“Second First Impressions is the warmest, coziest, sweetest book of the year, an absolutely perfect blend of humor and heart. I want to live inside Sally Thorne’s brain.” —Emily Henry, New York Times bestselling of Beach Read
From the USA Today bestselling author of The Hating Game, soon to be a movie starring Lucy Hale and Austin Stowell, and 99 Percent Mine comes the clever, funny, and … Hale and Austin Stowell, and 99 Percent Mine comes the clever, funny, and unforgettable story of a muscular, tattooed man hired as an assistant to two old women—under the watchful eye of a beautiful retirement home manager.
Dazzle (n): Brightness that blinds someone temporarily.
Position Vacant: Two ancient old women residing at Providence Retirement Villa seek male assistant for casual exploitation and good-natured humiliation. Duties include boutique shopping, fast-food fetching, and sincerely rendered flattery. Good looks a bonus—but we aren’t picky.
An advertisement has been placed (again!) by the wealthy and eccentric Parloni Sisters. The salary is generous and the employers are 90 years old, so how hard could the job be? Well, none have lasted longer than a week. Most boys leave in tears.
Ruthie Midona will work in Providence’s front office, and be at the Parloni’s beck and call, forever. That’s sort of her life plan. If Ruthie can run the place in her almost-retired bosses’ absence, with no hijinks/hiccups, she has a shot at becoming the new manager. She might also be able to defend her safe little world from Prescott Development, the new buyer of the prime site. Maybe after all that, she can find a cute guy to date. All she needs to do is stay serious—and that’s what she does best.
Until, one day, someone dazzling blows into town.
Teddy Prescott devotes his life to sleeping, tattooing, and avoiding seriousness. When Teddy needs a place to crash, he makes a deal with his developer dad. Teddy can stay in one of Providence’s on-site maintenance cottages—right next door to an unimpressed Ruthie—but only if he works there and starts to grow up.
Ruthie knows how this sweetly selfish rich boy can earn his keep—and be out of her hair in under a week. After all, there is a position vacant…
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This is one of my favorite books of the year! I absolutely loved it! Ruthie and Teddy were just adorable! And the Parloni sisters were such a hoot! I loved everything about this story–it was woven together so perfectly in one heartwarming, quirky, delightful story. And the turtles- oh my heart! Read this in one afternoon and couldn’t stop smiling!
I adore idiosyncratic characters and a satisfying ending with a touch of surprise. This is not your usual romance. Not sure it’s even a romance.
Wait! Yes, yes it is. A romance among old ladies, youngs, and a couple characters who don’t fit the norm. Friendships and loveships and learning how to live with past trauma.
Sweet without a touch of sappy. Highly recommend.
I loved it. The end.
Five enthusiastic stars! I love Sally Thorne’s books, in part because they’re so unconventional. The reader never knows what to expect, and I am truly in awe of her delectable use of the English language. Thank you Sally, and keep writing.
Perfectly titled as my first impression wouldn’t have led me to give this book such a high rating. I’m always wary about new adult characters having so many insecurities about themselves and doing a lot of growing up on-page. I like that while Ruthie goes through a bit of a transformation, it wasn’t because she loathed who she was before.
I love that the characters are fun, funny, kind, and supportive of one another. Alongside the romance, the found family theme really appealed to me.
I don’t even really know what I can say about this book. If you see a puddle shaped mass of goo in the corner, that’s just me having melted from the amount of feels I’m dealing with.
There was just so much that was lovely about this whole story. It’s tricky to get into the hows and the whys without getting spoilery. So I’ll just state my favourite thing: (skip the next paragraph to remain spoiler-free)
I love how quickly Teddy could pick up on when Ruthie was not “ok”. He would notice the smallest little cue and just know. He was being attentive, and I think it’s likely the first time that Ruthie has ever had anyone be that way with her. It’s like everyone else who has ever known her would only see bits and pieces of her, almost in an uncaring way. But he’s the first one who has ever SEEN her. All of her. He says in the book that people take too much from her. He does the complete opposite. It was beautiful to read and it touched my heart and soul in such a profound way.
