ABOUT THE BOOK:
New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis returns to Wildstone with the touching story of finding your place in the world—and the people who make it home.
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.
LISTEN TO AN EXCERPT:
MY REVIEW:
Almost Just Friends by Jill ShalvisMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Almost Just Friends by Jill Shalvis is a 2020 William Morrow publication.
A wonderful feel good story full of inspiration, hope and laughter!
Piper is an oak. She had to grow up fast and put her own hopes and dreams aside to raise her two siblings. Not only did she put her life on hold until everyone else was taken care of, she also tucked away her feelings and never gave herself time to grieve her parent's deaths.
However, now that her siblings are living their own lives, Piper is finally able to work on realizing her own dreams. All she needs to do is to renovate the Lake House she inherited, and then sell it….
Meanwhile, Piper reluctantly agrees to a birthday celebration, where she meets Camden Reid. When a storm moves in, the couple gets to know each other a whole lot better. As it turns out, Piper and Cam know some of the same people, and both have a lot of pent of grief to work though.
Cam’s feelings are still raw, while Piper’s are deeply buried. Recognizing in one another the pain they are both living with, Piper and Cam forge a cathartic, yet tentative friendship- a friendship that sometimes leads to kissing.
Meanwhile, all of Piper’s plans for her own future could come crashing down when both of her siblings return home, harboring a few stunning secrets. Will Piper ever get the chance to achieve her own dreams? Can she manage to let go, accept help, and share her feelings? Could Cam and her siblings hold the key that will unlock the door to the new life she’s been dreaming of?
Shalvis has this stuff down to a science. This is another stellar contemporary tale about family, life and love.
The characters in the story are flawed, but each of them grabs the opportunity to give and take, let go, accept, and grow as individuals, while making room for a little romance, too, of course. I loved the way the story flowed, and how the momentum took the reader on a realistic journey that leads to a sweet, very inspirational finish.
Things may not always go as we planned them, but sometimes there’s a silver lining. Sometimes people need help seeing it, or maybe we need a little help finding it ourselves. But, at the end of the day, these characters really came through, leaving my heart feeling full and happy.
GRAB A COPY HERE:
https://www.amazon.com/Almost-Just-Friends-Jill-Shalvis-ebook/dp/B07QWLDDL9/
https://www.amazon.com/Almost-Just-Friends-A-Novel/dp/B07TD9L4MY/
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/almost-just-friends-jill-shalvis/1131171716
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis lives in a small town in the Sierras with her family and far too many assorted quirky characters. Any resemblance to the quirky characters in her books is, um, mostly coincidental.
Look for Jill's ALMOST JUST FRIENDS and get all her bestselling, award-winning books wherever romances are sold. Visit http://www.jillshalvis.com for a complete book list and fun blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures.
