"Fabulous new series starring a rather delightful albeit unconventional family"
Reviewed by Sandra Wurman
Posted June 14, 2015
Romance Contemporary
Life is a challenge. It sometimes feels like all you do
is try to catch your breath from one moment to another.
Seeking safety is a personal goal towards well-being and
sanity. Seeking safety for those you love is a life goal.
Just how do you recovery after losing someone close whose
death has left a permanent hole in your heart. One of the
issues about love and loss is that we often deify those
that have passed. We remember the good and push the not
so good into the recesses of our mind and heart. But what
happens when we feel responsible for the death. Now I'm
not talking about causing an accident or an act of
violence. Responsibility for someone else is part of
being a member of a family. Ultimately we all must learn
a valuable lesson. Taking chances is also a part of life.
We can only hope that a person's self-preservation will
put up a natural barrier and prevent them from taking
that very ill advised step. We can only hope. SECOND
CHANCE SUMMER by Jill Shalvis is about hope.
SECOND CHANCE SUMMER is about learning to cope with the
sadness, loss and in this case unfortunate and undeserved
guilt after family tragedy. Lily returns to Cedar Ridge
when her professional and personal world caved in around
her. Sure she needed to lick her wounds but more
important she desperately needed a new start. Her good
friend Jonathan offered her a temporary position. Lily
really had no choice but to accept it. However it did
mean facing so many people that she had left behind ten
years ago. But of course it wasn't a casual departure
from a place she love -- it was running away from memories
that were too harsh. Running is a self-defense mechanism
-- but it rarely works. In Lily's case her work had
cocooned her and allowed her to shut off any feelings.
Coming home would invariably reopen many wounds and as
she quickly realized made her feel again.
Lily realized that returning to Cedar Ridge would mean
that she would surely run into Aidan. After all it's a
small town and Aidan's family owned the spa she would be
working at. Shouldn't be any problem for Aidan but for
Lily it would open up old wounds that had never
completely healed. After the death of Lily's sister
Ashley and then her father's heart attack Lily turned her
back on Cedar Ridge and Aidan. Aidan was the one thing
that Ashley wanted that Lily would not turn into a tug of
war. Ashley was always trying to compete with Lily. Lily
was just better as some things. But Aidan wasn't just
another guy. He had captured more than Lily's thoughts --
he had a firm grip on her heart -- he just didn't know it.
And he never would -- so Lily ran.
Once Aidan gets wind that Lily has returned he has to
battle some of his own demons. First is he has no idea
why Lily had left so abruptly. Second the more time he is
with her the more determined he is to try and hold tight
this time. Third Aidan would have to face down his own
issues with love and trust. Aidan and Lily have much in
common. Both are wounded souls scarred by the very people
who are supposed to love and protect them. But together
they just may find something truly special.
Jill Shalvis has created some fragile, wounded and yet
still characters that had grit in SECOND CHANCE SUMMER.
The lesson is clear -- everyone deserves a second chance
at a life filled with love and happiness. In SECOND
CHANCE SUMMER we set out on a wonderful heartwarming
adventure to find that elusive love. SECOND CHANCE SUMMER
is book number one in Shalvis' Cedar Ridge series.
A
great introduction to what will certainly be a fabulous
series. Can't lose with Jill Shalvis. SECOND CHANCE
SUMMER is great selection for that special beach book you
are looking for.
SUMMARY
RESCUE ME Cedar Ridge, Colorado, is famous for crisp mountain air,
clear blue skies, and pine-scented breezes. And it's the
last place Lily Danville wants to be. But she needs a
job,
and there's an opening at the hottest resort in her
hometown. What has her concerned is the other hot
property
in Cedar Ridge: Aidan Kincaid-firefighter, rescue worker,
and heartbreaker. She never could resist that devastating
smile . . . The Kincaid brothers are as rough and rugged as the Rocky
Mountains they call home. Aidan has always done things
his
own way, by his own rules. And never has he regretted
anything more than letting Lily walk out of his life ten
years ago. If anyone has ever been in need of rescuing,
she
has. What she needs more than anything are long hikes,
slow
dances, and sizzling kisses. But that can only happen if
he
can get her to give Cedar Ridge-and this bad boy-a second
chance . . .
Excerpt“Come here,” he said.
“I’m right here.”
“Closer.”
She walked into his arms. He pulled her in and kissed her.
He kissed her
until he knew he’d taken it as far as he could without
tearing off that
pretty sundress right then and there, and only then did he
lift his head.
“Oh,” she breathed, staggering back a step, clearly trying
to play it cool—
which might have worked if her eyes weren’t dilated and the
pulse at the
base of her throat wasn’t going apeshit crazy.
He gave a slow smile and pulled her back in, not hard for
him to do, since
she already had a grip on his shirt like he was her lifeline
and she was
going down for the count.
She cleared her throat. “So you showed up all Captain
America to save the
day, and now what? I jump into bed with you? Was that your
plan?”
“Yeah,” he said, “but in my version we didn’t talk this much.”
“A full-service rescue then,” she said evenly.
He tried a cajoling smile. “I’m really good at full service.”
“Do you really think this is a good idea?”
He laughed softly and let his mouth brush over her temple
and then her ear,
which caused her to shiver. “Of course it’s not a good idea.
Or we’d have
gone for it already.
But sometimes the bad ideas turn out to be the best ideas of
all.”
“Yeah?” she asked. “Name one.”
“Bringing out your keys from the convenience store after the
postcard
display demolition.”
She let out a soft laugh and fisted her hands in his hair.
“So what now? We really going to try this out?”
Were they? He’d promised himself he wouldn’t give her a
chance to devastate
him again. But somehow over the past few weeks he’d lost
sight of keeping
his heart safe and moved onto wanting to heal her heart.
“I’m game.”
She hesitated so long he took a step back from her and
prepared himself to
leave. But her hand came out and gripped his. “You’re
wearing too many
clothes,” she said softly.
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