(Back to spoiler-free)
The entire book is infused with Thorne’s classic laugh-out-loud humour. I always found myself giggling certain phrases out loud after reading them. Truly the best feeling.
I guess the long and the short of it is… this was a very Caryn book. It’s like this book was written just for me and I loved it so much.
Sally Thorne uses her absolutely unique handwriting to bring us an exceptionally tender and touching romance, with characters we can only love. Her writing has become her trademark, her signature, it is full of enchantment and softness, sun that warms your heart, glitter that dazzles you … Every detail is meticulously found and adds color to the story. The author has a huge imagination and it is obvious that she spends a lot of time researching these details and giving them importance.
Her characters are original, their particular appearance hides a past, a story, mysteries that we are delighted to discover.
Ruthie is a sweetheart, she spends her time working and taking care of others while totally forgetting herself. Under her granny look hides an injured, guilty and complexed young woman. She loves without restraint and without asking for anything in return, the happiness of others comes before her own. Despite everything, thanks to her new colleagues, she will learn to assert herself, to get out of her comfort zone, to fight for what she wants. I especially liked her friend who creates a multi-step “method” to turn the little chick into a swan.
Teddy is covered in tattoos, very tall, very muscular, he has long hair … the opposite of Ruthie. Behind the tattoos hides the heart of a little boy who only dreams of being loved. Teddy is simply adorable, charming, funny, caring, persistent … He does not judge others with prejudices but with his heart. Yes he makes a small mistake when he meets Ruth, but he has extenuating circumstances and he is the first to accept and love our heroine as she is.
Ruth and Teddy become neighbors and friends, feelings naturally evolve and their love quickly becomes evident. He seduces her with humor and pretty sincere phrases, phrases that made me melt. She seduces him by offering him what he has always been looking for.
Even though she is afraid that her feelings will not be shared, she does not hide them. Even though he’s not sure she’s ready for him, he honestly tells her what he thinks and wants. I loved all this sincerity and their game of seduction on this tone of humor.
Among the secondary characters, there are two elderly ladies, wealthy retirees who live in Providence, two women full of energy, intelligent and imaginative. One of them likes to play with her employees, she makes them do different wacky tasks to test them and have fun. These two ladies made me laugh a lot but also moved me.
Another particularity of this novel : the presence of unique endangered turtles that Ruthie gathers to give them care and refuge. A wonderful idea that gives the story even more charm. Just like she does with these turtles, Ruthie welcomes Teddy into her home, she takes care of him, gives him love. Teddy learns to do the same.
Both evolve over the pages, not only do they discover true love but they also learn to be confident in themselves. They also realize that when you really love someone you let them stand on their own if they need it to be happy. The proof of ultimate love. They learn the right balance between giving and taking.
The end of this book is like the whole story: adorable, touching, magical, full of love.
This novel is a real success. Thank you Sally Thorne for all these beautiful emotions, for making me dream, for bringing sweetness to this world.
I’m in love with Sally Thorne’s writing style – it’s so easy to read and enjoyable. Second First Impressions is another great example of how she can bring a concept to life, making it funny and poignant at the same time. While I felt like this one was a little slow to start, it really picks up about 25% of the way in and I couldn’t put it down from there!
Ruthie Midona is an old soul who is holding on to a lot of trauma from her past. Her experiences and the things her family put her through caused her to revert to being scared, solitary and set in her ways so that nothing bad happens again…and that means staying in her retirement community bubble, not letting people in. While this story is about Ruthie and Teddy, I think the most important story here was Ruthie’s personal growth. She comes out of her shell (ha – pun intended!) and becomes a real person, not just the shadow of one that her parents forced her to become by not standing by her/supporting her when things didn’t go as planned. Ruthie has been acting like a 125-year-old, not a 25-year-old for way too long and it took Melanie, Teddy and the Parlonis becoming a bigger part of her life to show her how to act her age. Sally Thorne excels at writing great female characters who have quirks but aren’t “quirky,” they’re just real.
