Review: The Second Season by Heather Chapman

The Second Season
Heather Chapman
Cedar Fort
Available September 1, 2016

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About The Second Season

Eleanor Hopkins has lived in disappointment for far too long believing that her husband only married her for fortune, and she determines to protect her own daughters from such misery by scheming to secure offers for both Lucy and Caroline based on mutual rank and reputation. When Caroline finds that the handsome and reputable Lord Searly desires her as his wife, she finds that no amount of planning or pretending can convince her to accept him. Instead, she is confronted with an unexpected and reluctant suitor in the respectable shoemaker Thomas Clark.

My Review

The story is a bit unusual in that it flips back and forth between the present, in which sisters Lucy and Caroline seek husbands in London, and the past, in which their parents enjoyed a whirlwind romance and a disappointing marriage. I liked the juxtaposition of the past and present and the fact that the story was told from so many different points of view. I wanted the parents’ story to have some kind of satisfying ending, but on the other hand, not everyone’s story does, right? So that kind of made it more realistic. I loved that Tom was a shoemaker. I don’t read tons of this particular genre, but I liked that it was the humble tradesman who had worked so hard to improve himself who got to shine.

The Second Season is a pretty quick read at under 200 pages. I kind of loved and hated that, too. Some parts felt rushed, and I wanted to linger especially in the budding romance phase of the tale instead of pushing through to the next bit. Overall, though, it was an enchanting, romantic story.

Cultural Elements
Important characters are English middle or upper class.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
A couple of m/f kisses. At one point, a creepy guy plots to create a scenario in which the woman he desires to marry appears to have her honor compromised and will then be forced to marry him. All that still stays pretty PG.

Spiritual Content
Caroline discovers Tom having a private picnic and reading the Bible.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

About Heather Chapman

Being the youngest of four sisters (and one very tolerant older brother), Heather grew up on a steady diet of chocolate, Anne of Green Gables, Audrey Hepburn, Jane Austen, and the other staples of female literature and moviedom. These stories inspired Heather to begin writing at an early age. After meeting and marrying her husband Mark, Heather graduated magna cum laude from Brigham Young University and finally settled down in a small farming community in southeastern Idaho with her husband and four children. In her spare time, Heather enjoys time spent with family, volleyball, piano, the outdoors, and almost anything creative.