I had to DNF around 65%

The story started off strong enough, the comedy was a little much but overall it was cute and I was engaged. Then we get into more of the "slapstick" comedy with one guy running to the scene of an accident in only his underwear. And the divorced couple falling into a bath together. Frankly, it felt a bit over the top and a little much for a clean romance.

I did not appreciate the way that Noah flirted with Gracie, it felt really inappropriate. Yes, they'd been married in the past, but at the beginning of the book they are divorced. And have been for five years. It felt icky that he would comment on her undergarments or (teasingly) invite her to join him in the shower. And again, I think that's a little too much innuendo for a clean romance.

I didn't mind that there was an additional story line with Matthew. But when both stories started to pick up speed the pacing started to feel choppy. Just when you'd make progress in one story, it would end and switch to the other story line.

The more I read the story the more convicted I felt about reading about a divorced couple trying to rekindle their marriage. Could this happen? Yes, of course. By the grace of God, He can heal what was once broken. But does it happen? Probably not often, and the book kind of seemed to romanticize it. And the reason they divorced honestly felt like a giant miscommunication trope.

What pushed me to DNF, unfortunately, was the infertility/miscarriage story line. I had no idea this would be included in the book. If I had known, I wouldn't have requested it. I cannot read those types of story lines, it's too heartbreaking and upsetting.

Thank you for granting my wish for this book.

I liked the idea of this story. It's a cute premise, but failed in the execution. Good grief the dialogue in this book was too country for me. Do people still say things like "good grief" and "howdy do?" What was probably meant to be witty banter just fell flat for me. I also found the main characters to all be annoying and not very likeable. With that said, I did enjoy the ending of the book and it had me crying. Overall, I would not recommend this book, but appreciate the advanced copy from NetGalley for a chance to experience a new to me author.

DNF Page 32.
I could NOT get into the writing. Like did we seriously just talk for 25 pages about getting her inside to the couch, pie, firemen, and an ex husband that doesn’t act like how a man would act. I am confused. Nottt a fan of these characters.

First Love, Second Draft had the potential to be a compelling second-chance romance, but it fell short in execution. The biggest issue was the scattered focus—while the book was supposedly about Gracie and Noah repairing their marriage, a significant portion was dedicated to her nephew Matt’s unrelated love story, which disrupted the flow and made it difficult to stay invested.

Gracie and Noah’s relationship itself was frustrating. Their divorce seemed unnecessary, and Noah’s lack of real growth or accountability made their reconciliation feel unearned. His justification for prioritizing baseball over his marriage, without ever communicating his struggles, left little reason to root for him. Meanwhile, the chemistry between them was practically nonexistent.

The writing style had its flaws, but they might have been forgivable if the story had been stronger. Unfortunately, with weak character development, an unfocused plot, and a lack of emotional depth, this book didn’t live up to its promise.

Thank you Tyndale House publishing and NetGalley for the ARC.

First Love, Second Draft could have been perfection. And I truly don't say that lightly. Everything was there for the perfect second chance romance. The only problem was that there was a lot extra that just took away from it too much.

Listen, my biggest gripe is the fact that we're told this is a story about Gracie and Noah coming back together and repairing what was broken in their failed marriage. So please tell me why there is a significantly large portion of this book dedicated to Gracie's nephew, Matt's, point of view and his rekindling/kindling of a relationship with his former(ish) best friend. There were seriously 2 separate plot lines with 2 separate sets of characters running simultaneously. If Matt's plot was left as mentions to further Gracie x Noah, it would have been great. Instead, we start gaining traction with one couple only for it to laid on a mini cliffhanger and then move to the next set. And by the time we're back to the original couple, they briefly mention whatever bomb was dropped but don't really work on it. It rips you out of the story so forcefully. I had so much trouble staying invested in anyone.

