Matthew Grace is a bachelor working as a pest tech when he meets a beautiful older woman, Vera Lake, on a service call. Vera offers sympathy when Matt divulges his grief over losing his mother and breakup with his ex-fiancĂ©e. He takes Veraâs advice to stay positive and find a woman whoâs good for him. After starting dating, he realizes that he needs true compatibility and love in his next relationship more than ideal circumstances to become the husband of the woman he loves. His trauma from an unexpected tragedy threatens to destroy his new marriage. He finally discloses his painful childhood memory to gain closure from his past.
Matthew Grace is a bachelor working as a pest tech when he meets a beautiful older woman, Vera Lake, on a service call. Vera offers sympathy when Matt divulges his grief over losing his mother and breakup with his ex-fiancĂ©e. He takes Veraâs advice to stay positive and find a woman whoâs good for him. After starting dating, he realizes that he needs true compatibility and love in his next relationship more than ideal circumstances to become the husband of the woman he loves. His trauma from an unexpected tragedy threatens to destroy his new marriage. He finally discloses his painful childhood memory to gain closure from his past.
Chapter 1
Matt slid out from Ms. Lakeâs crawl space sapped of energy. He lifted his hat, mopped his dripping wet face and neck with a sweat rag, then walked over to his truck. He stepped out of his coveralls and stuffed it with his work equipment back inside of the storage box, grabbed a clipboard, and opened the backdoor of Ms. Lakeâs cool and spacious kitchen. As soon as he walked in, his customer handed him a tall glass of lemonade.Â
  âHere you go,â she said, with a warm smile spreading across her fair, smooth face. She wore her platinum hair short and had hips that were almost too broad for her lean shape, but they were still carried well. From his observation, she seemed to be the calm, sensible type who had a very low-key life. There were no signs of a companion when he arrived at her home earlier, and he wondered how she occupied herself.
  âThanks, I needed this,â Matt said, before gulping his first glassful and then the refill. The lemonadeâs perfect balance of tang and sweetness was an immediate comfort after doing back-to-back service calls in steamy weather. Compared to his workday, his flashback was far more vicious. He'd gotten only four hours of sleep because of its recurrence the night before but still managed to function through his fatigue.Â
  He flashed a grin with sparkling pupils as he gazed at her wholesome beauty, then his quaint surroundings.
  Sheer yellow curtains cascaded the windows. Sunflower patterned potholders and a matching clock hung from the wall next to the stove, where a fat hunter-green tea kettle sat. A Mason canister set lined a section of the counter, and the calendar taped on the refrigerator had an upcoming date neatly circled. Three bar-stools stood flush against the island topped with a heavy, yellow ceramic bowl of Granny Smith apples, bananas, and oranges. The smell of fresh cinnamon tickled his nostrils and persuaded him to hang around in the kitchen longer.Â
  âAhâŠyour lemonade hits the spot, Ms. Lake. Itâs brutal out there,â he said, crunching on mini ice cubes.Â
   Ms. Lakeâs eyes focused on his drooped shoulders. âIt looks like youâve had a long day. I can make you a sandwich if youâre hungryââÂ
     Matt shook his head. âThatâs kind of you, but Iâm good just having liquid. By the way, the inspection went great, I didnât see any signs of termites while I was in the crawl space.âÂ
   He swallowed the remaining bits of ice and handed her his empty glass and work receipt on his clipboard. She set the glass on the kitchen counter next to her abandoned plate of breakfast, then scribbled her signature. Mattâs eyes narrowed as he retrieved his clipboard. âYou donât sound like a southerner,â he said. âHave you always lived in Charleston?â They left the kitchen and headed toward the living room.
  âIâm originally from Omaha, Nebraska,â she said with a broader smile, âbut Iâve lived here so long I consider myself such. What about you?âÂ
  âI was born and raised in Charleston and havenât lived anywhere else. But when the money looks right, I want to travel the world.âÂ
  Ms. Lakeâs eyebrows lifted. âFunny, Iâve always wanted to travel the world, too, but never got around to it,â she said, and gave a regretful shrug.Â
  Matt grinned. âWe can put it at the top of our bucket lists.â
  They laughed, and stopped at the living roomâs front door. Ms. Lakeâs eyes filled with curiosity. âSo, how long have you been working for your pest-control company?âÂ
  âItâs been about three years now, but I donât want to kill bugs forever,â Matt said, checking his phoneâs message alert. âSoul foodâs my passion. Iâm saving up to open a restaurant on Charlestonâs east side before I turn thirty-two.âÂ
 âThat sounds wonderful, Matt! Iâll be counting down the days until your grand opening!â
  âYeah, Iâm looking forward to it too,â Matt said, fixated on Ms. Lakeâs every move. He stood slightly taller than her as she opened her front door to let him out. Their conversation stalled when he inadvertently glanced at her rhinestone pink-ribbon earrings.Â
  âIs there something wrong?â Ms. Lakeâs question hung in the air as she watched Mattâs smile vanish. His eyes watered and he looked away from her.
