This was a great second-chance romance mixed in with the famous actor in love with an ordinary woman. In this case we have Hugh, an actor playing a James Bond sort of character who meets up, while filming in New York, with his former fiance, Jessica, who is a veterinarian with a clinic in South Harlem.

Romance authors often face the problem of two characters who might be in love but they have two established lives in different parts of the country. The challenge is how they can get together without abandoning their lives and careers. We know Jessica can’t leave the clinic that she loves. She is established in this community helping the people take care of their pets and also working with poor children raising abandoned dogs. And Hugh is part of the Hollywood lifestyle. The author gets it done right. These characters feel as real as a fictional movie superstar (think a sort of George Clooney at his height) can feel. I found that I could believe in their romance and how it all settles out.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

Heartwarming 2nd chance at love romance.

Nancy Herkness’ A Second Glance series continues with Jessica and Hugh’s story in Second Act which reads well as a stand alone though it was fun to see some of the characters from the previous books in this and her Wager of Hearts series.
You quickly care about about the main characters and I loved their chemistry and that they both had been affected by their 8 year separation. I thought the plot moved well in spite of some of the bumps along the way. I also really like the secondary character of Pete and would love if he got his own story.
I received an advance reader copy via Netgalley.

I'm a massive fan of Nancy Herkness, and though I loved parts of this book, on the whole , it just wasn't quite the book I wanted and needed it to be. Having said that, there are some fantastic moments here, and you can't look past the swooniness of a major movie star falling for his ex--a "normal" girl who got left behind. Plus, ANIMALS. I'm a sucker for animals in books and there are some great ones (and great info, too) featured here. The cameo from Gavin Miller, from The VIP Doubles Down, was a highlight in a book that had a ton of potential but, for me, was missing some of the chemistry. NB: I'm a very moody reader, and I've been struggling a lot lately, so my thoughts could very well be clouded by that, and not a true reflection of Ms. Herkness's words, which I have always found to be excellent. If you've read her before, definitely give this one a go. If not, start with the Wager of Hearts series and then come to this one. You won't be sorry!

Veterinarian and a movie star!

Veterinarian Dr. Jessica Quillen stumbles into the middle of a movie shoot while she was trying to rescue a pregnant stray dog when she runs into her former fiancé movie star Hugh Baker. Jessica and Hugh had broken up 8 years prior over Hugh wanting a fiancé that he could show off to advance his career. Jessica knew she could be that person because her schedule as a veterinarian was very unpredictable. Jessica hadn’t seen Hugh since she left California and moved to New York City to work at clinic in Harlem, she had sent messages but Hugh never replied to them. Running into Jessica made Hugh realize that he missed Jessica and he used his star power to help her clinic and the place where she volunteered raise money.

Second Act is a wonderful contemporary romance where the couple reunites many years after they have broken up. I already have the other two books in the series waiting on my e-reader because I loved how Nancy Herkness has written a great book, I would give it 4 ½ stars if I could!.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I loved the Wager of Hearts Series so much that I was quite excited to start a new series by this author and while it was very good and I enjoyed this second chance, hollywood romance, it didn't knock the Wager of Hearts series out of first place for me. I liked the characters and the interesting secondary characters; the storyline and the premise of the entire book so I'm giving it a solid 4 stars. Hugh and Jessica were both endearing, easy to like and had more than enough chemistry to keep me turning the pages. On a side note, I'm so glad that the author included Gaven and Allie throughout this book! It was nice to re-visit them. If you like contemporary romance with a side of hollywood glam, I think you'll thoroughly enjoy this read! I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC for NetGalley.

This is a second chance story. Hugh and Jessica broke their engagement 8 years ago; a rising actor and a commited veterinarian that were separated for their life choices. But now when Hugh, a successful action movie star, sees her in N.Y. still helping animals start to think that perhaps this time will be different. Or maybe not.

I like this kind of stories where couples give themselves a second chance. Especially because there were no betrayals here. Only those misunderstandings that are the epitome of all these romance stories. However, many of the things that are said are very valid and understandable. That is, because he does what he does and because she lets it 'flow'.

But despite all the inevitable cliches, and the consequent adorable moments when we are dealing with animals and children, I like it. I like their interactions, and also the character of the brother. In fact I would read another book in this series.

The only thing I would criticize is that, precisely, a stronger conflict is missing, I'm missing a villain or something that triggers a bigger drama if it were possible.


Note: This ARC -or at least my copy- has the same problems of the other ARC I read with the letter LL.

Nancy writing of Second Act I enjoyed. I could keep the characters all together and will go out and by the book for future reading.

Second Chance is cheesy over the top story that lacks any conflict that is needed in someway to drive a the story forward.

The writing and story line isn't bad it just unbelievable as well as a slow pace story that drags on though out the book.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher Montlake Romance for the advance copy of Nancy Herkness Second Act.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book. The review below is entirely my own opinion.

This is a second-chance, slow-burn, celebrity romance. While that normally sounds like a recipe for a book I tend to love, I just wasn’t connecting to either of the MC’s.

I thought the story was ok but at the book’s end, I feel like I’m still left wondering and struggling with the strength and forever-ness of their relationship.

