"Extraordinary family dynamics brought to life."
Reviewed by Sandra Wurman
Posted May 26, 2020
Women's Fiction Contemporary
Sometimes a story grabs your attention with a scene or event. In ALMOST JUST FRIENDS it is the characters that capture your attention and then your heart. That is the case with Piper and Cam. Their upbringings are hugely different but both left adrift in a manner of speaking. Cam’s family split after his parent’s divorce. The arrangement was that Cam went to live with his mother. Younger brother Roman stayed with their father Emmitt. Not sure either brother wound up with the short stick, perhaps both. Each had responsibilities to face and neither had a normal childhood. Cam wound up joining the military. Roman wound up at a juncture that did not end well.
In ALMOST JUST FRIENDS Cam returns to Wildstone to fulfill a promise to his brother. Cam held up some hope that he might mend fences with his father. Not easy to accomplish, in just a couple of free weeks, something you haven’t managed in thirty years.
Piper has been in charge of her siblings since their parent’s death. The three siblings were in the care of their grandparents but the truth was that Piper held down the home. Winnie and Logan considered Piper as the bossy older sister. But Piper knew someone had to hold down the fort and there was no one other than her to do that. Winnie and Logan were very young with few memories of their parents. So Piper was the defacto parent even though she wasn’t that much older than her siblings.
Cam is definitely one of the good guys. Piper has grave issues with trust and senses that she is being kept in the dark about something. Cam is privy to information that could enlighten Piper. But he won’t betray a trust. So their relationship, even their very new segue into a friendship is in peril.
How do you keep a promise at the expense of hurting someone who is becoming important to you? Quite a dilemma.
The title ALMOST JUST FRIENDS is very telling about this book. Relationships are fragile creatures and at times brittle. It doesn’t take much to create a break that’s virtually impossible to mend. Cam and Piper has experienced a world of hurt. As we read ALMOST JUST FRIENDS we are faced with some interesting insight into issues that present a roadblock for any chance of a happy future for these folk. ALMOST JUST FRIENDS is lovely and real. Jill Shalvis once again treats her readers to a compelling family drama.
SUMMARY
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.
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Comments
1 comment posted.
Re: Extraordinary family dynamics brought to life.
Another wonderful review love her books, thanks
Penney
(Penney Wilfort 5:11pm June 3, 2020)
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