MAYBE THIS TIME is a story all about second chances, but don't jump to any conclusions until you read the final chapter. Life may hold second chances, but it also holds surprises and insights that only come with time and life experience. 

 This is the story of Cleo King, a doctor whose practice and home are located in Charleston, South Carolina, and while Cleo enjoys her life there, there is something incomplete about it, some nagging guilt in the back of her mind that prevents her from fully enjoying the fruits of her labors. A long-term romance with a native Charlestonian, Philip D'Arcy, by any woman's standards a southern gentleman and great catch, is enjoyable for Cleo, but doesn't spur any thoughts of true commitment. D'Arcy is devoted to Cleo and like a true gentleman, he doesn't pressure her for an answer to his proposal of marriage. 

 Then, on a business trip to California to give a talk at a medical gathering, Cleo runs into a blast from her past--Max Altman--the man whom she loved throughout med school and the man who walked out of her life twelve years prior as unceremoniously as possible. As always, life was a whirlwind when Max was around, and this time was no exception. Cleo left California before Max could work his emotional magic, but he soon turns up in her beloved Charleston. 

 In addition to these situations in Cleo's life, she has a few issues from the past with her parents, particularly her mother, that rise from the recesses of her memory and cause unbidden feelings of guilt. Cleo has always adored her father, an Episcopalian minister, but her relationship with her mother has had its ups and downs. 

 But Cleo soon learns a lesson about second chances--a lesson that is sometimes frenetic, sometimes frantic, and sometimes bittersweet--but isn't all of life like that, after all? 

 Mary Verdick has written an inspirational story without ever once allowing the story to verge on preachy. Her characters are fully fleshed out; the reader is easily able to "see" and "feel" what the characters do. Cleo King as the protagonist is not without her own minor faults, making her all the more realistic and worthy of getting to know. MAYBE THIS TIME is a nice story--don't overlook "nice." It isn't as common as it used to be, and after reading the book, the reader is left uplifted with perhaps some insights of his/her own.