Review: Second Chance Summer by Jill Shalvis

Posted September 28, 2016 by Lily B in Reviews / 34 Comments

Second Chance Summer by Jill Shalvis
Series: Cedar Ridge, #1
Published by Grand Central Publishing on June 30th 2015
Genres: Romance
Pages: 368
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Rating: 4.5 Stars

Heat:

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

RESCUE ME
Cedar Ridge, Colorado, is famous for crisp mountain air, clear blue skies, and pine-scented breezes. And it's the last place Lily Danville wants to be. But she needs a job, and there's an opening at the hottest resort in her hometown. What has her concerned is the other hot property in Cedar Ridge: Aidan Kincaid-firefighter, rescue worker, and heartbreaker. She never could resist that devastating smile . . .
The Kincaid brothers are as rough and rugged as the Rocky Mountains they call home. Aidan has always done things his own way, by his own rules. And never has he regretted anything more than letting Lily walk out of his life ten years ago. If anyone has ever been in need of rescuing, she has. What she needs more than anything are long hikes, slow dances, and sizzling kisses. But that can only happen if he can get her to give Cedar Ridge-and this bad boy-a second chance . . .

I know, I know I am reviewing these out of order, but I kind of read them out of order. Once I got my taste of Jill Shalvis and My Kind of Wonderful, I knew I had to go back to book 1 and read about the other brother - Aidan.

Once again, I wasn’t left disappointed. Jill Shalvis delivered everything I was hoping for in Second Chance Summer. A second chance romance that left me swooning. It was snarky, it was romantic and it was fun. Filled with characters that I have grown to love from the second book, I was eager to find out all the juicy details of the relationship between Aidan and Lily.

Lily bailed on Cedar Ridge years ago after her sister’s and father’s death. Feeling like it was all her fault, she never looked back, leaving Aidan Kincaid in dust and confused.

Now, after a scandal leaves her out of a job, she must take what is left of her dignity and come back home. The last thing she ever wanted was to run into Aidan, but as luck would have it, not only did she run into the now sexy firefighter on her first day back in town - but also in the most embarrassing fashion.

Aidan has no idea why Lily left, especially not when everything he thought, was going great between them. She broke his heart and he was hoping the girl would not find a way to shatter the walls back down again. But the attraction pulls them back together, and before he even realizes, he might be the only thing that can help Lily heal and move on from her dark past.

Love this, love this so much. The passion, the banter, the love between the Kincaid clan and especially the romance between Lily and Aidan. The book had me laughing and bought a lot of joy into my heart. It was a great read, it’s even better for those days where you need a pick me up, because Shalvis is just so great and the dialogue, with moments that kind of stick with you long after the book is done.

Aidan really made the book for me. A firefighter with a lot of heart, he was just amazing. The passion and the amount of work he put into his job, his care for saving people is apparent and endearing.

Also, can we just sit back and talk about the prank the brother’s have going between them? Each one gets to pick an embarrassing underwear and the other has to wear it and if called upon, most prove that they are wearing it. Seriously, so amusing.

Anyway, if you haven’t given Jill a shot, I highly recommend her. I cannot wait to get my hands on Jacob’s story.

Memorable Quotes

Mitch grinned at him. “Man, you just had your bones totally jumped by a nearly naked chick. We almost had to resuscitate you. Fireman Asphyxiated by Boobs, news at eleven.”

“How long are you going to pretend you don’t see me?” he asked.

“Forever?” she asked.

Okay, enough of this. “It’s just a set of keys.”

When she still hesitated, he revealed the cookies in his other hand, jiggling them enticingly.

Tags: brothers, funny, romance, small town

Review: My Kind of Wonderful by Jill Shalvis

Posted September 26, 2016 by Lily B in Reviews / 41 Comments

My Kind of Wonderful by Jill Shalvis
Series: Cedar Ridge #2
Published by Grand Central Publishing on December 22nd 2015
Genres: Romance
Pages: 368
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Rating: 4 Stars

Heat:

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

UNEXPECTED AND UNDENIABLE...
Bailey Moore has an agenda: skiing in the Rockies, exploring castles in Europe, ballroom dancing in Argentina. Now that she has a second lease on life, she's determined not to miss a thing. What she doesn't realize is that item #1 comes with a six-foot-one ski god hot enough to melt a polar ice cap. She doesn't want to miss out on him either, but Hudson Kincaid isn't the type of guy to love and let go. And as gorgeous as Cedar Ridge is, she's not planning to stick around.
As head of ski patrol at his family's resort, Hud thinks he's seen it all. But never has he run into someone like Bailey. She might look delicate, but her attitude is all firecracker. And her infectious joy touches something deep within him that he's been missing far too long. Now he'll just have to convince Bailey to take a chance on her biggest adventure yet . . . something rare and all kinds of wonderful.

