A STANDALONE, SECOND CHANCE ROMANCE“An amazingly written, heart-wrenching story of a man lost and the woman who helps him find himself—a second-chance romance unlike any other.” – Anna Zaires, New York Times bestselling authorIf a man tells you he’s no good for you, best heed the warning. I learned the hard way. I had Jake Basson’s baby. He left to chase his dream. Now he’s back, demanding a … back, demanding a second chance, but why should I give him anything after four years of nothing? No correspondence, no news. I finally have my life back on track. Jake has never been uncomplicated. He never follows the rules. I should’ve known he’d play dirty. He caught me once. I’m not going to let him catch me twice.
(Disclosure: This story contains cheating. HEA guaranteed.)
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This book was extremely hard for me to read. The storyline was wonderful, but due to where it was based I was so lost on cultural differences that I was not able really enjoy it. I love second chance romances, but this one made me want to stop reading. The characters chemistry was written so well, their push/pull spot on. It just wasn’t for me at all. I am not sure I will ever try this author again, but that has to do with not understanding many aspects within the book & not on the writing itself.
I absolutely loved Part I of this book – I definitely felt the chemistry between Jake and Kristi and the frustrating impossibilities of their situation as well as the dichotomy of his crap parents and her lovely mom (we all wish we had moms like Gina!). I struggled much more with Part II, which is the longer part of the book, and it is difficult to articulate why without having spoilers so if you want to avoid those stop reading now.
The author has a disclaimer about the book containing cheating but I actually wouldn’t call it that – to my mind they had a marriage of convenience rather than a committed relationship, and what occurs wasn’t cheating to me (even though I definitely understood why it was so upsetting). In any case, it didn’t bother me and wasn’t why I struggled with the book overall. While I love second chance romances, I have had an increasing dislike for ones where during the couple’s time apart the hero leads a promiscuous lifestyle while the heroine lives the nun life. I much prefer to read about a female owning her sexuality and living her life, even if it doesn’t have the intense connection or emotion of what she has with the hero. I also want the hero to be extremely jealous of her romantic life without him – and while Jake was jealous/possessive, he had no reason to be, as there was no competition for him. I understand this just wasn’t Kristi’s character, and she had promised to wait for him, it just isn’t to my personal taste. I would have liked to have seen more of Jake connecting to Noah on page too, I think that would have been fun. I definitely enjoyed some of the real-talk conversations they had, as well as the beautiful settings, but it seemed both too long and not long enough at the same time (which I realize doesn’t make sense really). Perhaps I needed more dialogue and scenes of them doing things over internal monologues telling us what they had done or how they felt? I’m not really sure, to be honest, I think this one just wasn’t for me as a whole, though I did like parts of it very, very much and am definitely looking forward to more stories from this author.
3-4 Stars – I honestly have gone back and forth so many times on what to rate this book. If I give it 3 stars then I feel like I’m taking away from the author because of my personal opinions. The book was well written, the story flowed and was engaging, there was a lot of conflict and drama that was realistic and didn’t seem over-exaggerated nor forced – So I’m going to keep it at 4 stars even though I had some issues with it. More on that below.
“It’s not kidnapping if she’s your wife.” Jake
I really enjoyed the plot of this standalone novel – I mean who doesn’t like second chance romances? I feel like I could have LOVED it, but I’m going to settle with that I enjoyed it.
Part 1 of Jake and Kristi’s story had me on the edge of my seat, I was totally engrossed in their story and had a hard time putting it down to do some adulting kind of stuff.
Jake comes from a wealthy family that is seriously the worst – his parent’s are so self-absorbed and would never be bothered to help their only child out. My heart hurt for Jake for having to be “raised” by them. For being such a popular kid, he just came across as so lonely and I just wanted to squeeze him.
Kristi is also an only child, but she was raised by her single un-wed mother – which is a big deal where this story takes place. Her mother was the best though, so loving and understanding – which is exactly what Jake and Kristi needed.
After one night when their mutual attraction meets its boiling point, Kristi and Jake are faced with a positive pregnancy test. Let me just say that it’s stories like this that make me really appreciate where I live and how “privileged” we are with our medical system (Canada). Some of the scenarios that these characters faced are not even something I would even have to think about if I was in their situation. I think it made me like this book just a little more with how eye-opening it was.
Part 2 of the story had me conflicted. I think a big part of it was how the author chose to start that section of the book, like the opening scene of the 4-years later was bit much for me. I just spent the first part of the book falling in love with a character for that to be squashed in a few paragraphs and make me think he was a waste of space. My feelings just got worse when we finally caught up to Kristi in part 2 and saw how her life has played out in the 4 years of separation – it made me want to strangle the hero, to be honest, and I didn’t feel like he would redeemed enough by the end of the story. My issues with the story weren’t because of what the author had put the warning on – cheating. My issues have a lot to do with how the cheating was done, how the characters handled it as a conflict and how it was resolved. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough of a grovel from the hero or enough backbone from the heroine for me to be satisfied with the ending.
I really like this author writing style though and will anxiously await her next release.
I debated picking this one up. It has cheating in it, which is usually a deal breaker for me. With how everything played out, however, it didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would. Once I picked it up, I didn’t want to stop reading. I also loved the hell out of the main character, Kristi. Catch Me Twice was an angsty, slow-burn second-chance romance with a little bit of a rough edge that–for the most part–really worked for me.
The biggest reason I liked this book was that admired the hell out of the female characters. Kristi knows herself and what she wants from the get-go. She’s not afraid to reach for it or be honest about how she feels–with others or herself–and to communicate that effectively.
