REVIEW: Second Chance Summer by Jill Shalvis

The first book of Jill Shalvis’ CEDAR RIDGE series will entertain readers with male camaraderie full of pranks and wisecracking, as well as a love story jam-packed with emotion from heartrending to heartwarming.

Aidan Kincaid is a Colorado Wildland Firefighter as well as a local Search-and-Rescue volunteer, who still loves the girl that left him wondering what happened to their relationship. The fact that he still loves her but doesn’t want to see her again is as lost as he feels when Lily comes back to Cedar Ridge.

Lily Danville, hairstylist to the stars in San Diego, is down on her luck and finding herself back in Cedar Ridge after she swore she wouldn’t return ten years ago when her sister tragically died. When Lily realizes that her new job is located at the Kincaid family’s resort, near everything she doesn’t want to remember, she almost turns tail and runs. But the small fact that she has nowhere else to go forces her up the mountain road to her future.

Lily is one funny, crazy girl who kicks off this first novel in the CEDAR RIDGE series wearing Uggs and a sundress into a store to buy a pile of munchies, only to run into Aidan Kincaid as she’s slipping quietly out the door. Well, she’s not exactly quiet, because she knocks down a display before scrambling out the door, without her keys.

Aidan Kincaid really wants to avoid Lily but the store clerk insists that he take the lady her car keys. He can’t help but see the humor in the situation and his amused voice grabs Lily by the heart. Can Lily work at Aidan’s family’s resort without letting her heartbroken memories of her sister cloud her judgement about everything else? Will Aidan change his dangerous lifestyle for the woman who fears it all? Read their engaging story to find out.

SECOND CHANCE SUMMER explores the heartrending circumstances that separated two young people when they were at the cusp of their mutual attraction for one another. Ten years later, they have to face their inner demons, or lose the love they both deserve.

I found Aidan and his friends, as well as his brothers, highly entertaining. They’re smart alecks toward one another because they have a lifetime of ammunition to use against each other. Their antics often lightened tense moments, which offsets the danger they face in a mountain resort area where anything can happen.

As quirky as Lily is, she also has a heartrending story to tell. Her friends at the salon where she works are very funny and the gossip that occurs can really stir up some trouble for everyone. I think that Lily and Aidan are well-matched, while this book allowed me to get to know the other characters through their interactions with this couple. It’s a great kick-off to a series that fans will enjoy and a good example for first-timers to find out why we keep coming back for more.

Expect a rolling wave of emotion while reading SECOND CHANCE SUMMER. Jill Shalvis once again works her magic by tugging at our heartstrings, then soothing them with laugh-out-loud dialogue and mannerisms. I cried and laughed my way through this book and especially enjoyed the Colorado setting that serves as a great backdrop for a love story. I’m thankful we don’t have long to wait for book two, MY KIND OF WONDERFUL, coming in December 2015, then book three, NOBODY BUT YOU will release in late March 2016.

Reviewed by Dorine, courtesy of Romance Junkies and The Zest Quest. eBook ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

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