Review: Second Chance Girl

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Mathias Mitchell's easy smile hides a world of hurt. After the worst kind of family betrayal, he moves to Happily Inc., California—the wedding destination town supplies a steady stream of bridesmaids, perfect for his “no promises, no pain” lifestyle. Yet he can't stop watching for his beautiful, elusive neighbor on the animal preserve behind their homes.
Gamekeeper Carol Lund knows she's not special enough to attract an alpha male like Mathias, so his offer to help her adopt a herd for her lonely giraffe is surprising—and his determined seduction, even more so. But just as she finally welcomes him into her bed, his careless actions crush her heart. Will she give him a second chance to prove she'll always come first in his heart?

Genre: contemporary romance

Publication date: October 2017

Mature content: yes

Review: Second Chance Girl is book two in the Happily Inc series by Susan Mallery (which, in turn, follows the Fools' Gold series). I found Second Chance Girl slightly better than book one (You Say it First) but I still don't think it's Susan Mallery's best. 

What I liked: 

• Mathias, he's one of my favorite characters of the two series
• the fact that the book actually contains two intertwined love stories (Carol & Mathias, and then Violet & Ulrich)
• the plot, that although not entirely original, is really good and able to keep you interested until the end

What I didn't like so much (hence the 4 stars rating):

• there are several repeated ideas along the text. Sometimes even dialogs are repeated almost word for word. I have no idea if this was intentional or just an editing issue, but it bothered me
• Ulrich's English "accent" is not consistent. Sometimes he does sound English but two minutes later he's using American words
• Carol's "I'm not worthy" speech. Again, this is a personal rant of mine, but I don't think creating characters that insist on considering themselves unworthy sets a really good example.

Despite all this, Second Chance Girl is still a great book and I recommend it.

Just note that it's part of a series and while I think it can be read as a stand alone, there are many characters that come not only from book one but also from the Fools' Gold series and you may find yourself a bit lost without some previous knowledge of the other books.

Happy Thursday,