Review: The Sweetest Thing

The Sweetest Thing by Jill Shalvis

Format: ebook
Pages/size: 388/468 KB
Published: April 1, 2011
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Genre: Fiction, Romance

My Rating: 3.5/5

Summary (from chapters.ca):

Two Men Are One Too Many . . .

Tara has a thousand good reasons not to return to the little coastal town of Lucky Harbor, Washington. Yet with her life doing a major crash-and-burn, anywhere away from her unfulfilled dreams and sexy ex-husband will do.

As Tara helps her two sisters get their newly renovated inn up and running, she finally has a chance to get things under control and come up with a new plan for her life. But a certain tanned, green-eyed sailor has his own ideas, such as keeping Tara hot, bothered . . . and in his bed. And when her ex wants Tara back, three is a crowd she can't control - especially when her deepest secret reappears out of the blue. Now Tara must confront her past and discover what she really wants. If she's lucky, she might just find that everything her heart desires is right here in Lucky Harbor.

Review:

I jumped right into this novel because I love reading series books one after the other... but I was slightly disappointed. Where Simply Irresistible was fun and full of 'hot' romance, this one seemed to lack a certain 'umph'. Now, sometimes the sequel is a bit of a let down - hello, anyone remember New Moon - and then the series rebounds, so we will see if book three does just that.

However, back to The Sweetest Thing.

Being back in Lucky Harbor, 6-months later, was a treat. I love that the Inn (now a B&B) is up and running and that all the old characters are back. I missed Maddie and Jax though - I have a special place in my heart for 'The Mouse' - however, it was fun to have the novel focus on another sister, Tara, and the hot sailor, Ford. As soon as I realized this, I could see where the end of the novel would have us and in turn, where novel three would be as well and you know what, I am okay with that... I love happy endings!

While the characters and storyline were much the same as Simply Irresistible, I found the addition of the 'past' between Tara and Ford to be a real page-turner. Where their past comes back and smacks them in the face, the book seemed to go in a direction that I was not expecting. I found my stomach doing flip-flops from stress and my heart swelling as things came to a climax.

Overall, I enjoyed the read and am interested to see what book three will hold.