Books are food for my soul! Pull up a beach chair and stick your toes in the sand as the Jersey surf rolls in and out, now open your book and let your imagination take you away.

Friday, July 16, 2021

The Queen Of Second Chances by D.M. Barr (VBT: Book Review / Contest Giveaway)

In association with Providence Book Promotions, Jersey Girl Book Reviews is pleased to host the virtual book tour event for The Queen Of Second Chances by author D.M. Barr!






Book Review





The Queen Of Second Chances by D.M. Barr
Publisher: Champagne Book Group
Publication Date: Paperback - May 30, 2021 / e-Book - June 7, 2021
Format: Paperback - 204 pages
               Kindle - 1390 KB
               Nook - 1 MB
ISBN: 978-1771554039
ASIN: B094GFWG3K
BNID: 2940165375545
Genre: Romantic Comedy


Buy The Book:



Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author / publisher in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Providence Book Promotions.



Book Description:

Carra’s memoir-writing class teaches seniors to resolve the regrets of their past. But to win over elder attorney Jay, will she follow her own advice?

Carraway (Carra) Quinn is a free-spirited English major confronting an unreceptive job market. Desperate for cash, she reluctantly agrees to her realtor stepmother’s marketing scheme: infiltrate a local senior center as a recreational aide, ingratiate herself with the members, and convince them to sell their homes.

Jay Prentiss is a straitlaced, overprotective elder attorney whose beloved but mentally fragile Nana attends that center.

More creative than mercenary, Carra convinces Jay to finance innovations to the Center’s antiquated programming. Her ingenuity injects new enthusiasm among the seniors, inspiring them to confront and reverse the regrets of their past. An unlikely romance develops.

But when Carra’s memoir-writing class prompts Jay’s Nana to skip town in search of a lost love, the two take off on a cross-country, soul-searching chase that will either deepen their relationship or tear them apart forever.


Reviews:

Charming, funny, and heartwarming, The Queen of Second Chances is not just a love story where two people discover each other, it is a story of self-discovery. Like all good romances, this one starts with the two main characters loathing each other before slowly realizing that they are perfect together. But before either Jay or Carra can come to that realization, they have to work through their personal shortcomings. Carra feels like a failure and is unable to get past her mother’s desertion of her as a child. Jay, while his helping people who desperately need rescuing demonstrates his fundamental goodness, puts a little too much emphasis on wealth and status. Helping a group of seniors find fulfillment is the catalyst that allows both the main characters to embrace changing their own lives and then ultimately embrace each other. A joy to read, The Queen of Second Chances is the perfect mood lifter in these stressful times. – S. Lee Manning, author of the critically acclaimed thriller, Trojan Horse - FIVE STARS!

The Queen of Second Chances by D.M. Barr is a beautifully written story of two lost souls brought together by fate. Carra was such a wonderful character, her warmth and kindness towards others were admirable. She also put others’ needs before her own safety and this was highlighted during the car scene outside the Garrison house. She was perfectly matched to Jay. Although he seemed to enjoy a materialistic lifestyle, I feel he had a really good heart and when he met Carra, he found the missing piece in his life. My absolute favorite character was Helen; she was extremely insightful and wise even though she was suffering from the onset of dementia. Her words of wisdom throughout were poignant and powerful, especially her views on looking back in life: “It’s more important to heed the present because that’s what it is, a gift. Nothing lasts long in this life, which is why every moment matters. You can’t take anything or anyone for granted.” I found the relationship between Jay and Carra developed gradually and the dialogue exchanges between them were very realistic. I loved the twist towards the end concerning Jay’s background and the nail-biting ending was brilliant. I feel there are so many underlying messages throughout too. For example, live for the moment, never be afraid to chase your dreams, and forgive yourself for mistakes you have made in your past. I highly recommend this novel. – Lesley Jones, for Readers’ Favorite - FIVE STARS!

