Nantucket Second Chances by Pamela Kelley ~ a Review

by Donna Huber

Returning to beautiful Nantucket, single mom Claire Shipman finds friendship, family ties, new beginnings and second chances. Claire never imagined she'd be the single mom of a teenager, going through a contentious divorce, and unexpectedly pregnant. On the bright side, at least she’s on Nantucket, where she grew up, and where her mom welcomes her home with open arms.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

June 2026; Sourcebooks Landmark; 978-1464246234
audio, ebook, print (368 pages); romance

I love books set on Nantucket, and while I'm not usually a romance novel reader, I make an exception for beach reads, especially if set on Nantucket. 

I've read a few of Kelley's novels and have always enjoyed them. I don't know if it is because I've read a couple of them recently or if it was this novel specifically, but I just didn't click with it. 

It opens with Claire's life imploding. Her husband declares he wants a divorce because his much younger mistress is expecting a baby. Well, Claire has news of her own - she's pregnant too. This catalyst immediately has Claire returning home to Nantucket.

While this opening should have sucked me in. I just wasn't feeling it. It felt too much like "been there, done that". I know romance novels are often formulaic, and so regular romance readers may love this opening. For me, I was hoping to have something a bit more fresh.

I liked the main character, Claire, and when her daughter joins her on the island, I liked the parts with Lily. Though the catalyst for Lily's move to the island mirrored Claire's a little too much - her best friend starts dating the guy she has a crush on, and the best friend knew that. In a way, her best friend's betrayal could be seen as cheating.''

If you are a regular reader of Kelley, you will recognize some of the people in the book club. Kelley is different in this way compared to the other Nantucket authors I read. The other authors create a new Nantucket community with each book, whereas Kelley sets the book within the same community. Perhaps this difference is because she writes more series than the other writers, who produce mostly standalone novels. It is kind of fun to see the larger community.

However, I do have a complaint. We meet all these characters at the book club. We are given names and descriptions of what they do and what they were wearing and how they styled their hair, and on and on with the details. Since it was a rather large gathering, this was an overwhelming amount of information to throw at the reader. Perhaps Kelley was trying to convey the feeling Claire was experiencing when meeting everyone at once, but it didn't feel like that as there was nothing like 'oh, I'll never remember everyone's name'. And since Claire went to school with many of them, she probably didn't feel overwhelmed.

I liked the upscale consignment store idea. Kelley keeps Nantucket realistic in her novels by always pointing out how hard it is to get a job, particularly in the off-season, and mentioning the high cost of living. I'm sure readers are going to want to start their own consignment shop (or at least hit up some resale app to try to sell their own stuff). It is fun in the book, and it is good that Claire has something positive going on in her life. She made it super easy, so I'm not too sure how realistic it is. But in a perfect world, that is how things would work out.

Partly why I read books set in Nantucket is because I love the atmosphere. And Kelley really brings the Nantucket vibe out in her books. Because Claire and Lily are considered residents and not summer visitors, there is a lot more focus on everyday things - going to the grocery store and school, running the shop, going to book club, the prom, etc., instead of all the touristy things. The Whale Museum and some restaurants are mentioned as well as local festivals or events (like the boat race). But there isn't a lot of time spent on the beach or in the ocean.

Cheating seemed to be a theme. In addition to Claire's and Lily's relationships, there is Kenzi and Sally. Our introduction to Kenzi is when she sits in front of Lily, and Lily notices she has been crying. Turns out her boyfriend was cheating on her. Sally asked Cody to a wine dinner because she found out her boyfriend had cheated on her. I'm like, "Is there no other reason for people to break up, and are all men cheating?" It felt like an easy plot device, and I think Kelley could have done better.

And while I'm on my criticism kick - Claire's baby. It was such a bombshell announcement, but then it became a second thought plot device. Ellis, Claire's ex-husband, seems concerned about having a relationship with their teenage daughter but doesn't show any interest in the new baby. Nothing about going to doctor visits. The mention of visitation even seemed to be a throwaway comment as the divorce was finalized. Then in the epilogue, there is a comment that Claire hasn't had any contact with Ellis since the divorce was finalized. So I guess he never came to the island to see the new baby, even though he said he would when talking to Lily in the last chapter. Perhaps this was to show Ellis's indifference since he had a new baby with his new wife. But he was still trying to have a relationship with Lily.

Instead, it felt like the baby was an inconvenient plot thread that complicated an easy, tied-in-a-bow, happily ever after. For how little it played out in the novel, I think the story could have been tighter and better written without that thread. Again, I thought Kelley could have done better.

I really enjoyed the middle, where it is focused on Claire and Lily's life on Nantucket, but the flaws kept me from loving it. Some of my criticism is just the nature of the romance genre, and I don't judge a book harshly because it follows the tropes of its genre. What does get me is the writing style. I know Kelley is capable of much better, and in places, it just felt like lazy writing. If romance novels are your go-to guilty pleasure, then this one is an enjoyable way to spend the afternoon.

Buy Nantucket Second Chances at Amazon

Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour.

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