Review: A Second Chance by Jodi Taylor

About this Book

A Second Chance (The Chronicles of St. Mary's #3) by Jodi Taylor

Published on February 11, 2014 by Accent Press

GoodReads Description

St Mary’s is back and nothing is going right for Max. Once again, it’s just one damned thing after another.

The action jumps from an encounter with a mirror-stealing Isaac Newton to the bloody battlefield at Agincourt. Discover how a simple fact-finding assignment to witness the ancient and murderous cheese- rolling ceremony in Gloucester can result in CBC – concussion by cheese. The long awaited jump to Bronze Age Troy ends in personal catastrophe for Max and just when it seems things couldn’t get any worse – it’s back to the Cretaceous Period again to confront an old enemy who has nothing to lose.

So, make the tea, grab the chocolate biscuits, settle back and discover exactly why the entire history department has painted itself blue …

My Thoughts

I have no words for the emotional flogging I suffered at the hands of this book. I hope that wherever she is, Jodi Taylor is proud of herself for destroying me.  How the H*** does she think this is OK?

In all seriousness, this book brought a new level of accomplishment to Taylor's writing.  Yes, she still does a fantastic job of world building and characterization as in Just One Damned Thing After Another and A Symphony of Echoes.  Here, however, she uses both of those things against her readers.

The relationship between Max and Leon has never been stronger.  I never rooted for them more than in this book.  And then all heck broke loose.  I was flabbergasted.  Taylor had definitely lulled me into a false sense of security with this couple in the first two books.  It was like she blew up a balloon of happy, tingly, joyful emotions and then popped it without the slightest of warnings.

If there is one thing that I never gave Taylor credit for it's that she knows exactly when to throw a wrench in the works.  She knows exactly when to hit the audience with a shocking event that will force them to clench the pages and keep reading in miserable delight.  Through each of the first two novels, I knew that something strange had to happen to keep the momentum of the plot.  The third installment was most definitely an exciting difference. I was so enthralled that I had to keep reading and finished the last two hundred pages in one sitting.  

After this novel, Jodi Taylor has gone from being an author I like to an author I will end up cramming down everyone's throats.  I am so excited to see what the next books in this series bring.

My Rating