Second Chance at First Love by Zoe Allison
Damon is attempting to adjust to life sharing the kids with his ex. His reconnection with Eva is strong, but she was always too good for him and made her indifference clear after they drifted apart during their younger years. In any case, she still seems to be hung up on her charismatic ex-husband. Eva is hiding things from Damon, secrets from her past. He wants to be there for her, so why can’t she let him in?
Eva is dealing with trauma, but she won’t confide in her loved ones. Can Damon help her break down her walls before it’s too late and they miss their second chance at first love?
Intro: Damon is having dinner with his parents, Lily and Alastair. Lily (along with Eva’s mum, Meena) is secretly conspiring to throw Damon and Eva together.
Lily waved her hand in the air. “…so that’s Eva just arrived home this afternoon.”
“Mm-hmm,” replied Alastair, looking at the TV over Lily’s shoulder.
Lily turned to Damon. “It’s a shame, isn’t it?”
He paused, his fork en route to his mouth. “What’s a shame?”
Lily sighed. “About poor Eva and that nasty Callum.”
Damon frowned. “Eva Mathers? What about her and Callum?”
Damon hadn’t seen much of Eva since she’d gone to university. She’d married a Scottish guy called Callum but he’d only met him once, at Eva’s sister’s wedding. He and Sarah had been invited to Eva and Callum’s wedding along with the rest of his family, but in the end, only Lily and Alastair had gone because Sarah was heavily pregnant with Adele at the time.
Lily raised her eyebrows. “Remember I told you a few months ago they’d split up? And Eva decided to leave her job in Edinburgh and come home to stay with her parents. Well, she’s back now and she’ll be starting a new job nearby.”
Damon shook his head. “You didn’t tell me that. I would’ve remembered.”
Lily’s set her mouth in a hard line. “I doubt it. You’ve been so distracted by the kerfuffle between you and Sarah that you hardly listen to a word I say anymore…like your father. Though he never listens to me anyway,” she added under her breath.
“What’s that, dear?” Alastair replied, right on cue.
Lily rolled her eyes.
Damon took a sip of his drink. “What happened between them?”
Lily shook her head. “I don’t know. Meena does, but she’s sworn to silence. She’s the only one Eva’s told, despite Matthew, of course. But it must be really bad, because Meena called Callum the ‘C’ word.”
Damon nearly choked on his dinner. “She called him what?”
“You know,” whispered Lily. “Crap.”
“Phew,” said Damon, glancing at Alastair, who was doubled up with laughter.
“It’s not funny,” Lily said. “The poor girl’s devastated. She’s had to give up the GP partnership she worked so hard for to get away from it all.”
She is a fan of the romantic genre and its ‘happy ever after’ ethos. A sharp contrast to what she can, at times, see in her day job. Zoe is keen for the female lead in romantic fiction to disabuse stereotypes and walk on an equal footing with her male counterparts. She prefers male leads who do not display signs of toxic masculinity and believes that positive masculinity is much more attractive to women and healthier for men.
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