Almost Just Friends by Jill Shalvis
Release Date: January 21, 2020
Almost Just Friends, an all-new standalone contemporary romance by New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis.
Piper Manning’s about as tough as they come, she’s had to be. She raised her siblings and they’ve thankfully flown the coop. All she has to do is finish fixing up the lake house her grandparents left her, sell it, and then she’s free.
When a massive storm hits, she runs into a tall, dark and brooding stranger, Camden Reid. There’s a spark there, one that shocks her. Surprising her further, her sister and brother return, each of them holding their own secrets. The smart move would be for Piper to ignore them all but Cam unleashes emotions deep inside of her that she can’t deny, making her yearn for something she doesn’t understand. And her siblings…well, they need each other.
Only when the secrets come out, it changes everything Piper thinks she knows about her family, herself…and Cam. Can she find a way to outrun the demons? The answer is closer than she thinks—just as the new life she craves may have already begun.
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Excerpt:
“Well?” he asked.
She
grinned. “That was possibly the most thrilling ride of my life.”
He pulled
off her helmet, the look in his eyes saying that he knew he could give her an
even more thrilling ride.
She had no
doubt. But she hadn’t managed to raise her siblings and get them all a
relatively decent life by following a whim, sexy as that whim might be. She’d
been afraid of commitment with Ry because … well, she still wasn’t one hundred
percent sure. But she thought it had something to do with the knowledge that
committing to him would mean becoming something she wasn’t – a person capable of
further dividing her heart, handing another chunk of it off to someone, and in
turn giving them power to hurt her.
But
looking into Cam’s gaze, she couldn’t see him ever trying to make her into
something she wasn’t. Life with him would only get better.
But they
weren’t going to go there. And if that caused a little teeny tiny spark of
sadness, she shoved it aside. This wasn’t the time to dwell. She needed to live
in the moment. And that needed to go into her journal. She had it in her purse
in the truck. “Do you have the keys?”
“Sure. What
do you need, I’ll get it for you.”
Okay, so
she could admit her crazy here, or she could keep it to herself. But maybe to
prove that this wouldn’t – couldn’t -- last, she gave him the truth. “I need to
write something in my journal.”
“Okay,” he
said without blinking an eye and turned toward the stairs to get to the parking
lot.
Just the
fact that he’d do it made it okay to stop him. “I can wait.’ Then she stepped
into him and pressed her face in the crook of his neck to just breathe him in
for a moment, willing herself to remember. Live
in the moment. There was no sense in thinking about the future, because as
she knew all too well, not everyone got one. So there was no use in spoiling
the here and now by running ahead of herself. Besides, she thought as his arms
came around her, the here and now was pretty damn amazing. “Thank you,” she
whispered against his skin, and then, unable to resist, kissed his throat.
What I thought about Almost Just Friends
In this fourth book in the Wildstone series from Jill Shalvis, Piper has taken care of her younger brother and sister for most of her life, and thinking that both Gavin and Winnie future's are set, she's ready to sell her grandparents place, split the money and finally get her physician's assistant certification.
Things don't work out quite like Piper planned. Her siblings return home with secrets and there's a really hot guy living next door that rocks her world for the first time in a long time. Piper just has to figure out how to get what she needs, and that's going to take some opening up to Cam.
If you are a Jill Shalvis fan, some of what happens probably won't be a big surprise. What I like about the Wildstone series is that it not only focuses on the romance between the two main characters, there is usually a good bit of family drama on hand that enriches the story.
Piper and Cam are just so right for each other -- they'll have to get over some of the past to move forward for their future. That's what Almost Just Friends is all about.
I loved this story. Piper and Cam are great together and I was pulling for their HEA all the way. The book is a quick, easy read that doesn't get boring and works very well as a standalone. I did so like the inclusion of diverse characters, which brought a big smile to my face.
Overall, it's the kind of story you'd expect from Jill Shalvis -- well crafted and well written, with characters that you wouldn't mind having for friends.
A complimentary copy was provided for review.
About Jill:
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jill Shalvis lives in a small town in the Sierras full of quirky characters. Any resemblance to the quirky characters in her books is, um, mostly coincidental. Look for Jill’s sexy contemporary and award-winning books wherever romances are sold and click on the blog button above for a complete book list and daily blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures.
Connect with Jill:
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Website: http://jillshalvis.com
1 comment:
I'm a big fan of Jill Shalvis. I listened to this one on audio. Fantastic review!
Anne - Books of My Heart
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