Second Time Around

Let's be frank: it's not that unusual for an author to explore what happens if a character is given the chance to finally fulfill a lifelong dream.  There's nothing trailblazing in a book where a group of women shuck off the expectations of others to find that out who they really are.  And, really, how surprising is that along the way to putting their internal lives in order, those women find or rediscover a great love?  But sometimes, a fun, escapist book where everything is neatly wrapped up in a package that you see coming from page one is exactly what's needed.  For me, that time is usually the midst of the summer heat, when the humidity has left me barely enough energy to turn pages, let alone wrap my head around books that make me...what's the word?...think.

In Second Time Around, Beth Kendrick offers a look at a group of four friends whose lives are all in limbo somewhere between their quarter-life and mid-life crises.  The four come together when the fifth member of their group dies and leaves each woman $250,000 with the stipulation that she must use it to realize her life's dream.  While there's nothing particularly unique or surprising about Second Time Around, and it relies on contrivances (it is terribly convenient that each woman's life dream also serves to further her friends' dreams), it's an enjoyable, light book, perfect for a summer read, perhaps in one of those Adirondack chairs on the cover. 

P.S.  The worst thing about this book is that its title got a theme song from a particularly cheesy 1990s sitcom stuck in my head.  I can hardly blame the book, but still... five bonus points to anyone who knows to which sitcom I'm referring -- not because this knowledge is particularly worthy of a reward, but because if you know it and now have it stuck in your head, I feel I owe you.