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.

Gracie and Noah reunite after their divorce because of Gracie’s accident. I loved how they tried to suppress their feelings and yet you could see them from a mile away. I really liked how they fought for the relationship, they tried even though they got hurt in the past.
The intertwined storylines of Rachel, Matt, Noah and Gracie were so fun to navigate. Their banter in the group was soooo good. They had so many good comedic moments. When both of the couples see through each other but are oblivious to their own situations was humorous to read.
Despite how short their story was, I loved Rachel and Matt. They just were so cute together and they felt just made for each other. Rachel was just so funny.
The ending just made me teary eyed and I didn’t expect it. Somehow the author found a way to pack an emotional punch.

Rom-com writer Gracie Parker hasn’t written a bestseller since she and her husband, a major league baseball star, divorced five years ago. On thin ice with her publisher—and with a looming deadline—Gracie couldn’t have picked a worse time for a painful injury that has her flat on her back. At this point, she’d accept help from anybody . . . except her first love and ex-husband, Noah Parker. The baseball season has just ended in massive disappointment for Noah. He’s facing the stark reality that he gave up everything for a career that’s let him down and that it might be too late to get back the one person he should’ve held on to. So when Gracie’s nephew calls, saying Gracie’s looking for a tenant for her next-door rental, it feels like it’s meant to be.

All Gracie cares about is turning in her manuscript on time, which is directly at odds with Noah’s attempts to win her back, even if she is slightly charmed by his kindness. But can people ever really change? Then Noah throws a curveball that could give Gracie the extension she needs, but it will mean working directly with Noah, something she’s not sure she can face. With no other choice, and everything on the line, Gracie must decide if it is too late for a second draft of their own love story.

I've got mixed feelings on this one. The banter between Gracie and Noah is laugh-out-loud fantastic and had me in stitches - a lot! I loved the realism and the messiness of Gracie, the balance between the HOT chemistry and the fact that these two just couldn't get out of their own way to find each other. The middle dragged a bit too much, and sometimes we spent way too much time in Gracie's head, but overall, it was an enjoyable read. 3.5⭐

I received an advanced complimentary digital copy of this book from Netgalley. Opinions expressed are my own.

This book had some things going for it but ultimately suffered from lack of editing, plot fuzziness and paragraphs full of sentence fragments.

But ... there was some snappy dialogue, clever and well-paced. The characters of Noah and Gracie were likable, flawed and felt real. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

First Love, Second Draft is a wonderful second chance romance story. Heartwarming with plenty of funny moments, mild angst and a faith arc for the FMC.

I actually didn't know that this book was Christian fiction but I could tell through the first few chapters that it was, which was a happy suprise. Firstly by the characters names (Noah, Abe, Rachel), I love when you can tell from the name that an author is Christian 😂. Additionally this book is has no spice, no swearing and even makes mention of characters drinking sodas in situations when main stream book would have them drinking alcohol. I always love reading books with my morals and lifestyle habits.

It was a bit weird at first having Matt's story thrown in too, with his own pov chapters, considering he isn't even mentioned in the description of the book. At first it was almost like it should have been a series with Matt's story as a second book. In saying that getting further into the book it seemed less weird as I did enjoy his and Rachel's story, and you can see how his story ties in with Noah's and Gracie's.

This was a really good, wholesome second chance read and I can't wait to read more o Becca's books.

4.5

˗ˏˋ 1 star ⟡ ݁₊ .

ugh, i was kinda excited for this book but it completely let me down.

to start off, i feel like the entire divorce was completely unnecessary in the first place. noah had no character development and grace deserved better.

also my question is: why is there a POV dedicated to the nephew, matt? he's not even the love interest and his POV didn't even add on anything to the plot. he would probably be better off in a separate novella.

⤷ thank you to netgalley, the publisher and the author for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What happens when life is a series of disappointments? When your spouse seems to turn away from you rather than toward you in grief? Five years later Gracie is in need of help and the only one available is her ex. There’s moments of comedy. Moments I wanted to force them to talk. And moments of grace and redemption. The happily ever after wasn’t guaranteed in this novel of second chances and choices. I loved the secondary second chance romance between Matt and Rachel.

This second-chance romance features author Gracie and her annoyingly-handsome-and-helpful ex-husband Noah. Who also happens to be an MLB player with wonderful-smelling aftershave. When Gracie fractures her pelvis, Noah moves into Gracie's guest house (at the request of Gracie's swoon-worthy, awkward nephew, Matt) to help her out.
There is so much to love about this book. For starters -- it's FUN!! It had that beach-read, you-can-tell-the-author-had-fun-writing-it vibe to it that is just so enjoyable. I stayed up until 3 am reading this the other night because I just couldn't look away! That's not to say it doesn't also pack an emotional punch. For such an easily digestible text, I honestly did not think this book would be able to make me cry. And then it did. Big time. At the end, I was ugly crying sad tears, and then immediately ugly crying happy/touched tears. All the feelings.
I called my mom immediately to give her a run down of the plot. She's obsessed already.
All of that said, this book was extremely difficult for me to rate. While there were elements I obviously loved, there were also things that pulled me out of the text.
For starters, the relationships have beautiful, slow and natural builds... but the "we're together! now what?" part felt rushed. While this can sometimes make the climax of a relationship more exciting, here it just made the relationship less realistic / relatable. More generally, some of the plotting didn't feel very plausible or consistent. I found myself having to suspend my disbelief on certain things (example: ex-spouses seemingly knowing nothing about each other), which also pulled me out of the text a bit.
I thought this book was a 2 star for me at first... I'm glad I stuck with it.
Overall, this was a very fun and cute read with couples you want to root for.

PS This was my first ever NetGalley ARC!!! Thank you to NetGalley, Tyndale House Publishers, and Becca Kinzer for sharing this story with me :)

Thank you Netgalley, and Tyndale House Publishers for the advance copy of the book. DNFed at 20%. This should be everything I liked but I barley made it through the 20% I did read. I could not get pass how much I did not like the main characters or their relationship. I don't want them to get back together! <spoiler> He doesn't even know that she can't have pain meds after 5 YEARS of marriage?? </spoiler> The book also has a second plot of the fmc's nephew (?) having a relationship? I'm very confused on why this was included. I just ended up getting lost with both plots and what events are for what plot point.

Had potential but like other reviewers said, the dialogue and comedy were so overt it felt distracting and stilted. Unfortunately took away from the romance aspect and made it hard to root for the characters. Just not my style!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It was a refreshing and captivating experience, and I found the writing to be both engaging and accessible. The story flowed smoothly, making it easy to stay connected to the plot and characters without feeling lost or overwhelmed. The author struck a perfect balance, keeping things interesting while still making the content feel approachable. Overall, it was a wonderful read, and I would definitely recommend it to others who are looking for an enjoyable and easy-to-digest book.

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.