{"id":31088,"date":"2018-03-05T08:00:04","date_gmt":"2018-03-05T13:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=31088"},"modified":"2026-01-20T08:33:01","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T13:33:01","slug":"blog-tour-arc-review-then-there-was-you-second-chances-duet-1-by-claire-contreras","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=31088","title":{"rendered":"Blog Tour & ARC Review: Then There Was You (Second Chances Duet, #1) by Claire Contreras"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Then There Was You, an all-new second chance romance from New York Times<\/em> bestselling author Claire Contreras is LIVE!<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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Amazon US<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Amazon CA<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Amazon UK<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n

Download Today or Read FREE in Kindle Unlimited!<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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\r\n <\/div><\/div><\/h4>\n
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Synopsis<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Love and the right timing were two things I didn\u2019t believe in.<\/p>\n

Love is about walking to the edge of the cliff and taking the leap together.
\nTiming was never on our side.
\nMy first mistake was hooking up with my best friend.
\nMy second came years later, when we met again, and I fell for her.
\nMy third was letting her go, because I had to. Because a love like this wasn\u2019t built to withstand the winds coming in our direction.<\/p>\n

Love and timing.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t believe in either.<\/p>\n

Then there was you . . .<\/p>\n

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Add to Goodreads<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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Review<\/strong><\/h4>\n

3 \u201clove is terrifying<\/i>\u201d stars<\/b><\/h4>\n

OMG, the angst!!! Claire Contreras takes us on a messed-up journey with this book, and I honestly still don\u2019t know where my head is at or how I\u2019m feeling about it all.<\/p>\n

Tessa Monte has returned to her hometown to close off the portion of her life that she spent there. She is only in town for a couple of weeks, and her main focus is avoiding Rowan Hawthorne \u2013 her childhood best friend and ex-boyfriend, and the man who she blames for a devastating betrayal that ruined her family.<\/p>\n

Tessa and Rowan had a bit of a messed up relationship as teenagers. They felt strongly for each other, but it was an unconventional \u2018romance\u2019 that ended when they went away to college. But neither of them have been able to forget about the other, and it\u2019s clear that there is still a strong attraction between them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m doing well. I\u2019ll be better once I don\u2019t have to see you running down my block every morning.\u201d
\nA smile crept onto my lips. \u201cI didn\u2019t think you noticed. You never look.\u201d
\n\u201cYou don\u2019t need one more woman looking at you.\u201d
\n\u201cYou\u2019re right. I only need one woman looking at me.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But here\u2019s the complicated bit – they may want each other, but neither of them believe in love or marriage and they\u2019re both terrified of their feelings, so neither of them are prepared to explore the depth of what they feel for each other, and OMG it\u2019s a frustrating ride! There is chasing, game playing, and a lot of back and forth. It\u2019s an effed-up dynamic, and it was never really clear where they stood with each other, and I found the whole thing super-angsty.<\/p>\n

This was what people spent their lives searching for. This scary, upside down feeling that made them feel as if they were on the brink, between their first and last breath. I\u2019d always held onto the notion that I\u2019d rather be alone than sparkless, but since I\u2019d tasted the sparks, I had been afraid they\u2019d be strong enough to make me implode. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But as much as they try to fight it, their feelings are too hard to ignore, and when they finally cave into their attraction, a slow-burning romance develops which is passionate and emotional (though yeah, still a little messed up).<\/p>\n

\u201cTessa,\u201d he said over and over and over like a mantra. \u201cMy Tessa.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But with so much of the past still between them and their futures headed in different directions, they are in an impossible situation which leads to even more angst and heartache, and the mother of all cliffhangers.<\/p>\n

We weren\u2019t meant to be. We never had been; we never would be. She wanted to be free of this place, and I had ties that rivalled the roots of a white oak keeping me here.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Damn this story messed with me. Firstly, it felt like we were being thrown partway into an existing story, and it took me a bit to truly get into it. The characters were complex, and again it took me a while to figure out where they were at \u2013 though in fairness, I don\u2019t think they really knew where they were at most of the time either.<\/p>\n

