Manview: Second Chance Town by Karly Lane

Welcome to another Manview. For those of you who are new to Manviews, these are reviews of romance novels specifically from a man's perspective, the reader today being another male romance reader, Len Klumpp. You can find previous Manviews here.

Second Chance Town by Karly Lane
Purchase link: Amazon

My rating:   

Heat rating:  

How many stars rating?

Second Chance Town is definitely a 5 Star book. From the time I started reading I was unable to put it down...and when I had to it wasn't far from my thoughts.

How many flames for the heat rating?

There was not a lot of hot romance in the book. I'm not a big fan of Erotic Romance. I enjoy a good story with romance thrown in and Second Chance Town had the right mix.

What made you pick this book to read?

It was always on the agenda to read this book even before it was published.

Have you read this author before? What did you think of her writing?

I have read all of Karly Lane's books and thoroughly enjoyed them all. Not one is the same and they all keep me enthralled. Karly has written a few books set around the area I live, Tamworth and the New England region. I think thats what makes them so special. I know the landscape and the towns she talks about.

What did you think of the story overall?

I loved this story. From the moment I picked it up, I could not put it down and when I did it was still there in my thoughts. Some of the underlying problems Lucy and Hugh faced I have had to face myself.

Did you enjoy the theme of the story?

Very much so.

This story deals with some fairly serious issues - the revival of a dying small town and the drug addiction of young people. How do you think the author handled those issues in the book? Were they believable?

We are only fooling ourselves if we believe drug addiction is only prevalent in the large towns. It's a major problem everywhere. I loved the way Karly dealt with this. This is the reason I enjoy the small town romance so much. They bring all the problems that are real in these communities, whether it's drug addiction, that the towns are dying and the communities are trying to find ways to stimulate growth, whether it's depression, drought, fires or floods. They deal with real issues.

What did you think of the main characters Lucy and Hugh?

I'd love to be friends with Lucy and Hugh. Lucy is a single mum who is trying to raise her daughter and stop her from making the same mistakes as she did in her youth. Lucy was pregnant at 17. She had just lost a sister to a drug overdose and was starting to go off the rails. Having her daughter, Belle gave her something to focus on. Belle is 17 when we are introduced to them. Lucy has worked hard to give Belle the best life she can. She is a very strong, determined woman.

Hugh has come up through the school of hard knocks. He is a very closed man but also has a softness and kindness about him. He is very guarded about his past and this causes a lot of problems between Lucy and himself.

What's your next read going to be? Will it be another small town Australian romance or something else?

Small Town Australian Romance is my favourite genre and the next book I will be reading is on by another of my favourite writers, Mandy Magro. Bluegrass Bend, which is set in a small town in the Blue Mountains.

View all my reviews


About the author

Karly Lane lives on the beautiful Mid North Coast of NSW in Australia. A certified small town girl, she is most happy in a little town where everyone knows who your grand parents were. She writes women’s fiction – everything from romantic suspense to family sagas and life in rural Australia. She has romantic suspense titles published with The Wild Rose Press and Eternal Press under Karlene Blakemore-Mowle and her latest release, North Star is available now.

A wife and mother of four children, working part time as a pathology collector by day, she manages to squeeze in her writing whenever and however she can. She is a proud member of the RWA Australia.

Author links: - Website - Facebook - Twitter - Goodreads



About the reviewer

Hi, I'm Len and I'm an avid reader of most of the romance genres. I've been married to Carolyn for nearly sixteen years. I have three step-kids  as well as a large fur family of four dogs and seven cats. We live in the country music capital of Tamworth. I'm an Airport Reporting Officer at our regional airport.

I was a late comer to reading. Even though I read a few books, it wasnt until I was about 30 that the reading " bug" took hold. It was then that I discovered Wilber Smith, Jean M Auel and Bryce Courtenay as well as a few others. It was after reading Tony Parson's Call of the High Country that I discovered the romance genre. Going searching for more books like that I discovered Rachael Treasure. I soon progressed to Fiona Palmer, Rachael Johns, Karly Lane and as they say the rest is history.

What I like so much about romances are that they are real. I grew up in counrty towns and I can relate to their struggles the things like drought, floods, fire and trying to make the community survive. I love how they deal with emotions, many that I have been through and struggled with. They make me feel good. I copped a lot of ribbing first off from a lot of my friends for reading "girly books" but now a few of them read them themselves.

Links:  Facebook | Twitter


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