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bookschaosnart's review against another edition
4.0
I recommend this one. It’s a second chance story filled with learning and growing as people! There’s also a cute kid. And I don’t normally do cute kids but Savannah is a treat.
latoinombra's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
iam's review
4.0
This was super sweet
Accepting the Fall is a second chance romanceabout Zander, a marine-turned-firefighter after finding out he has a daughter, and Cole, a kindergarden teacher. They originally met as teens on a military base in Germany while their parents are stationed there, a meeting that left one of them heartbroken and the other with regrets. As the setup suggests, they meet again when Cole becomes Zander's daughter's teacher.
Their romance is very sweet with little drama and the story is made out of many small threads that make up their lifes outside of the romance.
That includes Savanah, Zander's five year old daughter, who has her own struggles, closely tied up with how Zander is still trying to figure out how to be a single dad after the girl was put on his doorstep with a bag and a note from a one-night-stand years ago. Additionally, Zander is still dealing with the effects his asshole father's upbringing has on his relationships with other people, as well as fitting in with his new job.
Cole in the meantime has friends, family, lots of babies (dogs, cats, cows, horses and more) but he has his own baggage too, a boyfriend who's "safe" but not much more, divorced parents who won't tell him what's wrong even when there's obviously something going on, bad memories that keep coming up and of course the man who broke his heart seventeen years ago suddenly being back in his life...
Accepting the Fall is a very lovely read with low angst and low stakes in general, which makes it very pleasant to read with its calm atmosphere, lovable characters, and just so many nice little details of everyday life that keep it fresh and engaging.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Accepting the Fall is a second chance romanceabout Zander, a marine-turned-firefighter after finding out he has a daughter, and Cole, a kindergarden teacher. They originally met as teens on a military base in Germany while their parents are stationed there, a meeting that left one of them heartbroken and the other with regrets. As the setup suggests, they meet again when Cole becomes Zander's daughter's teacher.
Their romance is very sweet with little drama and the story is made out of many small threads that make up their lifes outside of the romance.
That includes Savanah, Zander's five year old daughter, who has her own struggles, closely tied up with how Zander is still trying to figure out how to be a single dad after the girl was put on his doorstep with a bag and a note from a one-night-stand years ago. Additionally, Zander is still dealing with the effects his asshole father's upbringing has on his relationships with other people, as well as fitting in with his new job.
Cole in the meantime has friends, family, lots of babies (dogs, cats, cows, horses and more) but he has his own baggage too, a boyfriend who's "safe" but not much more, divorced parents who won't tell him what's wrong even when there's obviously something going on, bad memories that keep coming up and of course the man who broke his heart seventeen years ago suddenly being back in his life...
Accepting the Fall is a very lovely read with low angst and low stakes in general, which makes it very pleasant to read with its calm atmosphere, lovable characters, and just so many nice little details of everyday life that keep it fresh and engaging.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
leahkarge's review
4.0
A great second chance romance that I really enjoyed! Read the full review on my blog!
suze_1624's review
4.0
3.75*
A fairly easy going character driven story about childhood friends/sweethearts (though only one was invested) meeting 17 years later and learning to like each other again and basically grow up.
To be fair Cole’s character is fairly put together though love is a battle for him - love is easy, intimacy isn’t.
Zander has learned from his father and the military to push all emotion down so his journey, helped by having Savannah, is much more difficult and rocky.
We get small snippets of when they were teens but not all their history.
Pure Character driven stories usually leave me feeling like I’ve missed a plot line but I did enjoy this one and it was pacy and engaging.
A fairly easy going character driven story about childhood friends/sweethearts (though only one was invested) meeting 17 years later and learning to like each other again and basically grow up.
To be fair Cole’s character is fairly put together though love is a battle for him - love is easy, intimacy isn’t.
Zander has learned from his father and the military to push all emotion down so his journey, helped by having Savannah, is much more difficult and rocky.
We get small snippets of when they were teens but not all their history.
Pure Character driven stories usually leave me feeling like I’ve missed a plot line but I did enjoy this one and it was pacy and engaging.
shelbanuadh's review
3.0
This was enjoyable. I'm not a huge fan of the 'reunited after x years' romances, but this one was more enjoyable for me than most. My only issues would be a) the fact that the incident that happened to Cole is mentioned in passing twice but never really touched upon, which makes it seem like it was only thrown in there to give him a traumatic past and b) the epilogue, partially because I dislike time jump epilogues and partially because it was done in Savanah's POV as opposed to either of the MCs.
cadiva's review
3.0
The epilogue went a long way in making up for my general state of "it's okay" which existed for the vast majority of this novella.
On paper it had everything which should have made it a winner for me - second chance lovers, former childhood friends, hurt comfort, animals and a cute kid - but it just never seemed to mix together into the right ingredients.
