Liz and her husband Tobin both work for an adventure company in the Pacific Northwest of Canada and Liz does not feel that she is being seen, that everyone overlooks her in her personal and professional life. When her boss retired, she did not get promoted to his position. Instead it was left empty. Everyone is drawn to Tobin at gatherings, leaving her to feel left out. After her 30th birthday party does not go well, she decides to move in with her sister and niece to find herself. She decides that an improv class might help, which is a topic woven into the rest of the book in an interesting way along with the topic of autism.

Rules for Second Changes by Maggie North is a book of healing, self-discovery and second chances. While I was not immediately drawn into the story or characters, it was unique and well-written and I was happy to have finished the book. Liz and Tobin are both perfectly imperfect characters and Liz feels lost and overshadowed in her marriage, work and life. Improv is used as a tool for self-discovery/improvement as well as bring Liz and Tobin back together. There were a lot of great side-characters included that really added to the story line overall. 3.5 stars rounded up.

Thank you to the publisher, St. Martin’s Griffen, NetGalley and the author for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Very different women’s fiction/romance. The story begins with Liz Lewis leaving her birthday party where she feels unseen. She wants changes in her life, her career and her marriage. Which is a lot to take on, especially when her husband Tobin works for the same Canadian wilderness expeditions company. She thinks Tobin is everything she isn’t, confident, entertaining and the life of the party. When she goes to her boss asking about future promotability he suggests an improv comedy class with the end goal of getting to pitch her ideas at the annual company competition that has a promotion attached. It will also put her in direct competition with Tobin.

This is all told from Liz’s POV and her mind is a whirl. I honestly don’t know how I felt about the improv. Some parts are funny, and some less so. But she does make new friends that turn out helpful and gets some confidence. Tobin is great as the guy who wants to save his marriage. He has his own baggage and parental issues. And the family in this book are not always kind. I love the undiagnosed neurodivergence aspect of the story too. The cover is lovely but I don't think this book is an easy romance. There is a marriage on the rocks and complex people and problems to push through. But the journey is worth the read. (3.5 Stars)

This book was a very creative take on the marriage in trouble trope and I loved the improv storyline. It brought levity to heavy deep problems. The two main characters clearly loved each other and I specifically loved the growth on the MMC since in the beginning of the story you wonder if he has any issues at all since he is so nice and pleasant all the time. This was a moving story and I definitely recommend.

This was a very sweet second chance romance. Liz is struggling at work and is very unhappy being a side character in her own life. So she decides to take a break in her marriage and tries to go for a promotion at work. Her boss suggests she take an improv comedy class to gain the skills she needs for getting a leadership role. Her husband Tobin also suggests a marriage help book for them to do together centered on improv comedy. The improv comedy as marriage help idea was unique, and I liked how that played out. I also really appreciated the neurodivergent representation in this book, and the relationship being a messy one with realistic problems. A heartwarming book. I received an ARC, and this is my honest review.

Thank you to Maggie North, St. Martin’s Griffin, and NetGalley for an ARC of Rules for Second Chances! All opinions are my own.

This was a fun and touching romance novel that used improv comedy to repair a marriage, which is genuinely not a sentence I thought I would ever say. But it worked! Could not be me. But I loved how Liz and Tobin used it to explore vulnerabilities and ways to communicate outside more typical methods that had failed before.

The cast of side characters was also amazing. Sharon, Béa, McHuge, Stellar, even Yeti and Eleanor, were a great supporting cast that helped with the characters growth without pulling the story away too far from the main couple.

*possible spoilers*

I also really loved Liz’s storyline as a late-diagnosed woman with autism. I was diagnosed at 20, so about a decade before Liz, but I still experienced and continue to experience a lot of the same things she did - feeling like an outsider through life, not understanding cues, and not connecting well with others. I think her journey was really accurately represented, and I always love seeing an autistic woman in a romance novel. I’m glad that by the end of the book, she was able to stand up for herself to toxic employers and set boundaries with family, as well as be more vulnerable to Tobin in order to strengthen their marriage.

