janetsbarth's review
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
salamanderqueen's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this! It is refreshing to read about older characters, especially when romance books tend to have characters in their 20’s not their 40’s. The setting was incredibly cozy and made me wish I had a cottage in Scotland. This was at times emotional and laugh out loud funny. By no means was the revolutionary but I do think the author created one of my favorite grumpy/sunshine couples I have read in a long time. Would definitely recommend!
livcab's review
3.0
i wanna visit scotland and idk why but grumpy tall pale man just equals vampire lover to me so i pretended that was edward wait i just connected the dots as to why i thought that.... the twilight trauma... anyway i liked it and i want to read more books with adult women rather than young adult bc as a young adult respectfully i dont know shit <3 it was kinda slow at some parts and i wasn't crazy abt the ending also the weird brother parts .... anyway
kimmybmom04's review
4.0
I received this as a Goodreads giveaway just in time for summer reading. This was a light read that was the perfect escape from the craziness of my world. I wish I could find a quaint little Scottish cottage to escape to. The author created a wonderful setting for the story.
readyourworriesaway's review against another edition
3.0
Thank you @randomhouse [partner] for the gifted book!
Things are not going well for Thea Mottram. Her husband left her for one of her friends, and she was let go from her office job. But then, Thea learns that a distant uncle in Scotland passed away and left her his home. This provides Thea with the perfect escape from her current life in Sussex. In Scotland, Thea falls in love with the town and people. All of the locals are warm and inviting, except for Edward...
This was a cute and easy read. I loved the setting of Scotland because I’ve always wanted to travel there. It was fun to visualize the characters and the town. I also obviously loved that Thea began working in a bookshop. At times I wasn’t fully invested in Thea and Edward’s relationship. It just seemed like something was missing. With that being said, The Bookshop of Second Chances was a cute, creative debut novel.
Things are not going well for Thea Mottram. Her husband left her for one of her friends, and she was let go from her office job. But then, Thea learns that a distant uncle in Scotland passed away and left her his home. This provides Thea with the perfect escape from her current life in Sussex. In Scotland, Thea falls in love with the town and people. All of the locals are warm and inviting, except for Edward...
This was a cute and easy read. I loved the setting of Scotland because I’ve always wanted to travel there. It was fun to visualize the characters and the town. I also obviously loved that Thea began working in a bookshop. At times I wasn’t fully invested in Thea and Edward’s relationship. It just seemed like something was missing. With that being said, The Bookshop of Second Chances was a cute, creative debut novel.
thewordwitch's review
1.0
I had high hopes for this book. I tend to enjoy books that revolve around bookshops, libraries, and books in general. In fact, romances that happen in these settings tend to be a guilty pleasure of mine since I tend to not like romance in general. There's something about having the books present that just does it for me. Maybe because I do feel like bookshops and libraries are magical, so anything can happen there.
However, this book was a dud. Books don't play as much of a role in it, which is surprising since we are told our main character, Thea, loves books and inherited a large library from her uncle on his passing. She works in a bookshop for a man who buys and sells rare editions of books and is quite knowledgeable about them. Books themselves aren't really given their due justice considering the main characters are supposed to be so into them. It's more like that's just what they kind of have in common and is the jumping point for their relationship.
Their relationship is rocky throughout most of the book, and to be honest, Thea is just a massive doormat to this angsty man, Edward - the aforementioned owner of the bookshop, who is unable to let go of a high school grievance. In fact, he has been enacting petty revenge over this instance for 30+ years and has been unable to grow or move on from it. It's baffling that Thea could find him a suitable partner when he's so emotionally stunted. Like, her marriage just ended because she caught her husband having an affair, so she moves on to an emotionally immature philanderer? I can't work up a warm fuzzy for that relationship. I wasn't rooting for anyone in the book, and I just found myself exclaiming cries of frustration out loud the entire time I was reading it.
I would say it's a hard pass if you like bookish rom coms.
