Review: Loved it!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 15, 2014
Last Second Chance is a book that hit me right in the gut when I least expected it.Stella Jo Chandler is at first glance a beautiful, but for lack of a better expression, cold fish. Her parents barely noticed her when she stopped racing horses, she breaks up with her boyfriend and doesn’t seem to care that he’s dating her roommate. She doesn’t connect with or get attached to people – just strives to be the best at everything she does.  She jumps at the chance to work at Second Chance Ranch, a facility that helps high profile clients get over their addiction, to get away from it all and reinvent herself.Van Ransom seemed like your typical “I party all the time because I’m entitled to” rock star. Dropped at Second Chance Ranch by his manager so that he can straighten himself out before he gets his band dumped by their label, he doesn’t seem like he’s going to do anything with himself at the ranch other than take up space.  He runs into Stella, and somehow they both feel an instant attraction and connection.They can’t happen for so many reasons.  “Clients” and staff have a strict no fraternization policy at the ranch, and Van and Stella seem like complete polar opposites. But the more you get to know the both of them, and see them together, you realize they are in fact very much the same.  They both are afraid to deal with their feelings of loneliness, they just act on it in different ways.  They see each other at face value, not how many races can Stella win, or the fame and fortune of Van and his band.  Van makes Stella feel things for the very first time – and although Van insists that he’s not the right man for her, she doesn’t care and goes all in.“You make me feel, Van.  You’re the first one to ever make me feel.  So if you think I can’t handle it, you’re wrong…”Van and Stella had explosive chemistry. You felt the longing between them so much it became palpable. The sex scenes were unbelievably hot, and brought out the intense connection they had. Stella was actually living for the moment and loving everything Van did to her (rock stars know a thing or two about how to make it interesting) – not thinking about plans or her compartmentalized life. Van didn’t need drugs or alcohol to block out his feelings, he was high on Stella.“Because in losing myself, I found my soul.”By the end of this book, I loved Stella and Van, and hoped they would somehow survive the inevitable complications that could tear them apart.  I reread the last 10% because I didn’t want it to end.  I loved this story, and am excited to read more from Caisey Quinn!