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kelly_e's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Title: Second Chances in New Port Stephen
Author: T.J. Alexander
Genre: Romance
Rating: 4.00
Pub Date: December 5, 2023
I received a complimentary eARC from Simon & Schuster Canada via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #Gifted
T H R E E • W O R D S
Funny • Nostalgic • Warm
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Eli Ward hasn’t been back to his suffocating hometown of New Port Stephen, Florida, in ages. Post-transition and sober, he’s a completely different person from the one who left years ago. But when a scandal threatens his career as a TV writer and comedian, he has no choice but to return home for the holidays. He can only hope he’ll survive his boisterous, loving, but often misguided family and hide the fact that his dream of comedy success has become a nightmare.
Just when he thinks this trip couldn’t get any worse, Eli bumps into his high school ex, Nick Wu, who’s somehow hotter than ever. Divorced and in his forties, Nick’s world revolves around his father, his daughter, and his job. But even a busy life can’t keep him from being intrigued by the reappearance of Eli.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Second Chances in New Port Stephen is the third book I've read from T.J. Alexander and they are an author I will continue to read for simple pleasure. Each of their books offers me something different and contain underrepresented characters. This one with a holiday twist.
Told from the POVs of Nick and Eli, this middle-aged, interracial, second-chance romance was an absolute delight. The character development is fantastic and the moments with Zoe were so sweet and wholesome. It was also encouraging to see the evolution of Eli's family from start to end.
Despite touching on the current anti-trans legislation and growing anti-trans sentiment in Florida, the author manages to keep the narrative lighthearted, even while tackling some serious topics. I greatly appreciated the honest exploration of sobriety as an ongoing process. There are also some hard (and necessary) conversations throughout the book.
Although it is set during the holiday period, it could easily be read at any point of the year. The festive season doesn't play a crucial role in the plot and its easy to forget it is even set during that timeframe.
Second Chances in New Port Stephen was such a refreshing way to kick of Pride month. The conversations in T.J. Alexander's books are relevant and informative, I always come away having learned something. I am looking forward to reading their latest release Triple Sec and whatever else they write in the future.
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• second-chance romance
• queer romance
• mid-life romance
⚠️ CW: sexual content, transphobia, alcoholism, death, death of parent, car accident, anti-Asian racism, divorce, cursing, xenophobia, outing
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"I've concluded that I need to stop worrying so much about what the future holds. I want to be happy when I can be."
Author: T.J. Alexander
Genre: Romance
Rating: 4.00
Pub Date: December 5, 2023
I received a complimentary eARC from Simon & Schuster Canada via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #Gifted
T H R E E • W O R D S
Funny • Nostalgic • Warm
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Eli Ward hasn’t been back to his suffocating hometown of New Port Stephen, Florida, in ages. Post-transition and sober, he’s a completely different person from the one who left years ago. But when a scandal threatens his career as a TV writer and comedian, he has no choice but to return home for the holidays. He can only hope he’ll survive his boisterous, loving, but often misguided family and hide the fact that his dream of comedy success has become a nightmare.
Just when he thinks this trip couldn’t get any worse, Eli bumps into his high school ex, Nick Wu, who’s somehow hotter than ever. Divorced and in his forties, Nick’s world revolves around his father, his daughter, and his job. But even a busy life can’t keep him from being intrigued by the reappearance of Eli.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Second Chances in New Port Stephen is the third book I've read from T.J. Alexander and they are an author I will continue to read for simple pleasure. Each of their books offers me something different and contain underrepresented characters. This one with a holiday twist.
Told from the POVs of Nick and Eli, this middle-aged, interracial, second-chance romance was an absolute delight. The character development is fantastic and the moments with Zoe were so sweet and wholesome. It was also encouraging to see the evolution of Eli's family from start to end.
Despite touching on the current anti-trans legislation and growing anti-trans sentiment in Florida, the author manages to keep the narrative lighthearted, even while tackling some serious topics. I greatly appreciated the honest exploration of sobriety as an ongoing process. There are also some hard (and necessary) conversations throughout the book.
Although it is set during the holiday period, it could easily be read at any point of the year. The festive season doesn't play a crucial role in the plot and its easy to forget it is even set during that timeframe.
