Second Time Around by Erin Kaye

‘Second Time Around’ is the third book by Northern Ireland author, Erin Kaye.

With a successful business and two loving children, divorcee Jennifer Irwin is quite content. But when her forty-fifth birthday approaches, Jennifer starts to feel lonely. Then she meets handsome and confident Ben Crawford, who is 16 years younger than her, and sweeps her straight of her feet. Knowing that the residents of their small town wouldn’t approve, they conduct their affair in private. But a secret is never a secret for long in such a small town like Ballyfergus.

Even though Erin Kaye is from Northern Ireland like myself, this is the first book that I have read by the local author and I was delighted by this story dealing with love and social acceptance.

Set in Ballyfergus, a small town outside Belfast. The town is primarily seen though the eyes of Jennifer, a divorced, successful interior designer, her children have grown up and her time is now her own. But, she meets Ben who is 16 years her junior and she has deal with the taboo subject of being the town’s cougar and being much to old for the young restauranteur.

I really enjoyed Jennifer, as the lead character. I thought she was a strong, vibrant woman who battled with her feelings whether that was with her new relationship with Ben or her volatile relationship with her daughter, Lucy, who she longed to get along with but were regularly at loggerheads over the simplest of things. Unknown to Jennifer, Lucy is harbouring a secret that leaves her feeling alone, that is until she meets Oren. I loved Oren, purely because of my dislike of the character, with his Christian viewpoints and manipulative behaviour, he was controlling and an interesting character to read as he developed through the story and as his overbearing and judgemental nature increased so did my urge to finish the the book!

‘Second Time Around’ is a wonderfully insightful story which deals with the controversial subjects of older women dating younger men and the pressures of Christianity. With an array of characters that had me absorbed from page 1, it was an addictive book. Warmly written and packed with colloquialisms that had me smiling and giggling throughout this book was a breath of fresh air and was definately a lovely introduction to one of Northern Ireland’s finest authors.

You can buy [amazon_link id=”1847562027″ target=”_blank” ] Second Time Around on Amazon [/amazon_link] and is available from good bookshops.