Thank you to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for the early ARC of this book.
I am a fan of second chance romance and I find the anatomy of losing a relationship interesting. This book deals with the sudden demise of a marriage.
The MFC is stubborn and shut down throughout most of the book. Initially, I felt like her decision to want a divorce was a knee jerk response. As the author navigates through her feelings, we find out that she hasn't been happy through much of her 20's and now 30's. She has always felt like she was taking a back seat to her life and letting other people lead her. Her feelings of inadequacy cause her feelings for her husband to reach a breaking point. So much of her discourse is in her job status. Not getting promoted or taken seriously. She has a poor-me attitude that makes the book hard to get through. The main source of conflict is herself. I think I would have DNF if it wasn't an ARC.
The main source of conflict is herself.
As a way to find herself, and become the driving force in her own life, the MFC tries improv. She starts to practice with her estranged husband and this becomes a type of couples therapy for them.
I found this plot point to be really interesting- the use of improv to assist in communication. With improv, you don't have time to think about your words. You can't back pedal or filter your responses. Improv is fast paced and often unforgiving.
I appreciated the deep dive into how couples can lose sight of each other. Living together, but separately. How our days can turn mundane and monotonous without us knowing. Sometimes the thing that makes us feel worthy and loved is right in front of us all along.

Maggie North's "Rules for Second Chances" is such a heartfelt dive into rediscovering love and oneself within a marriage that's hit a rough patch. It's refreshing to see a story that tackles serious themes like neurodivergence and self-growth with humor and love, especially using improv as a metaphor for life's twists and turns. It's rare to find a book that makes you laugh, think, and root for the characters all at once. Definitely a must-read if you're into stories that feel real and moving.

North does a good job of portraying a marriage-in-crisis story. The characters are with lovable and the MMC is swoon-worthy. I love that it takes place in Canada too—such a treat as a Canadian reader. You can tell this author is smart, just based on expansive vocabulary and the unique turns of phrase. I’m more a short and punchy fan, so I did find her scenic route style of writing a bit too indirect for my liking. The book has a clever premise and is filled with intelligent prose. I was rooting for their HEA from the start and I was happy when they got there.

Liz is the person that's always on the fringes, never feeling like she belongs. Her husband, Tobin, is the life of the party, and everyone always wants him to be around and giving them all his attention. When her boss suggests getting into improv as a way to help her get closer to the promotion she's been working toward for years, she jumps at the chance... anything to get herself SEEN and out off her husband's shadow. If it helps her mend some things between herself and her husband, all the better.

This hits on a lot of notes for me. The improv work Liz does is familiar and a fun reminder of "back in the day" stuff for me. And the way the author folds out into a help for mending a marriage makes so much sense. I think a lot of the talk about Liz and her feeling invisible his home in some ways as well. I am loud and boisterous now, but I used to be a soft spoken, quiet person that people ignored in a lot of my interactions as a kid and teen. Am I exactly Liz? Nah. Am I Tobin? Also nah. But there's a lot of points in here that I felt were so real, and came from a place of familiar experience.

The romance is sweet, and is a bit of a slow burn at first, but once they get to work together, I like the way that the author shows the work that should go into a marriage. It's so common to see books written about couples meeting each other, or finding each other again after years apart. It's refreshing to see a book about a couple who does the work, instead of running for the hills.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy via NetGalley in return for sharing my thoughts on this book. Thanks to the author and publisher for this opportunity!

What a beautiful book. I leaped at the chance to read RULES FOR SECOND CHANCES, but it took me so long to actually read it, and now I'm sad its over. North has such a beautiful way of writing, I just wanted to be in this book forever. Probably the only let down for me was that the conflict took a while to be fully understand, and is the reason I love first person POV solely from the heroine, because it allows time to develop and flesh out. If you love your romances to pack a punch, RULES is one of those books, and I'm excited to see what Maggie North does next. A stellar debut!

Maggie North's stunning debut is heartfelt, real, and so beautifully written. Liz and Tobin are so easy to root for and their love story makes marriage in crisis a must read trope. The descriptions of the Canadian landscape are gorgeous as are the relationships Liz and Tobin forge with the people around them and each other.