Guys! I cannot believe that as a lover of romances that it took me this long to pick up a Jill Shalvis book. No, really, I am quite embarrassed. Once I read My Kind of Wonderful, which of course I was unable to put down, I have crowned Jill my new Queen of Romance.

Jill’s writing in romance is exactly what I crave. I love the humor, I love the banter and I absolutely adore the quirky characters that dig their way into your heart.

Bailey and Hudson were the main characters of this book, though the rest of the Kincaid clan pops up in the book - with the exception of Jacob. Hudson was wonderful, even if he does come with a bit of baggage. He feels terrible about what happened between him and his brother Jacob and feels completely and utterly responsible for his mother and her state of mind. Between taking care of his mother, worrying about the whereabouts of his twin brother and taking care of the resort - Hud has no space for anyone in his heart.

Bailey was fantastic. She is a cancer survivor who has a list of things she wants to do in life, especially since she is now free of cancer. She is hired to paint a mural for the Kincaids at the resort, where she runs into Hud. The attraction between the two is crackling, and no sooner do they start a small fling, that quickly develops into something more, a lot more than either of them are willing to admit.

This book was quite a ride. The interaction between the Kincaid clan alone just made the entire journey worthwhile. The way they pick on each other is both endearing and amusing. There is a lot of love there, even if for the most part they are all step-brother’s and sisters. The Kincaids significant others fit into the series perfectly. The book made me laugh, it brought joy into my heart and had me completely hooked. I am now looking forward to more from Jill and I will be reading the books that I have missed out on.

Tags:

Review: Cold Shadows by J.L. Bryan

Posted September 25, 2016 by Lily B in Reviews / 11 Comments

Cold Shadows by J.L. Bryan
Series: Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper #2
Published by Createspace on October 29th 2014
Genres: Ghosts, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy
Pages: 178
Source: Author
Buy on Amazon
Rating: 4.5 Stars

I received this book for free from Author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Footsteps in the attic. Toys that play by themselves. A dark presence in an upstairs room. Paranormal investigator Ellie Jordan faces a difficult new case. Her new clients are a family haunted by multiple ghosts and a poltergeist that wrecks their home at night. Their seven-year-old son's invisible friends may not be imaginary at all, but the restless spirits of dead children. To clear her clients' house of the dangerous entities, Ellie must unravel the mysterious deaths of another family who lived in the old mansion more than a hundred and sixty years ago-and she must do it before the ghosts can carry out their malevolent designs on her clients and their children.

I cannot believe it took me nearly a year to finish Cold Shadows, but once I had the time to pick it up again, I found that I had a really hard time putting it down. It doesn’t help that I can only read this book dead in the middle of the night, because J.L. Bryan weaves a story so realistically creepy, it really brought a chill up my spine.

Stacy and Ellie are back at it again and this time the ghosts are far more dangerous and terrifying. Upon investigating their new clients house, they run into restless ghosts of dead children and malevolent entities that are out to harm the family living in the house. As Ellie and Stacy unravel the mystery behind the death of the family who once lived there, the haunting spirals into a very dangerous territory that leaves them running low on time.

Adored this book so much.. Bryan really knows how to tell a realistic ghost story with an interesting background that just hooks you from the start. It’s extremely engrossing and I for one have a hard time untangling myself into the real world. I love everything about the writing and the way the story and the characters progress.

Ellie is a great character, with a lot of heart. She really cares about her friends, but due to a very complicated past and her very dangerous job, she has a really hard time letting people in. She is also quirky, as well as Stacy which creates really fun banter between them that leaves a smile on my face. I love the connection between them, they feed off each other as friends so well and I believe Ellie really needs that in her life.

I cannot wait to see what Bryan has in store for these two. This has easily become one of my all time favorite series. Did I mention that I truly enjoy learning the history behind the haunting? I think it’s so fascinating and so well thought out and put together that it just delivers a really good ghost story. Bryan did not hold back with this one, the haunting was sinister, it was so creepy that any fan of ghost stories should really give this series a shot.

Tags:

I’m Back!

Posted September 22, 2016 by Lily B in Uncategorized / 10 Comments

I am back, and I am super excited to bring back my little corner of the web ^^. I missed blogging and everything about it. It’s going to get me a while to set the site back up, but I am working on it!

Tags:

Month: September 2016

Memorable Quotes