Chance of a Lifetime

Chance of a Lifetime is the second book in Jude Deveraux's Providence Falls series, a contemporary romance with paranormal and historical romance elements that takes the kind of story Deveraux has been writing for decades and adds a time travel reincarnation hook to it. The series follows Liam, a nineteenth century Irish criminal who, after his death, has been given a chance to redeem his soul. He has been sent to twenty first century Providence Falls, North Carolina, with one task. Make sure that Cora, the woman he wronged in his past life, ends up with the man she was supposed to marry.

The complication is obvious and is the engine of the series. Liam, now living as a small town police officer alongside the man Cora is supposed to fall in love with, finds himself falling for her again himself. The first book in the series set up the situation. Chance of a Lifetime continues to develop the slow burn tension between what Liam wants, what he was sent to do, and what the supernatural forces overseeing his second chance are willing to allow.

Deveraux co wrote the Providence Falls books with Tara Sheets, a partnership that brought a slightly different sensibility to Deveraux's late career work. The books are lighter in tone than her classic historical romances, with more humor and a more contemporary pace. The paranormal element is not heavy handed. The reincarnation premise is treated as a romance device rather than as a serious supernatural mythology, and the focus stays squarely on the relationship triangle and the small town setting.

For longtime Jude Deveraux fans curious about her later collaborative work, the Providence Falls series is a comfortable read. For readers who enjoy contemporary romance with a paranormal twist, this is an accessible entry into the subgenre. The first book in the series, A Justified Murder, is a stronger starting point.