Would you take a sabbatical from dating if your last few relationships went bad due to your choices? Would you publish an online diary of being single? What would you do if you met an amazing guy from your childhood who you're really interested in but you're on a no man ban for a month? Sora has think and decide about her life choices . This is a cute romance that can be read in a day or so. 3 stars.

I really liked the premise of this book but it just fell flat to me

I started this book and got up to like 15% and really tried to enjoy it but I don’t think it’s for me

Maybe I’ll go back to it when the time is right but today is just not that day

The Second You’re Single is about about navigating the most romantic month of the year I liked it but didn’t love it. Loved the representation though.

A fantastic rom-com story! While reading the book, I could visualize the story in my head so clearly it was like watching a movie. There were so many laugh out loud moments in this book. Sora is just a mess, but I loved everything about her. Jack is the man every woman needs. He's so swoonworthy! Even with all the laugh out loud moments, there were so many other emotions going on in the story. There is so much heart in it. I absolutely loved how the story progressed and the ending was perfect! I loved this book so much! It was a perfect read for a winter's afternoon. I received an advance copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

The Second You’re Single – Cara Tanamachi

Sora Reid has no time for Valentine’s Day this year! Her dating life resembles something of a dumbster fire. Knowing she can’t be the only one experiencing this extreme hatred for Valentine’s Day, she writes an article for an online site swearing off men and starting a #gosolo movement for the entire month of February. Things seem to be going great until… she runs into her friend from kindergarten who looks like the brawny paper towel man who bakes for a living: Jack Mann. Can Sora’s self-control win? Or will her feelings for Jack get the best of her?

Just in time for Valentine’s day, this is book is perfect for all single and taken individuals! Sora is a relatable character: she’s quirky, kind and sweet. Jack is the ULTIMATE book boyfriend (seriously does he have any faults?!). There are multiple hiccups that occur throughout the book between Jack and Sora but ultimately I would say it’s more about self-discovery and self-love rather than a pure romance. I hope you pick this one up just in time for Valentine’s day!

well... I didn't hate this book, but I didn't love it either. I was super excited to read this because the FMC looked like me based on the description, but the body positive was... not there.

Another thing I didn't enjoy was that the FMC's main personality trait was that she loved bacon. At one point, enough is enough.

I think the author was trying to achieve forbidden romance because of the whole solo February thing, but instead, we got insta love. "SPOILER" They slept and said I love way before the 50% mark. *SPOILER* I think the book would've slapped if this was a slow burn instead, there's no harm in waiting TWO weeks.

The only likable character to me was Jack's niece but even her character seemed out of place, adding a character with leukemia for what? It just doesn't really add anything to the plot given that everything is to be taken lightly in this book.

The only part I was absolutely in love with was the epilogue, I found it adorable

Overall, it could've been better, but it's not bad.

Freelance writer Sora Reid believes in inertia and feels like the odd one out in her family of go-getters. The only thing to disrupt her inertia is her dislike of Valentine's Day. She sees the holiday as a commercial machine, after being betrayed and disappointed by love more than once. She pledges to stay single which inspires her readers to do the same. She runs into an old classmate named Jack and the attraction between them is immediate. She can't keep her single pledge and have the guy too.
I wasn't too thrilled by this book. Some parts were good but overall it was just kind of lacking. Not terrible, but a lot could be improved. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

The Second You're Single was such a cute and enjoyable Rom-Com!
I loved every single chapter. This was a very relatable story that I absolutely devoured! The characters are well written and the plot is perfection. It is hard to find a rom-com that isn't essentially a rewrite of another popular book but this was splendid!

Read if you like:
♥️ BIPOC Representation
♥️ Asian Representation
♥️ LGBTQ Representation
♥️ Discussion around Body Image
♥️ Insta-Love
♥️ crazy Ex-girlfriend vibes
♥️ Bacon

Unfortunately this one was not a slam dunk for me. It had all the makings to be a great romance and I was so hyped for it, but it didn’t live up to my expectations.

I wanted more body positivity, less talk of bacon (as someone who doesn’t like bacon it was too much), and more feeling of why the couple had insta love… I just wasn’t feeling it and usually don’t with insta-love because it’s always so cheesy and there is a lack of building the characters when insta-love is used.

Overall, a solid read but not my favorite.

This was as cute and quaint as the cover leads you to believe it will be.
Fun romcom that you know what will happen in, but that isn’t a bad thing! Pick this up when you want to smile and feel good.

This definitely has the potential to be an adorable romance story. Sora has pledged to stay single for the month of February, but let's see how long that lasts when she runs into Jack, someone from her past, at the grocery store. Sora wants to stay true for her readers, but who can deny the feelings she felt right off the bat I mean who can resist a lumberjack man with a beard?
Triggers: Fat-phobia, previous miscarriage, toxic family, cheating
This is a romance book set in the timeline around Valentine's and the character Sora, is going up against the commercialized holiday to make a point. I believe the characters can be relatable at times especially since she has struggles of her own that she is trying to overcome, but I feel like the characters should be portrayed a little better, because the body shaming throughout the book is prevalent, and while I totally understand that a character might struggle with body image and low self-esteem, and I see the point of seeing various perspectives, I do not think it should be made acceptable to body shame anyone or make it seem okay. I think that this story has way more potential, and I honestly hope that the author could make some edits to improve the story as this can put a taint in how the characters are seen. I wish that the story would have lead to the main character learning to love herself more and changing her own problems. I really did enjoy some parts of this, but just some of the aspects of this book really irritated/upset me. I think that this could've been carried out a little better. As a reader just know something I didn't like, you might like.