  âMy mom wore a pair of earrings just like yours. She died last January.âÂ
  Ms. Lake gasped. âOh, Matt, Iâm so sorry! If you need to talk about it, itâs okayâŠâÂ
  Matt planted his hands squarely on his hips, then sighed. âI guess I should talk about itâto heal, you know? But I donât want to keep you, Ms. Lake.â
 âYouâre not keeping me from anything, Matt. And, please, call me Vera,â she said, softly. Her compassionate tone melted his reservations as she took his hand and escorted him to the living roomâs cozy, teal couch.Â
  Mattâs tears trickled down his face when Vera sat down beside him. She grabbed a few tissue sheets from the box on a lamp table and pressed them gently into his hand.Â
 âItâs still hard accepting her death,â Matt said, wiping his face. âShe seemed okay, but then everything changed. If I could do it all over again, I would fight harder to keep her alive.â He tilted his head back in reflection. âI still dream about her. Itâs so real when it happens, then I wake up.â
 âYou canât beat yourself up over what happened, Matt. Iâm sure you did what you could for her.âÂ
  âI did, but it still hurts, you know? She was such a good woman and I miss her so much. I thought I could depend on my fiancĂ©eâs love and support to help me through my grief, but I was wrong. A few months after the funeral, she called off our wedding and left me for my best friend.â He trivialized his bad memory with a forced chuckle.Â
 âI can only imagine how much that hurt,â Vera said, resting her hand on his. âYou deserve better. One day, the right woman will come into your lifeâsomeone who truly loves you.âÂ
  Matt nodded. âHmmm, itâs funny how you and my work buddy have said the same thing to give me hope. But my trust in women is gone. I donât wanna go through the pain of another bad relationship.â
  âPerhaps, the next one wonât be bad.âÂ
  Matt looked doubtful. âPerhaps it wonât, but Iâm not ready to enter another relationship yet.â
  He suddenly became distracted with the view of an antique sewing table lined with silver-framed photos. One scene showed Vera and her relatives standing in front of a humongous oak treeâ it was the same one in Hampton Park where he and his fiancĂ©e split up. No matter where he went, there was always some reminder of her.Â
  âWell, I guess I better get going. It was really nice talking with you, Vera.â Matt dried his eyes and then sprung up from her couch. Heâd discussed as much as his heart could handle. Charlestonâs west side traffic had gotten heavier since heâd arrived at Veraâs house and he would run into it on his commute back home. It was after five in the afternoon, and the stifling humidity made Vera start fanning herself as she walked with Matt out to the driveway.
   He opened the door to his vehicle and resumed his upbeat demeanor. âThanks for listening. I hadnât expected getting a free therapy session when I came to this service call.â He handed Vera his business card, and she slipped it into her apronâs pocket.
  âYouâre welcome, Matt. Whenever you need to talk, feel free to call me.â
  Matt nodded. âI willâI forgot to tell youâI found a nest of roaches while doing the termite inspection. I sprayed the area, and you can expect to see a bunch of them crawling from underneath your house. But donât worry, theyâll die off soon.â  Â
  âYes, I know the routineâŠoh, so well!â Veraâs nose wrinkled in disgust, still fanning herself. Matt responded with a low chuckle. Climbing into his truck, he slammed the door shut.Â
âHave a nice day, Ms. Vera.â He backed out of her driveway giving her a quick wave, and sped off.Â
                                ____________
It was as if Mattâs sadness trailed behind him, when his truck disappeared into the distance. She imagined all of the emotional pain heâd mustâve gone through not talking to anyone about his motherâs death until he had finally opened up to her.Â
  His light gray eyes hinted an even deeper story about him when he first introduced himself and handed over her newspaper at the door. For two people who had nothing in common, their small talk stretched beyond what sheâd expected. The magnetism of his demeanor had thrown her a curveball, and she suddenly questioned the wisdom of telling him to call her. The possibility of them chatting again crossed her mind as she walked back inside the house, and started to clean up the kitchen.
  The plate with her leftover breakfast was scraped briskly into the garbage disposal. Mattâs washed and dried glass returned to its spot on the dish rack, and dirt bits left from his work shoes were swept from the floor. Veraâs foot paused on the trash canâs pedal after the lid flipped up. She suddenly fished Mattâs business card out of her pocket and stared at it, wondering what would become of him and his dreams. He was undeniably handsome, driven, and still had milk around his mouth.Â
   Matthew Grace. The name had a nice ring to it. He seemed fine after our talk and will forget all about calling me later on. A man like him definitely will open a restaurant, marry someone good for him, and have beautiful babies. It was her last thought that made her crush the card and toss it with the dustpanâs debris into the trash can.
The Beauty of Second Chances was a rollercoaster ride of emotions with all the dramatic twists and turns. I honestly felt like I was watching the script of a soap opera with all the dramatic gasps and "omg" moments.
The characters were honest, raw, and realistic and I know a lot of people would relate to the age-gap issues faced by the main characters Matt and Vera.
Matt was such a dynamic character with layers and layers of trauma, hurt, and resentment. Readers meet Matt who is desperate for love, connection, and a sense of belonging. Vera has been trying to find the bright spot in life after being told her cancer has resurfaced. Their journey was heart-wrenching and truly painful at times.
Personally, the ending felt quite abrupt and I was quite shocked to see the words "The End". I think perhaps an epilogue or even another chapter could have given readers the closure they yearned for. I honestly felt like I would have liked more closure from Vera with respect to her personal/medical issues.
I also think Matt had a ton of unresolved issues with respect to his past and overcoming his mental constraints. There seemed to be a resurgence of his past eating disorder to the end with the binge eating of junk food that left me slightly unsettled as he resorted to seeking comfort from food again. Readers were also left in the dark on whether Matt ever got the restaurant he always dreamt about????
The secondary characters like Betty, Jen were just laid on the wayside as there was no finality for their inclusion. Lastly, there were a ton of unsolved mysteries/scenarios during the novel that I wish were tied up.
Overall, I think there were a lot of prominent issues discussed in this book; abuse, terminal illness, death, alcoholism, depression, mental illness, and rape, which were all combined into a great age gap romance about finding love and keeping hope.
Thank you to Reedsy Discovery for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.