Spotlight & Giveaway: The Second First Chance by Mona Shroff

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Mona Shroff to HJ!

Hi Mona and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The Second First Chance!

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

THE SECOND FIRST CHANCE, is a story about healing, forgiveness and love in its many forms. Riya and Dhillon were next door neighbor best friends since the age of five. As teenagers, their relationship was on verge of becoming something more, when their lives were changed forever by a fire that claimed the lives of Dhillon’s father and Riya’s brother.

Dhillon and Riya grow apart, meeting only once a year when the families remember their departed. Dhillon becomes a veterinarian, and Riya a firefighter. When Dhillon finds out that Riya is fighting fires, he’s enraged and confronts her. Riya has no desire to explain her life choices to Dhillon or anyone else, but things aren’t always in her control.

Dhillon and Riya struggle with their feelings for one another as they come to terms with the past.
 

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

Dhillon to Riya: “You are a lot of things, Riya-D. Smart. Sassy. Tough. Stubborn. Pain in the ass. But you are not anyone’s plaything.”

That was the beauty and curse of a best friend: they knew when you were full of shit.

As if loving or not loving Riya was a choice he’d made. As if the fact that the one night he’d had with her hadn’t ruined him for all future women. As if right now he wasn’t torn between the fact that he was grateful to her for risking her life to save his, and upset that she’d taken that risk.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• So when I first started to write this book, it was based (loosely) on a friend of mine who is a firefighter. He’s the only Indian firefighter I know. But as I started writing, I realized that the fire fighter character was actually a woman.
• I wrote this book in 2020, while we were shut down.

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

Dhillon is attracted to Riya’s daring and acceptance. Even as children, Riya was most likely to take a risk, most likely to act first and think later.

Riya is attracted to Dhillon’s kindness and caring. She may have been the one to save the kitten in the tree, but Dhillon was the one to calm the animal down and make sure the kitten was uninjured.

Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?

The awkwardness in this scene was palpable to me:

He(Dhillon) reached into the laundry basket, his eyes on her. “Don’t worry. I can take her for one night. Mom’s not on shift until the evening, so she’ll be home with her.”
Riya sighed relief. Of course he would take Scout. Her relief was short-lived as she noticed that the last garment Dhillon had grabbed from the basket was her underwear. Her lacy, powder blue thong.
“Um…I’ll just take that.” She reached out just as his eyes widened and he realized what he was holding. She snatched it from him and balled it up in her fist as if trying to make it disappear. Heat made its way up her neck and into her face. She couldn’t even look at him, afraid that he’d see that embarrassment wasn’t exactly what she was feeling.

And this scene cracks me up, because it is so typical of Indian families. There is always this person in every family:

Text from Roshni. Sorry. I tried to stop her.
Riya started to text her back when the door to the waiting room crashed open.
“Okay. Don’t worry. I am here. How is my sister?” Riya’s aunt, Varsha-masi, was no more than five feet tall and maybe one hundred and ten pounds, but she dominated a room like no one else. She barreled into the waiting room, her arms filled with not one or two but three brown shopping bags that Riya knew held enough snacks and food to feed an army. And forget that it was late at night: for sure there was a thermos (or two) of piping hot chai.
“Why is everyone staring?” she called as she bustled into the room. “Take the bags,” she said to Dhillon. Then, “Riya, take out chai for everyone.” Varsha-masi made a beeline for Riya’s father, pulling him into a hug, assuring him that all would be well.
Dhillon grabbed the bags and caught Riya’s eye with a smirk. Riya shook her head and shrugged. “Thank God. I could use some chai.”

Readers should read this book….

As soon as they can! Riya is my favorite character that I’ve written. She’s tough and stubborn and unapologetic. Dhillon is caring and protective and completely in love with her.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

I am currently working on the third book in my ONCE UPON A WEDDING SERIES, NO RINGS ATTACHED. This is my runaway bride, fake relationship story.
My next release is Book 2 in the series, MATCHED BY MASALA, June 28, 2022. MBM is the sibling’s best friend trope, in which Amar is secretly in love with his sister’s best friend, Divya. Amar is a chef, and Divya is a pastry chef and they decide to work together.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: One print copy of THE SECOND FIRST CHANCE by by Mona Shroff

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Riya allows Ian to harass her for a while, thinking she had to take care of it on her own. She did not feel reporting him to superiors would do anything but undermine her. How does this resonate with real life situations?