On a positive note- the cover is really pretty

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Jack had quite the unrequited (unnoticed really) crush on Sora way back when they were in elementary school, but after fifth grade his family moves away.
Fast forward So Many Years and Sora, single again after a disastrous relationship or three, is writing a month long column project about going solo for February, to spite the Valentine’s Day Machine. So of course this is when she runs into Jack again, passing out pastries he’s baked at the local grocery. There’s a little spark, a minutes long fake relationship, and a misunderstanding.
They connect again and again though, and it’s very much a ‘You find what you’re looking for as soon as you stop searching so hard’ situation. But should she risk her job to give this something they’re feeling a chance?

What I loved - The book starts off strong - there’s a lot humor, good banter, and a rescue dog that stole my heart. The scenes with Jack and his niece were sweet as all get out. And while a few weeks of patience would have avoided the drama of the story, Sora and Jack getting all caught up in each was great.

What I could have done with much less of - the food/body shaming that kept popping up. Sora’s mother wording it as ‘issues they both have’ didn’t make it better, and there’s a scene with the sister at a dress fitting that I felt crossed a line. And I felt bad about how much Jack was still feeling the effects of childhood bullying.

Outside of this, and overall, I did enjoy the story though and was happy with how it ended.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the ARC!

"Cheerfully irreverent, bitingly funny, and filled with romantic charm," The Second You're Single seemed like it would be a book for me. But in the first 10% there's just too much diet culture/fat-shaming for my taste. The coup de grace was the main character thinking that her ex being with someone size zero and blonde proved that he could do better than the MC -- when all she know about the new woman was how she looked. Maybe the main character will learn to not feel like she has to diet in order to date and stop assigning value based on size, but it doesn't seem like that'll be the story arc, and I'm not here for romances that include so much fat-phobic content.

3.5 stars!

This was a quick, easy read. I really enjoyed some aspects, like the #solofebruary and the self-care concepts. However, some parts were lacking, such as the family story.

Overall it was a cute story and I really enjoyed the ending!

Thanks to NetGalley & St Martin's Press for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Could not handle the fatphobia and toxic ideas around one’s body image and weight. Decided to DNF, since other reviews didn’t give me hope there would be any improvement. What a bummer.

DNF at 7%. I was drawn in by the concept - a writer pledging to stay solo for February and write about it for her magazine and then meeting someone interesting. However within the first two chapters there was already so much diet culture/fatphobic references that I’m done - final straw for me was referring to someone as “Not gross big, just a slight, comforting pudge.” I am reading an advance copy so hopefully that’s edited before the final version but since it’s just one of many instances that have already bothered me - it’s my final straw. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

Sora Reid is thirty-two and works from home in Chicago as a freelance writer. After still another romantic disappointment, she pitches a new story to her editor. She suggests #GoSolo as a theme for February since Valentine's Day really won't work for her. She suggests taking a dating break and working on oneself as a way to empower women. She finds herself at the head of a movement which really isn't what this risk-averse young woman was looking for.

It especially won't work for her now that she has connected with Jack Mann. They were in elementary school together where they were great friends but lost track of each other after fifth grade. Now Jack is a baker at the grocery store where Sora shops. He rescues her when she runs into her ex-husband and his new girlfriend. He seems like the perfect guy - friendly, considerate, caring - but the time couldn't be worse.

Meanwhile, Jack who is planning to start his own bakery is having issues convincing a former girlfriend who is the heir to a hotel empire that their relationship is really over. She keeps trying to restart the relationship which makes Jack look like a liar when he's with Sora.

This was an entertaining story with some moment of laugh-out-loud humor, i.e. Sora's experience with aerial aerobics, but also some touching moments when Sora and Jack share hurtful memories from their pasts. I loved Jack's optimism which was a nice foil to Sora's more pessimistic viewpoint.

Fans of contemporary, very contemporary, romance will enjoy this adventure in modern love and dating.

A romp of a rom com. Sora's had enough- she's broken up with a married man, she's trying to ignore both her mother and her sister (on the subjects of food and dating) and she's just tired. SO why no Solo February - why not skip the whole Valentine's thing? It's a great idea until she bumps into Jack in the grocery store. He liked her when they were kids and now they're liking each other. Except his ex is circling and Sona's gotta make it through the month. Fans of the genre know how this will end but it's the journey that makes this fun. I liked the diversity and the relative maturity of the characters (as well as the turnabout with Jack being the chef). Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

*I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

While the premise of this book was cute, it didn’t meet my expectations. I think there were two things that really killed it for me early on that I couldn’t bounce back from:

1) The casual and constant body shaming
2) The general undercurrent of meanness

These things were so pervasive throughout the book, and it made it rally hard for me to like or even root for the main characters. I would even argue that the only character I actually liked was Stella, who we barely saw and when we did was sort of the “fairy godmother” character.

You may like this book, but unfortunately it was not a hit for me. 2.5 stars rounded up.

Sora Reid is stuck going nowhere in her life and she’s fine with that. She has no problem leaving her home in tattered, stained sweats. Jack Mann is a hot, talented baker who’s had bad luck with love. He’s also had a crush on Sora since elementary school. Running into her in the grocery store brings back all the feelings.

I’ll admit it took me a minute to get into this story. I’m glad I stuck with it. Jack is a sweet, caring guy and he and Sora are funny together. The writing was good. The story, a baker, a writer, nothing really new but still solid. 3.5/5 Stars from me.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC.