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A SECOND CHANCE AT LOVE Janice Sims BET/Arabesque January 2001 (4+) Melanie Schuster |
Contemporary Romance |
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This is the way to start off a new millennium, with a fresh new novel full of romance, intrigue and adventure! A SECOND CHANCE AT LOVE is a departure for Janice Sims, one of Arabesque’s most prolific authors. She takes a few chances of her own in delivering this story and they pay off handsomely. Although Ms Sims usually does not interweave her stories, this one gives a very satisfactory ending to a story she began some time ago. In TO LOVE, AGAIN, Ms Sims’ entry in the Valentine’s Day anthology LOVE LETTERS, we were introduced to many of the characters that are in A SECOND CHANCE AT LOVE. This is where we first became acquainted with Antoinette ‘Toni’ Shaw, the brilliant activist turned writer and her extraordinary twin daughters Bree and Georgie. We became more intimately acquainted with this talented threesome in All The Right Reasons, which was Georgie’s story and also reunited Toni with the father of the twins, the sinfully rich and handsome Charles Waters. Forgiving Charles Water for abandoning her when she announced her pregnancy was something Toni never thought she would be able to do, but she managed it. Somehow, out of the ashes of their love affair a golden phoenix had risen, but strictly on Toni’s terms. As long as she called the shots and dictated who was to know about their rekindled love, she was content to share herself with Charles. And for a while, it was enough to satisfy them both. But she reckoned without the intense passion in Charles’ heart… Charles knew that he had been less than a man in his previous relationship with Toni. He regretted the pain he had caused her and he regretted even more not being there for his daughters, even though his first reaction so many years before was to deny them. But even though he and Toni had wiped the slate clean and started over again, it wasn’t enough Charles wanted to dedicate his life to sharing the love that he had foolishly cast aside—he wanted Toni to be his wife. Toni’s response to his proposal has got to rank among the most heartfelt and humorous in the ranks of modern romances, but Charles was not about to let a little thing like that stop him from proving to her that he was the only many for her—until one of their children’s lives was at stake. From then on, all bets are off until they could be reunited with their daughter and realize what a precious gift A SECOND CHANCE AT LOVE really is… This book is definitely a departure from Ms Sims’ earlier, expert work. There is a delightfully frank sensuality and playfulness about this book that serves as an interesting counterpoint to the intriguing mystery that enfolds Charles, Toni and those they hold dear. And you will meet a most surprising antagonist—I hate to call him a villain, even though he is certainly willing to violate the laws of God and man to get what he wants… Even if you are unfamiliar with the books in question, you will derive absolute enjoyment from this tale. Old fans will love coming in contact with familiar characters and new readers will want to know more about them. There is even a plotline that involves one of my favorite characters from Out of the Blue, one of my favorite books by Ms Sims. It was a long-awaited and most pleasant surprise to encounter her in A SECOND CHANCE AT LOVE. As always, Ms Sims does enough research to bring you right into the action of her locales—her sense of place is impeccable, and that was no easy feat since these folks got around! You will visit San Francisco, Boston and Ethiopia and you will feel right at home in each locale. But more than that, you will come to really feel these characters and what motivates each one. A SECOND CHANCE AT LOVE is about redemption, forgiveness, renewal and the unfailing power of love, all wonderful things of which to be reminded as we begin a new year. It also gives you a fresh new look at an outstanding writer’s evolving style—elegant, exotic and definitely a five-star read! |
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2002 |
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