Lovin' los libros

Second Chance Summer (The Chance Series #1)
   by: Emma Hart

Publication Date: Sept. 23, 2013
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Group: New Adult
Source: e-ARC provided by the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Page Count: 181 pages
Order Links: Amazon | B&N
My Rating: 4.5/5 stars


I was so happy to be a part of the cover reveal for this book! I love the cover and the blurb immediately had me hooked! (How sexy is a name like Reese?!) I jumped at the chance to receive an ARC of this book and was so excited I got offered the chance! (Thanks Emma!) To top it all off, I saw I was even mentioned in the acknowledgments! That is such a huge honor for me as a blogger- so thank you Emma! <3 <3

I absolutely fell in love with Emma's The Game series, so I already knew she was a talented writer. She does such an amazing job of creating strong characters (both main and side) that you can't help falling in love with and she does a fabulous job of developing them. Second Chance Summer was no exception. She has created an emotionally charged main character who, while having her own issues to overcome, doesn't let that control the tone of the book. While Second Chance Summer tackles topics such as alcoholism and parental issues, it is a fun, sexy read filled with a great cast of characters.

Kia, our main character, has just returned home to Alabama for summer vacation from school in NYC. It is very clear she doesn't want to be there- she left for a reason. And one of them has to do with the gorgeous Reese Pembleton- the boy who she spent last summer falling for. She is determined to steer clear of Reese and of the memories last summer held for both of them. She gave that up as soon as she ran away from him one year ago. However, it wasn't just him Kia was running from. Her mother is an alcoholic and her father took off on them- to say things are complicated for Kia is an understatement. But it does really give you insight as to why she won't let herself be caught by Reese. Upon not obtaining stability in her own home with her parents, who's to say she won't end up the same way? She has walls around her heart in order to protect herself, but it's only matter of a time before the very persistent Reese manages to shatter them around her.

"You can't ever be friends with the person your heart cries out for, and you definitely can't be friends with the person whose heart cries out for you, too. That ain't the way it works." (e-ARC 38)

I loved Reese. He's the definition of a sexy, Southern boy. As much as he hurts from Kia's disappearance, he won't let that get in the way of winning her back. What I love most about Reese is that even though he's in love with her, he is such a good friend to her. He doesn't hesitate in being there for her, even if she does push him away every time they start to make progress. Yet, as Kia clings to the heartache of her father leaving her mother, she can't keep fighting Reese forever. She is ruled by fear and it takes some serious convincing on his end to get her to take a chance on them.

"You want that magic of last summer back, when there was nothing that mattered except us. I know deep down you want nothing more than to turn around right now and grab me and kiss me the way you used to. You want to remember what it was like not to have a care about anything other than the person right in front of you. You want it as much as I do. I want to wake up each morning knowing you're mine and I'm yours. I want you to fall asleep in my arms again just so I can hold you and kiss your forehead. We both know you want everything I do. You're just better at hiding it than I am." (e-ARC 40)

Emma is the queen of writing secondary characters. Adam and Luce are so pivotal in this book and I am really anxious to see what happens for them. Adam, being Reese's best friend, and Luce being Kia's, have always spent time together. Luce has been crazy about Adam, but he doesn't come across as the relationship type. Both of them are charged with sexual attraction and yet neither have made the first move. I liked Luce a lot. She is a great friend to Kia and always has been. When things got to be too much at Kia's house, Luce has always offered her friend comfort at her own.

As I stated above, Kia's mom is a real piece of work. She is an alcoholic, working at a bar where she wastes her money away on drinking. She's never around and when she is, she's usually passed out drunk somewhere in the house. She is bitter over her husband leaving her and once we find out the reason behind it, I don't blame him one bit. The way he handled it however was wrong. Kia did not deserve to be left without answers and be the one to take care of and clean up after her mother as a teenage girl. With all that in mind, it's easy to see why Kia tries to keep Reese at such a distance. She doesn't want to fall so in love him only to have him leave her someday. Yet, Kia's already fallen and now she just needs the reassurance he will catch her every time.

Overall, I love Emma's writing, her characters and their development. Thankfully the story does not end on a cliffhanger, but like Emma said there are loose ends to be tied up in the next book, not just with Kia and Reese, but also Adam and Luce. I can't wait for more!