I don't even really want to talk about the relationship between Gracie and Noah. To be frank, Gracie deserved better. He chose baseball over her, basically stays no contact for 5 years after the divorce, and then comes back (only after being told by her nephew) when she's hurt and needs help AND his career is basically over. Like way to stick to your guns of putting her last. Noah also never really told her about his childhood throughout their entire relationship. Just ick. Gracie may have pushed him away but come on, he made the choices that led up to that. I will never root for Noah. And that's just character description. I won't even touch on how nonexistent the chemistry was between the two. I know it's a clean romance, but I should still see something that doesn't make me feel like I need to step into a refrigerator for warmth. The banter was also absolute trash. No one talks like that in real life.

This still clearly needs some editing. I am reading an ARC copy so I give grace for that. But while the writing is a little rough in parts, it's the content that really just took away the enjoyment. Beyond the weird addition of a needless side plot, there were also some random references to faith and God, that only made an appearance in the last 10 pages. Before that there were some references to the characters going to church or whatnot, but then all of a sudden Gracie is "hearing" someone speak to her while she's praying and they're working on "handing things over to God now." It was just so sudden and out of the blue. Another thing that truly wasn't needed if it wasn't going to be there throughout the book. (Honestly, it came off as preachy and gave me immediate ick.)

Overall, this needs to be sent through a round of beta reading. It needs some editing. And I need an aspirin.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tyndale House Publishers for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I didn’t finish this. I got about 8 chapters in. I didn’t understand why her nephew had his own chapters nor did I care about anything happening in his life. Plus her sister did multiple things that hurt her sister without her sister’s consent, but was still portrayed as some extremely good sister. She was far from a good sister. The main characters were just boring and the male main character had me yawning.

This book was not for me. Too much exposition via dialogue. Too much telling instead of showing. Too much madcap nonsense — a fall into a bathtub, a woman scared by a mouse and jumping on someone’s back, Hello Kitty boxers. Main characters who have been together since high school and married and still don’t seem to know anything about each other. What?!
There’s a good idea here, but the execution is just awful.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy.

Things have been stressful in my part of the world the past few weeks. As a result, I have been looking for lighter reads. Maybe you have too? First Love, Second draft by Becca Kinzer is her third rom com book.

First Love, Second Draft focuses on a divorced couple--Gracie and Noah Parker. This couple started out happily married and then several years later, struggled with infertility/miscarriage and the marriage dissolved. Those issues are dealt with in this book, so there is a bit of heaviness as they seek to work their problems out. However, much of the book is indeed a lighter read.

Gracie is on deadline and she took a fall from a horse that resulted in some injuries. Noah has a break in his baseball career so he returns to the small town in Illinois where Gracie lives to help her out. Along with watching this couple navigate life, the reader gets to watch Matt and Rachel as they try to decide if they want to move from friendship into more. There are other characters in the book that are also enjoyable to get to know like Gracie's dad, Buck, and her sister, Mona.

As a whole, I enjoyed First Love, Second Draft. There were a few laugh-out-loud scenes for me. I enjoyed seeing the characters learn to overcome some of their communication issues. I also enjoyed the small town Midwestern life they all lived as I can relate to that since I grew up in Midwestern small town. This is closed door clean and sweet romance book. For those readers who want a lot of faith elements, this book doesn't contain much of that. However, there are definitely themes of forgiveness, grace and redemption running through the book. For those in a book club who wish to read First Love, Second Chance as a group, there are discussion questions in the back of the book.

I received a copy of this book from Tyndale House Publishing via NetGalley and Interviews and Reviews. All opinions are my own.

I have been really into 40+ romances recently, so between the characters' ages and the intriguing synopsis, I really thought this one would hook me. Unfortunately I just couldn't connect with any of the characters, and the writing felt... jarring? Almost disjointed, in a way. I'm glad to see there were others who enjoyed this book, but unfortunately, I just wasn't one of them.