I love Teddy Prescott with my whole heart. He’s a lost soul, just looking for some stability to keep his life on track and prove to his family that he can make something of himself. He wears his heart on his sleeve, he’s hilarious and he rolls with the punches, but he also has so much depth that he keeps hidden for fear of people taking him even less seriously than they did before. I found it really sweet that he gravitates to Ruthie and her apartment as he wants to become part of her routine, part of her life, because it’s something he’s always craved but also he knows how important it is to her from the very beginning.
It took me a while to get on board with their love story, but I can see how good they were for each other. Their constant banter and the ease of their relationship was really refreshing, even before she let herself love him. In the end, it definitely made sense, but it took me a minute to get there myself.
Renata and Aggie Parloni and Melanie Sasaki are some of the greatest side characters I’ve ever read. Renata and Aggie’s antics are outstanding and so, SO funny, but they also love Ruthie and Teddy and want what’s best for them. Their quippy exchanges with everyone and the tasks that they give to Teddy are too much but also so perfect for these eccentric ladies. And Melanie was the perfect foil to Ruthie – she’s everything she’s not, but also aspires to be more like her (stable, inspired, doing something she loves). Without her inserting herself into Ruthie’s life, I’m not sure Ruthie would have been brave enough to do anything out of her typical routine or trust herself to be more than the timid person she was before.
My one complaint? Everything wrapped up really quickly in the final chapter…so many plot points introduced and wrapped up in a really short period of time. But, all in all, Second First Impressions is another great Sally Thorne read that will leave you laughing out loud and falling in love with her characters.
As always, Thorne’s writing shines and delights. This lovely book was so tender and sweet, I just loved it! For true sweet romance readers, please note there is some language and a bit of steam toward the end, but quite minimal compared to may other mainstream contemporary titles. The cast of characters is charming, the setting unusual and quaint, and the whole feel of the book is just… cozy and wonderful. I really loved Ruthie, and though Teddy isn’t the kind of hero that I’d normally choose, he absolutely had me rooting for him from his first word. If you want to feel happy and squishy and generally kind of… cared for by a book, then pick this one up.
The Hating Game is one of my favorite books. Second First Impressions is a different story and I absolutely loved it too! From a unique setting and two wounded main characters, the story wrapped around me and pulled me in from the beginning. It’s poignant, funny, romantic, and sweet. I loved Teddy and this book serves as an excellent reminder not to judge a book by its cover and that we learn to heal our wounds through relationships. The Parloni sisters were a hoot as well! Loved this book. Highly recommend.
An oddly compelling, poetic book. Colorful characters. Unusual premise.
I read this book about a month or so ago and I already want to go back and read it again. Honestly, that’s probably due in part to the fact that I couldn’t put it down and tore through it so quickly that some of the smaller details have slipped my mind in favor of the generally raucous squealing I did the whole time I was reading. Ruthie is so relatable but also so weird and unique and Teddy’s absolute determination to both protect her and get under her skin is ridiculously endearing. And like, how do you talk about this book without talking about Aggie and Renata, who are just snappy and sassy and hilarious and amazing? And I absolutely love their protective streak and the affection they have for Ruthie (and eventually Teddy too). I’ll definitely be coming back to this one.
DNF
Its my fault, i know. I picked this book with high expectations for its author (I LOVED THE HATING GAME AND 99% MINE) and its hype on the internet.
Even though is a sweet read, i really didn’t feel the connection or the chemistry, didnt understand the drama. I think they had a better friendship than a romantic relationship. I felt more connected to Renata and Aggie
I was really looking forward to this story but it left me meh. I am not totally sure why, cause I really liked the background of crazy old people leaving in the retirement place, but the main characters were just too bland for me. The sheltered religious girl and the rebelling bad boy with a big heart were just too stereotyped for me in the beginning
I enjoyed this book. Started out kinda slow to me, but picked up quick. Even though it’s the typical ending, I enjoyed it. I would definitely recommend this book.
