Review: The Bookshop of Second Chances

The Bookshop of Second Chances by Jackie Fraser
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


"(first published November 17th, 2020)"


I totally agree with another reviewer who yelled, " I NEED MORE BOOKS WITH MATURE WOMEN!" Thank you, Randy, for you yelling this out, so I didn't have to LOL!
But, it is true, the Millenials are now starting to reach early middle age, and they are soon going to want books that they can relate to, and this is one of them. The main characters are in their early forties.

You can plainly see by the synopsis that this book starts with a near cliche. A younger middle-aged woman loses her job and her husband of 20 years on about the same day. But she finds out quite soon that she has inherited property in the 'wilds' of Scotland by a Great Uncle she has no remembrance of.
Thea travels there, meets people, including someone who gives her a job, and the book takes off. The directions it takes off in are astounding; this book's writing has a calming effect on me. And right now, that is exactly what I need. There is angst, but not a huge amount, and none of it is overdramatized.

My last two book choices have been flops for me -this one was not, and I recommend this book to anyone who likes quirky characters, books, hunky men, and Scotland.

*ARC supplied by the publisher, the author, and NetGalley. Thank-you.



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SYNOPSIS: " A woman desperate to turn a new page heads to the Scottish coast and finds herself locked in a battle of wills with an infuriatingly handsome bookseller in this utterly heartwarming debut, perfect for readers of Evvie Drake Starts Over. Thea Mottram is having a bad month. Her husband of nearly twenty years has just left her for one of her friends, and she is let go from her office job--on Valentine's Day, of all days. Bewildered and completely lost, Thea doesn't know what to do. But when she learns that a distant great uncle in Scotland has passed away, leaving her his home and a hefty antique book collection, she decides to leave Sussex for a few weeks. Escaping to a small coastal town where no one knows her seems to be exactly what she needs. Almost instantly, Thea becomes enamored with the quaint cottage, comforted by its cozy rooms and shaggy, tulip-covered lawn. The locals in nearby Baldochrie are just as warm, quirky, and inviting. The only person she can't seem to win over is bookshop owner Edward Maltravers, to whom she hopes to sell her uncle's antique novel collection. His gruff attitude--fueled by an infamous, long-standing feud with his brother, a local lord--tests Thea's patience. But bickering with Edward proves oddly refreshing and exciting, leading Thea to develop feelings she hasn't felt in a long time. As she follows a thrilling yet terrifying impulse to stay in Scotland indefinitely, Thea realizes that her new life may quickly become just as complicated as the one she was running from."