Monday 9 July 2012

Review: The Sweetest Thing - Jill Shalvis

UK Cover
Two Men Are One Too Many . . .

Tara has a thousand good reasons not to return to the little coastal town of Lucky Harbor, Washington. Yet with her life doing a major crash-and-burn, anywhere away from her unfulfilled dreams and sexy ex-husband will do. As Tara helps her two sisters get their newly renovated inn up and running, she finally has a chance to get things under control and come up with a new plan for her life.

But a certain tanned, green-eyed sailor has his own ideas, such as keeping Tara hot, bothered . . . and in his bed. And when her ex wants Tara back, three is a crowd she can't control-especially when her deepest secret reappears out of the blue. Now Tara must confront her past and discover what she really wants. If she's lucky, she might just find that everything her heart desires is right here in Lucky Harbor.

Lucky Harbor Series:
Simply Irresistible
The Sweetest Thing
Kissing Santa Claus (Novella in the Small Town Christmas anthology)
Head Over Heels
Lucky in Love
At Last
Forever and a Day
Under the Mistletoe (Novella)
It Had to be You (2013)
Always on my Mind (2013)
Once in a Lifetime (2014)

Visit Jill Shalvis' website for more information.

Review:
In the second book of Jill Shalvis' Lucky Harbor series it is Maddy's older sister Tara's turn to find love. I'm sure anyone who liked Simply Irresistible will enjoy The Sweetest Thing just as much. This series is full of humour, fantastic family dynamics, heroines who feel like your friends, heroes you're guaranteed to fall for and steamy romance. Perfect for when you want something light hearted and fun to read these are books I'd highly recommend and I'm looking forward to continuing the series.

The last place in the world that Tara ever wanted to end up living was Lucky Harbor, it brings back too many difficult memories from a bad time in her life. Memories of broken heart that took her years to recover from and events that she will never forget. But getting to know her sisters has given her the sense of family that she has longed for and with nothing to return to Texas for she has decided to take a chance on building the Inn into a business they can all be proud of. If she can just keep her ex Ford at a distance everything will be fine. But Ford doesn't want to keep away from Tara, he let her get away from him once and has always regretted it so this is the perfect opportunity to win her back - especially when the chemistry between them has only grown during the years since they saw each other last.

Tara is the bossy older sister who takes everything too seriously and has the weight of the world on her shoulders. I didn't like her that much at the beginning of the first book but as we discovered her secrets towards the end I started to connect with her more and was looking forward to her story. The more we get to know her the more I liked her, she is a lot more vulnerable than I was expecting her to be and she never got over the end of her relationship with Ford and the adoption of their daughter. Although she still believes that she did the right thing for her daughter that doesn't mean she hasn't missed her ever since.

I really loved the relationship between Ford and Tara. Ford is almost her complete opposite, he is very laid back and in general is happy to let good things come to him rather than take the effort to chase after them. But he made that mistake once where Tara is concerned and this time he is prepared to fight for what he wants. He isn't above playing dirty too - he knows Tara is attracted to him and he is more than happy to use that chemistry to pull her back into his life. I totally fell for Ford and thought he was perfect for Tara, they just worked so well together that I couldn't imagine them with anyone else. Although Tara's ex-husband Logan is also on the scene trying to win her back I didn't feel he loved her in the same unconditional way that Ford did. Logan was a nice guy but he didn't win me over and I was definitely voting for Ford.

Mia's return added a nice element to the story and it was interesting to watch the dynamics between her, Tara and Ford. I did find it was a little too predictable at times though - it seemed a bit too easy that she suddenly turned up at just the right time and I was annoyed that the fact her adoptive parents were separating was used almost as an excuse for her to want to connect to her biological parents. In spite of that it was very amusing to watch Tara trying to deal with a younger version of herself - it can't be easy to suddenly find yourself trying to act like a mother to a 17 year old!

I still love the relationship between the three sisters Tara, Maddy and Chloe. They are growing closer all the time as they get to know each other properly but can still bicker with the best of them. It was fantastic to catch up with Maddy and Jax - there were some adorable scenes between the two of them - and I can't wait to read Chloe's story. I have a feeling we are in for some real fireworks between her and Sawyer in the next book!

Source: Purchased

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

US Cover
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