Second Chance Grill by Christine Nolfi

 

An unforgettable tale of love, loss and second chances.

Second Chance Grill is the prequel to Treasure Me, 2012 Next Generation Indie Awards Finalist, which The Midwest Book Review calls “A riveting read for those who enjoy adventure fiction, highly recommended.”

Dr. Mary Chance needs a sabbatical from medicine to grieve the loss of her closest friend. But when she inherits a struggling restaurant in Liberty, Ohio she isn’t prepared for Blossom Perini. Mary can’t resist falling for the precocious preteen—or the girl’s father. The bond they forge will transform all their lives and set in motion an outpouring of love that spreads across America.

Welcome back to Liberty, where the women surrounding the town’s only restaurant are as charming as they are eccentric.

This really is what romance novels should be like. With its careful characterization and charming atmosphere, this is a book that will please most readers of pretty much any genre.

The characters are what really captured me, from the very beginning. They each have such a particular voice, which can sometimes be missing from novels like this, which involve a whole small town. They each have their bits of quirkiness, which makes them unforgettable and instantly endearing.

The writing is deceptively simple, with lots of nuances that make the reader want to reread some sentences just for the feel of the language. This is not the usual for this genre, where the plot takes over and the writing itself is delegated to second tier. Here, it is all about the prose, and the book is all the better for it. The descriptions are not what I would call “flowery”, but we still get a good picture of where we are and what the characters look like. It’s all about carefully wording.

I do recommend this book to pretty much everyone. Whether you like romance novels or not, this story will definitely capture your attention and keep it.