Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Review: The Sweetest Thing (Lucky Harbor, Book 2) by Jill Shalvis

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.

I loved this book! It's interesting because Tara wasn't my favorite character in Simply Irresistible (Lucky Harbor, Book 1), and if you read the above summary, the first thing that hits you is the fact that a triangle is part of the story. Triangles are not the love of my life when it comes to tropes, but I just loved this book!

Tara has her hands full running the Lucky Harbor Inn with her two sisters and trying NOT to fall again for her past love, hot and dazzling Ford, when after two years of separation her ex-husband shows up in town asking for a reconciliation. But that's not all... no, not for poor Tara. The whole town gets into the fun of things and plaster her situation on Facebook and Twitter and decide to run a poll as to who's going to win Tara's heart -- and the fun really begins. On top of all that her lifetime secret "shows up" at her doorstep and things really get complicated.

In The Sweetest Thing the story is focused on the romance and the two main characters -- everything else revolves around them. Shalvis uses more of the "lovers reunited" and "second chance at love" tropes in The Sweetest Thing than the good old triangle in my opinion. The plot is not only well developed, but it's also interesting, romantic, scorching hot, and amusing. To top it all off, the secondary characters complement this story perfectly. I loved the growth in the sisters relationship, as well as the small town atmosphere that permeates the story, without too many characters taking the focus away from the main couple.

The Sweetest Thing is another true contemporary romance novel with the hot style that Shalvis is known for, plus a wonderful family and small town atmosphere full of amusing laugh-out-loud moments. I loved the main characters, both Ford and Tara, their romance and the journey to that second chance at love. Now I can't wait to read Chloe and Sawyer's story.

Category: Contemporary Romance
Series: Lucky Harbor, Book 2
Publisher/Released: Forever March 28, 2011 - Kindle Edition
Grade: A

Visit Jill Shalvis here.

Series:
Simply Irresistible, Book 1
The Sweetest Thing, Book 2

18 comments:

  1. OOOooooo! An A!!! Love to see those!!
    I think you passed the first book in this series to me, didn't you? I'll have to check and get reading. This series sounds really cute and romantic. :)

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  2. I just can't decide which book of hers to pick up first! :/

    Each time I read one of your reviews, I'm all "I'll pick that one up" but then I read another and I'm "Maybe this one."

    I fails at life.

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  3. Christine, an A... lol! I really enjoyed and will re-read this book, so yeah. :) This is definitely a romantic and cute contemporary series.

    Thanks Daniel.

    Alex, lol! This series is a great place to start with Shalvis. Simply Irresistible and now this one... only two books so far and a third one coming out in the fall. A good contemporary romance series. You can always hit her backlist later. :D

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  4. Oh, I loved it too! lOVELY REVIEW!

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  5. Great review Hils and so happy you enjoyed this book.

    I just don't get it. I love contemporary romances and it doesn't come more contemporary than Jill Shalvis, so why can't I love her books?!?

    Skimmed most of this book at the bookstore. It was okay-cute.... but just didn't do it for me, sigh :(

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  6. Lovely review Hils - thank you. I think I have the first book on my library hold list...

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  7. I just finished this one & still have to write the review so I skipped to the grade. Totally agree with you on it! Loved this book & can't wait for Chloe's.

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  8. Lori. Yes! I'm so glad you loved it too!

    Nath, you don't enjoy Jill Shalvis? She is quite contemporary, but that's okay... I know that her categories are big winners with me and I'm really enjoying this series. I do have a few of her older contemps in my TBR that I've tried reading and placed back a few times (they're still there). But... you skimmed this book at the bookstore? Nath! LOL! I did enjoy this one a lot. :D

    Orannia, this is a good contemporary romance series. I think you'll like Maddie... and eventually love Tara too. Hope you enjoy it.

    Leslie, I'm SO glad you loved it too! Didn't the whole combination work out well in this book? I just had fun reading it. :D

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  9. I wasn't a fan of Tara from the first book but I was somewhat looking forward to the 2nd book because I was curious about her history with Ford. Sad to say I didn't enjoy the story as much as you did. I couldn't get into their romance, I thought her "secret" showing up a bit too convenient, and same goes for Logan's presence. I like Chloe though and am still going to check out her story. *cough* I want to know how she and Sawyer are going to do it without her asthma attacking since it's been repeatedly mentioned that the asthma acts up even with the slightest excitement. ^_^

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  10. Oh Tabs, I'm so sorry you didn't enjoy Tara and Ford's story as much as I did. I was expecting both their "secret" and Logan to make an appearance and for some reason they didn't bug me. :) Ahhh, Chloe's asthma attacks... that should be interesting... I'm looking forward to that story. *g*

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  11. Hils, forgot to tell you that Truth and Consequences by Linda Winfree, book 1 in her Hearts of the South series is currently free on the kindle!

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  12. Thanks for the heads up, Tabitha. I'll check it out! :D

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  13. Yeah, skimmed through the book at the bookstore. Actually, pretty much read it all... I was waiting for my sister for 3 hours. I didn't feel the urge to buy the book, so you know...

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  14. Hey Hilcia, hope you're ok.
    You know, after reading your posts about this series, I went and got the first book, and I'm afraid I agree with some other posters here, the book didn't seem that good to me... I kept focusing on Maggie's cycle of "no more men"/making out with Jax, and so on, so on...it became really repetitive, I mean or she sticks to her point or she doesn't.
    Anyway, but Tara's story looked better and I was going to get it anyway, even tough reunited lovers is the worst type of romance to me. Right now I'm already thinking twice because of the comments...really, the author's style reminds me of Sherryl Woods, an author I find a bit boring...

    Well, just wanted to say hi and let you know even though I don't comment often, I visit often lol
    Hugs :)

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  15. S. Hi!! Hope you're doing well too. :)

    Sigh... I've found that Jill Shalvis is one of those contemporary writers that readers either really like or they tend to have problems with... [I really enjoy some of her series, but still have not been able to read others].

    The first book in this series "Simply Irresistible" was a weaker read for me (Maddy was frustrating for me too, I think I said that in my review, and Jax's problems weren't entirely resolved). However, I loved this book! Now... that's not to say that YOU will. Especially since you don't like the "old lovers reunited" trope. I happen to enjoy it.

    Anyway, this is not a perfect read... there are things that you won't like about it, I'm sure, but if you already have the book I would say read it and see how you feel about Tara's story.

    I'm so glad you came by to let me know how you feel about the books! I miss you and our daily book discussions. :D I'm glad you visit often... I visit you too. LOL!

    Hugs!

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  16. Hilcia!! I miss the Phade too :/
    Anyway, well, I didn't mean I'd have to like the book just because, but ok, I'll give it a try someday. Not right away, but i promise I will. Your review of Simply Irresistible was what made me read it in the first place, so no worries, I knew about the characters, I just didn't imagine them like that.
    I'm glad you're well.
    BTW, I check you blog everytime I surf the net, I don't comment all the time, but I pay attention. Lol
    Hugs!

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  17. Sonia!! [grin] I know what you mean.

    I was thinking about this... and need to figure out why it is that I enjoy some of JS's books and can't get through the beginning of others. It's interesting, right?

    I'm so glad we stay in touch. I don't have as much time to surf, but I DO visit when I can.

    Hugs!

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