Kiss Me Again... Second Chance Romance

By Cassandra O'Leary

What would you say to the one who got away? Or the one who was never a 'thing' but you secretly hoped they would be… We're talking second chance romance.

I've been on a binge reading and watching spree lately, with the common theme of second chances. I love the tension and the emotional complexity of these stories, the push and pull between characters living simultaneously in the present and the past. Every look, every whispered remembering of what once was, or what might have been, adds layers to the superficial plot and dialogue. Now we're talking oodles of delicious subtext, people!

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Persuasion by Jane Austen 

The king (or really, matriarch) of the second chance or reunion romance is Persuasion. Often overlooked by casual Austen readers in favour of Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion is a book that unfolds slowly, pulls at the heartstrings and hits you hard in the feels. It's a more mature take on love than some of Austen's other works.

In Persuasion, the heroine Anne Eliot is twenty-seven years old, which is on-the-shelf in terms of marriageability in the Regency era. Anne was once engaged at age nineteen, but was persuaded to break-off the relationship by her manipulating family. Eight years later, she still hasn't married and the love of her life, Captain Wentworth, returns to the village where Anne's family lives. Captain Wentworth was once a poor sailor, considered beneath Anne in terms of social status. In fact, the Eliots have fallen on hard times and are forced to sell their fine belongings and move out of their grand home—a job left entirely to Anne as the practical, capable type. Captain Wentworth has since made his fortune as a sea captain, so their roles are reversed from what they once were.

As a reader, I adore Anne as a no nonsense woman, a non-typical heroine who people see as unimportant and uninteresting. In fact, she's highly intelligent, caring and probably would have been a great business woman in another time. She's put her family above her own desires for so long, it's become second nature. Anne has to overcome social and trust issues, and her own narrow view of what her life should be, to finally find her way back to love.

Captain Wentworth represents freedom as much as love, since a second chance with him would also allow her to live her own life. And of course he's a noble hero, wounded by Anne's rejection but still so in love under a gruff exterior. When the story hits its climactic moment, near the end of the story, Wentworth declares himself in a letter that's heart wrenching:

"You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago.”

Read it now, or try watching the excellent British movie version!


Persuasion, 2007 movie

Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren

This romantic women’s fiction book by the fabulous writing duo, Christina Lauren, is an utterly gorgeous tale of teenage sweethearts/best friends reunited.

There's a lovely setup in this book, when Macy meets Elliot (yes, there are some Persuasion and many other book references in here!), her new, nerdy but beautiful next door neighbour at her holiday home. He's literally sitting in her walk-in wardrobe reading a book, and later, the same space becomes her library, and their private refuge from the world. Macy's father paints the ceiling of the library with stars, and I was reminded of the line from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet:

"When he shall die take him and cut him out into stars and he shall make the face of heaven so fine that all the world will be in love with night and pay no worship to the garish sun."

I'm not spoiling the ending or spilling the reasons why these two young people were separated, so you'll just have to read it for yourself!

Roman Crazy by Alice Clayton and Nina Bocci

Who loves all things Italian? Me! So it should be no surprise I fell in love with this book, set in Rome. We meet Avery at the start of this novel in a most surprising context (with an amazing and funny first line that I can't share here due to this being a PG rated site!) and her life goes up in flames.

Her husband was cheating, and she decides to leave him and her comfortable life to visit her old friend in Rome. There she meets Marcello, gorgeous and charismatic Italian architect, who just happens to be the man she could never forget. They had been lovers in college, until Avery had to go home to America and she never saw him again.

What I loved most about this book were the authentic Italian touches, from descriptions of places in Rome, to the food and the depiction of Marcello's extended family who come together for a local festival. Also, it's both funny and heartfelt. Avery has to make some big decisions about whether to follow the safe route and return to her old life, or to find a new direction and herself in the process. Recommended reading!

The Boy Is Back by Meg Cabot

I haven't quite finished reading this novel, but it's great fun. Told in an unusual style mixing text messages, emails, newspaper articles, diary entries and even online reviews, this book is a modern version of an epistolary novel (a novel written as a series of documents, with other famous examples including The Color Purple by Alice Walker and The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky).

There's various point of view texts from many members of the heroine's and hero's families, so it's a fun look at the shorthand way we communicate these days and sometimes mis-communicate. Becky Flowers (love the name) is a woman who organises other people's lives for a living, but of course she kind of fell into it herself without a plan. Her high school boyfriend, Reed Stewart, is a multi-millionaire pro golfer who's back in town when his family asks for help with his aging parents. Old scores need to be settled, and the kooky old couple with a house full of cats and raccoons bring the couple together again. Anyway, I'm still reading but I'm definitely hooked.