 
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Excerpt from The Second First Chance:

Riya collapsed on the spot, removing her gloves, helmet and oxygen tank, not oblivious to the chatter of the other guys, who were complaining about the extra hard workout and somehow blaming her for it. Didn’t they need to be in shape regardless of whether she was there or not? She reached for her water bottle. The water was hot from sitting in the af¬ternoon sun, but she didn’t care. She closed her eyes, lay on her back a moment and enjoyed the hydration. Cars whizzed passed on the highway behind them. The firehouse had four bays, two engines and one ladder truck. There were offices in the back, along with sleeping quarters and a kitchen up¬stairs. This was Riya’s home away from home. She loved it.
A small tongue licked at her face, and she grinned. At least someone here liked her.
“Scout! That’s gross, licking up my sweat.” She opened up her turnout jacket, imagining a slight breeze to cool her. She brought the puppy close. She needed a shower, but with only the one locker room and that with open showers, she would have to navigate around the men who had already gone in to clean up. She wasn’t exactly a prude, but she wasn’t getting stark naked in a shower full of men she worked with.
In between calls, they maintained the truck and all the equipment on it. Riya made sure she was always busy, always doing her share, be it maintaining the equipment, cleaning the engine or cooking and cleaning the firehouse. She knew she was the probie, and as such she did the scut work. She loved firefighting in a way that was different from the way she loved being a paramedic, so this probationary period was just another rite of passage for her.
Didn’t hurt that she was a good cook.
A few of the men hadn’t bothered to hide the fact that they doubted her ability to do the job based solely on the fact that she was a woman. Those same men seemed to have no trou¬ble eating her food, however.
There was no point in fighting them. Her work could and would speak for itself. She had excelled at the academy, and her first few shifts here had gone well. It would be a couple weeks before she was able to do twenty-four-hour shifts. She knew she could do the job. The guys would just have to see for themselves.
Right now, though, Riya squeezed her eyes shut and laughed as Scout climbed onto her stomach, preventing her from standing. She was grateful for the excuse to lie still for a moment. “Hey, Scout. Hey, there.” She patted the pup’s head. “How’re you doing?”
“Took her to the vet today.” Ian approached from her pe¬riphery.
She was sitting in an instant, closing her turnout jacket over her tank top almost instinctively. “Yeah, where?” Whenever she was in Ian’s presence, her muscles tensed, and the hairs on her arms stood on end. She focused her attention on Scout and those big brown puppy eyes.
“You know that old building on the corner, opposite the bar? A new vet took over the practice.” He paused. “He seemed to know you.”
At this Riya glanced up, the summer sun making her squint at Ian. Her heart raced as she tried to maintain the appear¬ance of mild interest. “Oh, yeah?” She continued to pet Scout almost as if the puppy was a shield against the bomb Ian was about to drop.
Riya didn’t know many vets. In fact, she only knew one.
Before Ian could say anything, a very familiar cold nose nuzzled her hand. Riya smiled and greeted the newcomer even as her stomach bottomed out. “Lucky?” She leaned in toward the older dog so he could lick her face. She held Scout with one hand and petted Lucky with the other. She hugged him and tousled his fur, automatically assessing the older dog’s scars.
“Lucky, what are you doing here?” It was a ridiculous ques¬tion because of course Lucky couldn’t answer it, but it was something to say as she knew his owner wasn’t far behind. Clearly he was the vet in question.
Which meant he knew that she was a firefighter. Which meant he was pissed, though he hardly had a right to be. She was a grown woman. She could do what she wanted. Didn’t stop her stomach from clenching in anticipation of seeing him.
Riya swallowed hard as black sneakers entered her view.
“I could ask you the same thing.” A deep, soft rumble that was foreign and familiar all at the same time. She had known that voice before it had gained the smoothness and timbre that made it so irresistible now.
Riya cleared her throat and stood to face the man behind that knee-melting voice.
Dhillon Vora.
He stood a few feet from her, his hands in his pockets, his dark-eyed gaze raking over her and hardening as he took in the gear she still had on. The scruff on his jaw that she’d seen last month was now a trim beard. It suited him. At the sound of a newcomer, Scout wiggled out of her arms to go to him. She released the puppy. Without taking his eyes off Riya, Dhillon bent down and scooped Scout up, muscles stretch¬ing his dark T-shirt. He called to Lucky, but the older dog stayed at Riya’s feet.
His hand shook slightly as he stroked the fur on Scout’s back. He was holding the puppy to calm himself. Clearly, even standing in the parking lot of the fire station was chal¬lenging for him.
“Dhillon Vora.” She used his full name because she hoped it would irritate him. Her reward was an eye roll so minute she’d have missed it if she blinked.
“What the hell are you doing?” He stepped closer to her and laid into her as if he had the right to barge in and de¬mand these answers when they never even really talked any¬more. Even when she checked in on Lucky when she visited
her parents every week, they barely did more than exchange pleasantries. Which Riya tried to avoid at all costs.
“I’m working.” She fixed her eyes on his. They watered in the blinding sun.
“As a firefighter? Seriously?” He said the word like he couldn’t stand having it in his mouth.
She inhaled, squaring her shoulders and lifting her chin to fill every bit of her full five foot six inches. Dhillon still tow¬ered over her, even more so when he stepped forward and crowded her space. She didn’t move back. Simply tilted her head and raised her eyes in as bored a fashion as she could muster. “Yes.”
God, he smelled good. Like soap and disinfectant and co¬logne. And she probably stank of sweat and more sweat.
“How can you possibly have anything to do—to do—with—with—” In his anger or disbelief or both, the usu¬ally calm, steady Dhillon Vora was sputtering. And he didn’t bother to lower his voice.
“Fire?” she offered, unable to keep the smirk from her voice or her face. Ruffling Dhillon’s feathers had once been a favor¬ite pastime of hers. Nice to see she still had it.
“Yes. How can you possibly be fighting fires?” Dhillon re¬gained some composure, but not enough to hide his anger.
“How could I not?” She pressed her lips together, narrow¬ing her eyes. It took no small amount of discipline to ignore the soft shuffle of feet and the murmur of men’s voices behind her. Her colleagues had conveniently finished showering just in time for the show and were clearly trying not to be seen or heard so they could eavesdrop.
Surprise or shock at her response played on his face for just a split second before he masked it again with anger. Or was that pain? Riya couldn’t tell anymore.
“Don’t tell me I have to remind you of what was lost—”
“No!” she snapped, cutting him off. “No, you do not need to remind me of anything.” In a motion that revealed more than she was willing to share, she reflexively clutched at her neck. But the necklace wasn’t there. She couldn’t wear it on duty.
“Then, what the fuck are you doing?” He was nearly shout¬ing now, which was so not Dhillon. Well, maybe it was. She had no idea what was typical of her former best friend any¬more.
“I’m doing a job that needs to be done.” She clenched her jaw. She would not reduce herself to yelling back at him in front of her colleagues. No matter how badly she wanted to scream at him that it was her life to do with whatever she damn well pleased.
“Riya,” he said, his voice softening on her name, “you’re running into fires.”
“I’m fighting fires.”
She could have sworn she heard a derisive noise from be¬hind her. She’d deal with the guys later.
“What about your parents? How could you put them through this? After they lost Samir?” he growled.
At this, her gaze faltered. She had lost Samir, too. He’d been the perfect older brother.
“You haven’t told them?” He shook his head at her. “Un-fucking-believable!”
“Lucky, come,” Riya commanded, her eyes never leav¬ing Dhillon’s. The dog came to her, and she rested her hand on his head. “Go with Dhillon.” Lucky whimpered, but he went. “I’ll take Scout.”
Dhillon handed her the puppy. Scout wiggled in her arms a moment. He had no business coming here and spitting out the past for all to hear. She steeled her voice. “The showers are free. I’m going to clean up.”
“Do they know?” He jutted his chin at the men behind her. “Do they know about the fire?”
Riya leaned toward him so she was in his space, forced to take in even more of his scent. She spoke through her teeth. “Leave. Now.”
Dhillon grunted, but she did not miss the heavy gaze he rested on her before he turned. He mumbled to Lucky, and Riya watched the dog lumber beside his master as Dhillon strode off, confident in his anger, punctuating his aggrava¬tion with each step.
Riya lingered a moment, watching Dhillon’s infuriated but magnificent form retreat to his car with Lucky. She gath¬ered her wits and turned to face her department, chin high, mouth set, eyes hard. Show no weakness.
Excerpted from The Second First Chance by Mona Shroff. Copyright © 2022 by Mona Shroff. Published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

