Big Shot: A Second Chance Standalone Romance

Back in college, Jace Bennett, with all of the arrogance and impulsiveness that comes with being a young man with the world at his feet, decided to go after the girl, even though she was dating his best friend at the time. After all, he saw her first, and Ethan had always been keen on the idea of a threesome, what could possibly go wrong.So after they both lost her, Jace losing everything he'd never before realized he wanted in the process, life moved on.Ten years later, now a widower and single father, attempting to set to rights an incident at his daughter's new kindy, Jace comes face to face with the mother of the other child involved, Hannah Crestfall, formerly Hannah Michaels. The girl from college, the one that got away.In Big Shot, Author Kim Karr​ tells the story of two star crossed lovers, now both single parents whose past is a convoluted, sordid, sexy, and sad as you could ever wish for.In the telling, she alternates, not just between Jace and Hannah as narrators, but between Present and Past, with the present unfolding from Jace's point of view while Hannah, ever so slowly, brings the reader up to date on how things became almost perfectly right before it all went terribly wrong all those years ago.Dragging out the mystery, the tension builds withing both narratives leaving the reader wondering if history is set to repeat itself or whether now, as adults, parents, and hopefully a little less hot-headed, these two can make their second chance work in a way that they couldn't manage back then.To be honest, while erotic and titillating, the focus within the story on the subject of threesomes kind of left me feeling a little dirty, which I imagine was part of the point, as that reflected how Hannah in particular came to feel about the whole thing, The kind of things people get up to while they're young and carefree that they look back on in later years and simply wonder "What was I thinking?"Beyond that though, I found the story, and the characters to be compelling. Each struggling with the myriad of emotions that are dredged up by the sudden reappearance of the other in their lives. All of which is complicated by their roles as parents where, romantic entanglements need to be managed in a way that doesn't negatively influence the kids.Kids who, by the way, are absolutely adorable.For all of the things that it made me feel though, even the uncomfortable feelings it dredged up, I found that I had absolutely no interest in putting it down or tearing myself away, and by the time I got to the end, I was more than glad for it.Utterly captivating.

"She was my first love, but she belonged to Ethan first. Although technically I had met her before him, I had lost her, literally."Jace Bennett met Hannah Michaels at a college party. However, they never saw each other again, until months later when she turns up on his doorstep. For his best friend, Ethan. Her boyfriend.The more time they spent together, the more undeniable their mutual desire became. Until they found a way to be together. However, their situation became more and more untenable, until one day, everything came to an end."The urge to be with him was like some hungry, furious thing, and it was eating me alive."Ten years later, they were suddenly back in each other's lives. Both had been through tough times. Both remembered their past with clarity. Both still hungered for the other. But things are never that simple because Jace Bennett is not a simple man.This was an emotional, angsty, second chance romance, with a storyline that goes back and forth between the present and the past."You're not my before and you're not my after, Hannah, you're my forever."Jace is such a complex man - brooding, angry, closed off. He finds it so hard to express himself but he's such a great father. Hannah is beautiful inside and out. She's fought hard for her freedom in the present day, and knows she deserves to be loved wholeheartedly for herself. Such a great read with a beautiful ending!

Jace not only owns his own company,he's also a daddy to his little girl and a single parent after this wife passed away. So he doesn't stand for anyone making his girl cry which is exactly what happens on her first day at kindergarten. So Jace goes to the child's house to confront the parents only to realise that it's also a single parent family, not only that but the parent is Hannah- a girl he met and fell in love with at university- a girl that wasn't his. Now the two are thrown together as their kids become friends and they will both have to decide if they can move past their painful past together or whether they will be stuck in the past for good."What if she was the substitute? What if Tricia wasn’t the love of my life? What if I made a mistake not trying to win you back?”I did really really love this story- I love stories with children in as they add such a light hearted and innocent aspect to the story and they always make you smile and laugh with their no filter and that was definitely Scarlett and Jonah. Jace and Hannah were equally likeable as well- both having their own painful things they've had to deal with since they last saw each other but their instant chemistry was so obvious even after all this time.“Hannah, I have no idea how hard it must be to be in your position. Sometimes Jace is his own worst enemy, building those walls so high, no one could ever climb them. But you broke that barrier once, and I know you can do it again.”Both Jace and Hannah has been through something so traumatic but the way they have stayed strong for their children and are such wonderful parents was really sweet to read. I also loved their interaction with each other- there was so much past between them but you feel the chemistry jumping off the pages and also you could tell how much they meant and cared for each other."Anything was not possible, and the past can never stay in the past."Their re-building of their relationship was beautiful to read about and seeing them overcome their fears. The addition of their children made for some very funny moments which made me smile. There was some drama but not an awful lot and my only complaint would be that Hannah's past maybe could have come into the story a bit more which might have provided a bit more drama to the story but I do get that what we were reading about was Jace and Hannah's story so it didn't necessarily need a lot of drama. I also thought that maybe the story wrapped up a little quickly- one moment things were struggling and literally the next few pages and everything was fine."The first girl I ever loved . . . and the one who broke me even more than I already had been before I met her."Overall thought, a thoroughly enjoyable read which made me smile and believe in second chances for love. Brilliant characters and a beautiful romance!