I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
As their heated encounters grow more frequent and tensions rise while struggling to balance exes, kids, and work, a more independent Lori seeks to find her second chance with Brandon in author Lisa Battalia’s “Second Chances”, the second book in A Midlife Romance series.
The Synopsis
Second Chances continues the story of Lori and Brandon’s bicoastal romance. Their sexy, fun weekends, crisscrossing the country to see each other, are bookended by the challenges back home. For Lori, that’s a new home, job search, divorce proceedings, and conflicts with her teenage kids. With newfound confidence, helped by Brandon’s skills in the bedroom and as handyman, cop, and father, Lori revels in a budding independence. Still, there’s no avoiding that their time together is scheduled around the competition (exes, kids, and bosses). Brandon’s aversion to risk, his loyalty to his daughter, and Lori’s increasingly complicated life in Maryland all loom as potential, insurmountable obstacles, and Lori fears that shuttling between disparate worlds will break her. After a particularly empowering sexual encounter, Lori finds the courage to ask for what she wants-a second chance to build a brave new life with Brandon-but taking that risk could mean losing everything.
The Review
The author did not let up on the passion for this second outing in the series. The heat and romance that the characters brought to life were still very palatable on the page, and the atmosphere was thick with both tension and eroticism to seek the erotic romance fans out there. The coast-to-coast setting was felt even more strongly in this outing, as it came with more emotional weight as the stakes rose to all new heights in this novel.
To me, the heart of this story was not in the character’s passions, but in their growth overall. The author found a way to strike a healthy balance between the eroticism and the emotional romance aspect of their relationship quite evenly and allowed the reader to dive head-first into the hills and valleys of their relationship overall. The way the author honed in on what so many middle-aged people deal with in romances, from ex-spouses and wary children to work details and living arrangements, the story felt more realistic and relatable to a great number of readers out there, and still held onto the passion that made the first book so memorable.
The Verdict
Heated, thoughtful, and entertaining, author Lisa Battalia’s “Second Chances” is a great second entry into the erotic romance duology that the author has crafted and a passionate romance to get lost in. The relatability of the characters grows exponentially here, as does the emotional weight of their journey together. The twists and turns in their love story will have readers hanging onto the author’s every word. If you haven’t yet, be sure to grab your copy today!
Rating: 10/10
About the Author
Lisa Battalia is an attorney in the field of gender equity and a writer. She is the mother of two newly launched young adults; a lifelong east-coaster who recently launched her own new life on Whidbey Island, WA.
Her other novels and short stories can be found at www.lisabattalia.com.
Instagram link: https://www.instagram.com/lisabattalia/
Now, here is an Exclusive Guest Post from author Lisa Battalia
A Letter to My 50 Year-Old Self,
Take a breath; you’re going to survive; it’s all going to be okay.
I know you can’t even imagine it but your teenage son, at 24, will call you every week, just to chat, and to tell you how much he appreciates you; and your daughter, just like him, will follow her own path. It won’t look anything like the carefully, curated, unyielding path of so many of the suburban kids around them. They will flounder, deeply despair of what they have lost when your divorce rocked their world and left them feeling utterly without control. With your help, though, with their strength your consistent love has nurtured through all the years leading to the brink, they will be fine.
Yes, you will be on your own again. But you have been on your own before. You are competent; more than that you are smart. Someone will hire you even though you’ve been out of the workforce for so many years; meanwhile Obamacare will pass and you will have health insurance. You will re-learn how to pay the bills and buy a car and apply for a mortgage. You will not — that grotesque, irrational, yet encapsulating fear — eat cat food in your old age. You will shepherd what you have — diminished, cut by half, the practical result of a marriage… a family… a life ended formally, properly, the papers and signature lines all lined up correctly, except the one question they left out: Did you want any of this to happen?
The surprise will come: Your resources will grow as you lean into abundance. The ironic abundance that arises because you are forced to recalibrate: After the earthquake, teetering on that ragged edge left in its wake, absorbing an emotional wreckage that feels so much more diminished than the tidy division by half the lawyers conjured. Can I be more? Truer to my subjugated dreams, values, and deepest desires? What are those anyway after so many years of “being” for others, giving to others?
The shock will follow. You will be happy again. Not right away, and not without loneliness and despair, but happier than you ever imagined. You will have reimagined a new life — literally transporting yourself to a new location, a place of peaceful beauty. A life of Independence, creativity, joyful in its re-connectedness to family, friends, and… love.
None of this is to say you can skip the hard work that lies ahead, but, my most precious advice, strap in and enjoy the ride.
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