- This was SO CUTE! I think I knew I would really enjoy the story at the very beginning because it was set in small town Illinois, very close to where I am from.
- I love the whole 2nd change romance, close proximity and enemies to lover tropes, especially when love was never lost in the first place. Learning more of Noah and Gracie's story was so fun. We learned more about how they got together, their downfall, and their ultimate happy ending. This "enemy to lover" if you want to call it that, was a bit different. They were never enemies so to say, but after their divorce, Gracie wanted absolutely nothing to do with Noah and did not even want to breathe the same air as him. We got to see the growth between both of them and see Noah fight to get her back and do what she wanted him to do years prior.
-I really enjoyed the multiple points of views. With it being an ARC and an EBook, there were no names at the top, but you knew who the chapter was about as soon as you started reading.
- I am such a sucker for happy endings and with every character getting their happy ending in their own way was such a win in my book. These chapters/book had me giggling for the firs half of the book. I feel like the 2nd half got more serious once we started the memoir, Matt really trying to win Rachel over, Mona being all secretive with her love life, and Buck getting his final wish.
-All in all - this was such a cute and enjoyable read! I highly recommend you read it! I am excited for this to get published!!

A sweet, funny and emotional second chance romance. I loved the chemistry between the characters and the way it was written!

Noah and Gracie have been divorced for 5 years. Life events have brought them back together again.

The premise of this book was great. The execution…not so much. It was hard to follow Noah and Gracie’s story with the Matt and Rachel’s storyline being weaved throughout. It just felt like there was too much going on.

ARC review
⭐️💫

I feel like this book has potential, but it is missing something. I think the writer has a good sense of humor for her characters, but I did not connect with any of them. The book was a little hard to follow at times. I don’t know if maybe it would be better written from different POVs or if there was just too much going on.

A combo baseball/writer romance, FLSD isn't quite the homerun it wants to be, despite some sincere intentions. Unfortunately due to some deeply frustrating characters and a tonal mishmash - the book is pitched more lighthearted than FLSD really is, with its subplots on grief and redemption - it's a little short of greatness, but still has moments of praise.

I read Becca Kinzer's debut novel, Dear Henry, Love Edith and rated it a solid 4 stars. Her sophomore offering, Love in Tandem was 5 stars, so I had no qualms about reading First Love, Second Draft.

This second chance romantic comedy had a good enough premise I wanted to read it and find out what made Gracie and Noah tick. Why their marriage failed. Could they make it work a second time around. For whatever reason, I couldn't connect with the characters. Gracie needed serious help beyond her physical injury. Even in pain, she's hyper-focused on her manuscript and career, the same character flaw she sees and doesn't like in her ex-husband. Noah's career is everything important in his life...up until he's let go from his baseball team. Gracie's nephew calls saying Gracie is hurt and needs help. With time on his hands, he comes to her aid. Because her nephew asked! Where was he when she needed him most all those years ago? It just wasn't believable he'd come for her nephew but was emotionally unavailable for her while they were still married and she experienced her darkest moment. Total disconnect here. I wanted to root for someone, I really did, but I never found a connecting point. I found the humor off-color and off-putting. Kinzer has a talent for witty banter, but jokes about "pureed meatloaf slathered in sanitizer", constipation, prune juice, and underwear/toilet/peeing issues? No thank you.

I understand and appreciate how hard an author works to get the words on the page, but this one just wasn't for me. I appreciate Tyndale fiction making a copy available for review. All thoughts are my own.

Pub date: April 25, 2025

Second chance romance between a struggling writer and her famous baseball pitcher (ex)husband. The banter was funny in parts and it was a cutesy sweet story. I particularly enjoyed the dad. The MC drove me a bit bonkers, and the sister was a bit random - lots of mystery for a non-reveal. Overall, this story was fine, dragged a bit but worth a read if you’re looking for a light, clean, rom that still touches on some heavy topics (infertility, loss of a child, loss of a parent).

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for early access to this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you Netgalley and Tyndale House publishers for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Gracie hasn't written a best seller since she divorced her childhood sweetheart Noah. Her deadline is approaching and she's found herself with a serious injury and no one to look after her. Enter Noah, who's been missing his wife and wishes they never broke up, to come and look after her. Not that she wants a bar of it. Gracie can't get over Noah choosing his baseball career over their marriage.

