Review: ‘The Second First Chance’ by Mona Shroff
The Second First Chance
by Mona ShroffPublished by HQN Books on August 2, 2022
SubGenres: Contemporary Romance
Format: AudioBook, Paperback
Pages: 339
Narrator: Chriselle Almeida, Shawn K. Jain
Length: 9 Hours And 5 Minutes
Source: Everand, Purchased
Audience: 18+/Adult
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The Second First Chance is a big, wonderful, messy love story about family, heartbreak, strength and courage. It shows us that sometimes what we want is what we least expect, and that everything we need is often right in front of us.
Strength comes in many different forms.
Riya Desai and Dhillon Vora grew up together. Sharing secrets, hiding in their tree house, they were playmates, best friends and later—as teenagers—almost something more. Until the devastating house fire that ripped them apart, claiming the life of Dhillon’s father and Riya’s big brother, Samir. Riya and Dhillon have barely spoken since that terrible night, but they both made big decisions based on that fire.
Riya has chosen to fight fire with everything she’s got, but it’s not easy. As the only female firefighter and one of the only people of color at her fire hall, she has to prove herself over and over. Plus, she’s hidden her career from her family.
Dhillon wanted to heal things, so he became a veterinarian. When a chance encounter with a rescue dog throws Riya and Dhillon together again, he’s furious at her career choice. After what happened to them, how can she run into fires on purpose? For Riya, Dhillon’s anger is unacceptable: How can he not see that she’s protecting others from the very losses they both experienced?
I’ve always enjoyed reading Second-Chance Romance stories, and The Second First Chance was an emotional and beautifully written story about two childhood best friends who were always meant to be together. Unfortunately, one night, when they were younger, tragedy struck them both, changing both of their lives. Fast-forward to when they are adults, and the former best friends are thrown back together due to an adorable rescue dog, but one of them is not happy with the other’s job choice.
Mona Shroff did a beautiful job of telling Riya and Dhillon’s Second Chance Love story. There were times I wanted to go through the book and tell these two characters to stop being so stubborn and just admit their feelings. It was clear that both of them cared deeply for one another, but they were still coping with the grief of losing loved ones years ago in a house fire. I understood Dhillon’s frustration with Riya for being a firefighter because he lost his father, and she lost her brother in a house fire. However, he needed to understand why she came to become a firefighter.
I loved Riya’s character and how passionate she was about her job as a firefighter. It was clear how much she loved her career, and she reminded me of Stella Kidd from the show Chicago Fire, which happens to be one of my favorite TV shows. Stella is one of my favorite characters on the show because she loved being a firefighter and giving back to the community, especially to other women who wanted to be firefighters, too. Riya definitely reminded me of Stella Kidd a lot when reading this book.
I really appreciated how Mona addressed the challenges faced in a male-dominated profession like firefighting. Riya not only had to prove to all the others she should do her job, but she also had to deal with a fellow firefighter harassing her. However, in the end, Riya handled the firefighter who was harassing her and also found herself a supportive firefighter family who were very protective of her.
I loved Dhillon, too. He was very protective of his mother and sister, even though he should have realized they could handle themselves. I loved how both his mother and sister pushed him to find his happiness with Riya. He is stubborn, though, when it comes to accepting Riya for being a firefighter for most of the book, but things change when he finds himself in a situation that requires firefighters to rescue him.
This book was emotional for me to read, not only because Riya and Dhillon have to deal with what happened years ago to them but also because one particular part in the book made me bawl my eyes out—it all involves a dog that they both loved and cared for. My oldest daughter should have warned me that this book was going to make her mama cry because she had read it before me.
Overall, this book gets 4.5 stars, and I look forward to reading more books from Mona Shroff. I just have to remember to have tissues ready in case she has me cry again.
If you are looking for a Closed Door Second Chance Romance story between two childhood best friends who finally admit their feelings after so long, then this book is for you. Just have tissues on hand.
What to Expect:
Childhood Best Friends to Lovers
Second Chance
Closed Door Romance
Firefighter Heroine
Veterinarian Hero
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About Mona Shroff
Mona was born in New Jersey and grew up in Bucks County, in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Growing up she was a quiet kid and had few friends but she valued the quality of each of her friends, not the quantity of her friends.
She attended the University of Michigan and graduated with a degree in Biopsychology. Mona continued her education at the Pennsylavania College of Optometry, graduating with her Doctorate in Optometry. Mona married first (and only!) love, Deven, at the age of 25. Deven was a dentist in the army and they spent the next nine years travelling to different parts of the world and country while raising two young children.
Mona always loved to write, but did not get serious about it until 2011. She entered a contest where she had to start a short story with the words “Heads we get married, tails we break up”. She ended up losing the contest but she really loved the whole process of creating a plot, developing characers and putting a thought down on paper. Her first novel, Now, Then, Always, is a romance novel based on that prompt. When she’s not writing or checking eyes or doing laundry or cooking dinner or chauffeuring around her children, she trains for triathlons and loves to bake. Her favorite part of a triathlon is the bike portion, with swimming a close second. She runs because it’s included in the race. One of her ‘claims to fame’ is a quick appearance on the Today Show in 2012 as a semi-finalist in the ‘Quest for the Best Homemade Birthday Cake’ Contest. She is currently working on her second romance novel.
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