Liz is at her wits end. She’s been pigeonholed by both her husband and her work place as a submissive background person. Not being able to take it anymore Liz walks out in her husband and starts taking an improv class to “revamp” her personality. Over the years Liz has lost her sense of self and has morphed into a people pleaser. Her husband still loves her and proposes they take an innovative approach to couples counseling. He becomes her improv partner and they begin working through different scenarios each week that pushes them both out of their comfort zones. Liz grows so much both personally and professionally and begins to refind herself in this beautiful story about overcoming people pleasing.

Gosh - this is hands down one of the best books I’ve ever read. Not only is it incredibly original. I feel like it truly captures what it’s like to be an introvert in a world made for extroverts. I saw so much of younger self in Liz. This book really had me on the edge of my seat and giving me all the feels. The romance is also incredibly sweet and Tobin loves Liz so much. He just has an own baggage. I highly recommend this for anyone who loves romance.

Thank you net galley and the publisher for the ARC!

I’m half and half with this one. There were some parts of the story that were a little confusing and hard to follow but at the same time I loved how relatable the FMC was. This was perfect blend of heart tugging and laugh out loud

I DNFed this one as I could get into it or really connect with the characters, unfortunately. But I can see others really liking it.

this book was...strange. that feels like the most apt term to describe rules for second chances. thanks to a pretty cover, a promising synopsis and a decent first half, I assumed this would receive a high rating by the end. sadly, the gaps in the story really started to grow bothersome by the 60% and grew hard to ignore.

2.5 ★

given the main trope of this book was "marriage in crisis", so much of its success relied upon whether or not the author could convince the audience that the love between tobin and liz was worth saving, that they were deserving each other. this is what I struggled with most. our main characters felt underdeveloped, especially tobin. it would have enhanced the story greatly if it were dual pov, rather than single. in addition to struggling to care about the main couple, what surrounded their journey was so busy and chaotic. there was far too much going on, almost to the point of confusion. grand scenarios lacked set up and description, resulting in having to reread several passages just to make sense of who, where, what, why.

while there was some interesting self-discovery navigated by liz that did some redeeming, I lacked investment in the couple's happy ending by the time the final conflict rolled around after my attention was spread thin across so many (mostly unnecessary) subplots. while rules for second chances had the bones for something good, the execution fell short.

thanks to st. martin's press and maggie north for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Second chance romance is one of my favorite tropes, and I’m so excited every time I find one with this trope (we definitely deserve more SC romances!). So I was really excited to read this. I couldn’t even enjoy this book. You want to know why? Because it was so confusing, I’m lying in bed wanting to read a cute, heartwarming romance, but all I did was get a headache from trying to understand this book. Even writing this review right now confuses me.🥲✋🏼 I think it was the writing style that really confused the book for me.☹️

Also, my absolute favorite word, TikTok, got mentioned in this three times, yay!!😆😆😆 But that’s not it!! Booktokker got mentioned in this too!! I love those IRL references!!🤗🤗
Seriously, I want to get away from reality, yet I am constantly reminded of it? Could we please stop that?🫶🏼

𝚂𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚎: 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝙼𝚈 𝚘𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝙿𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚈𝙾𝚄𝚁 𝚘𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚝.🫂

!!𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝗴𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘆 & 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝘁. 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻'𝘀 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 & 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿 𝗠𝗮𝗴𝗴𝗶𝗲 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗰 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄!!

How far did I get? About 40% of the way through. I didn't really plan to DNF, but it's been over a month and I haven't felt the need to go back to it, so I'm officially calling it quits.

Was I enjoying it initially? Let's start here, because I definitely was! I love a good marriage in trouble romance, and this one sets things up in such an interesting way. I liked that there wasn't some huge, messy conflict between these two. Instead, there's a lack of communication that has snowballed into something major. I could totally see how things had gotten to the point they did, and I loved that the hero seemed to genuinely want his wife back. His panic and despair were palpable, even if we don't get his perspective. He's also such a likable character, it was awesome to see a man who truly loves his wife - even if he doesn't completely understand her. So I was all in on them finding their way back together, and the author does a great job of evoking plenty of emotion.

