Book Review | THE SECOND CHANCE INN | Susan Hatler

Book Description

An emotional homecoming that will tug at your heartstrings & inspire you to believe in happy endings.

Wendy vowed never to return to the small coastal town where her parents abandoned her. But when she inherits the family inn at the beach, she must come home and face her past. Will handsome millionaire Max help her heal old wounds and open her heart?

From a New York Times bestselling author, don’t miss the chance to unite with friendships that endure and a love that will last forever in THE SECOND CHANCE INN.

Author’s Profile

SUSAN HATLER is a New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author, who writes humorous and emotional contemporary romance and young adult novels. Many of Susan’s books have been translated into German, Spanish, French, and Italian. A natural optimist, she believes life is amazing, people are fascinating, and imagination is endless. She loves spending time with her characters and hopes you do, too.

Plot Summary & Review

Second Chance Inn is a sweet romance with less focus on romance and more on Wendy’s relationship with her family.

Wendy’s grandma has passed away leaving her inn to Wendy and her brother Brian. Wendy doesn’t want to leave her high-profile real-estate career in Sacramanto to come back to this small town.

Wendy has problems.

Her brother Brian is mad at her that she left the town for her ambitions and never looked back.

Her friend Olivia is mad at her that she left the town for her ambitions and never stayed in touch.

Wendy is mad at her parents that they were wandered and left her and Brian to her grandma.

This whole who’s mad at who thing is a bit too repetitive. The story also relied on conveniences, a lot. For example, Max, the handsome dude she runs into at the beach, is also her childhood crush, and is also filthy rich so that solves all of Wendy’s monetary problems.

I don’t know whether it was my foul mood or something else, but the writing felt a bit amateruish to me. Brian is mad at Wendy and then suddenly he is all sweet; and that happens repeatedly. The family who puts the bid to buy the inn is unnecessarily evil. Wendy’s conversation with them is supposed to make us feel proud of her, that she is dealing herself so well, but I failed to sympathize with her.

Wendy also comes off as a stubborn woman who doesn’t change her opinion of people. She refuses to let go of the fact that her parents left her. Brian does the same to her, but for that, she expects that Brian should forgive her. Dual standards?

Apart from a few personal preferences, this is a very sweet romance, one that takes time to build the chemistry. Very nice!

The author has set up other characters Olivia and Megan for the series. I am learning how people start a series 🙂

Shabana Mukhtar