Second chance romance is among my favorite tropes/subgenres, and this time of the year calls for Christmas romcoms, so I was pretty excited for this book. Two exes stuck together in an adorable holiday home with potentially matchmaking friends, what’s not to love? The execution of the core trope, apparently, that’s what! You’re probably far more likely to enjoy it if you’re into second chance stories where the leads pretty much pick up where they left off, but after some drama. In that case, I actually recommend this book a lot! If, however, you’re like me and what you’re looking in second chance romance is more that “it was the right person in the wrong time” feel—seeing the characters meet again in different states of mind, having them internalized and processed past experiences to an extent, still the same people at their core but not likely to make the very same mistakes—then… Honestly, maybe sit this one out.

While I didn’t really like the main characters and can’t ever be convinced they can build a lasting relationship again, I want to say I did enjoy the writing. It flowed pretty smoothly, the Hallmark movie-style winter holiday vibes were thick and palpable, and all the romcom beats were hit just right, with some light twist now and then. Also, while the leads weren’t my kind of people, I really admire the character work here. Both Charlotte’s and Brighton’s flaws are internally consistent, solid, and understandable. They’re very fleshed-out characters who come alive on the page. I dislike them as fictional people, but I also feel the author did a great job with them both.

Speaking of that dislike… let’s start with Brighton, the runaway bride. She grated on my nerves so much with her… I guess the word here is immaturity? She’s the kind of person who may dramatically blame herself for her wrongdoings sitting around on her own, but when it comes to actually assuming responsibility, she doesn’t know how. She is mad that Charlotte doesn’t want to speak with her when they both end up in the same house for the holidays (because their friends who invite them over happen to be, unbeknownst to Brighton and Charlotte, sisters). That’s when she literally left Charlotte at the altar and when she knows that Charlotte has childhood trauma around abandonment, so it’s to be expected that event caused an extra amount of damage. Like… maybe give that girl a moment before getting upset with her?

There were also those slightly toxic moments when she kept calling Charlotte by her old nickname despite Charlotte asserting several times she’d prefer her full name now, or when she

tried to initiate a “let’s give this one more chance” talk when Charlotte was really drunk and clearly not thinking straight.

And while I definitely don’t think it’s wrong of her to rely on other people a lot—community and friendship are awesome!—the specific *way* she leaned on others, combined with the rest of it, left me feeling iffy. It’s kind of like she expected people to just read her and give her what she needs or even force her toward it—and then if that somehow happened, everything was awesome, but in the more likely event that the other person wasn’t telepathic, it was their fault.

But then there was also Charlotte, who admittedly took longer to piss me off (mostly because “emotionally constipated human-shaped icicles who are only like that because life hurt them so much” are kinda my type in fiction), but then managed to do so with gusto. See, she just. Never stopped running away. Her first instinct upon seeing Brighton was to pretend she doesn’t know her. She kept backing out of all important conversations, shutting out her friends, avoiding topics that hurt her, trying to ignore those topics out of existence, etc, etc. And apparently,

she used to display a milder version of all those same qualities back during her relationship with Brighton. So while I do think Brighton needed to be explicit and straightforward about her problems rather than hinting and being vague, Charlotte absolutely did her part in keeping things vague. In a way, she ran away first—from Brighton’s worries and from all the ways they were not quite compatible at that stage of life

.

Come to think of it, if there was no second chance element (or if it was a red herring and the real romance happened, say, between Charlotte and Wes, or between Brighton and some other character), I would have enjoyed exploring either character’s neuroses. But with the plot being as it is, I just kept looking at the two of them displaying all the same qualities that broke them apart in the first place, made *worse* by the years… and, like, nah. Please keep these two away from each other. Okay, maybe let them spend some time together and get closure, then put at least three major cities between them and may they never meet again.

I did really like how the author developed these characters by constantly contrasting them with each other. For example, early on she shows them in the very same situation: driving up to the house where they’ll be staying. They display completely opposite reactions to the coziness and the decorations—and both react that way because it reminds them of literally the same place. Or when they finally confess to someone about their history:

Charlotte chooses to take the opportunity to confess to Wes, no one pushes her to do it, whereas Brighton gets literally cornered by Adele. On one hand, it shows which one is more mature and proactive. On the other hand, it also shows how Charlotte builds up walls and would rather talk to a stranger than a friend/someone she shares part of her life with. While Brighton has built the kind of life where someone who cares about her can be there for her to push her to talk.

I also liked the side characters; they didn’t get many particularly deep moments, but they were all easy to distinguish and fun. Adele was my favorite with her awesome big sister vibes (also, yay for aro rep!), and I also really liked Wes—he was so kind and genuine. Nina was both awesome and intimidating, as far as mothers go; I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving side of her well-meaning meddling, but I appreciate how accepting and compassionate she was in many ways. I felt for Sloane’s attempts to get through to Charlotte. Manish often made me laugh.

Overall, the book *is* rather well-written, it just that it failed to sell me on the idea that the two MCs can in any way, shape, or form build a life together. Both because of their personalities and circumstances, but also, I think, because the weakest part of the book is the ending.

Allegedly, the MCs go through some growth and achieve some revelations that should make them more compatible, but all of it is basically summarized. Just like, incidentally, the resolutions of several side plots were super condensed, too, leaving me hungry for more pay-off.

I think that approach would have left me disappointed even if I was invested in the romance!