Rules for Second Chances combined several topics within the story. Marriage is hard and so is family. Tobin and Liz have to fight to the end to refocus their marriage towards the future. How do you become the main character of your life story? Improv at it's best. Well done.

There was a lot I really liked about this book and some scenes gave me all the tingly feelings (mermaids!). Our heroine Liz was really going through it in this book and I couldn't help but root for her. I smiled with every step forward and was sad when momentum felt stagnant. Liz's relationship with Tobin had me feeling had their ups and downs deeply; I do wish we'd gotten his POV because he was such an interesting character and I would have loved seeing the relationship through his eyes. All of this to say that though the romance (and chemistry) between Liz and Tobin was really strong, this book was equally about Liz's personal growth and learning new things about herself. I appreciated seeing Liz get to the point where she would stand up for herself, especially with her sister. In the end I have more positive feelings than not and will definitely try another book from this author in the future.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

Thanks to @netgalley @smpromance and @mnorthauthor for the early peak at Maggie North's debut, Rules for Second Chances. It releases on June 25, 2024.

This was an unbelievably tender, hilarious, and heartwarming story about a neurodivergent woman who decides she needs to be the main character in her own life. Her marriage has become the shadow of what it once was and she's tired of being passed over for promotions, yet expected to do all the operational work at her outdoor adventure company.

Enter improv classes. She takes them on the advice of her boss but learns so much more about applying the philosophy of "yes, and" to her life. When her husband Tobin offers to be her partner for improv exercises as they try to work through their issues, the story becomes heart-wrenching and hilarious. (I am still chuckling over the mermaid scene!)

It isn't easy to pull off the marriage-in-trouble trope, but Maggie made it look effortless. Her voice was sparkling, and I can't wait to gobble up her future books.

Add this one to your TBR!

Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Tropes: marriage in trouble, armchair travel, small town

Rules for Second Chances is a breathtaking, deeply romantic story about the second chances we give to love, each other, and most importantly, ourselves. Maggie North has the singular ability to hit you with truths that are at once hilarious and aching, stark and soft, painful and necessary, and she writes Liz and Tobin’s journey with an obliterating tenderness I felt in every corner of my heart. This book and its author land effortlessly among my all-time favorites.

Cute book on second chances and finding yourself. It was a slow start, but once it picks up, I loved the different improv scenarios that the characters played through. Highly relatable and definitely recommend.

This was a cute second chances romance where a married couple try and work out what went wrong in their marriage.There was a lot of self discovery, the marriage issue coming second in the story, and that made it a little more heavy than I wanted. It was a slower paced story with the last bit of the book making up for it.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and St. Martins Press for the arc via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed the book “ Rules for Second chances “ by Maggie North . This story followed the journey of Liz and Tobin to save their marriage . They hit many bumps along the way but after putting in work to save the marriage , they let love win .

Hello Book friends!

Today I’m reviewing Rules for Second Chances by Maggie North. In this second chances romance, a married couple try and work out what went wrong in their marriage.

Now, let’s chat about the book itself.

This one wasn’t for me book friends. 😔

I love second chance romances, where the characters get one more chance to figure out what went wrong and make it right. But for me, in Rules for Second Chances, the first three quarters dragged on with a back-and-forth between the two main characters that felt cringe as it did flat. I struggled reading this one, often times, setting the book down, thinking if I was going to DNF this one, but hoping, that at some point, the book would turn around.

And it did! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

But it was the last three chapters that I was screaming YES, this is what I signed up for and want to read!!!

I’d give the last thee chapters 3.5 stars as the characters and story blossomed and has a conclusion romance readers will absolutely love.💓

Even though this one didn’t work for me, there was neurodiversity representation, tropes like opposites attract and a second chance worth fighting for. My suggestion would be keep reading book friends to make it to the end.

Rules for Second Chances tells the story of Liz who is struggling while living in the shadows of all aspects of her life-her marriage, career, and even socially. When her boss suggests improv to help bring her out of her shell and prepare for a chance at a promotion-she steps outside her comfort zone and gives it her all.

When I seen this was 'read now' on NetGalley I jumped at it. It sounded like a marriage in crisis storyline and I love them. But this was very much secondary to the plot. What I found instead was more of a women's fiction story, a rediscovery of one's self. And to be honest, it felt heavy to me. I felt a little bad for her husband. It all felt tedious. And I just really adored him.

