OCTOBER 2013 - AudioFile
Leah returns to Lucky Harbor and finds herself entangled with her old school friend, Jack Harper, who is now a firefighter. Narrator Annie Greene brings out Leah’s alternating spunk and self-doubt as she and Jack renew their friendship and explore new possibilities. Greene portrays the female characters and their dialogue with ease and credibility. However, at times, her awkward timing and excessive modulation disrupt the flow of the narrative, making it difficult to engage with the kindling romance, even during the steamy sex scenes. However, her pace does capture the tension in Jack’s search for an arsonist and in the story’s ending, a teaser for a sequel. M.F. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
In the charming and engaging eighth Lucky Harbor contemporary (after It Had to Be You), Leah Sullivan, full of secrets and longing for love, returns to the Pacific Northwest town to help her aging grandmother run her pastry shop. Leah is easing back into normal life after a stressful run on a popular baking reality show. Her best friend, Jack Harper, a well-liked local firefighter dealing with suspicious fires around town, has mixed emotions about seeing Leah again. When Dee, Jack’s ill mother, voices her concern over Jack’s future, Leah recklessly claims that she and Jack are an item. As the fib makes its way around town, Leah and Jack begin to act the part and wonder how life might be if it were real. Shalvis’s fans will devour the two friends’ introspective and passionate journey to love. Agent: Robin Rue, Writers House. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
"Top Pick! 4 1/2 Stars! Full of the warm and crazy characters who make up her tiny town, Always on My Mind has a sexy and tangled story that will put readers on the edge of their seats."—RT Book Reviews
"Charming and engaging... Shalvis's fans will devour the two friends' introspective and passionate journey to love."—Publishers Weekly
Shalvis adds another steamy, sassy episode to her popular Lucky Harbor series, and lovers of contemporary romance will be so glad she did.
—Booklist
"Shalvis makes me laugh, makes me cry, makes me sigh with pure pleasure."—Susan Andersen, New York Times bestselling author of Playing Dirty
"Count on Jill Shalvis for a witty, steamy, unputdownable love story."—Robyn Carr, New York Times bestselling author of Harvest Moon
"Shalvis writes with humor, heart, and sizzling heat!"—Carly Phillips, New York Times Bestselling Author
Carly Phillips
"Shalvis writes with humor, heart, and sizzling heat!"
Robyn Carr
"Count on Jill Shalvis for a witty, steamy, unputdownable love story."
Susan Andersen
"Shalvis makes me laugh, makes me cry, makes me sigh with pure pleasure."
Booklist
Shalvis adds another steamy, sassy episode to her popular Lucky Harbor series, and lovers of contemporary romance will be so glad she did.
RT Book Reviews
"Top Pick! 4 1/2 Stars! Full of the warm and crazy characters who make up her tiny town, Always on My Mind has a sexy and tangled story that will put readers on the edge of their seats."
Suzanne Forster
"Jill Shalvis is a total original! It doesn't get any better."
RT Book Reviews on Forever and a Day
"Top Pick! 4 1/2 Stars! Laughter is served in doses as generous as the chocolate the heroine relies on to get through the day. Readers will treasure each turn of the page and be sorry when this one is over."
RT Book Reviews on Lucky in Love
"4 Stars! Shalvis pens a tale rife with the three "H"s of romance: heat, heart and humor. LUCKY IN LOVE is a down-to-the-toes charmer..."
RT Book Reviews on At Last
"4 Stars! Shalvis's latest Lucky Harbor novel is a winner-full of laughter, snark and a super-hot attraction between the main characters. Shalvis has painted a wonderful world, full of entertaining supporting characters and beautiful scenery."
Kirkus Reviews
2013-11-04
After yet another spectacular life failure, Leah Sullivan comes back to Lucky Harbor to help her grandmother and embroils herself in a pretend relationship with her best friend that she wishes more than anything could be real. Leah spent a miserable childhood listening to her father tell her she'd never amount to anything, so why is anyone surprised that she's lived down to his expectations? She knows she's a screw-up, and she'd be so happy, thank you very much, if everyone would stop trying to convince her that she can do something with her life or that she just might be worth loving. Then there's firefighter Jack Harper, the best friend she's always loved but isn't going to risk hurting, again, because she can't be depended on for anything. So why she decides to try to cheer his ailing mother up by announcing the two of them are a couple--when they definitely aren't--she'll never know. Perhaps it's wishful thinking. But when the white lie takes on a life of its own, Jack and Leah have a real challenge on their hands. Attraction between them has never been a problem, and being forced to spend time together to keep up appearances is like setting a match to a mountainside of dry brush. Frankly, Lucky Harbor has enough fires going on, what with a serial arsonist on the loose. Jack finds the investigation a welcome distraction from dealing with Leah, the girl who broke his teenage heart. He knows her better than anyone, and the second he makes her feel like he wants her for good is the second she'll turn and run. Shalvis pens a best-friends-to-lovers winner with Leah, a wounded, deer-in-headlights heroine who must first believe she is worthy of love before she can accept the devotion of hunky Jack, the hero who can have any woman in the world but chooses her--and would do anything to help her save herself. A sexy, textured winner.
