I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I did not like this book. The storyline went from 0 to 1000 far to quickly. I didn't find the spice to be particularly good, and I didn't feel the chemistry between the two characters.

This is the second of Olivia Dade's Harlot's Bay novels I've read, and it's just as delightful as At First Spite. As with all her romances, there's a good dose of wry humor in the romantic storyline. I also love that the importance of community and connection, beyond the romantic pairing, remains a focus in this series. Both main characters have trust and communication issues, and falling in love doesn't magically fix them - talking to and seeking help from friends, and learning from mistakes pushes them to grow and take risks individually and as a couple. The main characters push each other to resolve their issues but the work to actually do so is their own. Shoutout as always to Olivia Dade for writing sexy, confident plus size main characters where their size isn't an issue or a fetish, just another aspect of their selves.

Although this is the second book in a series, you don't need to have read the first to follow the story, but it definitely helps to understand the community of friends, coworkers, and neighbors who are an important aspect of the storyline.

I'd recommend the Harlot's Bay series to readers of romances that celebrate beautifully diverse bodies, experiences, and emotional journeys, like Talia Hibbert's Brown Sisters series and Gabriella Gamez's Librarians in Love series.

Unfortunately, I think Olivia Dade is just not a good fit for me. I thoroughly enjoyed her Spoiler Alert series, I couldn't finish the first book in this series, so I won't be reading this one.

I loved this book! Olivia Dade doesn't miss - this is another funny, sexy, romantic, emotional wonderful story about real people acting in real ways. Such a joy to read. I loved being back in Harlot's Cove and rejoining that colorful community, I loved a story that felt real - the people and their connections, their conversations, felt like they could happen in the world (though I'm not sure about the guppy smut... I haven't looked into it). I'm so grateful I got to read this book!

Honestly this book was good I just didn’t feel invested into the characters. I wanted a little more depth.

I had a hard time connecting with the FMC in this one. While the romance was engaging, some of Molly’s behavior—rooted in her past—felt overly insecure or harsh, which made it tough to fully enjoy her character. The storyline itself wasn’t bad, but the lead just didn’t work for me.

This book will resonate with anyone who has trouble conveying their stronger emotions. It was awesome to see effort from both parties to try and better themselves for the ones they love. It's also a great representation for the bigger guys and gals out there!

I love Harlot’s Bay, it’s like Star’s Hollow but smuttier and with more historical cosplay.

Molly and Karl, unlikely high school best friends, yearned for each other as teens but then life happened. The only thing that could get Molly back to Harlot’s Bay after all this time is news of Karl’s untimely demise. Only Karl isn’t dead, he’s increadibly hot and alive and ready to make up for lost time by caring for Molly’s physical and emotional needs while baking her delicious treats!! EEEEEEEE!!!!!! I can’t stand it, they are so perfect!!!!!

This book hits all of my romance buttons: funny, sexy, romantic, thoughtful, healing, inclusive, and most importantly I would definitely hang out with any of these characters. The world is so rich. Who’s going to be next?? Sadie Brazen herself?? I love that the stories are built around smutty books - Olivia Dade knows her genre, her audience and she’s writing those jokes for us. Sexy fish men with dick fins? Yeah, we’re speaking our langauge.

Thank you NetGalley for this mini vacay to Harlot’s Bay, Maryland!

This was 4.5 stars and I rounded up to 5 stars.

I pretty much love everything that Olivia Dade writes. This was no exception. Second Chance Romance is about two childhood friends, Molly and Karl, that never ended up getting together even though they both wanted to. Twenty years later, a friend sends Karl's obituary to Molly. Completely devastated, Molly immediately flies back home to go to his funeral only to find that the obituary was fake.

Karl sees his second chance at romance with Molly, but wants more than a quick fling so he plans to show her that life in Harlot's Bay is better than California.

Read if you like:
-slowburn romance
-plus size FMC
-grumpy MMC

Do not read if you dislike:
-swearing

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love a second chance romance and this one was no different. This is the first I've ever Olivia Dade title I've read but I will surely seek more out.

I have read books written by Olivia Dade before and truly have loved each one! This one is probably my favorite now! I loved the connection between the two characters and the humorous moments.

I had a really hard time getting through this one.

This is a story about Karl and Molly who were high school crushes who reunite 20 years later. But, they live on opposite sides of the country. Can Molly learn to trust again and be willing to open herself up to love again? Will Karl open up emotionally and speak in complete sentences? (The answer to the second one is -- barely).

Two things I really liked about this book: I love a mature romance -- these characters are 40! I LOVED that Karl was a big guy and in a soft, rounded belly way. I am not sure I have ever read a book where the MMC was also I'll call it normal-sized and not cut with an eight-pack.

Here are things that I really, really struggled with:
1. Their banter was annoying as fuck. It wasn't cute to me at all and was just completely overblown. Okay, Karl is grumpy, he swears a lot, he threatens people for some reason and Molly likes to point out how unrealistic the threats are. A few well-placed examples paints the picture. But I found myself skipping over words to avoid reading their back and forth.
2. Karl was too one-dimensional for me to really like. Why was he so grumpy and inarticulate? There was enough backstory to understand why Molly was guarded but I didn't feel any connection to Karl or why he had the hang-ups he did.

I'd give it a 2 spice.

