★★★★★ 4
Second Chance Romance
Format: Kindle
Minor spoilers in this one, but I feel like they aren’t really spoilers.. it’s a second chance romance soo, but wanted to give the opportunity for some to not read the review if minor spoilers are an issue!
Thank you to Erica Goodwin for the ARC! This is my first physical ARC and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to read Take Two before its release!
I love reading about women in entertainment, so I was really excited to read this. I will say that it is usually a hit or miss for me when reading a second chance romance. Most of the time, I feel like the couple broke up for a reason. I was very interested in what happened between Gemma and Caitlin when they broke up.
This leads me to Caitlin.I liked her in the beginning. But I’m not going to lie, the more I learned about her and how she treated Gemma (yes, they were in high school, but still), it made it really hard for me to like her. I understand being terrified of discovering feelings for a girl, especially at the age of 15/16ish. So while I hate what happened, it makes sense. But it’s a different story when you are in college and doing the same thing that you ALREADY DID TO YOUR GIRLFRIEND!!
I adored Gemma, so I believe that made my dislike of Caitlin more. I don’t think she is a bad person, but I just wish she would be more mindful of how her actions affect others. This is lack of mindfulness is shown with the Michelle situation as well.
Gemma is an angel. I loved that she was unapologetically an out lesbian in high school. It was refreshing to see that she didn’t care about what others thought and didn’t shy away from showing affection to her girlfriend.
I loved the friendships in this book as well. Maddie did make Caitlin a little more bearable by calling her out on her crap. That’s a real friend right there. Someone who doesn’t just placate their friends is friend everyone needs.
Hayley and Gemma’s friendship was adorable as well. I definitely resonated with Hayley and her protectiveness of Gemma. It’s hard to see your friend so heartbroken and I understand her wanting to make sure her best friend isn’t hurt like that again. I would love to read a romance that featured Hayley or Maddie. The besties deserve their own romance novel.
I did start to like Caitlin towards the end, but I did wish that we saw more of them together as adults, especially before what happened in the last couple of chapters. I felt like it was too soon to take that step without actually seeing if Caitlin’s actions would match her words this time. I need to see her evolve more.
As I stated earlier, the writing is amazing, that’s not in question. I just had a hard time liking Caitlin. I’d give the book 3.75- 4 stars, I can’t decide, so I will round it up to 4 stars.
Take Two is a real, raw and messy second chance romance. I can’t wait to read more in the NYC series (I think I know who the next couple will be) and also read the author’s other standalone book!
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Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2026
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