However, this book was a dud. Books don't play as much of a role in it, which is surprising since we are told our main character, Thea, loves books and inherited a large library from her uncle on his passing. She works in a bookshop for a man who buys and sells rare editions of books and is quite knowledgeable about them. Books themselves aren't really given their due justice considering the main characters are supposed to be so into them. It's more like that's just what they kind of have in common and is the jumping point for their relationship.
Their relationship is rocky throughout most of the book, and to be honest, Thea is just a massive doormat to this angsty man, Edward - the aforementioned owner of the bookshop, who is unable to let go of a high school grievance. In fact, he has been enacting petty revenge over this instance for 30+ years and has been unable to grow or move on from it. It's baffling that Thea could find him a suitable partner when he's so emotionally stunted. Like, her marriage just ended because she caught her husband having an affair, so she moves on to an emotionally immature philanderer? I can't work up a warm fuzzy for that relationship. I wasn't rooting for anyone in the book, and I just found myself exclaiming cries of frustration out loud the entire time I was reading it.
I would say it's a hard pass if you like bookish rom coms.
whatemilysreading's review
2.0
There's just something about a bookshop. Why does it seem like the most idyllic place to work? I wouldn't hate it, that's for sure.
I loved the conversational tone of the book and would have thought it would make it a pretty quick read but unfortunately, this one felt very slow-paced. It wasn't until about the last five chapters that I felt properly invested in the developing relationship. Thea as a narrator talks constantly about how uncomfortable she feels which put me off of her and Edward together. Overall this was just a pretty bland read.
Thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review!
I loved the conversational tone of the book and would have thought it would make it a pretty quick read but unfortunately, this one felt very slow-paced. It wasn't until about the last five chapters that I felt properly invested in the developing relationship. Thea as a narrator talks constantly about how uncomfortable she feels which put me off of her and Edward together. Overall this was just a pretty bland read.
Thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review!
openmypages's review
2.0
I hate to write a bad review but there were so many things I did not enjoy about this novel. I will start by saying the writing itself is well done, there are lots of depth to the characters but unfortunately for me it did not make them any more likeable. The bookish elements were nice, I enjoyed the discussions of finding and selling rare books and the few antiques.
I went into this hoping for a You've Got Mail type appeal, a light romance with fun bookish elements. This story is not light at all. Thea's life is a mess (another trope I hate - although this time the man's life was not any more put together). Neither character was that likeable and while they started off as contentious, it took a lot longer for witty banter to appear than I hoped. Then when the relationship turned, the quickness with which one of the characters fell to be completely devoted and head over heels with a entire shift in behavior was not believable. Nor was the turn of events with the two brothers or the turn of events with her ex-husband (trying to avoid spoilers here).
The other thing that really bothered me was the inordinate amount of times these characters used the Lord's name in vein. I am not by any means a holy roller, once or twice using "Jesus Christ" as an exclamation of a horrible situation is understandable. These characters used it in more conversations than I could count. Surely there are other exclamations of frustration that could have been used.
I acknowledge some of these things may only be frustrating to me, so please go for this one if the synopsis sounds interesting to you. There were some lovely moments peppered throughout that were enjoyable.
Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this novel. All opinions above are my own.
I went into this hoping for a You've Got Mail type appeal, a light romance with fun bookish elements. This story is not light at all. Thea's life is a mess (another trope I hate - although this time the man's life was not any more put together). Neither character was that likeable and while they started off as contentious, it took a lot longer for witty banter to appear than I hoped. Then when the relationship turned, the quickness with which one of the characters fell to be completely devoted and head over heels with a entire shift in behavior was not believable. Nor was the turn of events with the two brothers or the turn of events with her ex-husband (trying to avoid spoilers here).
The other thing that really bothered me was the inordinate amount of times these characters used the Lord's name in vein. I am not by any means a holy roller, once or twice using "Jesus Christ" as an exclamation of a horrible situation is understandable. These characters used it in more conversations than I could count. Surely there are other exclamations of frustration that could have been used.
I acknowledge some of these things may only be frustrating to me, so please go for this one if the synopsis sounds interesting to you. There were some lovely moments peppered throughout that were enjoyable.
Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this novel. All opinions above are my own.
maryberry23's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0