small town

He’s So Fine by Jill Shalvis

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

19291271
Grade: B
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary, small town
Series: Lucky Harbor #11
Published: 9/30/14
Reviewed by Anne
233 ebook pages

Olivia runs the “vintage shop” in Lucky Harbor.  She and her friend Becca enjoy watching the guys who run a charter boat company and enjoy surfing.  So when Olivia sees one of them fall in the icy cold water off his boat, she jumps in to save him – never mind that she’s not a strong swimmer and he didn’t really need saving.  Olivia and Cole each have their own baggage.  Cole hasn’t dated since his fiancée left him two years earlier.  Olivia left behind a rough childhood and adolescence, even changing her name before settling in Lucky Harbor.  Neither is looking for a relationship, or even a hookup, but their attraction to each other is strong – and so are their matchmaking friends.

You just can’t go wrong with Jill Shalvis.  Even when she’s writing a “pretty good” story, which is how I’d rate this one, it’s still a step above most other contemporary romance authors.  Seriously.  “Pretty Good” for Jill Shalvis ranks even with the best of other romances I read.  Shalvis’ humor is sprinkled throughout the book.  As my teens would say, I LOLed!  Several times!  I enjoyed the chemistry between Olivia and Cole, and I believed they belonged together.

On the other hand, I was severely annoyed at how stupid Olivia came across in the opening scene.  Who jumps in to rescue someone when they’re not a strong swimmer themself?  How about running on the boat and throwing out a life vest?  Or calling for help?  Thankfully, this turned out to be an out of character move for Olivia, who is otherwise very intelligent and independent.  In fact, she has a hard time accepting help from Cole.  This turns out to be a new thing for Cole, who seems to be the fix it guy for the entire town, including his family.

I have one other nit picky detail.  There’s a side story about two little girls who spent some time in foster care before their father stepped in to take care of them.  So, now we’ve got this little family with no money to spare, so the characters in this book are stepping in to lend a hand with the little girls occasionally.  The girls, who are around 6, I think, mention that they’ve never celebrated Halloween before – like foster parents don’t celebrate Halloween?  I’m sure there are foster homes where that happens, but as a former foster parent, pretty much every kid I knew celebrated Halloween, in foster care or not.  In fact, the only kids I knew of who didn’t celebrate were those whose religion was a factor against it.  Maybe the back story of these girls is more fully explained in the previous book (which I haven’t read yet) but I sure do get tired of reading foster homes as the source of all childhood suffering.

Ok, so, stepping off my soapbox… this was a very enjoyable read.  The angst factor was low and humor factor was high.  I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys contemporary romance.   I’ve read most of the Lucky Harbor series, but not every book.  Even without having read the previous story in the series, this one was enjoyable.  So, read in which ever order you’d like, but do read it – it will make you smile and LOL!

It’s In Hiss Kiss by Jill Shalvis

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

19162717
Grade: A-
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Series: Lucky Harbor #10
Published: 8/26/14
Reviewed by Kate
368 pages

Becca has arrived in Lucky Harbor, escaping the drama and negativity that was consuming her life when she was living closer to her family.  She’s trying to get her life back on track.  She’s not looking for anything romantic, but she can’t ignore SGS-Sexy Grumpy Surfer.  Sam (SGS) enjoys the life of being a loner, with the exception of his two business partners.  He’s happy with his boats and his close friends.  But for some reason, he just can’t stay away from Becca.

In typical Shalvis fashion I was drawn to the characters and laughing out loud by page 4!  Shalvis has gotten written dialogue and thoughts down to funny perfection.  But Sam and Becca’s story isn’t all smiles and chuckles.  Their histories have left them both scarred and leery of giving their hearts to anyone.  The emotion that comes from this pair is staggering at times.  Yet Shalvis manages to weave humor in with the emotion without cheapening the feelings that Sam and Becca are experiencing.

Jill Shalvis is the queen of small town contemporary romance.  Managing to mix emotion and humor with ease, she has made Lucky Harbor a place where I want to live and a cast of characters I wish I could call friends.  This one is going on my “best of 2014” list.

Falling for Max by Shannon Stacey

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

18812534
Grade: A-
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary, Small Town
Series: Kowalski Family #9
Published: 7/29/14
Reviewed by Anne
192 pages

The latest rumor about Max Crawford in the town of Whitford is that he just might be a serial killer, what with his mysterious locked up basement and all.  No one really believes it, but they know so little about him that they settle for gossip.

Tori Burns is a part time waitress at Whitford’s Trailside Diner.  When Max decides it’s time to start looking for a wife, his first step is to be more social, and going to Trailside is where he starts.  He and Tori hit it off, but Tori’s only interested in being friends.  Her parents’ bitter divorce has left her convinced that love is not worth taking a chance on for her.  Still, she’s willing to help Max, who is a little awkward socially, practice his dating skills. Now they just have to ignore the chemistry between them and find some eligible bachelorettes in Whitford.

This latest book in the Kowalski Family series was another winner for me.  I enjoyed so much about this story!  The Kowalskis appear as secondary characters, but don’t overwhelm the main plot.

Max and Tori are great characters.  They each have personal obstacles to overcome.  Max is never said to be on the autism spectrum, but that would be my guess about him.  Social situations can be challenging for him.  He’s very literal and very focused.  He’s looking for a wife, and Tori sees right away that he needs someone who will appreciate his differences and not see them as drawbacks.

Tori comes with a lot of baggage from her parents’ divorce.  She’d always thought they had a loving marriage.  So when it fell apart and they became extremely angry and bitter she was shocked.  Even more surprised when she found herself in the middle of an emotional tug of war between them.  It got bad enough that she moved to Whitford to put some physical distance between herself and her parents.  Aside from her baggage, Tori’s an interesting woman.  She designs book covers and websites, working from her apartment.  She works part time at the diner to indulge her social side.  She also enjoys being with her cousin, the young chef at Trailside.

Besides the characters and the low conflict plot (my favorite!) Shannon Stacey’s trademark humor is in abundance.  There were so many lines that had me laughing.  Here’s an example I love!  Tori and Max are practicing small talk.  She starts:

“I like to play Bingo.”
He didn’t even hesitate.  “That’s wonderful.  How many cats do you have?”

As much as I enjoyed their dialog, I also appreciated how things worked when they were not getting along, too.  They weren’t perfect.  Their reactions were realistic, and it takes growth on both their parts to come through it.  It was a joy to read!

I’d highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy small town contemporary romance, and readers who like low conflict romance.  While it’s part of the Kowalski series, it would stand alone fine, too.  That said, I’m really enjoying the series and looking forward to reading more about Gavin on his quest to become a big deal chef!