Eli Ward is back home for the first time in 20ish years. Eli is confronting a crushing job loss and a return to his hometown for the first time since his transition. Nick Wu, Eli’s HS BF, is a single dad consumed by parenting and work and sometimes worried about his own dad. 

 

A chance reunion allows for a reintroduction and an invitation. As Nick and Eli spend more time together they start to recognize old, and explore new, attractions and feelings. 

 

Nick’s determination to get this right, the man researches proper vocabulary to make sure his wooing (and intimacy) is respectful, is glorious. Eli’s patience with, yearning for, and love of Nick while facing his own familial turmoil is something else. Their joint explorations of what they could be now and how they “refit” just right make this a perfect second chance romance. 

Gender, parenting*, aging, sexuality, blended families, anxiety, addiction, sex, politics, memories, heartbreak, unemployment, and family all play a huge part in Eli and Nick’s romance. 

You will also laugh out loud, especially if you are a millennial or love a “Florida Man…” headline. 

 

Keep in mind, Eli and Nick are two queer men falling back in love in a state run by “some lump of gorgonzola in a bad suit” trying his hardest to criminalize and demonize their love. And there are people (looking at you Laurie’s mom) you will hate. Eli is coming to terms with career calamity and Nick is facing major family changes. But, even at its most painful moments, Second Chances in New Port Stephens was a joy to read.  

I read the audio version through Libby. 

*Nick and his ex wife, Nick’s dad, and Eli’s mom and dad are all SUPERB parents.