Jill Shalvis

2.5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

He gave her a small smile. “Keep your friends close...”
“And your enemies closer.”

After finding an old gold coin in a box of her father's things, Anna now finds herself on a mission to prove that he didn't steal it, along with a Ruby Red necklace. Owen's been wanting to find his great-aunt's heirloom necklace for her for years and when he sees a news story about a gold coin that could be the first clue in years, he's not going to leave Anna's side. As a private investigator, Anna feels she has it covered but Owen's worried she'll lie to protect her father's reputation, so they find themselves working together and deluding themselves that “Once to get it out of our system!” is the solution for the building chemistry they find between themselves.

Owen honestly hadn't known he was into sharp, cynical, feisty firecrackers with a side of sweet, but apparently there was a first time for everything.

The Summer Escape is in the Sunrise Cove series but borrows from the setting, rather than continued character story lines, you could just pick this up. Anna's our late twenties character, who has the more interesting job of private investigator, but other than a grab your attention beginning dealing with the consequences of such a job, I'm not sure it was fully utilized to it's potential. Her father died a year ago and she's still dealing with the grief when she finds the gold coin. With her older sister Wendy pushing her, she takes it to a pawn shop to get appraised, which kicks off the whole chain of events. Wendy plays a decent sized role in this, she's eight months pregnant with triplets and because she's on bed-rest, feels the need to “come along” with Anna on her investigation (Go-Pro and Air Pods). We also get povs from Wendy, which fine, but your enjoyment of this story is going to come down to if you get annoyed with Wendy being “there” in a good portion of Anna and Owen scenes. I fell more on the annoyed side, especially when Anna and Owen were getting to know one another and some chemistry was trying to build, only to be “humorously” interrupted by Wendy. Your mileage may vary.

“We said this wasn't happening. We're wrong for each other.” She didn't like the desperation in her voice.

If you're a frequent Shalvis reader, you'll get some of that easy flowing sweet and flirty chemistry that she's known for, but a little less of the fun and light. This had Anna dealing with her grief, and fear that her dad was a thief, tarnishing his halo a bit to her and Owen having some of his own grief with his great-aunt suffering and declining from dementia. These two ruminated in these emotional upheavals, along with Anna not thinking she was good enough for Owen and Owen, faintly, because he seems just about all in pretty quickly, shaking off his playboy demeanor/past. I missed more of the fun falling in love, with some emotional hurdles, that I love Shalvis for, because this was more of rinse and repeat Anna saying a relationship between them would never work. If you like your characters to therapist chair talk to each other (this could be me being a tad dramatic) instead of flirt on, like, a kitchen counter, this would be more for you.

She met his gave. “We can't get too attached, right?”
And wasn't that the problem, because he was beginning to realize he was already very attached, and...he wanted more, far more.

The investigation to find out who stole the coins and necklace, was fairly weak, I kept waiting for our private investigator Anna to do a lot more. She has a police officer friend give her the name of suspects from the original theft case, and there is some going to talk to a few people, but overall, didn't feel super active (which, I guess, real but not real entertaining) A danger blast from the past arrives later in the story to give us some action in the end and answers to the coins and necklace questions. The danger gives Anna a chance to open her eyes and realize what she really wants from life to give us the HEA.

He was pretty sure her smile made his heart skip a beat.

If a very pregnant sister cutting in and more emotional rumination than fun flirting, with a little side investigation that delivers some danger sounds good to you, then Shalvis always has that smooth flowing writing that is easy to pick up.… (mere)

Lost and Found Sisters by Jill Shalvis
Wildstone series #1. Contemporary romance, chick lit.
Quinn Weller’s life takes a dramatic turn when a lawyer tells her about a mysterious inheritance. She heads to the small town of Wildstone, California where she finds that her life was based on a lie. The inheritance is from her mother that just passed away from an illness and she now has a younger sister to raise.
Small town living is nothing like Los Angeles. Quinn finds herself involved in the community before she’s even sure if she wants to stay.

Family dynamics can certainly cause drama and tears. There is a romance in this story, but it really centers more around building relationships with family and community. It’s heartwarming and tender and makes me think I need to go out and make more meaningful connections.
Some laughs, some tears, new friendships and love. Contentment.… (mere)

The Family You Make by Jill Shalvis
Sunrise Cove series #1. Contemporary romance. Fake relationship troupe.
Levi Cutler is stranded on a ski lift when the car in front plunges off the cliff. Fortunately, no one was on the one that fell, but feeling a little vulnerable, he calls home to say goodbye. Not being able to actually tell his family his predicament, he impulsively names the woman on the stuck lift with him, his girlfriend, making his family happy. Eventually Jane agrees to be his pretend girlfriend, though she’s not used to the intimate family interactions. Levi’s family is welcoming and happy to that Levi is settled. Maybe more than he even realizes.

We all know how those fake relationships work! Don’t expect them to go their separate ways. An adorable romance as Jane finds and appreciates the family she doesn’t have but would really like to keep. A secondary romance between Charlotte and Mateo makes this book doubly sweet while all the family surrounded everyone with support and love.
It’s a feel good, small town, bundle of love.
I’ve got dozens of books by this author on my shelves. I guess saved for a rainy day? Time for me to dig into the back log because this book reminded me how much I love the romances written by this author.… (mere)