Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - The Bookshop of Second Chances

Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

The Bookshop of Second Chances by Jackie Fraser

22 reviews

jennp28's review against another edition

emotional hopeful slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I really liked this one. Nice to read a romance about people in their forties given that I now am such a person myself. I liked that it wasn’t melodramatic or anything, it just kind of meandered through their feelings. Interesting cast of characters. Satisfying ending.

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zoelynn's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

2.0

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unikko's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Finally a book with a middle-aged female protagonist who doesn’t have kids! Add a bookshop, a grumpy misanthropic guy, some subcultural references and the beautiful landscape of the Scottish lowlands and I’m all in! I haven’t felt this at home in a book since forever. <3

The romance develops slowly from friendship and there are no graphic sex scenes, which is another huge plus for me. I really enjoyed following Thea as she built a new life for herself and I like that the romance is just the cherry on top, not the main reason for her newfound happiness.

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cariam's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

It was a reasonably enjoyable book. I never knew how much power a middle-aged Scotsman treating you like a wife when you’re not one would have over me. And pet names reach a new swoon height when you imagine them in an accent - darling, sweetheart, doll. 💕

I haven’t read many books where a man is doting, and Edward Maltravers was a sweetheart, if not a prickly one at first glance.

That lil muffin worried about her period at one point, so he’s got brownie points now too. Not to mention I was angry at him for being crass with her just a few hours earlier, so kudos to Fraser for being well rounded in her writing

The sass and jealousy is great! I found some scenes drags out with her chitter chatter though, and Thea seemed kinda unhinged in her self consciousness a few times. I also understood being hesitant to love again, but loved how something that developed her character wasn’t glossed over later, and especially loved her anxiousness about Edward going away and possibly cheating, but I disliked how Thea kept thinking of “generations past” and how she’d be compared to a servant.

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laura_berger's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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rynicolereads's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted slow-paced

3.5

This was a great booster weekend read. I wasn't super invested throughout the story, but I love that it was set in Scotland (one of my favorite places), and mainly took place at a cozy book shop!

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rrubin97's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.25

I almost DNF the book. Thea was supposed to be “plucky” but mostly she was just annoying and not sure why everyone was falling all over her. I’m with her ex who left her at the beginning - get away

(although even he tried to come crawling back). And the cad who was reformed by the right woman trope was just obnoxious

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chrisljm's review against another edition

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relaxing slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

So this isn’t a bad book. Just kind of boring. Respectfully, I think this book is more suited, and might be more enjoyable, for middle aged people. Or people going through a midlife crisis.

There were a few things I didn’t particularly enjoy and one of them was the dialogue. When it comes to dialogue in books I know a lot of filler stuff that we say in real life is probably excluded so that conversation flows more seamlessly between characters, but not in this book. It was like we got to hear every word that Thea was saying as well as every thought that crossed her mind. Which is ironic because even with all that I didn’t get the feeling that she was in love with Edward because she never even let herself contemplate those emotions and when she did, she was just so unsure of what she felt. Another thing that bothered me was the emotional aspects because I was never able to sense what they were feeling and the only reason I knew they were feeling certain things was because it’s specifically stated. The way the book is written, it just feels like you’re being kept at arms length and you only know when Thea is sad or angry after it has happened, which is strange because she’s the narrator.

But what I disliked the most was every scene with Chris. Towards the end of the book there’s a meeting between Chris and Thea and I wish I didn’t read that at all. It’s not even because I hated Chris, I just hated the way they interacted with each other.

Also, Thea was made out to be super funny, at least to Edward, but um either he was super down bad or the comedy needs work. Or maybe I just don’t get Scottish humor.

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theespressoedition's review against another edition

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lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

My number one content warning for this book pretty much sums up the plot: infidelity. Yikes.

I understood the beginning: our protagonist finds out her husband has been cheating on her for quite some time with her best friend, so she packs up her things and escapes to another city where her dead uncle left her a house. Understandable.

I understood some of the middle: she meets a grumpy bookshop owner and convinces him to let her work at the store, despite his "no women" policy (which... ew??). They become the best of friends and everyone else can see they're into each other, even if neither of them realizes it.

This is where things get weird: we find out that the grump has had a vendetta against his brother and has slept with every woman his brother has ever been with. I repeat... EW. At that point, I'd have some serious red flags and wouldn't want to even be friends with the person, let alone begin to develop feelings.

From there, the whole book went downhill and I couldn't wait for it to come to an end. There was so much cheating and scandal and drama that felt unnecessary in what could have been a sweet story about a quaint bookshop in a nice little country town in Scotland.

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meghanm404's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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