Review: Second Shot by Con Riley

Title: Second Shot

Series: Second Chance School: Book Two

Author: Con Riley

Length: 302 Pages

Category: Contemporary Romance

Rating: 5 Stars

At a Glance: Discovering little gems of warmth and gentleness is a hallmark of the many things I love about Con Riley’s writing. This fictional world, in particular, is rife with them.

Reviewed By: Lisa

Blurb: Passion always leads to heartbreak for Hayden Novac.

Nice guys always get picked last. That’s what my coach at a soccer academy once promised. Ten years and a career change from a footballer to a farm worker and woodland manager later, it turns out that his picked-last rule also applies to my love life.

I can’t imagine what being someone’s first choice feels like until an artist shows me at the school where I now work.

I could have a second shot at happiness with Rae, but given my track record of scoring own goals, can I risk bruising my heart again to take it?

Review: Quiet, simple moments are peppered throughout every single book Con Riley writes, but they seem more plentiful at, and in the vicinity of, Glynn Harber school. This refuge for the bruised—but not broken—the weary—but not defeated—becomes its own sort of fictional sanctuary for readers, where we shut down the world for a while and bask in the friendship and love and nurturing that happens with sincere intent rather than by mere happenstance.

Finding each other’s hands in the dark and threading fingers becomes the unspoken answer for so many things Hayden and Rae find difficult to express aloud. That simple action speaks volumes, though, as two men who swear they’re not into this connection for a long time, become more emotionally connected. They watch and learn about each other through their actions, through the thoughtfulness and compassion they show to others, without thought of ever benefitting from, let alone being noticed for, those kindnesses, whether big or small. Unbeknownst to them, these are the precise things that make them perfect for Glynn Harber and its students.

Both Hayden and Rae harbor things from their past that influence what they do, and how and why they do it. This is what makes where they find each other, on neutral ground, giving each other safe passage to navigate separately and, ultimately, together, so fortunate. That doesn’t mean it’s a straightforward trek to happily ever after, though. As always, there comes a moment of reckoning for Riley’s characters, where they confront the past and resolve to prioritize themselves and their own peace and happiness just a little. That happy ending is always won and earned rather than simply given.

Discovering little gems of warmth and gentleness is a hallmark of the many things I love about Con Riley’s writing. This fictional world, in particular, is rife with them.