Synopsis:

Liz Lewis has tried everything to be what people want, but she’s alwaysbeen labeled different in the boisterous world of wilderness expeditions.Her marriage to popular adventure guide Tobin Renner-Lewis isa sinkhole of toxic positivity where she’s the only one saying no.

When she gets mistaken for a server at her own thirtieth birthday party,
Liz vows to stop playing a minor character in her own life. The (incredibly
well-researched and scientific) plan? A crash course in confidence . . .
via an improv comedy class. The catch? She’s terrible at it, and the only
person willing to practice with her is a certain extroverted wilderness
guide who seems dead set on saving their marriage.

But as Liz and Tobin get closer again, she’s forced to confront all the reasons
they didn’t work the first time, along with her growing suspicion that her
social awkwardness might mean something deeper. Liz must learn improv’s
most important lesson—“Yes, and”—or she’ll have to choose between the love she always wanted and the dreams that got away.

Brimming with heart and heat, Rules for Second Chances explores the hardest relationship question of all: can true love happen twice . . . with the same person?

The cover for Maggie North’s debut Rules for Second Chances is what first drew me to the book, but then I read the synopsis and felt seen. As someone who developed anxiety and social anxiety late in life, but is married to an extrovert who (thankfully) draws most of the attention, sometimes you want to be seen…. but not seen. Which only a fellow introvert will probably understand. This is where Liz finds herself when she is mistaken for the server at her own birthday party, when suddenly she can’t handle the loneliness anymore and decides she needs and wants a change, including a break from her husband Tobin.

I want people’s eyes to stop sliding over me because I’m not shiny or hilarious or loud. I want to be interesting, and welcomed, and valued. And not because I’m by Tobin’s side. Because I’m me.

This is mostly Liz’s story about discovering herself, but along the way she rediscovers those around her, rebuilding relationships, including her marriage. While it seems like this is a predictable story of a second-chance romance, North has some surprises up her sleeve, which was a nice surprise. 

Rules for Second Chances currently has a mix of reviews, but I can see how those who don’t understand anxiety or introversion might feel like Liz is frustrating. For me, being inside her head was very familiar, as well as inspiring. 

I didn’t realize, before I lost it at my party and walked out on my husband, how much energy I was burning to make myself small. Managing people’s emotions is hard work. Getting along and going along are difficult. I’m worn out.