Cole annoyed me for a lot of the book as he had a boyfriend and, while there absolutely wasn't any cheating in this, his attitude towards Patrick before Zander was even on the scene was a bit lacking.
Once Zander did arrive, it became clear poor Patrick would be getting the heave ho and I felt sorry for him.
There's also supposed to be this driving attraction and passion left over from when they were 16/17 which had never gone away or been beaten by other lovers but I just never felt it until almost the very end of the story.
Still, it's not a bad story by any stretch of the imagination and the epilogue is really sweet and jumps forward a reasonable amount to peek into life once Savannah grows up.
ETA: One thing which I've just been reminded off via another excellent review for this novella by Nile Princess: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2000280061
There is a beautiful man on the cover and while I don't expect great detail to be gone into about the ethnicity of the characters, I do expect, if one of them is a POC and has been used on the cover of a book (which itself is pretty rare sadly), that at some point within the narrative it would be obvious WHICH character it is.
This doesn't happen until almost the end of the book. And it irritated me. And yes Zander's (you're welcome) ethnicity isn't a driving force in his behaviour but throughout the whole book I had a niggling "which one is the guy on the cover" thought going on which was distracting.
#ARC kindly provided by the author in return for an honest and unbiased review.
On paper it had everything which should have made it a winner for me - second chance lovers, former childhood friends, hurt comfort, animals and a cute kid - but it just never seemed to mix together into the right ingredients.
Cole annoyed me for a lot of the book as he had a boyfriend and, while there absolutely wasn't any cheating in this, his attitude towards Patrick before Zander was even on the scene was a bit lacking.
Once Zander did arrive, it became clear poor Patrick would be getting the heave ho and I felt sorry for him.
There's also supposed to be this driving attraction and passion left over from when they were 16/17 which had never gone away or been beaten by other lovers but I just never felt it until almost the very end of the story.
Still, it's not a bad story by any stretch of the imagination and the epilogue is really sweet and jumps forward a reasonable amount to peek into life once Savannah grows up.
ETA: One thing which I've just been reminded off via another excellent review for this novella by Nile Princess: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2000280061
There is a beautiful man on the cover and while I don't expect great detail to be gone into about the ethnicity of the characters, I do expect, if one of them is a POC and has been used on the cover of a book (which itself is pretty rare sadly), that at some point within the narrative it would be obvious WHICH character it is.
This doesn't happen until almost the end of the book. And it irritated me. And yes Zander's (you're welcome) ethnicity isn't a driving force in his behaviour but throughout the whole book I had a niggling "which one is the guy on the cover" thought going on which was distracting.
#ARC kindly provided by the author in return for an honest and unbiased review.
alextweetsbooks's review
4.0
This was the second ‘second-chance’ trope book I read…In a row. But it was very different from the first one. Since this one features a teacher, I almost had to like it. And the images of adorable kids.
Cole, a kindergarten teacher has probably had to have dealt with numerous children. But after this particular children comes and causes problems, his past will catch up with him. He is in a committed, if a little boring relationship, but Savannah’s father comes around and might wreck it all.
Zander has had his daughter dumped on him by her unnamed mother. Having been raised by an abusive father in the military, who also had those preconceived notions about what boys are supposed to be like, Zander has loads of problems dealing with his daughter. It gets worse considering the trauma Savannah has been through.
I like how Cole and Zander eventually reconnect and re-establish relationship. They have a lot of catching up to do, obviously, but they go slow-ish and do not jump into it too much. I also liked how Cole’s mother defended him and was suspicious of Zander, still remembering how he broke her son’s heart.
Another huge plus of the book have been the animals. Cole has a big estate and a variety of animals. He helps shelters and wants to foster animals, but gets too attached to them to let them leave again, so he has a lot of them.
The minus thing, why the book was knocked to 3.5 stars instead of 5? The ending felt a bit, what I say Harry-Potter-ish. We leave the family when Savannah is still about 5 years old and suddenly, it’s 13 years later. It was a bit of a meeh moment for me and I’m not really fond of those kinds of endings.
Cole, a kindergarten teacher has probably had to have dealt with numerous children. But after this particular children comes and causes problems, his past will catch up with him. He is in a committed, if a little boring relationship, but Savannah’s father comes around and might wreck it all.
Zander has had his daughter dumped on him by her unnamed mother. Having been raised by an abusive father in the military, who also had those preconceived notions about what boys are supposed to be like, Zander has loads of problems dealing with his daughter. It gets worse considering the trauma Savannah has been through.
I like how Cole and Zander eventually reconnect and re-establish relationship. They have a lot of catching up to do, obviously, but they go slow-ish and do not jump into it too much. I also liked how Cole’s mother defended him and was suspicious of Zander, still remembering how he broke her son’s heart.
