Her Second Chance Billionaire Sweetheart - Bree Livingston

[goodreads]

Title: Her Second Chance Billionaire Sweetheart
Author: Bree Livingston
Genre: Chick-lit
Rating: 3/5
# pages: Audiobook ~6hrs
Date read: May, 2021

Ten years ago, Grayson Matthews’ heart was set on marrying the love of his life, Emma Lane. But when her father refused, forcing him to leave his small hometown of Newton, Kansas, Grayson vowed never to return. Now his grandfather has become ill, and Grayson has no choice but to go back and face the fallout.

Emma Lane never understood what caused her high school sweetheart to leave without a word. Now, Grayson has come back, and he’s still as tight-lipped as ever. She wants nothing more than to hate him, but her curiosity—and some meddling by her sister—has her on a mission to find out why he left. She’ll get answers, even if it means putting her heart on the line.

I loved the first book in this series, but while this second one was still cute, it didn't have that extra something (okay, okay - a cruise!) to make it stand above and beyond most other chick-lits, so I don't if I'll continue on with the third book in the series. The three books can be read independently of each other as there's very, very little overlap.

That said, it was still cute. I really liked both Grayson and Emma, and enjoyed Emma's sister being so very big-sisterly to both of them. I liked that the "mystery" of Grayson's leaving wasn't left a mystery to the reader for long, and that Grayson actually decided to confide in somebody... even if that 'somebody' wasn't the person it ought to have been. I also liked that Emma's father wasn't the villain he was made out to be, and ended up accepting Grayson for other reasons than just because he'd ended up making something out of himself.

As romances go, it's a dime a dozen, but it was still a good comfort read... even if it couldn't quite live up to the expectations set by the first one.