first of all the formatting was ruined due to send to kindle feature which affected my reading experience by a lot but forgetting all that?? I don't know what was happening in the story. The blurb had me hooked not going to lie but there was so much toxicity and lack of depth and grace in the characters that I just could not connect to the story and the characters.

I love second chance romances, multiple perspectives, and a sports theme. While there are some fun moments in this book and the writing is great, it was just okay for me. I had a difficult time connecting with the characters and I can’t quite put my finger on why. There is nothing majorly wrong with the book, and I have no doubt it will be well received by others.

I really enjoyed this second chance romance! I loved the multiple POVs and the mixed media elements. I also really appreciated the heavier subject matter mixed in with many lighter moments. This was incredibly bingeable with a fun and unique voice. Can't wait to check out more from this author!

Read if you like:
- second chance
- infertility awareness
- older MCs
- mixed media
- multiple POV

Thank you to NetGalley and Tyndale Fiction for allowing me to be an early reader. All thoughts are my own.

Meh. It was fine but didn't draw me in and had me rolling my eyes often and usually these books are my cup of tea.

Ok, I could not put this book down. I don't know exactly why. Maybe it was the laugh-out-loud humor, or maybe it was the sizzling tension between Noah and Gracie, or maybe something else. Whatever it was, I ate up the story. I enjoyed the second chance romance and the extra little romance with a couple of the side characters. I liked that Noah called Gracie "babe." I've only ever heard that used as more of a sleazy term, so it was interesting to read it as something actually swoony. I also enjoyed the fun small-town setting and the "everybody-knows-everybody" vibes. This is a great read if you're looking for a fun and clean romance.

My thanks go to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC. All opinions are my own.

While I'm a sucker for sport themed rom-coms, I struggled to love this book. I enjoyed the different characters' POV and I chuckled a few times throughout the book. But Gracie and Mona got on my nerves and I couldn't connect with the other characters. The whole book just felt flat, even though it had great potential. I will read other books written by Becca Kinzer because I liked the overall premise of it.

This one sounds just up my alley because I love a good second chance romance, it sadly just didn't turn out to be my cup of tea. The overall story wasn't bad just wasn't what I was expecting. Definitely could be enjoyed by others and I hope others do enjoy, I just couldn't connect into the story as much as I tried.

Unfortunately DNF’d @ 35%. The premise was absolutely there - second chance romance, forced proximity and some baseball sports MMC thrown in for good measure.

Unfortunately I didn’t connect with any of the characters and felt the plot failed to move along after the 20% point. Their story didn’t feel in any way authentic or raw and so there wasn’t buy-in from me as a reader in order to push through to see their HEA.
Motivation or glimpses of insight that was more than just surface level from Noah may have helped here but it didn’t really move from beyond him simply saying he wanted to save his marriage?

There were some light hearted moments, funny quips and occasionally humorous inner monologues but I mostly felt the writing was stagnant. Ultimately, Noah and Gracie lacked chemistry! Matt’s addition to the book wasn’t unwelcome necessarily - I enjoyed parts of his story - but felt like a bit of an odd choice to focus on him so much as a side character who isn’t relevant to the title/cover/description etc.

Readers looking for a clean 2nd chance romance might enjoy but could feel it drag c. 1/3 of the way in, leading to a somewhat forgettable read.

Thank you to Tyndale and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and provide space for an honest review.

I love the idea of a second chance romance storyline. There are a lot of great things happening in this book, but it was just okay for me. Nothing wrong with it, but not really my preference in storyline.

Becca Kinzer has rapidly become a go to author for snarky, funny Rom-coms. She writes her characters full of just enough sass to make you fall in love with them. You will find yourself cheering them on through all of life's ups and downs.
Gracie Parker has writers block. She has had is for a while, well since she divorced her All-star baseball player husband. All he ever worried about was his career and she was sick of playing second fiddle to a game.
Now Noah is back, he was cut from his team as the post season started. When he hears that Gracie is hurt, he quickly heads back to their hometown to help. The problem is, she would take anyone else's help except his.
With lively, snappy dialogue, Kinzer moves the story along, while mirroring Gracie and Noah's story with another couple. It makes for a delightful and fun read. One that anyone who like rom-coms will want to read and then share over and over.