Don't You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane

This story was gorgeous and also very British (which I love). The heroine, Georgina, meets up with her high school crush again when she applies for a job as a bartender at a renovated pub, owned by two Irish brothers. Of course one of them turns out to be her secret boyfriend, Lucas, from years ago. Only he doesn't seem to remember her at all. Can it be possible that one person can fall completely, madly in love, and the other person doesn't even remember it? Lucas is all dreamy but stern and standoffish (in a Heathcliff way, as noted in the book) whereas Georgina wears fluffy pink overcoats and is slightly off with the fairies. It's opposites attract and the kind of slow burn unfolding drama I love to read. With lots of laughs. And a dog.

Tree Love by Cassandra O'Leary (that's me!)

My own short story is a sweet bite-sized read about a couple who fall in love after first meeting at university. The hero (Dan The Man Mancini) ‘drops in’ on the heroine, Natalia Bianchi, years later, when he falls out of a tree in front of her! I hope the story conveys some of the longing and the temptation to try out another life that's typical of second chance stories, as well as being a fun, romantic read.

I'm working on another second chance story too, which will be either a long-ish novella or a full length book. We'll see when I finally finish writing…

About Cassandra O'Leary

Cassandra O'Leary is a romance and women's fiction author, communications specialist, avid reader, film and TV fangirl and admirer of pretty, shiny things. 
In 2015, Cassandra won the We Heart New Talent contest run by Avon Books/HarperCollins UK. Her debut novel, Girl on a Plane, was published in July 2016. Cassandra was also a 2015 finalist in the Lone Star writing contest, Northwest Houston Romance Writers of America, and a 2014 finalist in the First Kiss contest, Romance Writers of Australia. Her indie published romcom novella, Heart Note, is out now! 
Cassandra is a mother of two gorgeous, high-energy mini ninjas and wife to a spunky superhero. Living in Melbourne, Australia, she's also travelled the world. If you want to send her to Italy or Spain on any food or wine tasting 'research' trips, that would be splendiferous.
**Winner of the global We Heart New Talent contest. Nominated for BEST NEW AUTHOR in AusRomToday 2016 Reader's Choice Awards for excellence in Australian romance fiction** 
Read more at: cassandraolearyauthor.com 

Past Entertainments

I love the Regency period and the activities the peerage indulged in. In particular, for men, the hunting season was eagerly anticipated. The traditional end of the London Season was considered the Glorious Twelfth of August, which marks the beginning of the shooting season. Society would retire to the country to shoot birds during the autumn and hunt foxes during the winter, before coming back to London again with the spring.

It’s pretty obvious that to chase foxes, and hunt game of any kind, you had to have a large country estate, hence why hunting was a sport for the wealthy. Those who did not have the means to own such large estates, were ever hopeful to be invited to join a shooting party at a wealthy man’s hunting lodge. Remember, hunting on someone else’s land was considered poaching (theft), and the penalties for such activities were severe, sometimes resulting in deportation or even hanging.

Just the name ‘hunting lodge’ sets a vivid picture in my mind of cool autumn days, big log fires and men playing billiards after dinner. For the bastion of gentry, a hunting lodge was seen as a necessity. What else were you to do with your time when the London social season finished? They had to have something to do with their time.

In my soon to be released on 16 August, A TASTE OF SEDUCTION (book #5 in my Disgraced Lords series), my hero, Lord Hadley Fullerton, owns a hunting lodge in Surrey. As the second son of the Duke of Claymore, Hadley was left Lathero by his grandfather. However, he used part of the large estate to grow grapes and make sparkling wine. Why? Because he needed an escape from life when the love of his life married another, breaking his heart.

I have based Hadley’s home on Cranborne Manner, in Dorset, Southern England. The Manor is the home of Viscount Cranborne, the eldest son of the 7th Marquess of Salisbury. Isn’t it lovely. It really sparked my imagination as to what it must be like to sit in the drawing room with a brandy in hand and a roaring fire in the grate against the cold.

The original Manor house was built as a royal hunting lodge for King John in the 12th century. Cranborne Chase was a royal hunting ground from at least the time of William the Conqueror until the 17th century.

In 1604 the Manor and its surrounding land was acquired by Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of

Salisbury and Chief Minister to Queen Elizabeth I and James II. Under the 2nd Earl, in 1647, the west wing was remodelled by Captain Ryder, an associate of Inigo Jones. At the beginning of the 17th century the garden was laid out by Mounten Jennings and John Tradescant who supplied many of the original plants.

The estate consists of a 3,000 acre in hand farm and over 1,700 acres of woods, as well as the park and gardens.

Hadley has used many acres to grow his grapes and after five years has begun to produce very good wines. The duty on French brandy and wines during the Napoleonic wars and shortly after, also saw the rise in sparkling wine produced in England.

One of the first men to plant commercial vines in the UK was the Honorable Charles Hamilton, the 9^th and youngest son of the Earl of Abercorn. As you can see, younger son’s had to make a living.

