Friday, March 8, 2013

Second Rate Chances by Holly Stephens ~ Tour stop & Giveaway

Source:  Received an eBook copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.
 
Book Description:

Sam wakes up in the hospital expecting to find his girlfriend by his bedside. Instead, he finds a bleached-blond diva, claiming to be his fiancée, hovering over him. When he learns that he's just woken up from a coma and has lost the last three years of his life, any semblance of stability he thought he had falls down around him. All he wants – all he needs – is Lil.

After countless visits with her shrink and too many sleepless nights waiting for the one man she loves to walk back through the door, Lil wants nothing more than to separate herself from the life she used to have. But the moment Sam smiles at her, Lil knows it's going to take more than self-restraint to stay away.

Second-Rate Chances is about a young man fighting to regain his memory, and the one thing in his life that felt real. A modern-day Samson and Delilah, it's a look at what it means to love and be loved, and to fight though it seems hopeless.



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My Thoughts:

 

 4 stars - A fresh premise that had me loving this story!

I must start by saying that this book is written in third person.  If you read my review often, you know that I don't usually like books written in third person.  But this one also was from rotating points of view.  I liked that.  While, I wasn't in their head, I did see things from their point of view and that seemed to help me make the connections that are so often missing for me in third person.

I totally love the premise for this book.  It's more than an amnesia story.  The memories that Sam loses are the three years that have changed him into a man he never wanted to be.  It's kinda like being sent back to a point in your life to re-do a mistake but everyone can remember the mistake except you.  It actually had me doing some thinking about pivotal points in my life.  Felt very fresh because of that.

So the amnesia card was strong.  No one would tell Sam what had happened to break him and Lil apart.  I wasn't annoyed by this.  I totally understand why they felt it was Lil's place.  I also got why she was struggling to tell him.  I did guess what it was but the details needed to be filled in for me too.  The timing on him finding out was perfect.

I loved Lil and my heart went out to her. She had lost the man of her dreams and watched as he changed into someone marrying the bosses daughter.  It was painful for her.  I loved her strength and her emergency visits to her theorapist.  I totally wanted to hug her.

Sam.  Well, I loved that he was confused on how he had got to the place where he didn't have his best friends or his girl.  He's totally in love with Lil.  The thing that bugged me was that he didn't tell his fiancée to take a hike.  I guess I see  that he was waiting but remember but his feeling were pretty clear to me.  

The story flowed very nicely and I quickly found myself at the end.  There was this one thing that happened near the end that felt so out of character for Sam that I was confused.  Then his dramatics at the end kinda made me want to smack him.  I wanted to fix it for him.  It may have been just me, but I just couldn't see the Sam I had got to know doing it.  But the final outcome was perfect. 

Overall, this is a great Adult romance with a fresh premise that makes it a great choice! 




About the author:


People have often told me that I live in a fantasy world. Little did they know, I was building an empire of stories in my head to one day share.

I'm a mother first, a wife second, and a writer third. I'm so thankful to have been given this chance to get my stories out of my head and onto paper.

When I'm not writing, I sell plumbing (no I'm not kidding) and read romances that leave my heart a flutter. I know a ridiculous amount of pop culture information and can quote certain movies word for word. Music drives me to write and to also sing off key.


Blog / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads


****GIVEAWAY****

Check out the tour giveaway below to win an eBook copy, a signed copy.  Check it out.

 a Rafflecopter giveaway



 

7 comments:

  1. I'm sad I missed this tour. I want to read this one.

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  2. After reading your review and Andrea's review I totally want to read this book. I'm not a huge fan of third person writing, but sometimes it works for me. I think I would really like this book. I really enjoy amnesia stories and rekindling romance. Great review!!

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  3. Great review Val! This is one I'm really looking forward to reading soon! :-)

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  4. Sounds like an awesome book. Probably going to read this.

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  5. Oh, I love me a good amnesia story, esp when it flows nicely. I've been on the fence about checking this one out, but I just might now! Great review!

    Vivian
    Confessions of a Vi3tBabe
    Deity Island

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  6. I really enjoyed this one too! My heart ached for Sam and Lil. It was so well done. Glad you liked SRC, too, Pal!

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  7. I'm looking forward to reading the book, thanks for the draw

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