Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC of Rules for Second Chances by Maggie North! I think this might be one of the first true "second chance" romance books I've ever read, and I can say I did enjoy it! It's a compelling scenario and I found myself rooting for the couple pretty early on! I liked the main character Liz and her husband Tobin a lot! They were well-written characters and their problems did feel real. I found myself invested in seeing how they could work through their issues. I also enjoyed Liz's growth as a her own person. Her journey of self-discovery while trying to work with her husband to see if their marriage can be saved made for a very solid story. If you're a fan of contemporary romances I think this book will be a good pick! Even more so if you believe in second chances at love!

3ish stars! I'm not married to the rating. I am definitely not giving a 2 because I really appreciate the premise of the book AND I think there are some great quotes in here. But I am definitely not giving a 4 or 5 because there were some serious things lacking here. I would love to read a different and better version of this book one day.


I appreciate the draft that inspired this book. I appreciate the quotes that made me pause and relish. I appreciate the pining and falling in love with your spouse all over again. Also, I appreciate Tobin's physical description.

A few things that had me wanting more: poor indentation in the texting scenes, more development in the beginning to understand the reasoning behind the FMC's decision, more boundaries with the MIL, the whole sub-plot of the FIL to be removed...the sub-plot with the niece was unnecessary in my opinion. And, the last chapter...the name. Please. Please change it.

I am new to ARCS and Netgalley so I honestly assumed that all of the grammatical errors that I saw were normal for ARCs. I feel like this book would benefit from a new set of eyes to really weed out plot points.

This book was so good!
I loved watching Liz find someone to love her for who she is! I loved her quirks so much! She was an amazing heroine, and not to mention super relatable

In an effort to avoid reality and responsibility, I picked up Rules for Second Chances on a whim and a prayer. Or also know as... I adored books this year from her critique group (Jessica Joyce and Alexandra Kiley) and just assumed they were blessed with some sort of magic that must have impacted all of them. After finishing this one, I don't think I'm wrong.
Liz is a secondary character in her own life story. She sees the spells her husband can weave on a crowd and feels less than. Toby can't even seem to share anything of importance with her these days. Despite their chemistry and the love she has for him, Liz takes a stand and walks away. But not too far because her support system is three houses down the street. With a promotion carrot dangling at work, Liz forces herself to join an improve class and learn how to shine just as bright as the other candidates.
Maggie's writing is incredible. I can't believe some of the ways she brought emotive feeling to the page with such a small turn of phrase. It's beautiful and pulled at my heartstrings. Liz broke my heart with her self worth but the growth and drive to make things better had me rooting for her every step of the way.
Thank you to St Martin's Press and Netgalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

I’m confused and a little turned off by the chaos of this book.

It could be formatting issues but it’s all so random and hard to follow.

I don’t understand why an outdoor company needs an improv class? And the improv class is run by the ex’s 6ft tall bff who’s also a doctor and relationship coach and famous online?

I’ve laughed out loud a few times but overall I’m confused and really think this could be great with a little more attention to detail. It needs another round of editing.

I particularly love the marriage in crisis trope. Especially with a neurodivergent female lead. I really really wanted to love it but I couldn’t lose myself in the book when I kept getting confused.

I loved the set up for this book. I haven't read a lot of second chance romance and I loved the twist that it was a married couple working through long held issues. The book felt realistic as their relationship issues weren't easily resolved and both sides struggled the whole way through to get out of their established patterns. And the Improve as therapy idea was just really well done. I didn't think I'd buy into it at first, but then it made me wish it was a real relationship book. Plus the development of other characters and friendships were nice and rounded out the story.

I thought the whole thing was really well done and I enjoyed it even more than I thought I would.

**I received an ARC from Netgalley.**

I loved this book so much I'm going to pre-order it so I can have a physical copy for myself!

I love "marriage in trouble" romances, and I can't believe this is Maggie North's first book! So much emotion conveyed through her writing! I loved this book! I hope Maggie North has many more books in her future because I will look forward to reading them!

2023 has been such an up and down reading year for me, and I've been finishing the year in quite a slump until I saw that I had been approved for this on Netgalley! It was exactly what I needed!

-Perfect amount of angst
-Had funny moments (even made me LOL at one point)
-Romantic/Funny "role playing"

Thank you so much for the advance copy for review! I really enjoyed how realistic the neurodivergent characters felt. This was my first marriage in trouble story, so it was an interesting premise for me! I also haven't read a book with improv in it before, and I thought that was a very unique element to include. I wish there was a little bit more romance to the story, though Liz's journey of self-acceptance was lovely to experience. All in all I thought it was a unique read and I will absolutely check out more by this author.