Charles created Painshill Place in Cobham, Surrey in 1738. Painshill is now run by a trust and you can still visit to see the wonderful gardens and follies he created. Included in the gardens were an Abby, a Roman temple, a Turkish tent, a Temple of Bacchus, a fantastic shell-filled grotto, a hermitage, and some Roman steps. The picture below is the vines planted near the Abby. By the late 18^th century, Painshill was selling 6 variety of wines for 60 guineas a barrel (equivalent of 7,500 pounds in today’s terms). Highly profitable for it’s day.

The production of wine in England was, and still is fraught, with problems given the unpredictability of the weather. Hadley was a brave, if not a tad desperate man to try, but as he’s my hero and I love him, he does succeed—both in love and in viticulture.

A TASTE OF SEDUCTION releases 16th August (available for pre-order) and is a reunion or second chances story.

The flames of desire fuel a torrid reunion as bestselling author Bronwen Evans returns with another captivating novel of the Disgraced Lords. See why Jen McLaughlin raves, “Bronwen’s historical romances always make the top of my reading list!”

Lady Evangeline Stuart chose to wed a tyrant with a title, or so society believes. That was five years ago—five long years that she could have spent with her first and only love: Lord Hadley Fullerton, the second son of the Duke of Claymore. Now Evangeline is a widow, and her soul cries out for Hadley. But when they see each other at last, everything has changed. The passion in his eyes has been corrupted by betrayal. Somehow Evangeline must regain Hadley’s trust—without revealing the secret that would spoil the seduction.

Hadley is determined not to be distracted by Evangeline. He and the other Libertine Scholars are in pursuit of an enemy who has been striking at them from the shadows, and Evangeline’s mere presence could be dangerous. But with one smile, one touch, one taste of Evangeline’s lips, Hadley’s resolve is overpowered by far more pleasant memories. As the two enter into a discreet affair, Hadley vows to give her his body, never his heart. That, she will have to earn.

Here’s a snippet:

The doors to the garden were closed, so it wasn’t the roses that attracted her immediate attention. Instead she found her eyes drawn to a massive portrait hanging above the large fireplace. The painting was exquisite. You could almost see the willow’s branches waving in the breeze. The woman sitting under the tree was her, yet wasn’t her.

Evangeline had not seen this painting before, so it must have been painted after she had been abducted. The other clue was the way Hadley had portrayed her. She looked quite beautiful, her hair falling in waves around her bare shoulders, her profile exquisite, until you looked closer. Her eyes were cold and hard, her smile pure evil. The coldness and artifice made this woman, the woman who looked exactly like her, a stranger.

Evangeline drew in a deep breath. Someone in pain had painted the image; it was obvious in every stroke of the brush. He’d been so hurt, surely as hurt as she had been. She had to keep remembering that she wasn’t the only victim.

Torbet came to stand beside her as she gazed at the painting.

“He painted for months after you left. I think expressing his bitterness and hurt on canvas was cathartic for him. Unfortunately, as soon as he finished this he never painted again.”

“That is indeed a shame. He loved painting, and he was very good.”

Torbet nodded. “Perhaps now that you have returned he’ll start painting again.”

She looked once more at the portrait before her. “I hope so.” And she truly did. Painting had always soothed Hadley and filled his life. Torbet was the one who had seen his talent and nurtured it.

Taking leave of the butler, she made her way through the rose gardens, down past their special willow tree, and out the back gate to the small hilly fields behind the stable, where the land sloped down toward a stream.

She put her hand up to shield her eyes from the sun and drank in the beauty of the vineyard in front of her. She noted a few men working among the vines, yet only one man drew her eye . . . the man who stood in the middle of the farthest row, bent over working.

His coat was off, he wore no waistcoat, and his shirtsleeves were rolled up, revealing tanned arms. If not for the cut of his trousers and the innate presence about his person, he could have simply been another farm laborer.

As she watched, one of the men called to Hadley, indicating he was not doing something correctly. Hadley made his way to the worker’s side, allowing him to demonstrate—it looked like they were tying the vines to twine hung between the posts.

He didn’t notice her arrival, and she moved under one of the many willows lining the stream, into the deep shadows of the overhanging branches. The shade cooled the heat she felt at the knowledge that tonight she would be in the embrace of those strong tanned arms once again.

The men patiently showed Hadley how to prune the vines and tie them down. He worked alongside them, and when they handed him the pail of water, he drank from the ladle with the rest of them.
This was what she had always admired and loved about Hadley.

He was the son of a duke, yet he treated everyone with equal politeness, grace, and importance. No doubt his upbringing, watching his father behave worse than the lowest cad and brute, was at the heart of his ability to cross the barriers of the class system. He had always had an affinity for those less fortunate. That was probably why, when they’d met, he hadn’t minded that her family was poor, even though a second son, especially a second son of a duke, usually looked for a financially advantageous match.

She now understood how much he must have loved her to be willing to run away to Gretna Green. Did he love her still?

I hope you enjoy A Taste of Seduction because I loved writing Hadley’s story. Check out the reviews on Goodreads….

Do you enjoy second chance romances? What’s your favorite trope?