Why We Love a Second Chance Romance
In this series we’re diving into our favorite romance tropes, and second chance romances are at the top of our list. Here’s five reasons why they’re our favorite! Shhh… don’t tell the others.
Yearning – what’s a romance without some intense yearning? Second chance romances are filled to the brink with them! While there’s a certain magic to characters coming together for their first time, and sure there can be yearning there too, no one yearns quite as much as someone who’s lost someone. In our opinion, second chance romances are the peak of yearning.
Authenticity – it’s really hard to believe in a romance that happens over a week… or that surrounds fake dating… or one where the character magically have an epiphany and come together. Second chance romances eliminate that suspension of logic all together. They feel authentic and real, in a way that’s still totally outlandish… but lesser? Warning: they can be a bit toxic. After all, these couples broke up the first time for a reason…
Taboo – something feels a bit wrong about rekindling an old flame, but second chance romances remind us that there is such thing as right person, wrong time. Overcoming the odds and working things out feels, therapeutic and also rewarding, albeit a bit… taboo.
History – second chance romances have so much beneath the surface. They allow readers to read between the lines and the author expects readers to put things together. Because the characters start from a place of familiarity, you get to skip over some of the boring beginning bits and get right to a rekindling. Unless of course you’re reading a second chance romance with multiple timelines, like Meliá Grasska’s 100 Promises in which case you get to experience all of the history through flashbacks.
Happily Ever After – if you’re of Tennyson’s school of thought and believe that it’s better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all, then second chance romances are definitely the trope for you. If you’ve loved and lost, and wish that you could erase all the loss and go back to the love, then second chance romances will scratch that itch in the back of your mind. There’s something relieving about characters realizing they got it wrong the first time. Similarly to Pride and Prejudice, watching characters overcome their pride in the name of love is one of the most romantic things out there, and a fundamental part of second chance romances.