It took me some time to get into this one. It's quite slow moving. But I did enjoy some aspects and the last little bit. There is even some steamy scenes that to be honest I wasn't expecting but liked. There is definitely an audience for this book. It's a good debut. I think those that enjoy women's fiction will likely enjoy this- but for me, a romance reader, it was just okay.

*Thank you to St. Martins Press for the arc via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own and given freely.

3 stars!

I do love a good second chance romance, it's one of my favourite tropes. I found myself laughing along at times, but I must admit that I struggled with how unlikeable some of the characters were.

I did enjoy the story overall and will be keeping my eyes peeled for more Maggie North books in the future.

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

This was such a beautifully written book. Maggie North has a way with words that had me reading, rereading, feeling, and highlighting so many lines. The story of a woman taking a stand and doing what needed to be done, no matter how hard it was, to find herself really resonated with me. And the backdrop if the improve classes/workbook was so clever. I adored the insights at the beginning of each chapter, and really felt like I learned something from each one. Highly recommend this beauty for a thoughtful, deeply moving read. Thank you so much to Maggie North and NetGalley for this ARC.

I had really high expectations for RULES FOR SECOND CHANCES by Maggie North when I grabbed it off NetGalley. I can now safely say Maggie’s debut FAR exceeded them!

After nearly a decade of being dismissed, ignored, and labeled “different” by the good-old-boys club of the wilderness expedition industry, Liz Lewis is done being overlooked. She decides to overhaul her life, starting with her marriage of toxic positivity to her husband and coworker, Tobin Renner-Lewis.

Her plan: Find that ✨magic✨ that’ll make her popular at work and score her that big promotion. To do it, she joins an improv class. But when she needs a partner to practice with, her only option is Tobin, who’s still determined to save their marriage. As each new, wild improv scenario forces them to confront their past mistakes and attraction that still burns brilliantly between them, Liz will have to decide if she wants to give Tobin the “yes, and” improv encourages, or keep her eye on the new life she’s seeking.

Let me just start, before getting into how much I love these two, by saying that Maggie’s prose is some of the best I’ve ever read! She fills this book with such gorgeous imagery, both in the way she paints the breathtaking area they live in, and in the clever ways she describes feelings and interactions. There were so many times I stopped, looked up from the book, and just said “Wow.”

Then there’s Liz and Tobin. Oh. My. God. 😭😭😭 I felt so much for these two. I normally shy away from marriage in trouble, but she so clearly paints from the beginning how good they are together. That these are kind, generous souls who have gotten so caught up in the pressures of the world around them that they lost their connection to, but never their love for, each other. Seeing them find their way back to each other was so satisfying. The character growth in both was amazing, and especially impressive to see when we only get Liz’ POV.

As expected, I’m obsessed and Maggie will forever and always be an auto buy!

3.5 stars

I had a lot of problems with this book until about 60%, but it did redeem itself.

First, why would Tobin throw a birthday party for Liz when they've been together 8 years and he knows she has social anxiety and hates parties? I severely disliked Amber and Mrs. Renner - they were unnecessarily cruel and hurtful and showing their redemption in the last bit of the story did not make me forgive them.

I loved how hard Liz fought for herself and for To n, however misguided or however many mistakes she made. She had no one in her corner and was fighting blind.

The story had a few too many scenarios - Liz and her sister, Liz at work, Liz at improv and Liz and Tobin. If her sister was painted as a supportive, loving sister that would have been a bit better for the story. It was hard to watch Liz fight for so much simultaneously.

Overall, I loved that this was set in Canada with true "Canadian" players and speech. I loved the neurodivergent representation, and loved the development of Liz and the healing of Liz and Tobin.

All in all, a great romance, a great story.

Many thanks to Net Galley for the ARC.

A delightful chick-lit Maggie North's "Rules for Second Chances," made me laugh and swoon as I read this one in a day. As Liz Lewis turns 30 she starts to question why she is taking a backseat to her own life. She works at a company with her husband, Tobin, the guy every guy wants to be and every girl wants to be with, but all she is seen as is his wife. If she's even seen at all. She decides she's done with mediocre and on a quest to figure out her why she tells Tobin she wants a break so she can find herself. She decides to go for a promotion at work, and at one of her superior's suggestions, she takes an improv comedy class, where she learns she's not good at it, but more importantly learns the power of "yes, and." To add to the drama, Liz is competing with Tobin for said promotion, and is forced to work with him to have a chance. This is an easy read, comes out in June and will be a great beach read! 

