After dumping his two-timing lover, David Stone decides that the best thing for him is to go back home to Star Harbor and lick his wounds.  Things are going well with his antique store and he’s slowly re-introducing himself back into the community.  However, when his old high school crush, Josh Harrison, walks into his store David is flabbergasted by the rush of old feelings that come up.  Not knowing what to do about it all, David chooses to drive Josh away and spare himself the anguish of loving a man that will never love him back, especially when David discovers that he is HIV positive.

After leaving the Seattle PD, Josh comes home to Star Harbor in hopes of reuniting with his childhood friend and secret crush David.  However, Josh never told David that he was gay or that he was in love with him.  Now, when he can get David back into his life Josh has two major hurdles to overcome – David’s attempts to drive him away and David’s being a were-wolf.  Can Josh get past David’s defenses and keep him once Josh shares his secret?  Especially when the revelation comes right on the heels of David’s discovery of his HIV status?

Second Time Around is a truly poignant story about regaining a lost love and the reality that HIV can happen to anyone, regardless of how careful you are.  Through David and Josh we experience the rollercoaster of emotions that you feel when suddenly confronted with an old flame that you hoped never to see again, but that has never left your heart.  Second Time Around is very emotional story because of the subjects it deals with and the undeniability of the passion between David and Josh.  However, I found the book a little long-winded and repetitive with its run-on sentences, overuse of quotation marks and David’s habit of having the same conversation, in detail, with several different characters.  Also, the verbal and internal dialogue didn’t feel natural or smooth, especially when significant issues were being pointed out constantly.  The whole resolution of the were-wolf and HIV issues seemed rather pat and convenient, given how it all “falls into place” at just the right time without proper background built into the plot.  Still, Second Time Around is a book that you might want to save and pull it out on a day that you want an emotional read with a HEA that is not necessarily realistic.