Second Chances in New Port Stephen was such a refreshing way to kick of Pride month. The conversations in T.J. Alexander's books are relevant and informative, I always come away having learned something. I am looking forward to reading their latest release Triple Sec and whatever else they write in the future.
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• second-chance romance
• queer romance
• mid-life romance
⚠️ CW: sexual content, transphobia, alcoholism, death, death of parent, car accident, anti-Asian racism, divorce, cursing, xenophobia, outing
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"I've concluded that I need to stop worrying so much about what the future holds. I want to be happy when I can be."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing, Racism, and Death of parent
Minor: Outing, Alcoholism, Car accident, Transphobia, and Xenophobia
anti-Asian racism, divorcejoensign's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, and Transphobia
Minor: Death of parent, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Car accident
amarreth's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Transphobia, Racism, and Homophobia
shannonweiss's review against another edition
emotional
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I loved Eli and Nick and their relationship, this was a great romance story. I am not a huge fan of the miscommunication trope though, which was the only thing that I disliked about the book, but the writing was good and I will be checking out more from TJ Alexander.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia
louisekf's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Deadnaming, Transphobia, and Sexual content
lovelyandmorbid's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
TJ Alexander's best work yet. They really know how to write trans people. Miscommunication done realistically. I liked how the conflict with the parents was handled.
Content Warnings
Minor: Transphobia
The character does not experience transphobia directly, rather experience anxiety about living a legally very transphobic place (Florida)hazelgirl21's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Homophobia and Transphobia
kfmcf's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This book has sold me on TJ Alexander. The characters are so lovely and interesting and layered. This was incredible representation of a trans man as well as someone coming to terms with a change in sexuality later in life. Also BLESS for these characters being in their late 30s/early 40s and still learning about themselves.
Eli's flaws are so real and endearing. He's struggling but he's still got a cockiness (yes) and confidence that adds a charm. He's just who he is and that's not what is keeping him from achieving his goals. Nick is just a doll, I just love him and his whole journey. And the rep of having good co-parenting was chef's kiss (no pun intended for Alexander's other work, I swear). Finally, his daughter is a well-written child, for once. She may have been written slightly too old, but it wasn't infantilizing which grates me.
The only place this book really lost me was the pacing of the end. It all seemed to come together a bit too rapidly and the epilogue left more questions than answers for me. But that's so so small.
I'm sharing this book with everyone who enjoys queer lit and/or romance. One of my fav reads of 2023.
Eli's flaws are so real and endearing. He's struggling but he's still got a cockiness (yes) and confidence that adds a charm. He's just who he is and that's not what is keeping him from achieving his goals. Nick is just a doll, I just love him and his whole journey. And the rep of having good co-parenting was chef's kiss (no pun intended for Alexander's other work, I swear). Finally, his daughter is a well-written child, for once. She may have been written slightly too old, but it wasn't infantilizing which grates me.
The only place this book really lost me was the pacing of the end. It all seemed to come together a bit too rapidly and the epilogue left more questions than answers for me. But that's so so small.
I'm sharing this book with everyone who enjoys queer lit and/or romance. One of my fav reads of 2023.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Death of parent, and Sexual content
Moderate: Homophobia and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Outing
the_vegan_bookworm's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Transphobia, Alcoholism, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
blotchedspots's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I signed up for this book at the library the moment I found out it was a thing at the end of Chef's Choice. I loved it and it was a wonderful book. It's so great to have an author doing sex scenes with trans bodies and having a character who isn't having a gay panic about his potential not-straightness. TJ Alexander keeps up with their typical "if these characters just asked a blunt question, a lot of stuff would be quickly resolved", but it works best in this book due to the Christmas nonsense that keeps us all too busy sometimes as well as with one of the character's potentially dealing with a huge upheaval in his life at the same time he misunderstands a conversation.
I look forward to the next book that TJ Alexander might come out with.
I look forward to the next book that TJ Alexander might come out with.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia
Minor: Xenophobia, Racism, and Homophobia
There is a shitty ex-MIL of one of the main characters who is a very typical conservative "I'm always the victim type" so if you find that triggering or just plain hate them, be prepared.