The Queen of Second Chances by D.M. Barr is a lovely, deftly written romantic comedy that fans of the genre will love. – Edith Wairimu for Readers’ Favorite



Book Excerpt:


Chapter One


I couldn’t take my eyes off the man. He came barreling into the recreational center at SALAD—Seniors Awaiting Lunch and Dinner, Rock Canyon’s answer to Meals on Wheels—as I sat in the outer office, awaiting my job interview. He was tall, but not too tall. His expensive suit barely concealed an athletic physique that fell just shy of a slavish devotion to muscle mass. Early thirties, I estimated, and monied. Honey-blond curly hair, blue eyes, high cheekbones, chiseled features, gold-rimmed glasses, and of course, dimples. Why did there always have to be dimples? They were my kryptonite, rendering me powerless to resist.


I nicknamed him Adonis, Donny for short, lest anyone accuse me of being pretentious. He was the stuff of every girl’s dreams, especially if that girl was as masochistic as yours truly. Men like that didn’t fall for ordinary girls like me, gals more Cocoa Puff than Coco Chanel, more likely to run their pantyhose than strut the runway. I leaned back on the leather couch, laid down my half-completed application, and prepared to enjoy the view. Then he opened his mouth, and the attraction withered like a popped balloon.


“I want to speak to Judith. Now. Is she here?” The sharpness of his voice put Ginsu knives to shame. It was jagged enough to slash open memories of my mother’s own barely contained temper when refereeing sibling disputes between Nikki and me. Well, at least until she prematurely retired her whistle and skipped town for good.


The attendant working the main desk looked fresh out of nursing school and had obviously missed the lecture on dealing with difficult clients. She sputtered, held up both hands in surrender, and retreated into the administration office, reemerging with an older woman whose guff-be-gone demeanor softened as she got closer. Her name tag read, “Judith Ferester,” the woman scheduled to conduct my interview. She took one look at Donny, sighed as if to say, <i>Here we go again</i>, and plastered on her requisite customer service smile.


“Mr. Prentiss, to what do we owe the honor of this visit?” she asked in a tone sweet enough to make my teeth hurt.


“Judith, I thought we had this discussion before. I trust you to take care of my nana, but day after day, I discover goings-on that are utterly unacceptable. Maybe we shouldn’t have added the senior center, just limited SALAD to meal delivery. Last week you served chips and a roll at lunch? That’s too many carbs. This week, I find someone is duping her out of her pocket change. No one is going to take advantage of her good nature, not under my watch.”


I half-expected him to spit on the ground. Was such venom contagious? I didn’t want my prospective employer in a foul mood when she reviewed my application. I really, really needed this job.


“Mr. Prentiss,” Judith answered, her patronizing smile frozen in place, “I assure you that your championing of our senior center was well founded. The reason your nana isn’t complaining is that she receives the utmost care. She is one of our dearest visitors. Everyone loves her.”


“Tell me then, what is this?” Donny—scratch that, Mr. Prentiss—drew a scrap of paper from his pocket and flung it onto the counter. I leaned forward to make out the object of his disdain. Then, thinking better of it, I relaxed and watched as this melodrama played itself out.


Judith glanced down at the paper. “This? It’s a scoresheet. They play gin for ten cents a hand. We monitor everything that goes on here; your grandmother is not being conned out of her life savings. You have my word.”


Prentiss shook his head so vigorously his gold-rimmed glasses worked their way down to the tip of his perfect nose. He pushed them back with obvious annoyance. Even when he was acting like a jerk, his dimples were captivating. Would they be even more alluring if he smiled? Did he smile…like, ever?


“It’s not the amount that worries me. It’s the act itself. Many seniors here are memory impaired. How can you condone gambling between people who aren’t coherent? Could you please keep a closer eye on things? Otherwise, I’m afraid I’ll have to take my nana—and my support—to the center I’ve heard about across the river.”


Without waiting for Judith’s response, Prentiss departed as brusquely as he’d arrived. Ah, the entitlement of the rich. Walk over everyone, then storm off. He never even noticed my presence. Just as well, considering my purpose for being there. Even if I wasn’t sorry to see the back end of his temper, his rear end was pleasant enough to watch as he exited, I noted with a guilty shudder.


