THE SECOND CHANCE

Author: Jaclyn Reding ISBN: 0451217861 2/2006 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: NAL/SIGNET

Flora MacCallum, a young widow with three children, thinks happiness is behind her—until a friend asks her to run a bed-and-breakfast on the Massachusetts shore. Suddenly, the summer is full of possibilities: a new business, new friends, a new home, and even new love. Gavin Matheson retreated to the small town of Ipswich-by-the-Sea to grieve his lost marriage and son. Though he was once a successful composer, the music has gone silent for him... until he hears Flora's magical voice floating on the breeze one morning. Together Gavin and Flora discover that all is never lost—and that hope can be found in the most unlikely places.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Trying to describe how wonderful a book THE SECOND CHANCE is, is comparable to describing a melody that you love without the help of a keyboard. You have to read this one to feel it. The Scottish Highlands and Ipswich by the Sea are depicted so skillfully that the reader is transported there and never wants to leave. I loved shopping in antique stores and living at the sea captain's house with the heroine, and decorating the rooms to welcome guests to Thar Muir.

And then there is the love story! I've never read two more likable characters than Flora MacCallum and Gavin Matheson. The first scene the two have together is delightful and you can't help but fall in love with both of them. Flora seems almost from a different time, from some ancient village untouched by modern times. Gavin, however, is a contemporary and is captivated immediately. Their story gently pulls you along, but hooks you so completely that you can't put the book down.

So, here's a Top Pick, ladies. I can't imagine anyone not loving THE SECOND CHANCE.

Cynthia Whitten