The Bookshop of Second Chances by Jackie Fraser

Publisher: Ballantine Books Release Date: May 4, 2021 Page Count: 448

When Thea realizes her husband is having an affair with one of her friends and plans on leaving their marriage, she’s left heartbroken, blind-sighted, and confused. Then, she gets a call about a distant relative, an Uncle who she never met, but who left her his home and extensive library collection. The need to go settle the estate allows her to escape her town, and her crumbling life, for a period. She plans to only stay for a short time, but soon she finds herself making a home for herself that she didn’t expect.

This was a fast, cute romance that I stayed up late and woke up early to read. I appreciated Thea as a main character because she was intelligent, witty, and handled her heartbreak in a realistic way. She is in her forties and is starting over, learning who she is on her own after spending 20 years with someone who hurt her deeply. Thea let everyone in her uncle’s town know she wasn’t ready to jump into a new relationship and put boundaries around herself that were healthy. At times, I found myself still wondering why she reacted to certain things with what felt like self-loathing, but I think it illustrated that she was heartbroken and her confidence was shaken, if not broken.

The infidelity thread in this book was heartbreaking. You can feel Thea’s emotions and sadness and anger. My stomach turned a few times when reading about it — it’s just so cruel and thoughtless and I really despised her husband and the woman he cheated on Thea with, which is the point.

I really enjoyed this one.