First Love Second Draft review
✨ 2/5

Unfortunately, this second chance romance fell pretty flat for me. I didn’t really find the characters great and I also struggled to see them being a good fit for each other. They broke up and divorced for a reason, and I didn’t find there to be a strong enough connection to warrant them getting back together. The primary couple are supposed to be older but their behavior and thought processes on the page felt far younger. The secondary story line with nephew Matt also just felt weird and not really necessary. Ironically, this book felt like it was a second draft itself and I feel could have benefited from additional editing.

ARC provided by Tyndale House Publishers & NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoy second chance and sports romance, but this book just wasn’t for me. I simply didn’t connect with the characters, and found that there was not enough tension between Noah and Gracie. Noah’s internal dialogue tells early on that he wants Gracie back, which made the story lack interest. In this case I would have preferred a single Gracie POV so I would have been in the dark about Noah’s motivations. That would have added tension. Also, I found the secondary romance distracting. It seemed very odd to have Matt have his own POV. This book was problematic and just didn’t work for me.
Thank you to Tyndale House Publishers and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This second chance romance between a floundering rom-com writer and a benched major league pitcher felt more like a women's fiction with romance than a rom-com. Gracie and Noah had a lot of baggage to slug through. I understood Gracie's anger, hurt, and instinct for self-preservation. Noah was a bit more difficult to know. His steady devotion was charming and as the story progressed we saw his heart, his hurts, and his determination that welled from his childhood, which even Gracie did not know about. Gracie and Noah were both quite likable but their banter was too sharp and biting to actually be considered rom-com banter. Granted, given their past, the tone was completely understandable but it still didn't sit right with me, especially since Noah was trying to win Gracie back.
I think Gracie's sister Mona was supposed to provide some comedic moments but she irritated me with her complete disregard for everyone else. I did absolutely enjoy Matt and Rachel's banter and friendship; they were super fun. The secondary characters in their small town also added good fun to the plot.

I received a complimentary copy courtesy of Tyndale House Publishers via Interviews and Reviews and NetGalley and was under no obligation to post a positive comment. All opinions are my own.

First Love, Second Draft by Becca Kinzer is a charming romantic comedy full of humor and heart. With lovable characters, witty dialogue, and a sweet second-chance romance, it’s a delightful feel-good read. Fans of lighthearted love stories will adore this book!

I usually am not a big fan of second chance romances and with this book being third person omniscient I didn’t know how I’d like it once I jumped in.

I was pleasantly surprised as I fell in love with the characters and their love story. The author was able to build my investment to the point where I was tearing up and hurting with them as she revealed how things went wrong the first time. I found their love for each other to be so sweet & wholesome.

That was another big point for me loving this book, this might be the only love story I have read where loving God first was accurately brought in and that gained another star from me. They had strayed from one another when they experienced tragedy and had also pushed God away trying to deal with the hard things in this life on their own. It was a beautiful thing to see them put God back at the center and find their way back to each other. The faith elements aren’t really stated until the end, but as a Christian the themes in their love story pointed towards it throughout.

Thanks NetGalley & Tyndale fiction for this ARC :)

This book surprised me with how emotional it made me! I became fully invested in Grace and Noah's story, although I have to say, I spent a huge portion of the book feeling like she shouldn't give him a second chance. It seemed like he treated her as a second-best choice. Baseball was out for him, so now he decided to crawl back and beg her to take him back. But slowly, slowly, slowly I began to understand him more and see where he was coming from and why he made the choices he did. And I slowly started to root for the two of them.

