First of all, thanks for dropping by my stop for the Once Upon a Second Chance blog tour! I really enjoyed this book and I'm thrilled to be sharing it with you!
Title: Once Upon a Second Chance
Author: Marian Vere
Release Date: November 6th 2012
Publisher: Omnific Publishing
Pages: 210 (paperback)
Source: ARC from publisher for blog tour
Julia's life seemed to be falling perfectly into place. She had burgeoning job prospects in the finance industry, an exciting life in New York City, and a wonderful fiancé, Nick Kerkley, who she was totally in love with. Nick, however, while being completely devoted to Julia, did not have the career potential or financial stability to be worthy of someone like her - or at least that's what she came to convince herself. Hesitantly, Julia ended the relationship, forcing herself to believe it would all be for the best. Little did she know, that one decision would lead both their lives to spiral away from each other, only to converge again.
What happens to your fairytale when you let someone else wave the magic wand? Will your dreams of love and enchantment still come true, or will your 'happily ever after' pass by without you?
Once Upon a Second Chance is a contemporary retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion.When I started reading Once Upon a Second Chance, I was only expecting a light love story with a few cute moments here and there, but what I got was a captivating tale of a woman who had finally decided to take charge of her life.
At first glance, Julia Basham seemed happy. She had a nice job and even nicer co-workers, a supportive older sister, and a life that she was living the way she wanted to. But she wasn't. For eight years, she'd secretly been regretting following the advice of Lisa - her older sister - to break up with Nick Kerkley, her ex-fiance from college who, back then, had an uncertain future. And for eight years, she'd been following his journey to success, right up to Forbes' Top 10 Richest list. Julia thought those news articles would be the closest she'd ever get to him again... until the day he was to be her personal finance consulting group's newest client.
Honestly, when I first read the summary, I felt an immediate dislike for Julia. I mean, breaking up with your fiance just because your older sister thought he wasn't matching up to your foreseeable successful future? Really? But then I realized this story's not so far-fetched; I'm sure it's already happened to someone out there, so I quickly overcame that dislike and dived into her story, and she even more quickly made me regret that initial dislike!
Being inside Julia's head was really fun. She was witty and rational - well, most of the time - and her inside jokes with herself had me burst out laughing. But at the same time, I really felt the pain and regret she had in her, a weight she'd been carrying around for almost a decade when, if not for her one mistake, she should've been happy. I also pitied her when she was trying but failing to turn her love life around. When she wanted to give up, I also wanted to give up. When she saw a glimmer of hope, I also saw a glimmer of hope. Yes, this book took me on an emotional roller coaster, and I regret nothing.
Another thing I loved was how the characters all breathed life through the pages. There were quite a lot of them, but Vere developed them all very well, becoming their own selves.
Though the plot was slightly predictable, I still got surprised. Like I were expecting to see a bridge but instead, what I see is a fallen bridge. Get it? No? Well, no one said I'm good at metaphors. *sigh* Also, I almost always got tempted to skip over Julia's internal monologues, or maybe that's just the constant anxiety this book brought me. The pace was brilliant and made this a real page-turner.
Overall, reading Once Upon a Second Chance was a great experience, and it is now one of my favorite contemporary reads! Sadly, I haven't read Jane Austen's Persuasion yet so I can't compare the two, but I'm sure that, like this retelling, it can only be good. Also... someone find me my Nick Kerkley!
MY FAVORITE PART was after the rehearsal dinner thingy ♥
Marian Vere is a twenty-eight year old writer of Women's Fiction. Born and
raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she received her degree from Edinboro
University of Pennsylvania in - oddly enough - vocal music performance, only to
later discover her love of writing and storytelling. Marian is represented by
Carly Watters of PS Literary, and currently lives in the suburbs of Chicago with
her husband and two daughters.
Being inside Julia's head was really fun. She was witty and rational - well, most of the time - and her inside jokes with herself had me burst out laughing. But at the same time, I really felt the pain and regret she had in her, a weight she'd been carrying around for almost a decade when, if not for her one mistake, she should've been happy. I also pitied her when she was trying but failing to turn her love life around. When she wanted to give up, I also wanted to give up. When she saw a glimmer of hope, I also saw a glimmer of hope. Yes, this book took me on an emotional roller coaster, and I regret nothing.
Another thing I loved was how the characters all breathed life through the pages. There were quite a lot of them, but Vere developed them all very well, becoming their own selves.
Though the plot was slightly predictable, I still got surprised. Like I were expecting to see a bridge but instead, what I see is a fallen bridge. Get it? No? Well, no one said I'm good at metaphors. *sigh* Also, I almost always got tempted to skip over Julia's internal monologues, or maybe that's just the constant anxiety this book brought me. The pace was brilliant and made this a real page-turner.
Overall, reading Once Upon a Second Chance was a great experience, and it is now one of my favorite contemporary reads! Sadly, I haven't read Jane Austen's Persuasion yet so I can't compare the two, but I'm sure that, like this retelling, it can only be good. Also... someone find me my Nick Kerkley!
MY FAVORITE PART was after the rehearsal dinner thingy ♥
RATING:
Five out of five hearts for a heartwarming story!
(photo and summary from Goodreads.com)
About the author:
Marian Vere is a twenty-eight year old writer of Women's Fiction. Born and
raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she received her degree from Edinboro
University of Pennsylvania in - oddly enough - vocal music performance, only to
later discover her love of writing and storytelling. Marian is represented by
Carly Watters of PS Literary, and currently lives in the suburbs of Chicago with
her husband and two daughters.
The publisher is giving away five (5) ebook copies of ONCE UPON A SECOND
CHANCE. Open International.
Check out the other tour stops!
Great review! I haven't heard of this before but it sounds like a great read. Witty protagonists are my favourite. ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks! I hope you'll get to check it out soon ^^
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