Second Chance by Jane Green

I love girly novels. I love happy endings. I love England and I especially love when I read British novels and get to read some of the common language they use. It just cracks me up. At night time, when I would read it, I'd have a cup of tea and think of myself as so "British".... I'm a loser.

I really enjoyed Second Chance. It's a great book about self discovery. There are quite a few characters and I'll go into detail each one.

First, I'll introduce you to Tom. You never fully "meet" Tom because of a disaster at the beginning. But he brings all of our characters back together because of this disaster. He is friends with all of the characters I'll introduce you to. He is best friends with Holly....

Who is our main character. Holly is a mother of two children, in a marriage that is devoid of love, passion, and communication. She is married to Marcus, who is described MULTIPLE times as a "pompous arse"-which he is. She is unhappy, can't sleep, and does not know how to correct the loveless marriage she's in. She tries to get back in touch with Tom, but finds out about the disaster...Basically for the rest of the book, she really starts questioning her marriage and realizes how unhappy and unfullfilled she is.

Another character is Paul. Paul is married to Anna, who own's a website called "Fashionista". He is a down to earth man, as well as his wife, much to everyone's amazement. Paul and Anna are trying to have children, but are unsuccessful, even with dozens of IVF treatments.

Then there is Olivia. She is a pet rescue shop owner. She was in a relationship for 7 years with a man, unwilling to commit. He eventually moves to America-and, naturally, calls her up one day to tell her he's getting married. Fantastic. She doesn't fix herself up much, until her friend Tom hooks her up with a business acquantience named Fred. After emailing back and forth for months, they meet and eventually Olivia finds out she's pregnant.

Saffron. She's an actress, trying to make it big. She's come close to being the next big thing, but at approaching 40, her light is starting to fade. She's in AA and has been sober for quite some time. She is having an affair with a big time movie star, who's in a marriage only because of business. Once their affair is outed, she starts drinking again.

All four (or 5 if you count Tom) are childhood friends who have lost contact, except for with Tom. They all stay connected through him. After the disaster, the four of them get together before the memorial service and realize that time has taken no toll on their friendship. The foursome comes together again when their friend in need, Saffron, needs rescuing.

This is a great book. I highly recommend it. I feel like it defintely makes you think about decisions you've made or friendships you've lost contact with.

My only problem with the book was how often it changed narrative view points. It got a little dizzying (if that's even a word). Sometimes I'd have to go back a few sentences and go "Oh, wait, Holly's not narrating anymore-it's Maggie" or "Shoot, is this Olivia's viewpoint or Anna's?"

Past all that, it makes me hope I have friendships like that when I get a little older. People who still know the real me and don't judge me for it. It's a great book.