Second First Impressions is one of those books that will either click with you or it won’t. It’s a little offbeat, a little quirky, and for me, a lot delightful. Sally Thorne serves up a slow burn in her twist on a workplace romance.
If you’ve ever felt like you’re stuck in a rut and wasted half your 20s, Second First Impressions is for you.
If you love when a hero first looks like a slick charmer, but actually turns out to be a vulnerable, squishy cinnamon roll, Second First Impressions is for you.
Ruthie Midona has worked at Providence Retirement Villas for the last six years. She fell into the job, but likes it fine; gets along great with the residents; and yet, half her 20s have passed her by. She barely leaves the property, has few friends under the age of 75 and her last boyfriend was…her prom date. Then, she meets Teddy Prescott, son of the property developer who owns the retirement villa. His dad assigns him to whatever job, any job, at the villa. And oh, Ruthie has just the job for him, personal assistant to Agnes and Renata Parloni, two of the villas most notorious residents.
I loved how Sally Thorne took what looks like a typical pairing and gave it real emotional resonance. On the surface, Ruthie looks like the inexperienced heroine who doesn’t know just how great she is. Teddy is a ridiculously charming cool dude who takes and takes and takes and will just break her heart. But what’s going on in Second First Impressions is more interesting and nuanced and complex. Hence, the slow burn.
It’s a book with some great lines, a lot of very funny internal dialogue, and plenty of laughs thanks to the Parlonis. Oh, to be a 90-year-old who can say and do whatever she wants!! I usually roll my eyes when reviews say a book has real heart, but dang it, this one does.
We get the HEA we want, and if some of the other threads wind themselves up a little too conveniently, whatever. I can’t get mad about it. People need things to work out right now!
P.S. Sally is keeping up her usual thing where a setting really isn’t specified, though Ruthie eats tins of soup and we know the villa is near some body of water, but also provides habitat for tortoises. So that clears everything up, right? :D
4 stars
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