POV: single first person

You can expect: marriage in crisis, second chance romance, improv comedy class, the great outdoors, “just once”.

Rep: autistic MC and side character, bisexual MC and side character

Spice: 2/5

CW: sibling who is kind of an asshole (I don’t know how to better describe this but Liz’s sister is straight up mean IMO), absent and manipulative parent

What a beautiful, soft romance! I loved the themes of discovering who you are and who you want to be and simply seeing yourself and being seen by the people in your life for who you are. With fun improv scenes, a sexy and sweet love interest with a hot muscular bod, thoughtful autistic rep, and a double grand gesture, this is a winning debut. Can't wait to see what North brings us next!

Can improv give Liz and Tobin a second chance? This is as much about Liz's journey to understanding-and liking-herself as it is about her relationship with her husband Tobin, It's got positive vibes but know that it's also got a lot going on that in some ways distracts from the story. I liked Liz, especially as she grew to appreciate her own differences and the fact that she and Tobin worked to communicate. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

This is one I was looking forward to, love a second chance romance and the cover was adorable!! But this book fell super flat for me. I wasn't really able to get into the story, the reader doesn't really learn why the marriage was in trouble, there were a handful of continuity errors that made the plot hard to follow and there was so much conflict between the MCs that the author didn't give you something to root for between the two, you didn't get to see where the marriage started to fall apart and no flashback to see what brought them together. And there were so many side stories that I don't feel like for resolved that it was lacking all the way around.


Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my review!

I'm not sure why, but I found this story hard to follow. There was a lot going on. And though I love a second chance romance, especially one revolving around an already married couple, the reason Liz wanted a divorce seemed ... irrational.

A part of me understood, and I really connected with her social challenges, but the issues within her marriage felt very one-sided and erratic. I spent the majority of the time feeling bad for Tobin. I think having his perspective would have given a more well-rounded conflict.

On the plus side, I thought Liv and Tobin had great chemistry. The use of improv as therapy was really fresh and fun. It was interesting to see two characters attempt to address their problems in an indirect, unconventional way. But at the same time, please just talk to each other like mature adults.

Wow. I'm not really even sure where to start with this one. It feels like a disservice to call it a romance because while there is a romantic plot line, this book, to me, is so much more than that. It's about figuring out who you are, being vulnerable, and standing up for yourself. And I loved all of it.

My one complaint (and it's a tiny one) is that I wish there was a bit more emotional release. Everything kept building and building and building and I think some of it was relieved, but not as much as I would have liked. Seeing Liz stand up to Craig and Amber though was A+.

I think Maggie North has something really special on her hands here and I"m excited to see what's next!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for the chance to read this title. Please understand my comments are exactly that mine!

With that being said I wasn’t able to complete this story. I finished this story around 45% through and just couldn’t do it. I personally lacked connection to the characters.And just became very disinterested in the story. The vibe of this story just wasn’t for me.

Second chance romance + improv = sign me up! I was intrigued by the concept and excited to read this one early! Overall, I enjoyed the story, but I felt it was a bit difficult to follow. There was A LOT going on in this story: marriage in crisis, dysfunctional family relationships, a pitch contest at work, improv classes, a niece that goes missing, Liz and Tobin having their first child in the Epilogue, etc. I also felt that the story was more about Liz and her journey of self-discovery than it was about her relationship with Tobin. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it read more as women's fiction to me than a romance.

Thinking about it further, I do think some of the storytelling I found confusing could have been international. We're inside Liz's brain and POV, and she's struggling! Early on in the story, I did pick up on the questions around Liz and her neurodiversity. I am glad this was discussed further towards the end of the novel, but I wish it was explored even more! I have a brother who learned he was autistic as an adult, and I'd love to read more stories that reflect and discuss this.

I did really enjoy the improv story line. I thought it was very clever and a fresh take on how to work through a marriage in trouble, but also supporting Liz on her individual journey.

I am happy to have read this one, and I will definitely check out Maggie North's future work!