Why did I stop? Even if stopping wasn't intentional, there were a couple of things that kept me from being completely hooked. This straddles the line of women's fiction and romance, which can be a great thing. But it started to veer too far in the direction of women's fiction for me. It's very much the heroine's story, and that means I knew next to nothing about the hero, other than the fact that he loves his wife and he inadvertently hurt her. It's really her personal journey to self-discovery, and maybe she'll repair this relationship along the way. So when I started to dislike the heroine, things went south. I wasn't completely sold on the idea of improv as couples therapy, and it definitely doesn't paint the heroine in the best light. Once the story started delving deeper into that, my dislike for the heroine grew significantly. And that was the beginning of the end for me.

Would I finish this? I had planned to, but it obviously wasn't totally resonating with me if it was so easy to set down and forget about. Now that it's been weeks, I can't muster up the enthusiasm to finish.

Who would I recommend this to? A few of my favorites authors were talking up this book, which is why I picked it up in the first place. But it's certainly not a bad pick for anyone who enjoys marriage in trouble romances, especially if you know that it will lean towards women's fiction. Just know that you're in for a story of self-discovery more than anything.

A fantastic debut full of so much heart and humor. I was immediately sold when I heard Liz's big idea for changing her life was improv comedy! I loved it. It was such a unique take on the second chance trope, as they are married, but I am so here for a marriage needing to be saved. It was beautiful reading Liz learn to fall in love with herself again and her husband, Tobin. A brilliant debut, Maggie North is here to stay!

This book was a little difficult to get going. I found it hard to relate to our main character. I was rooting for her to figure it out with her husband, but I can’t say I was invested in them.

Thank you NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the ARC.

This book was so tender and unexpected, and exactly what I wanted to read when I picked it up. I read the whole thing in a day. I connected so deeply with the main character, Liz, and her struggle to feel like she was doing life/social situations the "right" way. The romance is beautiful and lovely, the emotions are right there, perfectly explored. A triumph of a book.

My mountain-dwelling, backcountry living self thought this was absolutely everything!!!!!

I’m such a sucker for reading about women who are learning that they are strong, independent, and can be everything they’ve ever wanted - and that’s exactly what Liz does. She steps out of her comfort zone, working to repair her marriage and gun for a promotion at work through improv.

Not everything goes as planned, but two people who are already in love re-learning how to support and appreciate eachother? Yes PLEASE!!!

P.S. being a mountain person living in a tourist town made this so much more fun to read.

I am not going to be able to truly do justice to this incredible #ownvoices autism second chance/marriage in trouble debut. That said, know that I ABSOLUTELY loved it and it was one of those books that just finds you at the right time and truly speaks to you deep in the heart.

Liz and Tobin have been married for eight years but lately have drifted apart so far that Liz feels unseen. Ignored at work and in her own life, Liz is determined to put herself first and go after a promotion she has been dreaming about for years.

When her boss encourages her to join an improv class to improve her leadership potential it turns out to be the opportunity she didn't know she needed, allowing her a chance to both make new friends and work on her relationship with her husband too.

Set in a small mountain town in British Columbia, I loved the Canadian wilderness setting of this book. I also really loved how the author is able to make you laugh out loud through so many great role-playing scenes (The Little Mermaid, Titanic, The Princess Bride, Never Been Kissed, etc) and break your heart through countless emotional family moments. Both Tobin and Liz have extremely complicated relationships with family members (Tobin's father and Liz's sister).

If you enjoy love stories full of heart, laughs and big feels, you are not going to want to miss this absolutely delightful Canadian debut!! I seriously cannot recommend it enough and am so grateful to have been part of a travelling ARC team. Many thanks also to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

Steam level: a couple of open door scenes, mild details

I'm a sucker for marriage-in-crisis romances so of course, this book was an anticipated read the moment I heard about it. And, it absolutely did not disappoint. I loved the story so much. Using improv and comedy to bridge the gap between the two main characters was such a unique idea and I enjoyed watching their scenes. Some of them were truly hilarious! Though at times I felt that the FMC came across as selfish cause she just straight up kept blaming her husband for their troubles. Maybe she should've taken initiative to speak to him sooner if she was so unhappy. But yes, other than those few instances, great book!

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

As I've said tons before, I don't care for second chance romance but I certainly enjoyed this one+

i wanted to read this book because it seem interesting and it definitely was!!! i love love love it!!! save the date, june 25!!!!