Seventeen-year-old ballerina Emilia Moretti is tired of always being second best. And she’s going to prove the world she deserves to be first. In her upcoming School of the Performing Arts showcase. In the eyes of her birth parents. And in the heart of the guy she loves. She spends hours rehearsing, hours dreaming about becoming number one, hours imagining how her entire life is about to change. But when nothing goes the way she planned, she’ll need to realize what it really means to be first.
Eighteen-year-old Nick Grawski doesn’t want to follow Daddy Dearest’s rules any longer. He’s going to prove he’s meant to be a dancer—not a lawyer—and he is not going to stay away from Em just because his father demands it. He needs to show Em that—this time around—he’s there to stay and that he won’t break her heart again. Even when her world goes down to shit, even when he finds out his dad may have been trying to protect him all along, even if being there for one another is harder than falling in love.
ALWAYS SECOND BEST is a novel of hope and heartbreak and broken dreams. It’s a novel about falling in love and discovering that being first isn’t always what matters.
Pub Date: October 13th 2015 by Victory Editing
I received an eArc from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
As soon as I was done with A Summer Like No Other, I started with this novel, which I was glad to have received from the publisher through Netgalley (thank you!). I was glad to read more about Em and Nick, I really like them!
This book picks up several months after their failed relationship in the summer and I was pleasantly surprised that although the romance is a big part of the book, it is not the main theme. Instead, what they both want out of life takes central stage and they both have to decide what they want to do for themselves.
I really liked that there wasn’t that much angst between them, they were both very clear about what they wanted and once they got back together, there wasn’t any hint of jealousy or lack of devotion to each other, and that is fantastically fresh in YA romance.
The family aspect was so good, I loved to see more of Nick and his parents and to finally understand what was going on with Em’s dad. Although I did find an inconsistency about Em’s birth mother – SPOILER!!! In A Summer Like No Other, it is mentioned that Claire worked for Em’s dad until Em was 8 years old, however in this book, Claire says that she just talked to Em’s dad a couple of times after she was born, and that he had no idea about her twin until a few time after… I felt like something escaped me or that I didn’t understand something. Have you read this? Have you understood what was going on?
All in all, I really liked this book, I was so happy about Nick and Em, and even their zombie killings… 😉
Rating: 3.8 Stars
My Tiny Obsessions 
I read Summer Like No Other so I didn’t remember that Claire worked for Em’s dad until Em was 8 years old. MAybe she worked in the same company but not with him directly? I don’t know. I really liked this book too. Maybe I should go write might review instead of watch TV shows 😛 . And zombie killings? Really? XD
in A summer like no other it is said specifically that Claire was her dad’s assistant until she was 8… that inconsistency bothered me a bit, it was like the twin thing only came to her when she was writing this novel and not before, you know?
i somehow expected Roberto to be more of a problem to their relationship, but I was happy that he actually approved and encouraged them.
yeah 😛 zombie killings…
I think you’re right and that she probably only created the twin thing for this book. I like Roberto. I thought that he was going to be a problem too but he went through a lot of things in the book and he just want his sister to be happy. She’s happy with Nick si he approved 🙂 . Can we have a book about Roberto?? I would read it
me too, maybe before Giovanni and how they met… that would be fun!
Yeah… I would like that 🙂
do you think there will be another book in the series? if yes, i think it will probably be about Jen…
I had the feeling that she would have her own book but I don’t know. I hopse so. Jen isn’t as bad as I thought
yeah, I didn’t think she was bad at all, she was in a tricky place. I wanted to see more of her and Em 🙂
Oh I didn’t even notice that this was a sequel until I got to your actual review. The synopsis made it sound like a standalone. Do you think it’s possible to read it without reading the first?
i only read the novella before, but yeah, it is possible. although, the novella does explain their relationship and I think it’s important
Is the first book also about them? Or is this a series where they feature a different couple in each book?
The first book is not, but the novella is