ARC Review: Second Chance Husband (First Time #3)

Second Chance Husband (First Time #3)

Carrie Ann Ryan

Blurb:

The First Time series concludes with an enemies to lovers romance that has been a long time coming. August and Paisley finally figure out what they’ve been missing.

The first time I got married, I watched the man I love walk away from me.

The second time around, I’m the one signing the dotted line first—this one a man who I realized I never loved.

Once burned, twice broken, I’m done looking for love.

Only my first ex-husband seems to be everywhere I turn—at my work, with my friends, and eventually…in my bed.

I didn’t mean for it to happen.

Twice.

But I know if I don’t protect my heart, there will be nothing left of me if he walks away again without telling me why he did so in the first place.

I don’t know if I can trust this new version of ourselves or if it’s merely the heat between us striking hot.

After all, second chances only exist in my dreams.

And there’s no such thing as a second chance husband.

Themes:  Contemporary

Rating: 4.5 stars

Heat Rating: 

Review:

I am always sad to see a series end, but when an ending is one that we have been dying for, because the couple has so long deserved their happiness, you look forward to it in a way enough that its worth the ending.  Carrie Ann Ryan has such a way with her characters that it always amazes me just how invested I get in the lives of the chacacters, almost as if they are truly my friends and when they finally all get their HEAs and find their way to a future that we all want and deserve I can’t help but shed a tear.  Paisley and August have been destined to end up (back) together for almost a decade and to finally get a chance for them to have that I beyond thrilled to experience and get to share. For those that have been following the series, Paisley and August have been circling one another and hiding their true feeling ever since they were reintroduced when August’s brother and Paisley’s best friend fell in love in book one, but the more their lives were entwined and they found themselves together, the harder it has become to deny their feelings for one another, and now with their lives changing again they are faced with the decision of either admitting their feelings for one another or giving up once and for all and walking away from everything they could have.  I am sad to see the ending for them, but I hope to get glimpses of their future in coming series where their extended friend group might be mixing with other family members so we get to experience their happy times with them. 

Timing truly is everything in this story; Paisley is walking away from her marriage this time, knowing that it is toxic for her and that despite the fact that it makes her feel like a failure it will be better for her in the end.  When she finds herself single again and entangled with the Cassidy clan even more, it becomes even harder to resist the sexy, and also once again single, August, her first ex-husband and the only man she has ever loved.  August knows that it is stupid to give into the feelings that he has for Paisley, but he also cannot walk away from the look in her eyes, or the way she makes him feel when they finally give into their needs.  But when he is faced with a chance at a future he has to decide if he has enough courage to actually embrace a future with the woman he loves or if they are both better off alone.  However, this time Paisley isn’t going to let him off without a fight, because she isn’t a young girl with fear of abandonment and will push for the man she loves and the future she wants. Because she knows that second chances don’t come around every day and they are worth every moment of blood, sweat and tears.

I positively loved every moment of getting to know Paisley and August’s full story, even some of the back story of their first round of love and marriage even though it was heartbreaking. Paisley is the type of woman that most of us wish we had grown up to be, but we got to see the darkness of her past that led to the drive that pushed her so hard and I can personally tell you that pain is not worth how hard she had to fight for her success.  While it is possible that she would have just as hard a worker without her b**ch of a mother riding her back and essentially being an abuser, having to listen to Paisley relive how she was treated made me almost happy for my own mother’s narcissistic indifference.  She finally finds her bravery to push away all the toxicity in her life and take back her strength and in doing so finds that she is all the stronger and bolder for it.  I loved how sweet she was with her nieces and that she is determined to support everyone else despite so often not having the support she needs in life.  She is smart, savvy, witty, sexy and I loved watching her kick ass when she took her stand.  August was the kind of protector that some of us never know that we need, but for sure I wanted to slap him for his ridiculous insecurities and unwillingness to see the full picture of the woman in front of him.  He made an unwise decision, a few times, that almost cost him the woman he loved more than life, but when he finally comes to understand his mistakes, I forgive him his stupidity.  I loved that he was so sweet and such a loving member of his family, determined to stand as the protector, even for his siblings against his parents.  His intelligence and the way he connects with his students would definitely have made him my favorite teacher had I been one of those kids (not to mention I bet all the girls crush on him).

Second Chance Husband is undeniably the story of two people that found one another too young and made a mistake of walking away from a love that was fated, but they thankfully get a second chance, one they earn this time.  I enjoyed every moment of the push and pull between Paisley and August as they found their footing in their new romance and watching them battle it out to force one another to accept their new roles in love and life.  Paisley Cassidy Renee is by no means a weak woman and when she finally remembers that she forces those around her to accept it as well and finds a way to get her man back—the one she should never have allowed to walk away from her. August Cassidy was an idiot to have ever pushed the love of his life away—twice—but his fears and mistakes are what make him human, and when she makes him own up to the stupidity he is reminded just why he has always loved her. Together these two could have started a wildfire to threaten the very dense forest of the Colorado mountains, but that passion is obviously what made both of their marriages fated. I am so glad that they finally found a way to admit that they were destined for one another and got their second chance at an HEA, one that I can see them working hard to always protect and nurture, one that will grow and change with them and their family long into the future.  Carrie Ann Ryan for sure brought this series to an end with a tearful, loving, and love overdue conclusion that will never be forgotten.  

*eARC provided by author for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.