A Second Chance in Salem

by Luci Hoffman

Rebecca, raised by her great aunt in Salem, VA. after the tragic death of her parents at the age of ten, often feels alone and abandoned. Rebecca and Chris have known each other their entire lives. First as neighbors, then as friends, and finally, as high school sweethearts. Rebecca and Chris fall in love and are excited to begin their future together. Chris is heading off to college while Rebecca works to save for their wedding. A long-distance relationship requires a great deal of effort to maintain, but their love for each other keeps them focused on their goal. Rebecca’s plans to surprise Chris at school with news of her pregnancy suddenly goes off the rails when she finds him with another woman. Her trust in him is shattered. Feelings of abandonment return, and she has an overwhelming urge to leave her old life behind and secure a new future for her and her child.

She moves away from Salem, VA and finds solace in the warmth of an elderly couple who hire her to work in their bookshop. Having no children of their own, they welcome Rebecca and her newborn baby into their lives as though they were family. They become as close to family as Rebecca has ever experienced, so much so that they leave almost all their worldly possessions to her in their will. When a disgruntled family member targets Rebecca and her beloved bookstore, she must make the best decision for the safety of herself and her daughter, Emily. This means coming face-to-face with her past, including her long-lost love, Emily’s father, Chris.

132 pages, Paperback

Published March 7, 2025

Reviews

[Debbie Wentworth Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This framed story begins in 1975 as Rebecca and her daughter Emily prepare to leave the home and bookstore in Richmond that she inherited to return to her great-aunt Betty's home in Salem, Virginia. She had fled Salem in 1969 when she found out that her longtime boyfriend was with another girl at college. Rebecca had gone to his college to tell him she was pregnant from the one time they had sex. Instead, she fled to Richmond where she found a job and apartment with an elderly couple at their bookstore. She never thought that her job would lead to an attempt on her life. Going back to Salem seems the safe thing to do until she sees her former boyfriend, Chris.

I am not usually a fan of romance unless it has dead bodies, kidnappings, bombings, or a threat to end the world as part of the plot. A Second Chance in Salem had none of these. Hoffman's MFC had a depth to her that kept me turning pages and enjoying the story. I have only two gripes about the book: a little bad language (two words, I think) and slipping from showing to telling in the epilogue. She did a good job showing up to that point, and I think the story would have ended on a much more satisfactory note if Hoffman had shown us that final scene instead of summarizing it.

I did enjoy the story and look forward to more stories by Luci Hoffman.