I'm going to start with the PROS. I was attracted to the front cover and witty title. I was drawn in from the get go and thought the banter between characters was a strong start and I liked the baseball star x Author setting of the book.

You may like this if you enjoy sports romance, second chance romance, miscommunication trope and Christian romance.

CONS
There is a second unexpected subplot featuring Gracie's nephew which if anything serves as a distraction from the main storyline. I really wish these chapters were in fact flash backs from Noah's and Gracie's past because we could then spend the time getting to know the characters and connecting with them. Matt was great but he should just have his own book.
This book touches on infertility and I don't think a sensitive exploration of this was done justice. That's my personal opinion. I think if we were given the chance to see more of the break downs in the relationship, we would potentially root harder for Noah and Gracie to get back together but the details of this were left ambiguous for the first 2/3 of the book.
Lastly, the dialogue in this book read like YA, and not that of a 42 and 40 year old ex-couple.

I appreciate the ARC but this was ultimately not my cup of tea.

Wow. I LOVED this book. 4.5⭐️/5

It is funny like really funny. The first third of the book I laughed out loud every chapter. It also has a beautiful second chance love story.

I love how real this book felt and read. Gracie and Noah are both in their forties and struggling with where they fit in the world. We follow their story as Gracie is trying to redeem herself as an author with a “rom com” that she is writing. She had an accident that bruised her ribs and fractured her pelvis that left her needing help with her recovery.

Noah her ex-husband is the one who shows up to help. So she is stuck in the house writing with him hovering wanting to help and also wanting more from her. Noah is a Major League Baseball pitcher who got cut for the season. There is tension, hurt, and hope they have to work through in order to figure out themselves and each other.

The story also follows Matt, Gracie’s nephew and his long time friendship with his best friend Rachel. She recently moved back and Matt realizes that he still has feelings for her. Together they also navigate their past and work towards figuring out their futures.

There is humor, miscommunication, second chances, hurt, forgiveness, faith, courage, and love in this story.

I LOVED the ending. I love how both Gracie and Noah needed to let go of something to make their relationship work. Such a beautiful example of a real life relationship.

My only note was on the faith aspect. I wish Becca would have committed to it or left it out. It was kind of there and kind of wasn’t. I think it would have added more to the story if she would have committed to Gracie’s faith journey more, and not have it been so wishy washy.

Thank you NetGalley and Tyndall House Publishers for this ARC. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

•𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰•

{𝑭𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆, 𝑺𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝑫𝒓𝒂𝒇𝒕}

⚾️ Release Date: April 15, 2025 ⚾️
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The toxicity in this book was astounding to say the least. Good lands! I’m not sure who we were supposed to be rooting for, but I certainly hope it wasn’t supposed to be the giant red flag whose name is Gracie 🤦🏻‍♀️ There were so many problems with this story, not the least of which was everything that had to do with Gracie and Noah’s relationship. Number one: they should not have gotten a divorce in the first place; that created this whole problem to begin with! What ever happened to not giving up on your marriage and extending grace to your partner? The same grace that you would like to be shown as well, mind you. The absence of God was blatantly evident, though in the end they did circle back to Him.

I was not aware that this book would also be focused on Gracie’s nephew, Matt, and his love life. Was I a fan of this plot line? Ummm…that would be a hard no. I could not have cared less about his character, why is sad considering he was supposed to be one of the main characters in this story.

So all that being said, I really struggled to connect with any of the characters. I read the entire book in hopes that it would improve, but alas, it did not. There were some things with the writing style that I didn’t love but I could have easily overlooked had I enjoyed the story. But since I didn’t love the story, the writing style really started to get on my nerves as well. Would I recommend this book to others? Honestly, I’m not sure, but probably not.
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I received a complimentary arc from NetGalley and Tyndale House Publishers. All opinions are purely my own.

I did not care for this book at all. It was so long and dragged. Noah was very selfish and ultimately no matter what will choose baseball.

why did the nephew have his own POV? Not really adding anything extra to the book. Not for me. Did not enjoy. Sorry.

THANK YOU NETGALLEY FOR THE ARC!