Take Two by Stephanie Shea is a second chance, contemporary romance set in the world of Gia, San Francisco.
Whitney Dimaano loves love, but lately, she just can’t seem to get it right. She’s trying, but her heart just doesn’t seem to be in it. Instead of focusing on what’s going wrong in her life, she instead focuses on what’s going well; her gym that she built with her own two hands, her relationship with her sister and brother, and her friends. Anything but the ghost of the one who left her behind.
Andy Vahn, an award-winning documentarian, dreamed of being a filmmaker and didn’t let anything get in her way, least of all, love. Her latest project brings her back to San Francisco where it all began. She’s here to convince celebrity chef, Jenn Coleman, to take part in her film. She’s also back to make amends for her abrupt departure six years prior.
Maybe Andy’s return is the closure Whitney needs or will her return reaffirm her deepest fear? She should never have left.
Pros And My Favourite Parts
Whitney and Andy have a long and complicated history but one thing is perfectly clear; how deeply they care for one another. From the moment the two women reconnect on the street, on Valentine’s Day no less, one could feel the chemistry, passion, pain, and regret simmering right there under the surface. As time goes by and Andy tries to get back in Whitney’s good graces, the walls Whit built around herself began to crumble. She puts up a good fight but the magnetic pull between these two is just too strong to break.
This is one of the most romantic books I’ve read in a long time. The emotions between Whit and Andy are so abundantly clear, almost painfully so. Stephanie Shea uses quick flashbacks of times past interspersed with the present to give readers glimpses of their lives prior to Andy leaving. It’s like puzzle pieces being connected to provide the full picture of their story.
This is a wonderfully complex romance filled with emotionally charged main characters, well-rounded supporting characters, an adorable pup, and a vat of use(full/less) facts.
Cons And Heads Up
Take Two by Stephanie Shea is the third book in A Gia, San Francisco Romance series and like all of the other books can be read as a stand-alone but if you don’t read the first two, you’re definitely missing out. What I wouldn’t give to share a meal at Gia, San Francisco with all six main characters in this incredible series!
The Conclusion
Take Two by Stephanie Shea is a second chance, contemporary romance that reaffirms the concept that everyone has a soulmate. It’s filled with passion, profound insights, soothing hugs, and delicious food. It’ll make you want to settle in with a glass of Merlot and root for two women who were always meant to be together.
Excerpt from Take Two by Stephanie Shea
Whitney furrowed her brows, slowing to a jog. There were many things wrong with this picture. Or maybe just one. Wes never let strangers pet him. He’d almost taken Landon’s fingers clean off his hand the first time he’d tried, and he was her brother.
In her perplexity, Whitney scrutinized the woman—the polished, black curls atop her tapered pixie cut, leather jacket stretched across her shoulders down to the exposed small of her back. Close to her spine, edges of a deep brown mark stood out against her tawny complexion, and Whitney’s gaze latched onto the shape with paralyzing interest, the way the mark crested and curved at the base with a bizarre likeness to the Floridian peninsula.
She halted her steps, heart rattling in her chest, one hand numb from her grip on the stupid fucking roses. “I’m so sorry…” The words died on her tongue almost as if her brain had decided against the impulse to spit them out.
“No worries. He’s adorable.” The woman stood, turning. “Whitney?”
Whitney blinked, swallowing the lump in her throat as she took a step back. “Andy.” She didn’t mean to sound quite as shell-shocked as she felt. Hadn’t her brain made sense of it before Andy had even turned around? It’s not like she’d ever met another person with a birthmark shaped like that. It’s not like she didn’t know it in intimate detail, hadn’t traced it with the tips of her fingers and kiss-swollen lips.
Her mind blanked. She retreated another step, gaze shifting from Andy’s hazel eyes and arched brows to the cupid’s bow of her full lips and the cut of her jaw accentuated by her pixie cut. Beautiful. Jarringly beautiful. Although, the Andy Whitney knew would never have cut her hair this short, even if the leather jacket and pair of Doc Martens on her feet held traces of the same grunge-intrigued teenager Whitney had met in high school.
A beckoning bark and light pressure against her knees drew her attention to Wes, paws in an insistent tap against her thighs as if to verify she hadn’t slipped into a full-on coma, standing motionless on Market Street with roses that suddenly weighed a ton, no one to gift them to, and no words for someone she used to tell everything.
“Um…” Andy licked her lips, extending the hand that held Wes’s leash toward Whitney.
Whitney willed herself to snap out of it, take Wes, mumble a thank-you, and get on her way. Instead, she found herself fixated on all the tiny details. The delicate but precise way in which Andy offered the lead, leaving no way for their hands to touch when Whitney accepted. The way the air hinted of petrichor, roses, and her. The glint of the left tragus piercing she hadn’t had six years ago. The fact that she was here. Not in London. Not in New York or even LA.
“Happy Valentine’s Day.”
Whitney frowned, tilting her head. “What?”
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Series
Chef’s Kiss
Missed Connection
Take Two
Bits and Bobs
ISBN number: 979-8358616653
Publisher: Indie Author
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