Second First Impressions by author Sally Thorne is an interesting read. Ms Thorne creates unique scenes and elements to grab readers attention and keep the pages turning.
Review copy received via Netgalley

If you enjoy a chic lit novel then Second First Impressions is for you.

This is the first of Sally Thorne’s novels I have read, and yes, I know that is totally insane of me.

With a cast of truly believable characters, you will enjoy this book from page one and be left wishing there was more by the end.

A big thank you to Hachette and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book… I just loved it!

I opened this lilac beauty (coincidentally, the perfect shade of bridesmaid dress: IYKYK) and fell in love on page one. I love love love Thorne’s tone. It’s sassy, direct, filled with cultural references (including a Britney reference on page 13, hello??) and I’m won over. The bullet points at the start of chapters (most excellent), tortoise cameos and witty repartee without tipping into the ‘lotta work’ column got me hook line and sinker.

Ruthie has been working her way up at Providence, a retirement village reminiscent of Graceland (yes really). She has her eyes set on her manager’s role, but the larger prize of finding a boy, remains just out of reach. After hours she moonlights as a chauffeur, goods procurer and extra pair of hands for the legendary Parloni sisters who are residents at the home.

It’s on one of these trips she meets Teddy, a tattooed, long haired damsel (duke?) in distress. After coming to his aid, she thinks she’ll never see him again...well, fate may have other plans.

You guys, this is going to be a most gushy review (in a super non Cardi B way) because I just can’t help myself! This one got me right in the feels! It was just so cute and wholesome, with just the right hint of spice.

The secondary characters feel anything but, bringing A game to the narrative and really shining brilliantly off the page. There’s some great stuff in here about the first impressions we make, and how they can often be wrong.

If you’re looking for a cute romance, this is it. Pick it up now. And I mean...it’s lilac? 😍😍😍 Thanks @hachetteaus for my copy in return for review.

Unpopular opinion alert: I did not like The Hating Game so I had low expectations going into this one as I thought Sally Thorne's books were just not for me. I have to say that I enjoyed this one way more than expected! I loved the cute, slow-burn romance and the lovely characters. It was a fun light read, perfect summer read if you are in the northern hemisphere, or a perfect cozy winter book next to the fire if you are in Australia!

After finally reading a Sally Thorne novel I can now see why her books are so popular! I didn't expect to love this story as much as I did but the two main characters were such a delight. Ruthie was sweet and innocent, and Theodore (Teddy) was rugged and self-obsessed although, he soon changed. I enjoyed reading about his little endangered tortoise and his silky long hair, haha! I read Second First Impressions for Books With Heart Book Club and received a free digital copy from NetGalley.

This is the perfect book to read on a cold wintry day…so grab yourself a cosy blanket and a cup of whatever takes your fancy and enjoy

It’s chic lit, and somewhat predictable, but that’s OK, more than OK because sometimes you just want a good read with a happy ending, it doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom.

I loved the setting, a luxury retirement village, and I loved the mix of characters, from Ruthie, the old before her time, manager, The sisters, and the way they ‘torment ‘their employees.

And then there’s Teddy…can I just say that as I was reading this book, I pictured Teddy as a bit of a Jason Momoa look alike…so with that image in your head, I encourage you to go out and get your hands on this fun read.

Teddy the muscled, tattooed helper at a resort for rich patrons, steals the show in Second First Impressions, the unlikely quirky romance between the retirement home manager - a beautiful young woman retreating from life who is willing him to fail so she won't be forced to confront her own wimpish behaviour

Teddie is being up for failure by both Ruthie, who wants to get rid of the handsome, obliging man who gets under her skin when she tells herself its the last thing she wants, and his eccentric clients, super rich Biddies who delight in torturing their staff with unreasonable requests at all hours,

And despite his privileged background, Teddie refuses to capitulate to the pressure, instead charming everyone and reminding Ruthie of what it was like to be young and having fun.

A delightfully off center love story which intrigues and surprises through to its poignant conclusion.

Oh, Teddy!

I really enjoyed this story. I find lately that I’m drawn to the contemporary romance that is closer to real life then the more overly-dramatic.

This story has a cast of believable characters.

