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?

This book sounded like a fun, possibly second chance lovers or enemies to lovers, so I wanted to give it a read. First and foremost, I really enjoyed the culture that was woven into the story. It featured dynamic characters, especially Riya and a ton of emotion as the two leads as well as others went through the process of healing and reconciling after the traumatic event that impacted them and altered their lives.

All in all this was a very emotional and touching story that was full of culture, growth and healing. The writing was easy to read and flowed really well, making the story easy to progress through. Shroff is definitely an author I would pick up again after reading this.

Happy reading!