Capture Maybe This Time: Stories Of Love And Second Chances Translated By C.P. Santi Shown As Script

it!!!! An accidental reunion, . . a sneaky plot things finally falling into place,

Maybe This Time contains three heartwarming stories of love and second chances, Because when fate gives you a break, you grab the chance to finally make things right,

In Sweeter by the Second, when paintings conservator Rina David arrives for the Arts Festival in the heritage town of Jimenez, shes reunited with Tony, the guy she once loved and lost.
Now vicemayor of Jimenez, Tony wants Rina back in his life and will do everything he can to convince her that they belong together.


Pamela Quiroz hatches a plot to get her parents back together in Exorcising my Ex.
But will a romantic Valentines Day dinner succeed in reconciling Geno and Viv After all, its been more than fifteen years since they first got together and they arent the hormonedriven teenagers they once were.
Will wine and cheese balls still do the trick

Torch, meet hand, Arne Weichmann has been waiting twentyone years for Bea, Is it finally the right time to make his move and convince her that they are Meant to Be He hopes so.
Because he doesn't think hell survive losing the one person who brought warmth and sunshine to his life.
Second chance romance is one of my favorite tropes and if you like it too, I recommend Maybe This Time.
It contains three stories and all of them are feelgood romances set in the Philippines,

Among the stories, Sweeter by the Second has the most kilig factor and I wish Rina and Tony's story could have gotten longer.
I'm so invested and felt so giddy about them,

This is officially my first book for stan asian authors readathon, I love how these short stories are still brimming with Santi's signature humor and sweetness, but this time with a little bit more adulting.
I love how she's able to get into the heads and hearts of these couples, now grownups and years apart from the young, hormonefueled lovebirds they were before, and find the itch there that most of us might recognize.
What if years before, I chose wrong What if all this time it was really you

Rin and Tony, Viv and Geno, Arne and Beaeveryone had their own dreams, their own distractions, their own plans that somehow kept love from surviving.
A theme like that usually results to heavy stuff, but in Santi's capable hands the stories came out light and relatable, sincere and heartwarming, and of course, many colors of kilig.
I think out of the three stories Exorcising My Ex was my fave, I know they all have that same theme of second chance at love, but that one stood out the most.
i really loved the parents being set up on a Valentine's Day date by their daughter, Hilarious and adorable.

All in all i liked these quick reads,
Read full review sitelink HERE! :

Story ratings breakdown:
Sweeter by the Second
Exorcising my Ex
Meant to Be.


The first story, Sweeter by the Second, lives up to its name, The sweetness is really evident between Rina and Tony, I also loved how I managed to get a glimpse of the beauty that is Misamis Occidental.
It sounds so lovely and the people, so warm! Plotwise, I found it, . . interesting. I mean, yes, it was a bit cliched but there's this sense of "newness" to it that you'd still want to read on and know how things fell into place.
Speaking of it, I loved the conclusion! The characters' decisions were actually the total opposite of what I expected them to do.
Nonetheless, I can say that it was a lovely surprise wink

Moving on, the second story is actually my favorite.
Exorcising My Ex was funny, heartwarming, and just simply beautiful, I liked the opening sequence as well as the plot twist that it entailed, Geno and Viv showed that maturity is the key, They acknowledged their mistakes and did their best to right their wrongs during their past and I think that is the important thing.
Another aspect that I liked is the overall youthful vibe of the story, Come on! Cheeseballs Arcade Fullgrown adults watching and obviously enjoying Aldub Sold! Lastly, the ending was really cute!! :Candidate for the best daughter awardee: Pam!

Meant to Be, the last entry in the anthology, gave me Love, Rosie feels! I mean,years Also, as a fan of love stories which starts out as friendship, this one really hits the spot despite minor problems which is probably just me haha I liked the setup also reminded me of the pinoy telenovelas in which everyone in the family is simply rooting for the leads to get together and be done with it.
Of course, the ending phrase was absolute perfection and I guess, summarized the heart of the whole anthology: "In His Time"
C.
P. Santis When Cocoy Became Kikay was a pleasant discovery in my reading life this year and I made it a point to watch out for other books by the author.
It was not a surprise that I also enjoyed Maybe This Time, This latest release is a compilation of three short stories all revolving around a single common theme as suggested by the title: second chances, mostly in love but, as I soon discovered, also in life.


sitelinkContinue reading, Let it be known here on out that I do not believe in second chances, and this book just became the exception.
Okay now that thats out of the way, let me just squeal my way into writing this review.
I assure you that reading this book will give you pure, unadulterated fluffy, feel good giddy feelings.

I loved the locations, I loved that the characters are a bit older, and are happy and settled with their chosen careers.
I loved the familiarity and connection that every character had with each other, You can feel in their banters that they knew each other well, and knew how to make each other tick.

Sweeter by the Second
This is my favourite one because there's just something about Vice Mayor Tony.
He is unapologetically charming and singleminded in getting Rina back, He is so smooth and sweet, and he kind of reminds me of this boy,
In a few chapters, you see that they care a lot for each other, and the bridges werent really because they had justifiable reasons for their parting.

PS. My old boss name is Rina so its a weird experience to read an MC with her name.
Hahaha
Exorcising my Ex
This was the funniest, I think, This story is just so full of nostalgia and familiarity, with Aldub and cheeseballs references, I think Geno and Viv needed the time apart to grow into their future selves, and their future selves just fits.
They fit so well. I also think that Pam, their daughter, just made the story amore endearing,
Meant to Be
Well, this is the epitome of delayed gratification, ayeYears, My God!
I savored and loved each one of these stories, they are super short and yet super satisfying! I literally rolled over and over on my bed because I cannot contain all the hoitytoity feelings it gave me.
READ IT! READ IT!

