Once upon a time, there was a small town girl next door. She grew up, left and things happened, and she came back home, a sadder but wiser girl. Like Marian Paroo in The Music Man or Flannery O Connor's Joy Hopewell (whose wooden leg is stolen by the traveling salesman in Good Country People), the sadder but wiser girl is an icon of literature. In Second Chances Lauren Dane takes that sad girl and makes her a little bit sadder before she makes her a little bit wiser.

It's a benevolent start when the frumpy chubby girl with braces comes back ten years later slim, pierced, tattooed, successful, content and gorgeous. It gives the girl a chance to burn some bridges, and prove she can open some doors that had been closed to her. Stories like that always give hope to frumpy chubby girls (or let's be honest--frumpy chubby women--). In Second Chances these big chances are given to Rori who, as an accomplished Romance Author has come back to her home town and is now attractive to her dream-guy Jude Callahan--one of the nice boys who had always been nice to her even when she had been for all purposes invisible.

Unfortunately the delicious Jude is a "girl magnet" and their dating doesn't develop into an exclusive relationship. In fact, Rori rebounds with the equally delicious Zach who happens to be a Dom. Zach pushes the envelope of Rori's experience and turns her on to bondage where she finds rope bondage and "rope space" and piercings and what it's like to be commanded in the bedroom. Second Chances gives the reader a chance to see the development of a relationship as it explores Rori's resilience--because when Rori is happy at last, she is tested again.

Lauren Dane takes her readers on a ride. It's not quite an emotional roller coaster but there are definite highs and lows with some impish BDSM scenes including rope bondage, piercing and spanking, to name a few. I'd just as soon not reduce this to a quick abstract, and just let you readers follow Rori's path to finding how to be comfortable inside herself. A definite must read not only for BDSM aficionados, but also for all those other sadder but wiser girls who are hopeful of Second Chances.

Reviewed by Maîtresse
Copyright 2006