of my fave romances ever. I was then throughly confused by 99% mine and DNF’ed it simply because I couldn’t even make sense of the story. So I was cautiously optimistic when reading this latest book.

Second Impressions had a lot of potential and while it overall was a cute and quirky story- it completely lacked the magic of the hating game. I enjoyed the books setting- an upscale retirement community and the premise- prim and proper old soul Ruthie falls for bad boy tattoo artist Teddy. There was several funny moments and I was charmed by clever and sassy old ladies’ supporting characters. It was confusing to me that Ruthie and Teddy openly acknowledged their attraction for each other but at the same time thought it was a bad idea...then all of a sudden decided all the reasons they had been holding back from each other didn’t matter anymore and boom, they were in love all of a sudden? Individually, I liked them as characters but needed more chemistry and connection for their relationship to make sense.

Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I haven't read anything by this author before so I am not comparing this book to anything else. I loved the setting as it reminded me of one of my favorite movies (Quartet) and the friendship between Mel and Ruth was nice too. The love relationship is very slow to unfold (I don't know if I'd call it a slow burn or just a constantly stepping back dance) and I personally could have done with a lot more sexy times - with penises being mentioned in the first few pages I certainly got my hopes up. The intimacy is not closed door but I wouldn't call it hot either. I won't hold that against the author, however, it was still well-written. What I didn't fall for at all were the relationships Teddy had with his father and his sister Rose. They felt cliché and didn't have any depth at all. The elderly sisters were fun but I felt the big reveal was put in there just so the book checks a diversity box, there was no real value in that for me. The ending was also too Hallmarky for my taste so... I'd say 3.5 to 4 stars for this one.

This was a sweet romance story that begins with an unlikely friendship that grows into more. I loved how easy the friendship between Ruthie and Teddy felt, despite how anxious Ruthie clearly was on the inside. I enjoyed this fun, easy read.

Thank you to Edelweiss, NetGalley, Avon, Harper Collins and William Morrow for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sally Thorne is such a distinctive writer and I was so excited to read her third book

I would recommend if you're looking for

-m/f frenemies to lovers
-close proximity
-workplace romance
-turtle rescue
-very thin walls
-an elderly community filled with characters
-opposites attract
-slow burn

Sally Thorne is such a vivid writer. Her distinct style, I felt as if I was dropped right in the elderly community and loved it. The secondary characters in this book were amazing.

I enjoyed that this was a story about Ruthie stepping out of her shell, not because she felt she needed to change for anyone, but for herself. Contrasting the location with Rutihie's life was smart and so fun to read. Teddy was a cinnamon roll and a softie. With hints of forbidden romance elements.

I do wish Ruthie's issues with her parents were addressed further especially at the end. This book also has subtle plots of religion throughout but it is not a religious or sweet book.

I couldn't put this one down and can't wait to read Sally Thorne's next book!

Rating: 4.5
Steam: 3


Trigger warnings: slut-shaming, homophobia, parental abandonment