Judith shook her head, rolled her eyes, and let out a huff. Then she noticed me. “I’m so sorry you had to overhear that. I’m the director here. How can I help you?”


“I’m Carraway Quinn. Everyone calls me Carra. I have an appointment for the recreational aide position.”


Judith typed a few keystrokes into the main desk’s computer. “Ah yes, Ms. Quinn. Carraway, like the seed?”


“Something like that,” I said with a smile.


They always guessed, but no one got it right. Some man would, one day. That’s what my mother said a million years ago, when she still lived within earshot. One man would figure it out, and that’s how I’d know he was the one for me. Not that it mattered right now. I had bigger problems than finding a new boyfriend.


“Tell me, would I have to deal with people like that all day?” I tilted my head in the direction of Prentiss’s contrail.


“What can I say? He loves his nana.” Judith shrugged, staring at the door. “Though I’ve never seen him lash out like that before. He’s usually so calm.” She quickly shifted into public relations mode. “Jay Prentiss is one of our biggest contributors. It’s only because of his generosity that we have this senior center and can afford to hire a recreational aide.” She beckoned me into the inner office. “Shall we proceed?”


I followed, but I had my doubts. I belonged in the editorial office of a magazine or on a book tour for my perennially unfinished novel, not at a senior center. This job was my stepmother’s idea, not mine. Calling it an idea was being generous; it was more like a scheme, and the elderly deserved better than someone sent here to deceive them. I was the embodiment of what Jay Prentiss worried about most.


The interview lasted less than ten minutes, as if Judith was going through the formalities but had already decided to hire me. I was to start my orientation the following day. I shook her hand and thanked her, all the while wishing I were anywhere else.


Afterward, I wandered into the recreation area, where I’d be spending most of my time. The room was dingy, teeming with doleful seniors watching television, playing cards, or staring off into space. A few complained among themselves about a jigsaw puzzle they were unable to finish because the last pieces were missing. I wondered how many had lost their spouses and came to the center out of loneliness, their children too busy with their own lives to visit. It was a heartbreaking thought.


Jay Prentiss was complaining about carbs and gambling when he should have been concentrating on ennui. The seniors’ dismal expressions told me they were visiting SALAD more out of desperation than opportunity. It was clear they needed an injection of enthusiasm, not some aide looking to unsettle their lives. It came down to my conscience. Could it triumph against my stepmother’s directives and my plummeting bank account?


---


Excerpt from The Queen of Second Chances by D.M. Barr.  Copyright © 2021 by D.M. Barr. Reproduced with permission from D.M. Barr. All rights reserved.





My Book Review:


In The Queen Of Second Chances, author D.M. Barr weaves a lighthearted romantic tale of friendship, love and second chances.

Set in the Hudson Valley town of Rock Canyon, the reader is easily drawn into this entertaining story as they follow Carra Quinn and Jay Prentiss as they navigate the trials and tribulations of life and second chances.

Carra Quinn is a recent college graduate who wants to be a novelist. While trying to break into the literary profession, money is tight, and she is reluctantly pushed by her step-mother Bea to get her real estate agent license in order to help her score sales at the real estate agency she works at. Bea talks Carra into applying for a recreational aide position at a local senior center, and utilize her marketing scheme to talk the seniors into downsizing and list their homes with the real estate agency. But once Carra starts working at the senior center, she realizes that the senior center recreational program needs to be revitalized, and that some of the seniors really need help in their personal lives as well, and doing her step-mother's scheme is not what she is going to do, earning her the nickname "the queen of second chances" from the seniors. 

Jay Prentiss is a successful elder care attorney who also has political aspirations. Jay's beloved Nana is a senior client at the local senior center, and he is very protective of her since she raised him after his parents died in a car accident when he was eight years old. Jay is one of the senior center's biggest contributors, but he's met his match when he meets Carra, and she shows him that the seniors need to be taken better care of at the senior center, and recruits him to help her make those changes. 

