Jacky St. James and Eddie Powell, who co-directed the award-winning Torn (2012) and Submission of Emma Marx (2013), have teamed up again for another terrific adult feature. But this time they're returning to the playful tone of Lost and Found (2011), a romantic comedy written by St. James and directed by Powell.

The protagonist here—played by rising starlet Carter Cruise, who's been featured to good effect in quite a few New Sensations/Digital Sin titles—is Madison Presley, a recent college grad who's still recovering from emotional betrayal. Callow rich-boy football player Josh Rochette (Chad White) seduced and abandoned her as part of a fraternity dare, and she's steered clear of dick(s) since then. Instead she's started her own animal rescue organization, aided by school chums Olivia (Jessa Rhodes) and Lucas (Logan Pierce), while working for local bartender Dean (Brendon Miller), who's also been scarred on the battleground of love.

Meantime, Josh is in a new relationship with ultra-popular sorority babe Bethany (Allie Haze, who does a great Mean Girl turn—a total 180 from her character in Lost and Found). But when he sees Madison on a TV report talking about her work, repressed guilt gets the better of him and he makes a large donation to her organization—anonymously, but you know it won't stay a secret for long.

The tidy plot unrolls with the usual misunderstandings and unrequited desires that a satisfying romance needs, and the directors also went the extra narrative distance to offer an alternate ending. But though it's good storytelling, what really makes Second Chances stand out is the dialog and the acting. Every character in the small ensemble hits the emotional mark that's demanded of them. And there are some fun cameos by past New Sensations stars that add to the appeal.

Each of the four boy/girl performances is beautifully shot and naturalistic. Cover couple Cruise and White have one pairing together and a second with a different partner. And there's a cute scene in which Pierce's nerdy character wins a bet and gets to move out of the "friend zone" with the beautiful Rhodes.

Of late St. James has been focusing on Digital Sin's Tabu Tales line, with its vignettes about families gone wild. Fun stuff, but it's great to have her back on the romance beat.