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin's Griffin for the early read!

Liz is just turning 30 in “Rules for Second Chances” and is frustrated with always walking in the shadow of her charismatic husband. She wants people to see her for who she is, and not as an attachment to her spouse. At work, at home, and within their extended families, she feels invisible. It’s time to make a change, and she does that by leaving him. Not permanently, but just until she can figure things out. During their separation, they talk, mainly to do the homework for an improvisation class Liz is taking to build her confidence. Over the course of the book, we see how both of these people are flawed in one way or another, and how they decide to work through their issues.
At times I was annoyed with Liz and I almost gave up on the book. However, something made me stick with it and I’m glad I did. I’ll be glad to read more by this debut writer. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. My opinions are my own.

First and foremost, thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, for an advanced copy in an exchange for an honest review.

Though I was initially drawn in by the premise of the book, from the beginning I struggled to connect with the MC and often found myself confused as to what was happening, had happened, or who was who. And with some of the content, this unfortunately became a DNF at 27%.

"Rules for Second Chances" by Maggie North is a novel that had the potential to be a compelling exploration of second chances in love, but it fell short for me due to a few key issues.

I couldn't fully grasp how Liz expected to repair her relationship with either Tobin or Amber when she constantly ran off after making emotional statements. The lack of character development for Tobin throughout most of the book left me wanting a more balanced portrayal of their relationship.

While the premise of the story had potential, the execution left something to be desired. I would have appreciated a few chapters from Tobin's perspective to gain a better understanding of his thoughts and feelings.

In conclusion, "Rules for Second Chances" had the makings of a compelling story about second chances in love, but the limited dialogue and single POV hindered my ability to fully connect with the characters and their journey.

Liz is at a crossroads, with both her marriage and her career. She’s ready to walk away from her marriage, rediscover herself, and push for more in her career. So what gives? Enter Tobin, who is not willing to give it up that easily. What follows is a unique and stunning narrative of how improv and a little self love can rearrange perspective.

Liz is a beautiful character. Her conflict rang through genuine and relatable. I am also pretty sure this story is why books exist: to read about experiences and perspectives you can’t understand or identify. Maggie North was able to seamlessly weave the topic—and spectrum—of neurodivergence into a multi-faceted plot, covering both personal and professional relationships. Tobin provided the perfect balance and demonstrated how you cannot just take a person at face value.

Overall, fantastic storyline. I really think this lends something new to the genre. I was very skeptical of the improv angle until it became clear improv isn’t just comedy; improv is a part of our social construct. I rated this read 4.5 stars out of 5.

Only critique: the structure of some of the dialogue and scenario description. I read on an e-reader so that might have some effect, but it was really difficult to track texts vs narrative vs dialogue. I also had a really hard time with context in some scenes. For example, one improv scenario plays out on a boat. I could not tell whether they were actually in a boat or on a marsh or if it was just part of the imagination of the scene.

Liz Lewis has an epiphany that she has edited herself so much, that she wasn’t being her true self not only in social situations, but also in her marriage. She goes on a journey of self-discovery by setting boundaries in her marriage, joining an improv group, and competing in a pitch competition in her company in hopes of being promoted.
On her journey to finding who she truly is, she falls in love with her husband again, gains friends, improves her relationship with her sister, changes companies altogether, and discovers that she is autistic.
Maggie North did a wonderful job in this second chance romance troupe. I didn’t always like her writing style but, the theme and the main plot were truly unique and held my interest through the entirety of the book. I think the author showed the true ups and downs that marriage brings, that it isn’t always sunshine and roses, and that it’s okay to ask for things/circumstances to change when you are no longer being fulfilled in the role that you play in a relationship.
Liz holds a special place in my heart because she never settled. When things weren’t making her happy, she changed her own circumstances to make things better in her life. She had such determination to find happiness, and to not be pushed aside in her role as a wife, sister, employee.
Thank you to Net Galley, St. Martin’s Press, and Maggie North for the opportunity to read and review this eARC it was truly an enjoyable book.

I requested this book because the second chance romance interests me. I had a hard time getting into this book and enjoying the story. There were almost too many details and off topic thoughts that just lost me.

I wanted to cheer for Liz and Tobins relationship, but I also thought maybe they were better off without each other. Liz just never seemed confident enough in herself. I think I would have liked to see Tobins POV as well throughout this story.