Carra and Jay are both broken souls who have personal issues from their pasts that stymies them from having happiness in their lives, but can working together help them put their traumatic pasts behind them, and give them a second chance at finding love and happiness? 

The Queen Of Second Chances is an enjoyable romantic comedy that easily keeps the reader engaged as they follow Carra and Jay's story. Told in the alternating first person narrative by Carra and third person narrative by Jay, the reader follows along as their unexpected meeting helps them not only help the lifestyles of the seniors at the senior center, but also helps both of them gain a sense of self-discovery, and a second chance at finding love and happiness in their lives. 

There was a great mixture of emotion, drama, angst, humor, and crazy antics mixed in this story. The author does a great job of describing Carra and Jay's lives, especially with the flashbacks to their traumatic childhood memories throughout the story. You can't help but feel compassion for Carra and Jay as they face the ghosts from their pasts, and embrace the changes in their lives that helps them gain self-discovery, and find unexpected love along the way.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention how much I enjoyed reading about the seniors and their hilarious scenes at the senior center. As a retired nursing home administrator, who also ran a senior center (adult day care), I couldn't help but reminisce over the fun time that I had with the senior clients. The senior characters and the description of the recreational program and overall administration of the senior center brought back a lot of memories that made me smile. You can't help but laugh at the crazy antics that Carra and the seniors engage in, and when you add in the the bond that grows between Carra and Jay, you have a lighthearted tale that is so much more special. 

The Queen Of Second Chances is a heartfelt story that has enough emotional depth, drama, romance, comedy, and witty banter, that makes it a delightfully entertaining romantic comedy tale that romance fans will certainly enjoy!


RATING: 5 STARS 




About The Author



By day, author D.M. Barr is a mild-mannered salesperson, wife, mother, rescuer of senior shelter dogs, competitive trivia player and author groupie, happily living just north of New York City. By night, an author of sex, suspense and satire.

My background includes stints in travel marketing, travel journalism, meeting planning, public relations and real estate. I was, for a long and happy time, an award-winning magazine writer and editor. Then kids happened. And I needed to actually make money. Now they’re off doing whatever it is they do (of which I have no idea since they won’t friend me on Facebook) and I can spend my spare time weaving tales of debauchery and whatever else tickles my fancy.

The main thing to remember about my work is that I am NOT one of my characters. For example, as a real estate broker, I’ve never played Bondage Bingo in one of my empty listings or offed anyone at my local diet clinic. And I haven’t run away from home in fear that my husband was planning to off me.

But that’s not to say that I haven’t wanted to…






Contest Giveaway

Win A $10 Amazon Gift Card





This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Providence Book Promotions for D.M. Barr. There will be 1 winner of one (1) Amazon.com Gift Card (U.S. ONLY). The giveaway runs July 1, 2021 through August 1, 2021. Void where prohibited. 








07/01 Showcase @ The Bookwyrm

07/02 Guest post @ Curlygrannylovestoread

07/03 Interview @ A Blue Million Books

07/05 Guest post @ The Book Divas Reads

07/06 Review @ sunny island breezes

07/08 Review @ Wall-to-wall Books

07/08 Showcase @ Novels Alive

07/09 Review @ Quiet Fury Books

07/10 Interview/showcase @ Author Elena Taylors Blog

07/11 Review @ Book Reviews From an Avid Reader

07/12 Review @ I Read What You Write

07/15 Guest post @ CMash Reads

07/16 Interview @ B for bookreview

07/16 Review @ Jersey Girl Book Reviews

07/21 Review @ pages_and_pups

07/22 Showcase @ Celticladys Reviews

07/23 Review @ Avonna Loves Genres

07/26 Review @ Novels Alive

07/27 Review @ Hott Books

07/28 Review @ Cassidys Bookshelves

07/29 Review @ Margaret Yelton

07/30 Review @ nanasbookreviews







No comments:

Post a Comment