Ruth meets Teddy and he doesn’t make the greatest first impression. So, of course, they are thrown together by chance and let the hilarity begin. Ruth is young, but seems older because she spends her time in a safe zone. Teddy is a young too, but his behaviour and attitude is closer to that of a toddler, than a grown man who should be doing more, but doesn’t because he lives down to the expectations of those around them.

The pair are supported in their plans to ‘act their age’ (Ruth) and grow up (Teddy) by a host of characters and a blossoming romance makes the pages turn quickly.

This was another Sally Thorne gem and I am very glad to have had the opportunity to read it.

This book was so sweet it made my teeth hurt, and I loved it! I definitely identified with quiet, introverted Ruthie, and I loved her tenderness and dedication to the villa’s residents. Teddy was the ultimate bad boy with a heart of gold, and watching these two go from enemies to neighbours to friends to lovers was simply delightful. There are some heavier topics covered here as well – mostly each of Ruthie and Teddy’s relationships with their respective families. The friendship between Ruthie and Teddy was so genuine and I loved how much they cared for each other. The villa’s residents – especially Aggie and Renata – are quirky and hilarious and just so much fun. This book really is like a little ray of sunshine

Highly recommend this one, especially if you like slow burn, friends to lovers romance!

A Sally Thorne romance? Sign me up!! Second First Impressions was quirky, cute and wholesome and much less steamier than the Hating Game (except for the ;) bits). I loved the character development of Ruthie and Teddy and at one point even made me cry because I didn’t have someone in my life telling me how much they loved or believed in me as much as all the characters in the book did, Mel, Renata and Aggie included. An easy, warm read!

Wow, where to start with this review! It is a tough one because I LOVED some parts of it and others were just MEH for me. I loved quirky I loved Second Theodore Prescott, the long-haired, motorcycle riding, full of tattoos son of the owner of Providence, the up scale retirement village where our 25yr old frumpy heroine is working! The setting is gorgeous and the author does well with a dreamy whimsical feel but I felt the chemistry between Ruthie and Teddy was a bit perfunctory and lacked some of the magnetic charm we expect from this kind of novel, although I feel that was the authors intention, but their romance was sweet and probably a little more real life than some books try to make it so that worked for me.

It's a fairly slow burn with the last 10% wrapping everything up at an alarming rate but the characters are good, a few cringy moments but overall a satisfactory easy read. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I must first admit I haven't read any of Sally Thorne's other books but I have got The Hating Game on my TBR.
I really loved this book from the get go.
Ruth is only 25 years old but dresses and acts like the elderly people she works and lives with at the Providence Retirement Village. On a trip to the local gas station she meets a tattooed motorcyclist and that's when her life begins to change.
When the next day the new owner of the retirement village turns up with his son (who Ruth just happened to meet the night before) she learns that the cottage next door will become Teddy's home as he gets back on his feet. He is given the job of assistant to two 90 year old trouble makers that have Teddy doing all kind of weird tasks.
An attraction develops as Ruth learns to make friends with people her own age and is pushed on a quest to find love by her co-worker.
Teddy definitely lives up to the give and take tattooed on his hands but its such an interesting dynamic between the two. The side characters were all so hilarious and loveable. I loved learning about how Ruth and Teddy got stuck in their predicaments.
It did get a bit muddled to read at times due to some incoherent conversations and thoughts by the characters so I gave it 🌟🌟🌟🌟 1/2 Stars.

Thanks to Netgalley.com and Hachette Australia for this complimentary eARC copy.

Second First Impressions is a cute romance between a young woman who has worked at a retirement village for many years but rarely leaves and the tattooed, long haired son of the owner.
The romance becomes a sweet friends to lovers situation and there are some fun and interesting side characters that leave their mark on the story.

I’ll start by saying Thorne’s debut The Hating Game is one of my favourite books ever. Her second book, 99% Mine, however, did not thrill me. And this, her third effort… Well, I guess I’m hovering somewhere in between.