Characters 5.5/10
Atmosphere 5.5/10
Writing 6/10
Plot 4/10
Intrigue 5.5/10
Logic 4.5/10
Enjoyment 5.5/10

The main character was the only one that seemed fully three-dimensional to me. Her sister and her relationship with her absolutely drove me insane because there was almost no redeeming quality about her until the very end. The conflict in the plot seemed a bit forced to me as well.

Liz and Tobin relationship was cute but it ended up not working for me. Is usually love "second chances romances" but the conflict in this one seemed absurd to me. The writing style ended up making it harder for me to enjoy this one.

𝘙𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 follows Liz and Tobin as they work to save their marriage and Liz undertaking her journey to self acceptance.

- ~ -

This book was decidedly not for me, it was mostly a woman's fiction with a romantic sub-plot, which would have fine but even the romance wasn't what I wished for. It was mostly vanilla and much less angsty for a marriage in trouble trope.

Tobin's character felt like an amalgamation of all the perfect characteristics a husband should have but in the end it wasn't worth all that much because Liz didn't even seem to be trying 😭.

3.42 / 5✩

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘵. 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯'𝘴 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

I love second chance books, and this one is no exception. It was so interesting to read, and I loved getting to know all of the characters.

I really wanted to love this book but it didn't click for me. It started off really strong with her not being seen or understood by anyone and getting mistaken as a waiter at her own birthday party but as the story progressed, I just didn't connect. The writing was really good but the concept of improv completely fixing her life was a stretch to me. I finished and liked the ending with them coming back together but wasn't my favorite.

I am such a sucker for a second chance romance and this book did not disappoint. The characters are created with such care and I felt so connected to Liz. A beautiful book by a debut author.

Liz and Tobin separate to work on their marriage, but still work together. loved the characters and the setting, enjoyed the book very much.

Rules for Second Chances follows Liz and Tobin, a couple who separate at the beginning of the story. As they arrange to work on their marriage; they do this through the second chances handbook authored by Tobin’s friend. And coincidentally, Liz's improve teacher. They use this handbook, based around improv, to work through their separation. At the same time, Liz utilizes improv to help her compete for a promotion at her company.

Maggie North has written a book that is so real, not simply in the story being told, but it’s so smart in its applicability to everyday life - relationships and work. I thought the approach of rebuilding a relationship via the use of improv was so unique. I highlighted so many pieces of the snippets taken from the second chances handbook that I thought were really good and applicable to use for myself.

Liz and Tobin have a beautiful story of being brought back together and Liz’s personal journal is well developed from beginning to end.

I’m not sure what it was, but this was a book I had to push through to finish. I’m glad I did; it was not a book that I wanted to abandon but it wasn’t an immediate hook at the beginning or at any turning point in the story. That being said, I am looking forward to checking out future titles from Maggie North!

Maggie North provides content warnings on her website. Thank you to St. Martin's Press for offering this ARC as a Read Now in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

This book is fantastic. It is well written and unique. The characters and setting were amazing. I loved this book. Definitely would recommend.

When Liz gets mistaken for a cater waiter at her own 30th birthday party, she knows something in her life needs to change. She's never been one to stand out, not in her family, not in her job, not even in her marriage to the life of the party, Tobin. After that night, she decides she needs a break from being in Tobin's shadow and moves in with her sister. Meanwhile, when she attempts for a promotion at work, she's directed to take an improv class to improve her people skills. Though she's trying to keep some distance between herself and her husband, he's the only one who can practice with her.

I was originally drawn to this book because it is plugged by Annabel Monaghan. I enjoyed the PNW setting. As for the story, it was definitely more about Liz's realization and acceptance of her neurodivergence than about a second chance between spouses. This was still a solid debut novel, but it also felt a lot like repeatedly pressing on a bruise while reading it. Liz and Tobin just went over the same issues time after time.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the advanced copy of this manuscript.

This is a beautiful book. As someone who has ADHD I felt immediately connected to Liz, her thoughts were so relatable. There were so many beautiful moments between Liz and Tobin, beautiful moments where she discovered more of herself and fun moments that kept me coming back for more.

Maggie North has a wonderful way of writing that made me truly feel every feeling conveyed. Second chance romances are usually hard for me to get through but i highly recommend this one and cannot wait to see what her next book brings us!

The main character and her healing was the best part of this book. I think it was through that the second chance romance feels possible and meaningful. I particularly love the way her understanding of herself changed and gave her the boldness in her relationships, romantic, platonic, and professional.