Second First Impressions is a quiet, slow burn romance starring Ruthie, who everything thinks is too mature for her age, and Teddy, who everything thinks is way too immature. Yet appearances are far from the truth, and as Ruthie and Teddy get to know each other, they both realize that what’s buried beneath the surface makes them perfect for each other.
Ruthie has been working in the front office of a rich retirement center for the past six years. Neuroses aside, Ruthie is content with her role in life. Maybe not happy or living her dream, but definitely content. But then she runs into a tall, tattooed biker at the gas station, and that biker ends up forcibly working alongside her for several months. At first glance, Teddy is trouble. But under all those tattoos is a heart of gold who just needs someone to believe in him. And under all of Ruthie’s beige cardigans is a young woman who wants to learn how to live. Second First Impressions is a tale, at its heart, of second chances and first true loves with a slow burn between two characters who are more than meets the eye.
I thought Sally Thorne’s Second First Impressions was such a sweet romance. I loved Ruthie and Teddy as characters, especially as foils to each other. At first glance, Ruthie acted closer to her residents’ ages than her own, and routinely dressed accordingly. Teddy was a bad-ass on a bike, carefree and ignorant of any responsibility. But both characters became so much more as the story unfolded. This romance definitely doesn’t have much spice, opting for sweet and caring rather than hot and burning desire, but it worked for both characters and was exactly how Ruthie and Teddy should have gotten together. I really loved watching the two of them meet in the middle. Ruthie learned how to act her age and live life, Teddy grew up and took on adult responsibilities, and they both brought that out of the other by caring and believing in each other. It was a warm and gooey type of romance, and Ruthie and Teddy’s journey was very sweet to read. The main characters were heartfelt, and the supporting characters were oftentimes a charismatic hoot. Second First Impressions is definitely a small town, slow burn kind of romance, but it was sweet and a story I very much enjoyed.
Ruthie Midona not only works at the Providence Retirement Villa, she also lives there. Having been then for the past 6 years has made the 25 year old seem way older than she is. At Providence she feels safe, valuable and enjoys the routine, afraid to step out of her comfort zone. But now things seem like they could be up in the air. A new development company has taken over, and Teddy Prescott (the new owner’s son) has moved in. Now, Ruthie and Teddy are a wall apart.
This story unfolded beautifully. The interactions between Teddy and Ruthie are endearing. Teddy is the antithesis of everything Ruthie is, yet together they just work. Throw in Ruthie’s new friend and co-worker, Melanie, the Parloni sisters and endangered turtles, and you have a recipe for magic. Every guffaw, task, and swoon-worthy action had me turning the pages faster and faster. I loved how they both became Hero and Heroine together and yet independent from each other.
This was my first time reading a book by Sally Thorne, and I daresay, it won’t be my last. Definitely pick up Second First Impressions now!
Second First Impressions is what would have been called “chicklit” several years ago, but it probably called a humorous New Adult book now. There’s a romance and a hunky hero, as well as a wonderful cast of characters. While the heroine is too timid for my tastes, she has a strong character arc in the book and is admirable in the end. This is a great beach read.
Thorne set a high bar for future novels after writing The Hating Game, and I think Second First Impressions raised it even higher.
If I had to describe this book in one word, it would be: magnetic. It’s written with Thorne’s signature sneaky, witty humor and the characters are so vivid and real you’ll want to wrap them in a hug and never let go. It’s an opposites attract troupe in an atypical, almost surreal setting that is executed perfectly. I didn’t want to put this down and was dreading having to reach the end.
Reluctantly docking a star for Teddy and his red flags. Some might find his possessiveness of Ruthie and jealousy over her interactions with other men to the point of gatekeeping endearing. To me, it’s selfish and manipulative, and I felt wary of Teddy’s intentions. But such is life, and unfortunately there’s a lot of grown boys like Teddy in the world.
Regardless, this book is an absolute gem and hopefully will expand Thorne’s fanbase, or at least silence the critics who complain she’ll never write anything as good as THG.