Welcome to the Reviewer Tour for Second Chance at Happiness by Greta Picklesimer, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!
ABOUT THE BOOK
.jpg)
After Catherine Reed’s husband dies in a tragic logging accident, Catherine and her four-year-old daughter, Clair, move home with Catherine’s mother and brother in order to accept a new position as the teacher for the town’s one-room schoolhouse. But Catherine carries a dark secret that she hasn’t even shared with her mother. Will she ever find forgiveness?
Samuel Harris has suffered his own loss, losing his wife and unborn child over a year prior. Although he is the town’s preacher, he struggles to trust God, blaming God for allowing him to be absent when his wife died. The guilt has burdened him ever since. But when his old flame Catherine Reed comes back to town, he wonders if they can find healing together.
Catherine believes that anyone who wants to learn should be allowed to learn, but she is quick to find a town divided on that issue. As she and Samuel set out to change people’s minds in a post-Civil War era, they find themselves drawn to each other over and over again. As they join together for the same cause, could they also find a second chance at happiness?
MY REVIEW
“You know, people make mistakes. Don’t mean that they are bad people. And the sooner someone sees and knows about it, the sooner someone can start forgiving someone else about it.”
Who isn’t a sucker for a good second chance story? Though this premise has been done many times before it still continues to hit that soft spot in my heart, especially when the story is set during one of my favorite time periods. The time after the Civil War has always been a time that has fascinated me, as the end of the war brought with it its own problems; issues that I was thankful to see in Second Chance at Happiness.
The overall story was a little wordy for my taste. I honestly feel like the story could’ve been told in fewer words, and some of the more mundane daily tasks could’ve been omitted. I found myself skimming quite a bit, and realized it was mostly the day to day tasks that I was skipping so that I could get to the meatier parts of the story.
As with any normal day-to-day account it started to feel like I was stuck in a groundhog day situation, with each day being rehashed over and over again, which lead to boredom. This is already a very tame story, and when it starts to feel like it’s being repeated it really lags, and brought the story down severely.
As far as Samuel and Catherine, overall I adored their love story. I started off feeling excited about their connection, but I felt like their relationship fell flat as it progressed. With Samuel being a preacher I wasn’t expecting fireworks by any means, but with their strong past, and undeniable bond, I was just expecting more.
In saying that, these characters have hearts of gold. Catherine is one of those people that you can tell is born to educate (bless those that are!) and seeing her interaction with the students were some of my favorite parts, especially her fight for equality within the classroom, something that sadly was a struggle during that time.
All in all I enjoyed Second Chance at Happiness. I enjoyed the slower pace, the sterling characters, and the picturesque backdrop. I just wish it would’ve been a tad shorter, had less mundane details, and given a little more smolder when it came to the romance.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Greta Picklesimer is Michigan born and raised by Kentucky-transplanted parents. She accepted Jesus as her Savior at the age of five—a happy day in her memory. Besides writing, Greta spends time working on her art journal, painting with watercolors and oil pastels. She is owned by one rescue cat by the name of Pearlie Blue who was named after her father's favorite Bluegrass song. By day Greta works as an office assistant. By night, she writes.
*I have voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book which I received from the author/publisher through JustRead Tours.
All views and opinions expressed are completely honest, and my own.
No comments
Thank you for visiting! :)