Ruth works at a retirement village and acts as if she could be a resident according to her co-worker, Mel. Mel, along with a couple of the oldies, Renata and Aggie, decide to give Ruth a bit of a makeover and get her on a dating app. Meanwhile, the complex has been sold to a company owned by Teddy’s family. Teddy, an artist with ambitions of part owning a tattoo parlour, throws a bit of a spanner in the works for Mel’s plans when he moves in next door to Ruth. Teddy is not only extremely good looking, he’s also very nice, meaning Ruth has a hard time resisting his charm. The only trouble is he’s a bit of a love 'em and leave 'em type guy.

I found the beginning of the book a bit… boring. I was easily distracted when reading it and there were even moments when I thought I might throw it in the DNF pile. Somewhere around the halfway mark though, I really started to get into it a bit more.

Both the leads are likeable characters. As are the supporting characters. There are no really annoying characters who spoil it. This might actually be one of the problems with the book too though. There was never a huge conflict. The issue that Teddy will one day move on from Providence didn’t seem that difficult to negotiate. And maybe this led to a lack in the depth of the plot. The storyline was sweet and overall pretty realistic but not hugely complicated.

Thorne can write chemistry well. Whatever issues I had with 99% Mine, the lead couple’s sexual chemistry wasn’t one of them. Here, again, she excels at showing the attraction between Ruth and Teddy and writes UST with such ease.

Thorne did this thing in her previous books where she didn’t really specify her place setting. It annoyed the hell out of me with 99% Mine. This time it still annoyed me but not on the same scale. The retirement complex has a name, Providence, but she never really says where it is. I get the sense it’s supposed to be in a southern US state but… Maybe I’ll just keep reading her books to see if there is ever a firm setting.

If I compare Second First Impressions to The Hating Game, it falls short. But if you’re looking for a sweet contemporary chicklit, I’d say give it a go. 3 ½ out of 5

On the surface, this is a really adorable story between two beautiful characters who have difficulty in embracing various parts of themselves mainly because of less than pleasant influences from parental figures.

In Ruthie's case, I think it absolutely works. She hides herself away in a retirement village, managing her OCD urges with regards to locking up after herself as best as she can. Leaving the site, in which she also lives as well as works, is incredibly difficult for her. So, mostly, she doesn't.

Not unless temp worker and adorable side character Melanie makes her.

And then comes Teddy Prescott, son of the man who has bought up the retirement space and who may completely change it at the end of the year. Teddy isn't who she expects on first impressions. He's more like a Labrador than anything else.

But that is kinda where it stopped working for me. As much as I loved his puppy like appearance, I found that, with the constant comments about him not being trustworthy--both from himself and from various family members--I didn't trust him. Which is a problem for a love interest. It was more than self deprecation.

Teddy himself constantly says that Ruthie should keep her distance because he's going to leave... and then he simply won't leave her alone. He basically lives in her place, even though his unit is technically next door to hers. He uses a lot of her stuff without asking. And at all times the reader is meant to believe that it is his adorable personality that is meant to make up for his various foibles.

Usually, I would expect some sort of personal accountability plot to occur with a character like Teddy, but it just doesn't happen. It's not even hinted at. And so he comes across as someone very good at manipulation and double speak with the Labrador personality as a way of deflecting from all that.

The ending, while incredibly feel good, is also quite unrealistic which fulfilment that pretty much breaks the established characters of both Teddy's father and eldest half sister.

Sally Thorne has provided in the past an incredibly popular and well loved rom com so when I heard she releasing a new book needless to say I couldn’t wait to read it.

Ruthie has been working at Providence an aged care facility for a number of years when she unexpectedly crosses paths with a sexy stranger one night. She’s shocked when one day he walks into her work place and she realises it is Teddy Prescott whose family own Providence.

Overall I found it a light-hearted, slow burn, easy to read story that kept me engaged throughout that at times had me laughing out loud. I particularly appreciated the secondary characters.

I want to thank Hachette Australia and Netgalley for generously providing me with this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the blurb on this book is sounds like lots of fun and there were some very fun parts in this one as we get to know Ruthie Midona the daughter of a preacher who works at Providence Luxury Retirement Village, Ruthie might only be a young woman but she acts and dresses as a much older person the only friends she has are the residents and she loves her job and the endangered tortoises that she does all she can to protect, but when she helps out a tattooed biker at a gas station her life as she knows it is about to change big time.

