Rules for Second Chances - by Maggie North (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Brimming with heart and heat, Rules for Second Chances explores the hardest relationship question of all: can true love happen twice...with the same person?

Liz Lewis has tried everything to be what people want. But she's always been labeled different from everyone else in the boisterous world of wilderness expeditions--that is, if anyone notices her at all. Her marriage to popular adventure guide Tobin Renner-Lewis is a sinkhole of toxic positivity where she's the only one saying no. In a mountain resort town built around excitement, introverted Liz gets...spreadsheets.

When she gets mistaken for a server at her own thirtieth birthday party and her last line of communication with Tobin finally snaps, Liz vows to stop playing a minor character in her own life. The (incredibly well-researched and scientific) plan? A crash course in confidence...via improv comedy class.

The catch? She's terrible at it, and the only person willing to practice with her is a certain extroverted wilderness guide who seems dead set on saving their marriage one bonkers improv scenario at a time. But as Liz and Tobin get closer (...again), she's forced to confront all the reasons they didn't work the first time, along with her growing suspicion that there might be more to her social awkwardness than anyone realized. Liz has just eight weeks to learn improv's most important lesson--"yes, and"--or she'll have to choose between the love she always wanted and the dreams that got away.

Review Quotes

"Both a universal story of love and a unique story of social struggle, North's debut is a laser-sharp and warmly comforting read that is not to be missed." --Library Journal

"Every time I think about this story I fall in love all over again. I adore everything about Liz and I was rooting for both her and Tobin the entire time. I laughed, I cried (several times), I swooned and fell in love as they worked their way back to each other. These beautifully unique characters jump off the page and into your heart. The story is real, raw, fresh and original. It brims with hope, and fills my romance loving soul." - Helena Hunting, New York Times bestselling author

"If I loved this book less, I might be able to talk about it more. Maggie North's Rules for Second Chances is a beautiful marriage-in-trouble romance about seeing yourself reflected in someone's starry eyes but needing to find yourself first. yes, and . . . It's also a novel about the power of improv to learn how to live in the moment and reconcile your past with your future. yes, and . . . North's poignant sentences live in my body as a physical ache. When it comes to anything North writes, I will always be saying yes, yes, yes." - Alicia Thompson, bestselling author of Love in the Time of Serial Killers

"Rules for Second Chances is a brilliant and unexpected debut. I was taken in by the writing, then the humor, and soon I was fully engrossed in this exploration of the subtle ways we hurt the people we love. I adored this book, and I know that I'll read it again." - Annabel Monaghan, author of Nora Goes Off Script

"Rules for Second Chances is a breathtaking, deeply romantic story about the second chances we give to love, each other, and most importantly, ourselves. Maggie North has the singular ability to hit you with truths that are at once hilarious and aching, stark and soft, painful and necessary, and she writes Liz and Tobin's journey with an obliterating tenderness I felt in every corner of my heart. This book and its author land effortlessly among my all-time favorites." - Jessica Joyce, USA Today bestselling author of You, with a View

"Rules for Second Chances is a wildly original take on the marriage in trouble trope full of beautiful prose and visceral vulnerability. Maggie North is a capital "T" talent." - Rosie Danan, author of The Roommate

"Achingly tender, beautifully written, Rules for Second Chances is an unflinching marriage in crisis romance that hinges brilliantly on both humor and heart. An ode to neurodivergence, self-discovery, the work and wonder of vulnerable, intimate long term partnership, and the magic of making an authentic life with those we love." - Chloe Liese, author of Two Wrongs Make a Right

"Delightful and sensual, Maggie North's Rules for Second Chances is a witty, one-of-a-kind romance, lush with tenderness and tension to make this a compulsive read. Maggie is one to watch!" - Ruby Barrett, author of The Romance Recipe

"A witty, sparkling delight. Essential reading for fans of second chance romance. Maggie North puts words together in the best way possible. Rules for Second Chances is slow-burn perfection!" - Stephanie Archer, bestselling author of Behind the Net

About the Author

MAGGIE NORTH lives in Ottawa, Canada with the man she met in ninth grade, their kid, and a rotating cast of hypoallergenic aquarium friends. Her hobbies include long-distance open water swimming, saving the world, and being relentlessly Canadian. She enjoys being autistic a lot more since she received her diagnosis as an adult. Rules for Second Chances is her first novel.