Second Chance

Rating:
Summary: A terrific love story
Review: For three decades Chuck Carver has been estranged from his father Charlie. However, that ends when the old man dies. Even then, Chuck purposely misses Charlie's funeral and would never have returned except for the pleading insistence of his father's lawyer to at least listen to the reading of the will. Charlie leaves Chuck a million dollar home on the waterfront of Marblehead, Massachusetts and two half-siblings.

Next door lives single mom, Dawn Ireland. Chuck and Dawn are attracted to each other. However, Chuck suffers nightmares from the sexual abuse he endured as a child at the hands of Charlie. Marblehead just increases this pain. Still, Chuck decides to extend his stay because of his growing relationship with Dawn. However, the nightmares are getting worse, leaving Chuck to wonder if this is the dawning of a lifetime relationship or the sun setting on his last chance for happiness?

SECOND CHANCE is a well written romantic novel that builds its premise on love being able to overcome the most nightmarish of childhood traumas. Chuck and Dawn are a wonderful pair, whose memories of Charlie are polar opposites of each other. The support cast including Chuck's half-siblings and Dawn's teenage son bring the deceased Charlie into perspective through their different viewpoints, , a brilliantly developed plot device that leads to much reader empathy for the cast of characters.. Though the novel too easily surmounts past horrrors to be totally believable, Dan Montague is rapidly rising as one of newest stars in mainstream fiction..

Harriet Klausner