Hugh Baker is one hot commodity in Hollywood. It’s been a long road but one he was able to succeed in. His one regret is the woman he’s never stopped loving. Once he made it big, he didn’t understand that Jessica’s career as a veterinarian, was just as important. So she divorced him and moved back to New York. Now Hugh is shooting a film in her city and she actually walks into his set. When he can’t stop thinking about her, Hugh asks her out. Abandoned by his mother and raised in the foster care system, Hugh has a hard time trusting in love.
Jessica has never stopped loving Hugh. Now that he’s in New York filming, he keeps wanting to see her. Can she trust him to take her career seriously, which is something he didn’t do in the past. Also, he’s brought back feelings she thought were long gone. However, the bigger question, what will happen when he moves back to Los Angeles? Are these just temporary feelings or as he keeps promising, she’s it for him.
Nancy Herkness is one of my favorite writers and this latest book is a hit!

Hugh is a very famous actor who partially grew up in the foster system. He has this need to prove that he is worth something in this world. That is what ultimately played a part in ending his engagement to the love of his life.

Jessica is a veterinarian who is down to earth. She genuinely loves animals and puts them first in her life. She also put her fiancé first when Hugh was an up and coming actor finally getting recognized for his talent. It was clear to her that she was holding him back and made the most difficult decision to let him go.

This book starts after 8 years of silence between Hugh and Jessica. It was a chance meeting that put these two back in the same world from what they were living, but there is lingering damage from their breakup. Their story is about healing and recognizing what truly drove their relationship apart.

This actually has a few tropes all in one. It starts out with a bit of a love triangle. It's also a second chance love, a celebrity romance and a slow burn. What's funny is, I'm not exactly a fan of most of these tropes. So why read it? I've read and truly enjoyed this authors previous books. I wanted to see if she could make me forget why I don't love these tropes and I would say she was pretty successful at it.

I just seem to really connect with the characters she writes. She does a great job of blending a normal, everyday person and pair them up with that unattainable millionaire or famous sports figure or in this case, a very famous actor. She also handles conflicts very well. I feel that she takes the time to treat each conflict with the focus it deserves and that helps you connect more with these characters.

So while I didn't love the tropes in this, I was still pulled into Hugh and Jessica's lives like a good book will do. I look forward to more from this author.

This a Hugh and Jessica book, Hugh is a Hotshot movie star and Jessica is a veterinarian for the k-9 angelz program. Jessica's chasing a stray dog and doesn't realize she stumbled right in the middle of a movie being shot ! Low and behold the main movie star is none other than her ex fiance Hugh! He left to go to Hollywood and be a movie star and left Jess begind! She wants nothing to do with that hurt! This book was definitely worth reading the story was decent but just ok for me?! It didn't stand out but was still worth reading ! Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for sharing this book with me!

I normally don't like second chances romance stories all that much, but since I'm a total sucker for celebrity romances, I was looking forward to reading this one. And I'm glad I did, I enjoyed it a lot. The writing is good, so it was an easy read, and it was without too much drama, just like I prefer most romance books.

I really loved Jess, she was just amazing! Hugh was ok, but nothing close to Jess.

I've enjoyed most of Nancy Herkness's other books, and as I read this I realized that I missed the first one in the Second Glances series. They actually spin off of her other series, with having been introduced in them and their characters now being side, supporting roles for this series. You can read this one by itself, but honestly I think I would have liked the background of her friends that are mentioned from their story to help add that rounded feeling. Like the other series, this is an easy read romance that isn't too heavy or overloaded with anything- and I like that. I don't expect the romance of the year or some big mystery/event in them, I read them to enjoy. The writing is good and story line isn't over the top sappy. I would suggest reading the other series (Wager of Hearts) first, but you don't have to to enjoy.

Second Act is the first book I've read from this author and I was really excited to read this story. The blurb was intriguing but the story wasn't as great as I thought it would be. The pace of this story was too slow for my liking. The characters were okay but the pace literally killed the story for me because not only did I find myself not only losing interest in the characters but also in their story. This story might work for readers that enjoy a slow paced story but this one was not for me.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I love Nancy Herkness, her Wagers series is one of my absolute faves and I really wanted to love this book. It had the potential to be amazing but I just felt no spark between Jess and Hugh at all. The fact that they had history was mentioned throughout but it just didn't feel believable at all and I found myself a bit dissapointed when things didn't work out with Pete and Jess at the beginning.
I think it's hard to get a second chance story right, there has to be the right amount of history and chemistry to set the story and make it plausible for these two people to fall in love again.
I think the biggest issue for me was the reason they split in the first place. Hugh referred to it as thinking his career was more important but it felt, going off the comments he made to her in the past, that it was Jess personally that he was criticising, telling her not to do or wear or say certain things.
It had the potential to be good but I found myself skim reading a lot because it just couldn't keep my attention.
I'm really sad about it because I really don't want to rate a NH book this low but this didn't really do it for me. 1.5 stars.

This is a fun 2nd chance romance betwen a veternarian and a movie star. Jessica and Hugh were in love 8 years before and engaged when Jessica broke things off. However Hugh stopped answering her calls and now 8 years later he finds her as she runs onto his set in NYC as she chases a dog.

Hugh wants her back but Jessica does not want to fall for him again, so he sets out to convince her that she is it for him.One big issue in this story is that Hugh was a foster kid and so it really has affected him in pretty big ways and jessica never realises how big that was for him.

I mostly enjoyed this 2nd chance romance story my only complaint was that Jessica is a vet and we get ALOT of vet scenses, I kinda skimmed those scenes because they went on for several pages at a time. It was way too much info for me. But aside from this I loved this story.