Out of theshort stories, my fave would have to be Sweeter by the Second.
I wish the author would write a book about their full love story!

"We're responsible for our own choices.
I've made a lot of stupid decisions in my life, "

"But life doesn't work that way, When I learned you were married, I was devastated, But I realized it was my fault, I could have had that, but I chose differently, I really regret losing you, but I don't regret what I've achieved, I just wish we could've had another chance, "

"Life is weird, All these years, I'd been looking, . . waiting praying for the perfect girl to come along, Maybe the answer to my prayers came too early, Maybe she was right beside me all along, " This book wasnt a part of any book blog tours that I participated, I didnt get to register in time, thats why, Ive been meaning to read this ever since I saw blog posts and tweets about this, But since I have no means of purchasing my own copy since I dont have money, I just waited.
Luckily, I managed to get my copy by chance through InstaFreebie, I really love that site,

So back to the topic, This would be the second book that I read written by the same author, I just smiled when I read the theme of the booksecond chances that were up for grabs if you know where and when to look and laid in front of the people chosen to receive it.
Of course, the characters needed to work

things out before they could say that it truly belonged to them.
That they truly belonged to each other even as time and circumstances tested them and separated them.


If I go ranking which of the three stories in the book that I liked the most, it goes this way:

First: Meant To Be

Second: Sweeter By The Second

Third: Exorcising My Ex

Yes, I know that most of the blog posts and tweets Ive read about their thoughts with regards to this book also liked my, which was Arne and Beas story of second chance at possessing the love that eluded them once or twice, or even many times because of their inability to actually express it to each other.
Things and stories like that happen a lot, I know, I mean, its really cute and I couldnt help smiling a lot at Arnes katorpehan lack of bones/courage/guts to actually confess your feelings to the one you like/lovein a romantic sense.


The story I placed second was about Tony and Rinas second chance after some misconceptions and long distance.
I guess not all people were given another chance to renew the love or should I say romantic connection that was broken because of those two factors.
Its not easy to see the signs, anyway, Most of the time, we assume that it was the sign that we were looking for, only to turn out that it wasnt or people failed to recognize it.
Luckily, the pair in this story managed to see it,

And for the story I placed in the third spot, Viv and Genos second chance most likely occurred after a matchmaking and finally realizing that what they had done to free each other from the ties of responsibility of early and perhaps forced parenthood made them grow and understand things.
Those realizations occurred to Geno after that matchmaking that was set up by the person strongly connecting him to Viv in more ways than one.
I really like Pams quirkiness even though most of her lines and dialogues were thru her chats and messages to her dad Geno.

Yup. These ramblings about my thoughts for this book turned out to be a little shorter than I imagined while writing this.
But anyway, its not bad, right Signs for second chances or even third or fourth arent that recognizable, as Ive written.
We need to really feel it, that were truly deserving to have it, Its worth the shot. Who knows Those signs to have our second chance might truly lead us to the happy ever after we see in other people or perhaps much better than what we truly wished to have for ourselves.
Finding love that was lost, Moving on but never really moving forward, Holding back while secretly holding on, This is how I summed up the three short stories from CP Santi's Maybe This Time: Stories of Love and Second Chances.
I can't help but feel the love that Rina amp Tony had endured after their breakup, take another chance with Geno and Viv, and finally succumbing to their feelings with Arne and Bea.


It's always nice to read books that feature places in the Philippines, I get to learn more about them without having to travel with a backpack, Such is the beauty of Jimenez, as introduced and beautifully depicted in Sweeter by The Second, Add two old lovers who met again after how many years, Tony has proven that he's matured enough to realize that Rina's happiness is also his happiness, and that's what made him ideal for me.


For the second story, Exorcising My Ex, let me sum it up with these hashtags: Valentines BlindDateSetup sPammy CollegeSweethearts Cheeseballs Aldub

Yep these are mostly the words that stuck to my mind after reading about Pam's VDay setup for her mom and dad.
Yep, hashtags, the bane of my existence, LOL, I don't really use hashtags on my tweets or posts, but with the existence of Aldub in the book, I couldn't help it.
Yep, Aldub is featured in this book, ladies and gents, the reason why Twitter exploded a million times last year.
.

Anyway, enough of the hashtags, Exorcising My Ex is about the right love at the wrong time, Geno and Viv never married but they got a lovechild together and they realized their mistakes during a Valentine date setup by their daughter, Pam.
I think this was my favorite story from the book, I love the feeling of seeing Geno and Viv bonding in front of the TV like the happy couple they should have been.


Okay, enough of them, or I might just spill the beans about the whole book.
Onto the next

World Youth Daybrought me a lot of memories from high school, I had attended WYD with my choir mates and met new friends from other countries too, that's why the last story in the book, Meant To Be, is special to me.
It took Arne Weichmann twenty one long years to finally act upon his feelings for the thenyear old ball of sunshine named Bea.
Twenty one years! Imagine that, I, for one, do not have that patience, and two, I could never suppress that feeling for a long time especially when my significant other is on the other side of the globe.
But Arne was different. He made me swoon for him instantly the moment he laid eyes on Bea, I thought that was magical, from complete strangers to being family friends, to best friends to lovers.
I guess they were really meant to be,

I appreciate the ramblings made by Filipina author CP Santi at the end of her anthology.
She explained how the short stories came into fruition and how Maybe This Time was inspired by a song.
The night I finished reading this book, I had a really good night sleep, Hoping to read more from Santi again, soon!,