For fans of Katherine Center’s THINGS YOU SAVE IN A FIRE and Jill Santopolo’s THE LIGHT WE LOST, THE SECOND FIRST CHANCE is a deeply emotional romance about two neighboring families, the Voras and the Desais, who experience a devastating fire and the fallout it creates in their lives–particularly for Dhillon Vora and Riya Desai, who struggle to admit their feelings for one another.

On one terrible night, everything changed.

Riya Desai has struggled to move beyond the devastating fire that claimed the life of her brother, Samir, and set her on a path she never anticipated. Determined to keep other families from experiencing the loss that hers did, she’s become a firefighter herself, but it hasn’t been an easy road. The other firefighters are her fire hall are overwhelmingly white–and entirely male. As a rookie and as the only woman at the station, she has to keep proving herself, over and over, in a way her male colleagues never have to. Oh, and her other problem? Her family thinks she’s a paramedic–they have no idea she’s a firefighter, and she knows they won’t be happy about her running into fires instead of away from them.

Dhillon Vora is a healer. After the fire that killed his father, he becomes a vet, his faithful dog Lucky–who survived the fire at the Voras’ and Desais’ townhouses–behind his side. On a visit to the fire hall across from his clinic, he is dumbfounded to find the girl next door, Riya Desai. Riya has become a firefighter? Dhillon is livid. And–though he can’t really admit it–kind of impressed. Even though he knows, deep down, that he’s never stopped loving Riya, he isn’t sure he’s ready to have her in his life again. Especially if he has to worry constantly about her safety.

THE SECOND FIRST CHANCE is not only a deeply moving tale of two people learning to love each other again, but an uplifting story of two families overcoming tragedy with hope, love, and the unbreakable bonds that keep us shining together even through our darkest hours.
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Meet the Author:

Mona is obsessed with everything romantic, including chocolate, coffee and wine. PW calls her “a writer to watch” and Sonali Dev called her first novel, Then, Now, Always a “sweet, angsty romance.” She’s blessed with an amazing daughter and loving son who have both gone to college. Mona lives in Maryland with her romance-loving husband.
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