Another huge plus of the book have been the animals. Cole has a big estate and a variety of animals. He helps shelters and wants to foster animals, but gets too attached to them to let them leave again, so he has a lot of them.
The minus thing, why the book was knocked to 3.5 stars instead of 5? The ending felt a bit, what I say Harry-Potter-ish. We leave the family when Savannah is still about 5 years old and suddenly, it’s 13 years later. It was a bit of a meeh moment for me and I’m not really fond of those kinds of endings.
silviasilviareadsbooks's review
5.0
I was sent this book as an advanced copy for reviewing purposes, but all opinions are my own.
I loved this second-chance romance so much, without realizing it I even finished it within one single day (more like single evening) and that never happens because I'm a very slow reader.
The story is about Cole, a gay kindergarten teacher, and Zander, a Black bisexual firefighter whose daughter is in Cole's class. Cole and Zander both grew up on military bases and they meet each other again after almost two decades of having had a relationship that ended abruptly as teens.
It's hard to find anything I didn't like about this book, to be honest.
I loved the single-parent aspect, and how Zander didn't really know what to do with a little kid (he only had her for a few months because her mom dropped her on his doorstep and disappeared) but how he loved her so much and always wanted to do what was best for her. He is working as a firefighter and his job makes him a little absent from his daughter's life at first but he learns to do things with her and how to be a great dad. I also loved that this wasn't a story about him coming out and that his colleagues and friends knew about him being bisexual and nobody had a problem with it.
Cole was a sweetheart and he loves the kids he's teaching and seeing him with all his pets and farm animals had me so soft. He is also in an established relationship at the beginning of the book, which is something that initially I didn't like because I never know where a story might go from there. Fortunately there was no cheating and instead we were given enough time (I believe in the book a few months passed) to see why his current boyfriend wasn't good for him. It's not that he was a bad guy or anything (I also hate when someone is in an abusive relationship and finds a new partner, because I'm never sure that they love the new partner or if they're really just looking for something better). In fact, the guy was great on paper, but just not what Cole needed in his life.
Once things with Cole's ex ended, the romance took up from there. Cole and Zander's dates were so adorable and once they started dating there was no real obstacle to their romance. Most of the conflict was from their time together when they were teens, and I loved seeing snippets from the past to understand what had gone right and what had gone wrong.
I also liked the focus on Savanah's mental health and trauma of her mom leaving her and how she interacted with the world (mostly Zander and Cole, but also the other kids) because of it. I just wanted to hug her and make sure she was okay and I cried with that epilogue because yes, she turns out okay and loved.
So, I can't recommend this book enough if you want to read a cute second-chance romance with a single parent trope and an out and proud bisexual Black man.
TW: mentions of past homophobia, past break up, car accident, hospitals, child abandonment
I loved this second-chance romance so much, without realizing it I even finished it within one single day (more like single evening) and that never happens because I'm a very slow reader.
The story is about Cole, a gay kindergarten teacher, and Zander, a Black bisexual firefighter whose daughter is in Cole's class. Cole and Zander both grew up on military bases and they meet each other again after almost two decades of having had a relationship that ended abruptly as teens.
It's hard to find anything I didn't like about this book, to be honest.
I loved the single-parent aspect, and how Zander didn't really know what to do with a little kid (he only had her for a few months because her mom dropped her on his doorstep and disappeared) but how he loved her so much and always wanted to do what was best for her. He is working as a firefighter and his job makes him a little absent from his daughter's life at first but he learns to do things with her and how to be a great dad. I also loved that this wasn't a story about him coming out and that his colleagues and friends knew about him being bisexual and nobody had a problem with it.
Cole was a sweetheart and he loves the kids he's teaching and seeing him with all his pets and farm animals had me so soft. He is also in an established relationship at the beginning of the book, which is something that initially I didn't like because I never know where a story might go from there. Fortunately there was no cheating and instead we were given enough time (I believe in the book a few months passed) to see why his current boyfriend wasn't good for him. It's not that he was a bad guy or anything (I also hate when someone is in an abusive relationship and finds a new partner, because I'm never sure that they love the new partner or if they're really just looking for something better). In fact, the guy was great on paper, but just not what Cole needed in his life.
Once things with Cole's ex ended, the romance took up from there. Cole and Zander's dates were so adorable and once they started dating there was no real obstacle to their romance. Most of the conflict was from their time together when they were teens, and I loved seeing snippets from the past to understand what had gone right and what had gone wrong.
I also liked the focus on Savanah's mental health and trauma of her mom leaving her and how she interacted with the world (mostly Zander and Cole, but also the other kids) because of it. I just wanted to hug her and make sure she was okay and I cried with that epilogue because yes, she turns out okay and loved.
So, I can't recommend this book enough if you want to read a cute second-chance romance with a single parent trope and an out and proud bisexual Black man.
TW: mentions of past homophobia, past break up, car accident, hospitals, child abandonment