This review contains affiliate links, which earn me a small commission when you click and purchase, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my small business and allowing me to continue providing you a reliable resource for clean book ratings.
On Valentine’s Day, Thea Mottram spends the day crying over the loss of her job and her husband, whom she left after she found out about his longtime affair with one of her friends. She then has to deal with the always-fun task of going back to her and her ex’s house, where his new girlfriend lives with him, to divvy up their belongings and move her half. Just as Thea is working on settling into her new apartment and life, she receives a letter from a lawyer advising her that her great-uncle left her his house, as well as some money and a collection of valuable books, in Scotland. So she heads up to the small village to learn more about her inheritance and figure out what to do with it.
Thea takes to the cute cottage and the village nearby and is welcomed by the kind locals, including shop owners and even the lord who owns the old estate on which the cottage is built. One local who isn’t as friendly, however, is the owner of the bookstore in Baldochrie, Edward Maltravers, her contact point for working to value and sell many of the books in the cottage. Everyone else she meets in town tells her that he’s gruff and unfriendly to all, so it’s not just her. As the weeks of her temporary visit stretch on, Thea decides it would be a good idea to have a job to stay busy and make some income, and Edward’s bookshop seems like a delightful place to work, even if its owner is not.
The two slowly get to know each other as they work together, and Thea tries to come to terms with who she is at middle age, what to think about her soon-to-be-ex-husband and what to make of their years together. And she must decide where she wants to go next: Should she sell or rent her cottage and buy a simple apartment back in Surrey, or should she stay in Scotland and make a new life there?
Her relationship with Edward complicates all of it, though: Much of the time, he’s annoying and frustrating, but Thea can handle him. But then sometimes, they seem to be becoming friends, and he’s even kind and generous to her. Is it friendship, or is it even possible he’s interested in more from her? Impossible. But she may be finding herself attracted to him.
The Bookshop of Second Chances is hardly unique; it’s built entirely from often-recycled parts: newly single woman in middle age, gruff love interest, bookshop setting. Even so, it’s perfectly charming and serviceable as a romance and woman-finds-new-life-at-middle-age story.
Rated: High. Profanity includes 40 instances of strong language, 60 uses of moderate language, 50 or more uses of mild language, and more than 50 instances of the name of Deity. Sexual content includes kissing, some vulgar references, a number of references to infidelity, and a few sex scenes, fairly brief and with moderate detail.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Click here to purchase your copy of The Bookshop of Second Chances on Amazon.