The book felt very slow. I liked that Karl was a baker and owned a cafe and the small town of Harlot's Bay is very cozy. I liked that Karl was grumpy but it felt a bit out of my comfort zone to read all the obscenities. It was funny at times but he wouldn't be someone I'd wanna be around all the time.
The lack of communication between the FMC & MMC is a huge turnoff for me. So many things could've been resolved or not a problem at all if they'd just communicate. Especially since the characters are a lot older in this book. Also there were so many moments between the two characters that felt like they just wanted to bang LOL like that's their ultimate end goal. Like "learn to trust me so then we can do the dirty" basically.

This book had a lot of funny parts sprinkled in here and there but I couldn't get into it.

Thank you for the ARC!

This is classic Olivia Dade. While it didn't have the emotional impact of At First Spite, it was still a solid second outing in the Harlot's Bay series. The characters are fully developed, even if I did wish Karl would speak in complete sentences. The third act breakup was minimal and very quickly resolved.

Overall, I always appreciate that Olivia Dade writes stories about people who are older, fatter, and not interested in having children. For a long time, that was rare to find in romance. This will be a book I definitely recommend to my romance book club.

2.5 stars...

Molly left her small town after high school and hasn't been back since. She lost touch with all of her friends from those years, including her then-bestie, Karl, who she'd hoped might one day become more. Molly has lived a lot since that time, getting married, becoming a homeowner, establishing a thriving career as an audiobook narrator, and then getting divorced. When she comes across Karl's obituary, she knows she needs to attend the funeral and pay her respects. Only it turns out Karl is very much alive, very much a successful and beloved member of the community, and still very much hot and in love with her. After her previous let-downs in the love department, is Molly brave enough to risk her heart again on the curmudgeonly, monosyllabic baker who hates talking about icky things like feelings but just might say enough with his actions that she doesn't feel like she's going backwards in time...she feels like she's coming home?

I have loved a lot of Olivia Dade's books, but I think this series might be a little too "cozy" for me. It felt like the characters had all their edges smoothed out. There is still some clever banter, and the humor and heart remain. But despite being set in a place called Harlot's Bay and having some spicy love scenes, the rest of the book just feels really...safe. Slow. Dare I say a little snoozy?

Karl seems modeled on Roy Kent, except somehow written in a way that he comes across as less "no f's given" and more truly emotionally stunted. I really wanted to like him but his awkward sentence fragments and emotional bumbling really frustrated me. I loved his married pals, Matthew and Athena, who came in clutch with the great advice...and thank goodness for them or he'd have been completely screwed (and not in a good way). Molly's character seemed built around her size and while I appreciate body representation in books, I wanted to know more about her than the repeated mention of her strong thighs rubbing together.

My favorite part of the book was the Nasty Wenches book club and all their in-depth discussion of shifter erotica (My Kangaroo, My Kidnapper has to be the greatest made-up titles ever). The extra half-star is for them!

I will say that I haven't yet read the first book in this series, so perhaps I would have enjoyed this more if I had already gotten a better introduction to the town and its people. I think a lot of readers fell in love with Karl in At First Spite, so they couldn't wait for him to get his own book. And I might consider going back and trying #1 at some point to see if that changes my thoughts. As it is, I think I just wasn't the right reader for this book. I like my romances a little less cozy.

**Thank you to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.**

DNF at 25%. I think this book will have an audience in Olivia Dade fans, it just wasn't for me. Nothing I learned about these characters in the first quarter of the book compelled me to keep reading to find out how they get together.

Another great book from Olivia Dade. It is always a good bet grabbing novels by her because she shows that romance is for any size and shape whether make or female - and both the main characters are on the plump size!. Great banter between the main characters and get a visit to other well loved familiar characters. This book is set against an eccentric Harlot's Bay backdrop and we get two former classmates that are reunited through an obituary. They were and are beyond smitten but are so emotionally unavailable and scared to be vulnerable they risk losing something real.

This book was such a good book. It made me realize if you never say what you really feel, you’ll never know what the outcome is. I would definitely recommend this book. It was such a fun read. Thank you!

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC!

This book lives up to its namesake, for sure. I mean…it’s a second chance romance. But it read like a 700 page book.

The chapters are LONG, and at times it was hard for me to stay in the zone for long enough to pay attention. At one point I think my Kindle said 26 minutes, and I took a deep breath in and put it down because I couldn’t do it. Not even on a 4-hour plane ride. And because of this, it took me FOREVER to finish it. I thought about DNFing at the 40% mark but decided to continue.

I could have gone without hearing their last names every two seconds, and I could have gone without all the f-bombs (and that’s coming from someone who curses like a sailor).

It took me a while to open up to the characters. I felt like Karl’s only trait was being grumpy for a decent portion of this book. And before knowing Molly’s background, she came off as rude.

And the lack of communication absolutely KILLED me. Even when they were trying to build it up, it kept getting shut down. It was like a game of cat and mouse.

That being said, I did laugh out loud at some of the descriptions and inner monologue. You can tell how much Karl feels for Molly throughout the entire novel. It’s endearing.

Just a little side note, but I did not read the first book in this series before getting this ARC. It was easy to follow without having read it.

All in all, this book wasn’t for me. It didn’t seem to scratch an itch.

Overall Rating: 2/5
Spice: 2.5/5

First time reading a book from this author and now I need to read her past work! I loved this book such a fun quick read