This month, I’m featuring second chance romances. This is probably my favorite trope and one I return to often in my books. There’s something so seductive about lovers having another chance to get it right. Here are a few of my favorites.

Third Time Lucky was the first contemporary romance I wrote, and it’s a second chance romance. Philippa had a crush on Nick in high school, but thought he was too cool to take her seriously (even though they shared a very special moment once). He comes back to town and asks for her help—but Phil’s not the same shy starry-eyed girl she used to be and isn’t interested in just being useful, even for Nick. I love how these two unravel their tangled past and build a future together. Third Time Lucky is also book one of the Coxwell Series – the other three books tell the stories of Phil’s brothers.

Just One More Time is book two of the Flatiron Five Fitness series. Kyle and Lauren had a fling years ago, before Kyle realized that Lauren was Tyler’s sister—and before Tyler warned Kyle never to get involved with any of his sisters. When Lauren’s husband messes around, it’s Kyle who brings her the bad news—because her husband has been caught in the act on a security video at the fitness club. She turns to Kyle for consolation. She knows he can’t commit to more than pleasure, but that’s exactly what Lauren thinks she needs. I love how well she understands Kyle, and how she refuses to demand more of him that she thinks he can give. But Kyle has grown since their fling and Lauren’s presence in his life makes him realize what he’s been missing—I love that this time, he’s willing to fight for her love and their shared future.

Double Trouble is the second book in the Coxwell Series and a second chance romance with a bit of a twist: Maralys and James met years before, but he eventually married her twin sister. Maralys always thought that was because love triumphed over lust, but when her sister walks out on James, she learns the truth. There’s a lot of hostility and emotion between these two, but once they start to sort out what actually happened in the past, it’s not long before they have to acknowledge their true feelings—and recognize how good they are together. There are plenty of obstacles to the course of true love in this book but I like that James doesn’t let Maralys just slip away again.

No surprise that Theo’s book, Just One Second Chance, is a second chance romance! This is book #6 of the Flatiron Five Fitness series and an interracial romance. No one is more surprised than Theo when Lyssa appears in his life again, just as suddenly as she disappeared years before. Turns out that Lyssa has a secret, one that she was afraid to share, but she knows she has to finally tell Theo the truth. How can he forgive the woman he loved and lost, when he discovers that she’s hidden his son from him? These two have a lot of work to do to rebuild the trust they’ve lost, but Theo isn’t going to let Lyssa’s past choice stand in the path of their future.

Second chance romances tend to be emotional reads with high stakes, with secrets that have to be revealed and old wounds that need to be healed. Maybe that’s why I like them so much—I feel like the characters really have to work for their HEA. Do you love second chance romances? If so, tell me why.