The reason for their break-up broke my heart, and I so wish Noah had been willing to fight for her back then. I found myself empathizing with Grace so much, even though I myself have never experienced the things she went through. The author managed to build her characterization so well that I understood exactly how she felt and why she pushed Noah away.

I enjoyed the side characters in this book as well, especially the firefighters! I was a little surprised by how much emphasis was put on Grace's nephew and his love story with Rachel, but as the book went on I figured out why they were so important and it added a lot of depth to the story.

All in all, I definitely recommend this book, especially if you're a fan of sweet, closed door romance, baseball, second chance and childhood sweethearts.

First time reading this author. I loved Noah’ and Gracie’s banter - it’s clear they had a good thing going for awhile. I had a hard time with their lack of communication - walking off during fights, etc. There were aspects of their relationship that were totally unbelievably to me… how do you not know anything about the childhood of your spouse???!!!

Thankfully the side characters pulled things through when the main characters didn’t. The ending wasn’t quite what I imagined, but maybe it’s a bit more real than a typical rom-com might deliver.

Solid 3 stars, good decent entertainment, though I don’t know if I will ever get over the mention of grabbing Rachel’s “rump”. Nope.

Second chance romance are always some of my very favorites, and when you throw in a baseball player MMC and writer FMC, this one definitely seemed up my alley. When Gracie finds herself injured and in need of help, the last person she wants it from seems to be the only one who can provide it--- her ex-husband of five years- Noah. These two had a really cute chemistry, despite their complicated history. As the story goes on, we learn more about not only that history... but also more about Noah's childhood--- which is something he'd always kept from everyone, including Gracie. I loved seeing them work through everything and to get that second chance at love. In addition to Noah and Gracie's story, we also get Gracie's nephew Matt's POV too. While this threw me off at first, I found that I did enjoy that little bit of a second romance as well. While this was overall a lighter hearted read, it does take on a few tougher topics to include a mention of miscarriage, which could be triggering for some readers. This was a cute story, and one that fans of Christian romance are sure to want to check out for themselves.

**ARC received via Netgalley for consideration. All opinions are my own.

DNF at 39%.

Gracie Parker is a writer, but she hasn't had a successful book since she got divorced five years ago. Gracie's ex, Noah, is a professional baseball player, he's had a terrible season and realises that he let true love go for a sport/profession that may be over. After an embarrassing accident which may or not have gone viral on social media Gracie is left with badly bruised ribs, her older sister just goes off on a work conference leaving Gracie unable to wash or dress herself (or indeed go up and down stairs).

Meanwhile, Noah has rented the empty property next to Gracie's house, determined to find a way to show her how much he loves her. When he discovers she needs help with basic things he offers to help, despite her objections.

There's also a plot involving Gracie's nephew Matt and his ex-BFF from school that he may have had a crush on all those years ago.

Once again, the story isn't going anywhere, none of the characters behave like normal people (I mean would you really bring your sister home from the hospital and then just leave her alone to her own devices when she can barely get out of the car? Why wouldn't a big-time baseball player pay for a nurse to help his ex-wife with washing and dressing instead of carrying her fully dressed and dropping her in the bath?

Today I am giving books a second chance but if they exasperate me then I am not hesitating to DNF them - this one bites the dust.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

These two should have stayed divorced. I've read second chance divorce romances before, and there's something still there to suggest they have a chance of getting back together. There's absolutely no inclination from the get go on Gracie's side that she may want to get back together with her ex. He, on the other hand, keeps calling her babe even though they're divorced and she tells him no multiple times, tells her that now that he can't play baseball anymore (which is why they divorced, he chose his career over her) that he has more time for her! Oh wonderful, he only wants her now that he's useless! If a man really wanted his wife back, he'd consider making a compromise of some sort, especially if they divorced because he was too busy with his career to have time for her. He came running back simply because he wasn't needed in his career anymore.

It's red flag city, and I gave it a chance when I should've dnfed.