Welcome back to Star Falls. There’s a sort of legend that you will meet the love of your life if you see the falling stars. Of course, only romantics will see this as relevant. So it’s funny, those who have truly sworn off anything romantic get that itchy feeling after seeing it. The Colburn family, consisting of three sons, a daughter, and a now strange father, finds that they are going through some significant changes in their lives. Mostly brought by their father Hank, who, after a series of strokes, seems to have metamorphosed into a calmer, non- verbal form of himself. Hank had been the classic military monster to his children, especially the boys. In response, Tucker, Caleb and Ryder had spent most of their youth on a mission to defend and protect against this evil force that was their dad. They jointly formed a band around Kiera, the only girl in the family.

In FREE FALLING, we spend time getting to know Caleb better. Ex-jockey college graduate who missed out on a career in hockey. A little worse for wear, Caleb returns home with the plan to join Ryder in his construction company. Totally not looking for any emotional connections. But then the falling stars.

Yep. Pure Jill Shalvis humor and creativity in this second story of the series. Each fully stands on its own merit, but I candidly love following this family. Rather earthy, emotionally stunted, short on trust and sexy as all get out. That’s the Colburn group. And wait till you meet Calvin and Klein. I guarantee a huge degree of smiles and joy.

Okay, so now it’s Caleb who is put on the spot. A woman who had been the thorn in his side from college days has reentered the picture. Emma is working temporarily as an architect from a firm checking all the construction happening at a historical site. Dotting I’s and crossing T’s. But most of all, reawakening the angst between herself and Caleb. They were in constant competition during their college days. Emma needs to prove herself. Caleb is trying to shake her off. Needless to say, they were equally snarky. Competition was keen.

Caleb has always been fortunate to have a large, mostly loving support group that joined forces against their rather brutal father. Emma had no one but a couple of close friends. Used to being alone. But now thrust into the Colburn siblings’ world, seeing most of them on a daily basis at the company.

Emma and Caleb find themselves once again in an awkward situation. But Emma needs this job. Homeless, rather short on cash, she is in a tough spot. She needs the job to become permanent, and so she has to prove herself once again. Emma is also truly short on trust and self- confidence.

So it’s an interesting second meeting for both Emma and Caleb, where she is doing just about anything to hide the true nature of her life, keep this job, impress her boss, and stay away from Caleb.

As always, Jill Shalvis brings her characters to life. You can’t help but root for them all to gather their strengths and find some sort of rainbow at the end of all this chaos. And now we have Emma joining in this search. Funny, sassy, and sexy as all heck. I guarantee lots of laughing aloud moments along with sighs, after all, FREE FALLING is by the inimitable Jill Shalvis. Enjoy.