Then there’s Kristi’s mother who is #goals. She accepts her daughter wholeheartedly, lets her daughter make her own decisions, and is always waiting to support and uplift her. Especially where the pregnancy portion comes in.
Yes, please! We need more mothers like this.
It made me fall hardcore in love with this book. I enjoyed Jake quite a bit too. He’s intense (like all of Charmaine Pauls’ other leading men which have made me a super fan of this author). But he’s got a sweet, compassionate side too, and that just melted me throughout the first half. Even though I don’t agree with his decisions, I could understand with his backstory what made him act like he does. Doesn’t make it right, but I understood.
What I didn’t enjoy was the ending. I knew OW drama was coming, and it felt unnecessary. And the woman trying to trap a man into marriage with a baby plot line really irks me and needs to stop. It’s relatively short, however, so I was happy for that. Although it brings into question why Jake (after having sex with SO many other women, DIDN’T get tested before then. I mean, how unsafe considering how strongly he feels about protecting Kristi).
I also really wanted to see more of Jake and Kristi exploring the rougher side to their attraction, which plays a big part in the beginning, but doesn’t reappear until much, much too late (imo).
Overall, I loved the sheer intensity that pervades the story. Readers wanting a tightly drawn tension to their romance will find this story satisfies and delivers on its promises.
3.5 stars.
CW: cheating, unprotected sex, scene of domestic violence.
This book was just what the doctors ordered. In true Charmaine style this book Is full of angst, oh my heart…
This book also contains triggers for some such as Cheating.
I really enjoyed this book, even though I wanted to slap the hero over the heads few times. The heroine… well let’s just say she is a saint in my eyes for putting up will all the Crap. Ok ok their chemistry is undeniable, this book is not your average love story..NO it’s so much more. It contains, DRAMA, a man whore and ooopzie baby, love and second chance romance.
If you want a book that consumes you from the get go this book is for you.
I Received This Book From Author For Honest Review
I Give this Book a 2.5-3ish/5 Star Rating, Listing as 2.
Minor no Major Spoilers.
Overall Feel: Rushed.
HEA(?): Yep, but it strangely feels like a HFN.
Stamped HEA(?): I Do Believe it’s was a Forced HEA, Yes.
Romance: 3/5, I don’t know…kinda felt ‘rush-forced’? It just felt like they were forced to be together.
Heat: 3ish/5, to me they just seem like words in a scene that also supposedly conveyed feeling, but to me as the reader I felt nothing. To me Jake in the end Tone down/Vanilla-fied himself in order to be with Kristi, even though she wants the more kinky stuff.
Drama: 3/5, a lot of things were dragged out, yet was quickly resolved. A lot of different types of drama was stuffed into this book all the way to the end, that to me the HEA just felt unsatisfying, immediate and partially unbelievable. And A Lot of Details seemed to be forgotten or just left out.
Suspense: 3/5, predictable yet easily resolved.
Cheating Scale: 2.5/5 (5 being the worst), I dislike cheating books with a passion. But it wasn’t as bad as I was lead to believe with the warning, I mean it is, but again not as bad as I thought.
Not a good sense of time flow through the book, or where it needed to be ‘present’ it was fast forwarded. So any cutesy scenes your craving for the characters to have that you know would change your view of the story in a positive light, your not gonna get it. Cause evidently it’s not important.
How Jake got over his supposed drug use, kinda have me raise an eyebrow. So he’s done with drugs at the snap of a finger?
Noah honestly didn’t seem to be important, he was a minor side character and I found that sad, and the moment you’ve been anticipating for is was practically labeled not important.
Jake & Noah time was super minimal.
I gotta be Honest Kristi is such a walk over and very pitiful, and I was concerned with how she lived her life with Noah and it’s evident she never really tried hard to do anything, no motivation. Also at the Overall and the Ending to me it doesn’t paint a good picture for Kristi.
The whole ‘Daddy-issue’ thing made me roll my eyes, and then how she decided to live her life before Jake came back was overly pitiful, there was no need for that as an add in.
With all the drama in the story, Jake & Kristi’s relationship was minimal conversation wise and only sex became important.
Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed Kristi & Jake but the book itself made them not as important overall.
It’s seemed like the Author didn’t want them to be together but gave them an HEA anyways, so I will list this as a stamped ending.
I sadly believe a divorce would be in their future.
Every once in a while there is a read that comes along that has me really struggle with my feelings. This is one of those reads. My biggest struggle was the cheating. I despise cheating in my romance books. For me, it just makes it very hard to believe in love when a significant other can cheat.
Now there is always exceptions. I never say never cause sometimes the writer can provide a background that make things make sense? I’m not sure if that is the right way to say it. It doesn’t make it ok, but I can see how life can have people do things they normally wouldn’t.
I do believe that Charmaine Pauls accomplished that in this book. I’m not exactly surprised she did cause her writing has always impressed me. She just has a way of drawing you in so deep into the main characters lives. That’s part of the reason I really struggled. I was in deep with Kristi. I felt her pain. I wanted more for her.
I understand why Kristi forgave Jake. Life without him, without that forgiveness would have stolen her happiness. I really felt that she would never be happy if she cut him out of her life. She had to move on from his mistakes to be happy again.
I think Jake is a very selfish person. He had a lot of growing up to do and he did finally accomplish that. Despite all the mistakes he made, I truly believed he loved Kristi and wouldn’t be happy without her either. That is the beauty of Charmaine’s writing. She just makes her readers feel so much, good or bad. She gutted me with this book. I’m so happy she loves happily ever after’s cause I needed that ending.
Another excellent read, albeit a hard one.