Teddy Prescott is inked and a tattoo artist and a wanderer, he comes from a wealthy family although he doesn’t seem to fit in very well, he doesn’t take life seriously at all and there appears to be no intention of even helping with the family property development company that is until an angel helps him out and he ends up working at Prescott Developments acquisition and the home of his angel Ruthie, his father is hoping that Teddy will finally grow up and put more effort into the family.

Teddy starts working for the Parloni sisters at the village and they are the most eccentric of all of the residents their previous male personal assistants have never lasted long but lo and behold it looks life Teddy is coping well with them. Ruthie is also being helped by her assistant in the office Melanie Sasaki who is doing her best to get Ruthie onto some dating sites and do her best to get her to stay away from Teddy without much success. This is the first time that Ruthie has had friends her own age and life is picking up for her and Teddy as they get closer even if it is the last thing either of them wanted.

I struggled with this one, I didn’t feel a connection with the characters, they seemed a bit immature to me but as I got further in it picked up and I found this a sweet romance of people finding what they wanted and true love there were some fun parts and it was great to see Ruthie and Teddy find their HEA in a great ending.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my digital copy to read and review.
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Thanks to the author, Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It's official - I am obsessed with Sally Thorne. I devoured Second First Impressions, just like I did with The Hating Game and 99% Mine ravenously and licking the icing sugar off my fingers afterwards.

The straight-laced and slightly boring Ruthie is forced out of her comfort zone by the rolling stone Teddy Prescott, whose dreams of owning and operating his own tattoo parlour keep him out of the 'long-term relationship' zone. But after an initial case of mistaken identity (he thinks she is deliberately dressing up as a 95 year-old Golden Girl but that's just the way Ruthie dresses) they still seem to bring out the very best in each other and have to fight an insistent attraction and possessive streak to keep their hearts safe.

It all goes pear-shaped of course, then horribly wrong and then incredibly right with lots of laughs and feels and 'aaaaaws'.

Reading Ms Thorne's books is the equivalent of taking a huge breath of fresh air at the top of a mountain - makes your head spin a bit but you would do it all again just for that feeling.

I eagerly await her next novel.

Another fantastic book from this author. The perfect blend of humour and romance. It was sweet, quirky and funny! 5 stars!

Recipe for a Sweet and Funny Romance
1 dowdy-looking 25yo retirement village Activities Director (AD) with a tendency to OCD (labels, locks, lists, routine), inordinately devoted to her residents

1 pretty 22yo half-Japanese office temp with passion for match-making

2 sisters: 1 loud and demanding 91yo former fashion editor who revels in the demoralisation of (preferably male) personal assistants; 1 reserved and resigned 89yo former lawyer

Place all in a luxury retirement village. Put the AD into acting management position. Add in:

1 wealthy real estate developer, recent purchaser of said retirement village, (philosophy: Life is Change) determined to push his son into responsibility

1 drop-dead gorgeous 27yo raven-haired motorcycle-riding itinerant tattoo artist with commitment issues, needing accommodation and employment.

Pass the developer through the scene then set aside for later. Slot the tattoo artist into the empty half of a duplex occupied by the AD, and give him to the old ladies to play with. Mix well, then add:

1 clerk at a local thrift store saving suitable garments for his crush, the AD

1 older half-sister of tattoo artist, determined to climb daddy’s corporate ladder.

Season to taste with: concern for the future of the village residents, thwarted aspirations to veterinary medicine, endangered turtles, unsupportive moralistic parents, dismissive family, an enthusiastic makeover/dating plan, a shared fervour for a churchy TV soap, a nine-year man-drought and an unrealised tattoo studio dream.

Stir in a generous pinch of dazzle power and a good dollop of sexual attraction, then simmer until love crystallises.

Second First Impressions is the third novel by Australian author, Sally Thorne. Does her recipe work? It does. It’s no spoiler to reveal that Truthful Ruth the Reverend’s Daughter does eventually find love with Theodore Prescott: hazel eyes, little-kid freckles across the bridge of his nose and a waterfall of long black hair. Those in the mood to swoon a little will enjoy this light-hearted romance.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Hachette Australia.