Crossing lines with Tessa would be disastrous. She had the kind of magic that turned me inside out. The kind that would make me believe that maybe I did bleed.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And the angst\u2026 *sigh* I admit that I have a love\/hate relationship with angst. Sometimes I love it, sometimes I hate it, it all depends on the story, the characters, and how it all comes about. In this book, I struggled with it because it was entirely the fault of the characters. They created their own heartache and anxiety when it was all so avoidable, and I just couldn\u2019t deal.<\/p>\n

To quote one of the side characters\u2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, I\u2019ve always thought mind games were dumb. Especially between two people who are clearly longing for each other.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

YES!! That ^^^^<\/p>\n

I wanted to smack these characters so hard. I was so annoyed, that I struggled to feel the chemistry and there were times that I wanted them to stop all of the game playing and just walk away from each other and live their lives apart. I found it hard to get into because the characters were so aggravating with their game playing, and I couldn\u2019t feel the chemistry between them, but I persisted, and I eventually began to feel it \u2013 and feel it hard \u2013 just in time for that ending which messed with my feels yet again. And I am left wondering how it\u2019s all going to play out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not ready to let go.\u201d
\n\u201cYou have to.\u201d
\n\u201cI can\u2019t.\u201d
\n\u201cYour wings aren\u2019t clipped, and I won\u2019t be the reason you start thinking you can\u2019t fly,\u201d he whispered, coming closer, his wine-infused breath mingling with mine. \u201cYou can fly, you know?\u201d
\n\u201cI know I can. I want to fly with you.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Angst lovers will love this one, but I\u2019m still so confused. I liked it, but there were parts that enraged me. I\u2019m annoyed, yet once I got into it, I couldn\u2019t put it down. And after that ending, I\u2019m both terrified and excited for the next book. I have read all of Claire\u2019s books, I love her writing, and I know what she\u2019s capable of. There is the potential for epic to come, there is also the potential for me to want to hurl my kindle through the nearest wall. Time will tell which way it all goes, and I\u2019m desperate to find out.<\/p>\n

3 conflicted stars.<\/p>\n

An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.<\/i><\/p>\n

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The Second Chances Duet<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"\"\u00a0 \"\"<\/p>\n

Then There Was You (#1)
\n<\/strong>Review<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon US<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Amazon CA<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Amazon UK<\/a><\/p>\n

My Way Back To You (#2)
\n<\/strong>Review<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon US<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Amazon CA<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Amazon UK<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Meet Claire<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"\"Claire Contreras is a New York Times Best Selling Author. Her books range from romantic suspense to contemporary romance and are currently translated in seven different languages.<\/p>\n

She lives in Miami, Fl with her husband, two adorable boys, three bulldogs, and two stray cats that she refuses to admit are hers (even though they live on her porch, she named them, and continues to feed them). When she\u2019s not writing, she\u2019s usually lost in a book.<\/p>\n

Website\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 Facebook\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 Twitter\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 Instagram\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 Pinterest\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 <\/strong>Amazon<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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  Then There Was You, an all-new second chance romance from New York Times bestselling author Claire Contreras is LIVE! Amazon US\u00a0 |\u00a0 Amazon CA\u00a0 |\u00a0 Amazon UK Download Today or Read FREE in Kindle […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30249,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","yasr_overall_rating":3,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[297,52,9,24,29],"tags":[59,46,48,812],"class_list":["post-31088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-angsty","category-drama","category-romance","category-second-chance-romance","category-steamy","tag-arc","tag-claire-contreras","tag-review","tag-second-chances-duet"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Then-There-Was-You.jpg?fit=150%2C225&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7gaNL-85q","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31088"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31088\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81885,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31088\/revisions\/81885"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}