BETTER THAN FRIENDS is my favorite so far of the SUNRISE COVE series by Jill Shalvis. All the books in the series are completely standalone. In fact, none of the characters from the other books appear at all so the only common factor is the fictional small town on Lake Tahoe.
Olive Porter left Sunrise Cove for college after an accident left another student seriously injured. An accident the town will never let her forget. She forces herself to return to help her best friend, Katie, who is struggling to maintain normal for a 5-year-old son while also caring for her comatose husband, Joe. Unfortunately, coming home means also dealing with Joe’s best friend and Katie’s brother, Noah, who broke her 18-year-old heart. When Olive’s flaky parents go off-grid causing her to worry, she seeks out Noah to help find them. What follows is a forced proximity trip that may turn these enemies to lovers as old wounds are healed. I’ve been critical of this series for not including the prior characters in the subsequent books but I enjoyed this one enough not to miss it including the enduring friendship that began between awkward teenagers Katie and Olive. Loved all the characters!
Old flames reignite in Sunrise Cove in this charming enemies-to-lovers, second-chance, small-town, forced-proximity love story about family, friendships, and true love from New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis.
When Olive Porter’s off-the-grid parents go missing, she reluctantly seeks out Noah Turner, her ex and the only person she both trusts implicitly and not at all.
As a special investigative agent for the National Park Service, Noah’s used to living under intense pressure. Or he was until he got injured on the job. Now unhappily recuperating at home while being smothered by his loving but nosy family, he’d love nothing more than a good distraction.
So when Olive shows up looking like a million bucks, he has to do a gut and heart check. Because nope, no matter what, he can’t fall for her again, the woman who once blew up his entire life and never looked back. How ironic then that his own personal hell (Olive) is also his ticket out of town. The question is, will the risk be worth the reward?
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