I really wanted to like this book as second change romance is my favotire trope but i feel like i didnt connect to the characters. Not sure if it was just writing style but i felt like it jumped all over the place. i loved the concept but this one fell a little flat to me.

Marriage in trouble or second chance romance novels are not my favorite book because it usually always starts with them hurting because of the state of their relationship.
I did really enjoy this one despite this. It was really interesting to see them getting closer together again using lessons from improv. I never saw this take on relationship therapy before.
What I really loved was the autism representation in this story. The pacing of the book was really good and the steamy scenes really added to the story.
I do wish the story was told from both perspectives.
I loved the little improv snippets at the beginning of the chapters.

This one wasn't for me. It had a lot of potential, but I just couldn't stand the consistent miscommunication. It always comes off as so immature and I just couldn't get past that in a book like this.

. . . ⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ⭒ ⭒
I’m honestly not sure what to think about this one overall. There was lots that I liked about this book, things that didn’t sit well with me, and everything in between. I didn’t have any expectations for this book, so I can’t say that I was let down per say, but it didn’t resonate with me as much as I hope with any read.

I did understand the initial journey Liz embarked on to “get magic”, I just felt like maybe there wasn’t enough preamble about her marriage to have that be the catalyst in it all. I feel like Tobin deserved much better than what occurred in the bulk of this novel, with Liz not coming off particularly well. The physical chemistry between Tobin and Liz was great, but I felt like it didn’t match the characters as they were written. Part of it felt somewhat unrealistic or incongruent with everything else and it left me feeling it to be a bit mismatched. And while I appreciated the neurodiversity discussions, I didn’t love how it played out in the context of the story.

I did like the spotlight on gender role reversals within the improv defying the socially-constructed gender roles we either are placed in to, or fall into. I think the author also did a good job of discussing the adversity women face in attempting to climb the corporate ladder, and how strong women lift other women up.

I enjoyed the complicated family dynamics - like that of Liz and Amber, and Tobin and Tor - I usually find this type of contextual history adds to a story, especially romance, and it did deliver in that sense. I especially appreciated that there was a son having issues with his father, fear of and the processing of emotional and physical abandonment - I usually find this character dynamic is often placed on female characters, so I was happy to see it placed upon those characters.

There were so many side characters that I loved: McHuge, Stellar, Sharon, Béa - and the concept of “found family” is a favorite trope of mine, and it was delivered well.

All things considered this was a decent enough read, it just didn’t hit me the way I think was intended. With that being said, my inability to connect with certain aspects of the novel is more of a “me problem”, versus any true criticism of the book itself. Just because it didn’t resonate with me, doesn’t mean you might not love it - so definitely still check it out.

~ 👩🏻‍🦰

⧞ ‘Rules for Second Chances’ hits shelves June 25th, and we are eternally grateful to @stmartinspress , @netgalley , and author for a digital advanced readers copy of this book.

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I wasn’t sure about this one at first but by the end I really liked it. I think going into it I thought this was a second chance romance but really it’s more marriage in trouble which is different and I liked more. Honestly, I was more invested in Liz (the MFC) and her relationship with others and at work than I did with her husband 😬 As a communication professor I was fascinated by the idea of improv as a way to get people to communicate, work on relationships and help neurodivergent people feel seen in conversations.

Liz is stuck. Stuck in her job, in her marriage and in her family. She believes no one sees her and she wants to be seen as she own person. She wants to “get magic” like her husband does in a room full of people. On her quest to find magic she separates from her husband, Tobin, who is obviously upset and asks her to work on their relationship by doing this improv relationship book together.

This is an interesting look into what happens when someone is neurodivergent but hasn't realized it by age 30. How does it affect everyday life, like a marriage? It's. a story of finding oneself and trying to mend broken bridges. It has some improv comedy in there as a way that Liz is trying to establish herself. I felt bad for Tobin but appreciated his earnestness. Not a fan of miscommunication trope. Interesting read.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for advanced copy, and I give my review freely

Maggie North has written such a beautiful marriage in trouble romance. I find these are so difficult to nail, but Maggie kept me invested in these two from start to finish. I loved this.